🚨 Trigger warning 🚨

{Following chapter contains instances related to DID (Dissociative Identity Disorder) and some scenes might act as a trigger for some viewers. So please proceed with caution.}

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Visiting the orphanage with my husband turned out to be one of the best times of my life. As Kiaan had requested Yuvaan to pay a visit as soon as possible, we gave the kids a surprise by arriving unannounced and brought a lot of goodies for them.

Instead of paying attention to what the caretakers had to complain about the children, I spent my entire morning playing with toddlers and babies. Unlike Shaurya, they didn't deny me and introduced a lot of new games to me.

I sulked when it was time to leave, but Yuvaan promised that we would come there again soon; for now we had to leave as kids needed to rest and do their homework. I understood his concern, and we left for our office after ensuring that everything was fine at the orphanage.

Once we reached our respective cabins, it was all work again. I was dumped under a huge pile of files which Yuvaan gave me to sign. Apart from that, I also had to go through some briefs by our architecture department about the recent projects. I groaned and decided to do some timepass before I started my work.

Just as I plugged in my earphones and began a movie on my mobile, I saw Shaurya entering Yuvaan's cabin with his usual briefcase and some toys. I furrowed my eyebrows when he neatly placed down all of his stuff on the table; I averted my gaze when he glanced at me through the glass partition.

I kept my eyes on my mobile screen, but from the corner of my eyes, I could see the lawyer playing with his small action figures. I heard Yuvaan asking his friend why he suddenly brought so many board games to the office to which Shaurya lectured him about keeping a balance between work and play.

I huffed and put my full focus on ignoring what was going on inside Yuvaan's cabin, but instead of my usual inner voice, I suddenly heard a small child's voice in my head. I tried to shake it off, but it felt like my head was filled with a lot of soap bubbles, and soon, the voice became crystal clear.

I want to play!

As if my body was possessed by some ghost, I snapped up from my chair and headed towards Yuvaan's cabin. My feet felt heavy and then that single inner voice got split up into two. I recognised the other one as my original inner voice which always kept acting like a pervert, but the other one seemed to have more power - a debate was going inside my head.

Stop, Reyna. Where are you going?

Go, go, go! I want to see everything and play till I get exhausted.

Will you just shut up? You gonna ruin everything.

Don't you know how to talk to kids? If I said I want to play then I will play. What you gonna do?

Reyna, don't listen to this kid. Where did she even come from?

I rubbed my temples as I sensed a headache building up. But by the time I realised that I shouldn't have listened to that kid's voice in my mind, I was already standing in front of Shaurya and staring at him intensely.

"Is there something you want?" Shaurya asked.

"I... um.... wait a minute," I knocked my head, "I forgot what I was going to say."

He nodded, and somehow, I managed to drag myself away and plonked down on the sofa opposite him. I picked up a catalogue and began reading it to keep myself distracted. I shot a small smile to Yuvaan and then turned back to burning holes through the magazine in my hands.

That kid voice was jumping up and down, making my head throb louder. I didn't know how I was supposed to calm it down; whenever I tried to leave, my body felt heavy and stuck to the seat like glue. Finally, I thought of asking Shaurya to give me his games after seeing no other option, but when I remembered how he had behaved yesterday, I bit my lower lip.

"Got some stuff to discuss with the legal team. Come with me," Yuvaan told his friend.

Shaurya got up and both of them exited the cabin, leaving me all alone. I waited for some time, and when they didn't return for ten minutes, I shot myself forward and grabbed the red toy car lying on the edge of the table.

I ran it over the tower of files, Shaurya's wallet, my palm and then on the whole couch. After that, I took the action figures and took some papers to build origami boats and trees. I was in the process of building my castle, but Shaurya arrived out of the blue and took his previous spot.

"Don't you know that it is not good to touch someone else's stuff without asking?" he asked.

I kept his things back and waited if he would say something more. I thought that he would allow me to continue playing, but he didn't.

Why was he so stingy?

"Sorry," I mumbled and backed away.

"Why are you making such a sad face?" Yuvaan asked me as he entered his cabin.

I shook my head, but Yuvaan shot an accusatory glance at his best friend, who rolled his eyes.

"I didn't do anything, okay? I just told her not to touch my stuff," he said plainly.

Yuvaan pursed his lips and told me that I didn't need to ask someone else to play with me; he would do it and even make new toys for me. I nodded and hugged him. While I was crushing Yuvaan in my arms, I noticed Shaurya observing us, particularly me, with a calculating expression.

'What is he thinking?' my kid voice asked.

'What else, you dumbo? He saw you behaving like that and now his doubts must have increased hundred folds,' my original inner voice scolded.

'We can't trust him?'

'For now, nope. Earlier, I thought that he was the most trustable, but after Reyna decided to stay with Yuvaan, he has become suspicious. He won't let even a single thing pass if he sees her as a danger.'

'What now then?'

'Nothing. I will handle it.'

"Don't worry, Yuvaan, it was my fault; I should have asked him before touching his stuff," I said.

Yuvaan kissed my forehead, and I succeeded in changing the topic. As for Shaurya, he gathered his belongings and left for his home after we had a staff meeting. He didn't say anything to me and behaved professionally till the time he stepped out of the building.

While leaving the office, I wondered on how to handle him and make sure that he wouldn't affect Yuvaan's thinking about me. I was so lost in my own world that I didn't notice the couple in front of me. I almost ran into Raghuveer before Yuvaan pulled me back and held me in one spot.

"Nice to see you again," Raghuveer said.

"Same here." Yuvaan forced a smile, trying hard to keep his temper under control.

I sensed his body going stiff as his eyes shifted to Tamannah, who was standing beside her fiance with a weird expression on her face. For a minute, I was dazed out and couldn't focus on what all of them were talking about.

Heena came in a hurry and explained that Raghuveer and Tamannah were going to come in the afternoon, but due to some emergency, they couldn't make it. She apologized for not informing about it earlier, and I saw Yuvaan shooting murderous glares at his P.A., but Heena zoomed off before her bro caught her and asked for a proper explanation.

"We are really sorry for the miscommunication, but since Reyna is freelancing with my firm, I thought about having a formal dinner. But I won't force you if you don't want to," Raghuveer said.

I glanced at my husband, and he refused to reply on purpose. The situation was getting tense without anyone of us actually saying something serious, so I decided to break the ice and agreed with the offer. I wasn't in the mood to cook after going home, and free food seemed like a good option too.

Yuvaan didn't look happy with my decision, but he didn't protest. As we headed towards the parking lot, Raghuveer came beside me and apologized for the awkward situation. I assured him that there was nothing to worry about and told him to focus on the dinner.

After we reached the restaurant, Raghuveer got us a table, and we settled down. I was really impressed with the place and food, and had a nice time conversing with Raghuveer. Unfortunately, my husband was feeling the opposite. I tried to include him in the talk, but he just nodded in between and looked everywhere else except Tamannah.

From the time we met the couple in our office and till we reached here, Tamannah tried to talk to Yuvaan five times, and Yuvaan turned down each one of her efforts. If Raghuveer wasn't still engaged to her, I might have murdered her. He was doing his best not to make us feel uncomfortable, and I was really thankful for it.

In our conversation, I learned that the deal between Yuvaan's company and Lokesh was going to be finalized soon. Also, Lokesh hadn't just approached my husband regarding a business opportunity but was trying to get in contact with Raghuveer too.

When I noticed that Raghuveer seemed a bit hesitant about it, I suggested him to get Lokesh and Himesh on board and score more Indian projects as both of those men were popular in the business market.

Luckily, Raghuveer agreed after hearing my advice, making my work a lot easier.

"Thank you for granting my request, guys," Raghuveer said while shaking our hands after the dinner.

"Next time come alone, or warn us before bringing your fiance with you. I am not interested in seeing her face again," Yuvaan grumbled.

I mentally facepalmed, but instead of getting offended, Raghuveer put on a smile and nodded in understanding. I sighed in relief and excused myself for a loo break after seeing that both guys wouldn't end up fighting.

I exited my washroom cabinet and checked my makeup. I rotated in front of the mirror and noticed that I had gained some weight. I smiled at that and turned my head towards Tamannah, who was observing me from a distance.

"Do you think I have become plump?" I asked her.

She twisted her lips and crossed her arms across her chest. "What will you take to leave Yuvaan? Did you do some black magic on him?"

"I didn't know you were superstitious." I raised my eyebrows. "My parents are too, and I tell you, superstitions can ruin someone's life."

"What?"

I laughed when she made a confused face, getting annoyed at my reaction by each passing second. She huffed and threatened me that if I wouldn't back off on my own, I would have to pay a heavy price.

I ran a hand through my hair and applied some lipstick. "Don't you have a business to take care of? I think we both are quite busy and this isn't some soap opera where two females are fighting over a guy as if they don't have anything else to do in their lives."

"It sounds so weird coming from you. Who are you exactly? Unlike you, I am a successful person, and I achieved it through my own hard work. What have you done so far? Married a billionaire?" she scoffed.

"You can't think of anything other than money, can you?"

"Of course, money is important, but I don't need a man to give me that. I am a self-made millionaire in case you didn't notice, Miss Reyna Bakshi. I will get Yuvaan back at any cost - you don't know yet what Tamannah Advani is capable of."

I darted my eyes over her face and stepped forward. I curled up my lips and bored my gaze into her.

"Then show me what you are capable of."

She widened her eyes for a second but quickly masked her surprise. "Just wait and watch," she said and stomped off.

I shook my head at her retreating figure and put my makeup back in my handbag and threw out the tissues. While doing so, a red toy car fell off from my bag. I picked it up and wondered where it came from.

You stole it from Shaurya, Reyna.

I shut off my inner voice and kept the car back in my bag. I left the washroom and reached Yuvaan's car. He was waiting for me, and once I got near him, I stood on my toes and kissed his cheek. He was shocked and asked me what was that for.

"For being a good husband," I said.

I giggled when I saw his cheeks get flushed with a light red tint and teased him about it as he entered the car. As I made fun of him, my inner voice kept kicking me and reminding me about the toy in my bag.

Return that car. You know stealing is not good.

I don't want to.

Reyna, don't act stubborn!

Whatever. As it is Shaurya has a lot of toys; he wouldn't even notice it. He can buy another one if he wants - a single missing toy car wasn't going to hurt him.

Thank you for reading 💛

Next update will be an additional chapter from Shaurya's POV.