Flaming Sun Collection 1: Happily Ever Afters from India Box Set (The Malhotra Bride; Meghna; The Runaway Bridegroom)
Page 46
Chanda refused to raise her head and look at Ranveer. She expected him to leave any minute now. What she didn’t foresee was his walking towards her, his arms outstretched. Was she imagining things? Chanda looked up to catch the wide smile on Ranveer’s face and was astounded. She must have gone crazy!
“Chanda, oh my God, Chanda! You didn’t hear me,” said Ranveer, his voice shaking with mirth.
What could be so funny? And what had he said? Chanda thought back in retrospect and heard his words in her head once again. When she had told him she was married, he had replied—he had said; Chanda recalled the words with crystal clarity, “I know, to me.”
Her jaw dropped in amazement as she looked up at the grinning Ranveer. She shook her head as she said, “You can’t be—you’re not—”
“I am. I’m Veerendra Singh Choudhry alias Ranveer Singh, your errant husband from childhood,” said Ranveer. His confidence level dropped down as he ceased to smile. What if she booted him out? She had every right to.
Chanda felt torn. One part of her wanted to hit out at him for running away immediately after marrying her. Another part of her gloried in the fact that her husband and the man she had fallen in love with were one and the same. She hugged her own body that trembled in shock. How could this be so?
Ranveer walked up to her and gently pushed her to sit on the bed. He pulled a chair next to the bed and sat on it as he didn’t want to crowd her. She was obviously stunned at the news. While he had had time to absorb it, she hadn’t had any. Over and above that, she had been feeling guilty about holding back the truth from Ranveer. Poor baby!
Ranveer told her the whole story - about his running away to begin with; then finally to how he had found the truth from Abhimanyu who had met the private detective hired by her brothers and later how Ram and Lakshman had contacted him and given her new phone number and Mount Abu address. Chanda sat there in a daze, trying to absorb so much information at one go.
“I’m very sorry that I ditched you Chanda. That was my only regret in the whole scenario. I did my best to run away before the wedding, but I just couldn’t manage it. It’s because of me that you had to undergo so much trouble. But let me tell you the truth, I still don’t think it was wrong to run away. I’d have made a terrible husband to you as a kid,” he said.
Chanda looked at the handsome and proud man sitting in front of her. There was no denying the fact that she loved him with all her heart. That she was already married to him was an added bonus. So why be upset? A small smile tugged at her lips. If they had remained together as man and wife fourteen years ago, they would neither of them be what they were today.
The separation had made totally different people out of them. They were both well educated. He had his own software company and had made such a success out of it while she was getting the best possible education and was planning a career at the end of it. All that wouldn’t have been possible if they had stayed together as man and wife. They would have been living in a small town and probably bringing up their kids there right now. Maybe she should just thank God for small mercies and put the past behind her and grab the future that was awaiting her with the man she loved.
But Chanda had a condition. She so hoped that Ranveer would agree to it.
“Ranveer,” she said softly, her black eyes glowing as she looked at him. Ranveer returned her gaze, his velvety brown eyes adoring her, waiting for her to say something. “Can we get married again, please?”
Ranveer got up and swung her up in his arms. “Most definitely, my love! Anything you say. As long as you let me be your husband.”
The End
About the author
Sundari Venkatraman has authored four ebooks so far. Three of her books, namely, The Malhotra Bride; Meghna and The Runaway Bridegroom have all been indie-published on Amazon under the banner of Flaming Sun. All three books are regularly seen on Amazon’s Top 100 Bestsellers’ Contemporary Romances list.
A great fan of Mills & Boon romances over the past four decades, Sundari has always believed in ‘Happily Ever Afters’ and all her books promise happy endings.
Dear Reader,
I hope you enjoyed reading my book collection “Happily Ever Afters in India”. I would love to hear your feedback. You can get in touch with me here:
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Yours faithfully,
Sundari Venkatraman