Hearing Rahul's question, Anika smiled, a captivating, dangerous charm flickering in her eyes.
"I can easily make sure she doesn't know."
"Why, Rahul? Do you want both sisters?"
Facing the blatant, provocative question, Rahul replied with the utmost, smooth candor:
"When faced with beautiful things, human nature is always selfish."
The statement was perfectly ambiguous. It could be interpreted as him admitting his own greed, hinting that he did want both. Or it could be interpreted as referring to Anika, implying that she would certainly be too selfish to share him.
It was an incredibly bold response, practically laying his cards on the table.
If he had said this to someone younger and inexperienced like Samina or Anjali, the nuance would have flown completely over their heads. But with a mature woman, it all depended on exactly how Anika chose to interpret it.
Rahul just wanted to farm a few more Charm Points! What bad intentions could he possibly have?
"Rahul... to be completely honest, I know exactly what you mean," Anika said, her tone suddenly dropping its playful edge, becoming surprisingly sincere.
"Let me be straight with you. I am strictly marriage-free. I have zero intention of ever settling down or getting married in my entire life."
"Given my personality and mindset, I could honestly share."
"After all, I know we aren't going to be together long-term. You're a traveler. I just want to leave behind a beautiful memory for both of us."
"But my sister is different. Her views on romance are much more traditional than mine. I can tell she really likes you; otherwise, she wouldn't have bothered putting on that stunning evening gown tonight."
"But at the same time... I really like you too. And I refuse to miss out on this."
"I know your stay in Bangladesh is short. It's highly likely I will literally never see you again after you leave."
"So..."
As she spoke, Anika's face was dead serious. There were no games or hidden traps in her words. Rahul could feel her absolute sincerity.
Anika was incredibly straightforward; she said exactly what was on her mind, and she knew exactly what she wanted.
"So... can you let me have a beautiful memory tonight?"
Hearing her lay it out so honestly, Rahul completely dropped his hesitation. He immediately told her the name of his budget hotel in Gulshan and his room number.
When a gorgeous, successful woman takes the initiative to this extent, shutting her down wouldn't just be clueless; it would make him a useless coward!
Hearing Rahul actually provide his room number, a look of immense, pleasant surprise instantly broke across Anika's face.
Her heart started thumping wildly against her ribs. It was a thrilling, electric feeling she hadn't experienced in years.
Besides the accelerated heartbeat, even her breathing became slightly rapid.
"Okay, Rahul. Wait for me. I'll be there in about half an hour," Anika said, her delight tinged with a very rare hint of shyness.
Rahul gave a smooth "Mhm," preparing to end the video call.
But Anika quickly spoke up again before he hit the red button.
"Rahul... what do you want me to wear when I come over?"
"I have a lot of different styles of clothes in my closet."
Rahul was momentarily stunned by the question. He let out a quiet laugh. "Whatever you want. Just be yourself."
Anika smiled, agreed softly, and ended the video call.
After hanging up, Rahul tossed his phone onto the mattress, took a deep breath, and inexplicably felt a heavy wave of nervous energy hit him.
After all, for the past six years, his romantic life had been a stressful, predictable routine. He had absolutely zero experience playing the field like this.
Anika said she wanted him to leave her a beautiful memory, but honestly, wasn't it the exact same for him?
Getting up from the bed, Rahul quickly gathered his messy pile of dirty laundry from the chair and stuffed it out of sight into the room's small cabinet. He did a quick scan of the cramped room, making sure it didn't look like a total disaster zone.
Satisfied, he lay back on the bed, idly scrolling through Instagram Reels to kill time while waiting for Anika to arrive.
Since arriving in Bangladesh, Rahul had barely looked at his main feed.
Unexpectedly, the very first Reel that popped up on his algorithm was of Ananya!
It wasn't posted on Ananya's account; he had blocked her ages ago. It was posted by a random meme page with millions of followers. The video was shot at a massive, live music concert in Mumbai.
In the video, the concert had reached the segment where the cameraman scans the crowd for couples, projecting them onto the stadium's massive jumbotron. Whenever a couple was framed by the neon heart, they were supposed to kiss for the 'Kiss Cam'.
In the first clip, when the camera landed on a random couple, the girl excitedly grabbed her boyfriend and kissed him. The massive crowd erupted in loud, happy cheers.
Then, the camera quickly panned and locked onto the second couple.
And sitting right in the center of the neon heart was none other than Rahul's ex-girlfriend, Ananya!
Sitting right beside her was a guy with thick glasses, a very awkward square-shaped jaw, and a noticeably receding hairline.
Seeing that he and Ananya were on the massive stadium screen, the guy immediately leaned in, puckering up to kiss her.
But a look of absolute, undisguised, physiological disgust flashed across Ananya's face. Frowning deeply, she aggressively shoved the guy away with both hands, physically leaning as far away from him as possible in her seat.
The immediate rejection left the guy's extremely awkward, rejected face frozen on the giant jumbotron for the entire stadium to see.
The brutal scene instantly drew a massive, deafening wave of boos and laughter from the thousands of people in the crowd.
Watching Ananya utterly humiliate the so-called 'rich boyfriend' who drove a Mercedes E-Class, a highly satisfied, mocking smirk spread across Rahul's face.
He opened the comments section.
Almost universally, everyone was ruthlessly roasting the guy and sarcastically tearing Ananya apart.
"The girl literally showed physiological disgust! RIP to my bro." "The guy is a massive clown. He probably spent lakhs on VIP tickets just for her to treat him like a plague rat in front of 50,000 people." "Am I the only one wondering if they broke up in the Uber on the way home?" "+1, you are definitely not alone!" Rahul laughed out loud.
He couldn't help but think: If I had actually managed to put together fifty lakhs and married her... would I eventually end up as the humiliated guy on the screen? The answer was a resounding yes.
Given Ananya's toxic, image-obsessed personality, she had never posted a single couple photo of them on her grid during their entire six-year relationship. Why? Anyone with half a brain knew exactly why. She wanted to appear single and available to higher bidders.
After he dumped her, she immediately jumped into a new relationship the very next day. She clearly had a whole roster of wealthy backups waiting in the wings.
Seeing Ananya publicly humiliate herself and her new sponsor, Rahul felt an incredibly petty, deeply satisfying wave of vindication wash over his soul.
He honestly just felt a tiny bit sorry for the square-jawed guy. The guy was clearly successful enough to drive a luxury Mercedes, but he was still getting publicly treated like garbage.
But hey, the guy chose to date her! He deserved what he got.
Thank God I escaped that nightmare and embraced the massive, beautiful forest! Rahul thought, grinning.
Just as he was reveling in his freedom, three sharp, rhythmic knocks suddenly echoed from his hotel room door.
Rahul glanced at the time; he had unknowingly spent twenty minutes laughing at the comment section.
Hearing the knock, his heart immediately started hammering in his chest again.
He turned off his phone, hopped off the bed, walked to the door, and with a soft click, pulled it open.
Standing in the dimly lit hallway was Anika. She was wearing a tight, sleeveless black crop top and a pair of sleek, dark gray skinny jeans that perfectly hugged her curves. A full, radiant smile was plastered on her face.
In her left hand, she casually held a classic Louis Vuitton Neverfull tote; in her right hand, she was holding a heavy, expensive-looking bottle of aged whiskey.
She wasn't wearing any makeup tonight, and her thick, dark hair fell naturally and wildly over her shoulders.
A wave of warm, incredibly intoxicating, expensive perfume drifted into the room, hitting Rahul's senses immediately.
Seeing Rahul standing there slightly stunned, Anika raised the heavy whiskey bottle, shook it slightly, and let out a husky chuckle.
"Well, I definitely didn't see this frozen, nervous expression on you at the boutique this afternoon."
"Aren't you going to invite me inside? Or are we planning to drink this entire bottle standing in the hallway?"
Hearing her teasing voice, Rahul snapped back to reality. He quickly stepped aside, opening the door wider to let her in.
As she walked past him, the fragrant breeze of her perfume caused a sudden, dizzying rush of anticipation to rise in Rahul's chest.
Anika walked to the center of the cramped room and looked around, shaking her head.
"Rahul, this room is seriously terrible. How can a guy who looks like a literal superstar stay in a cheap budget lodge like this?"
"Why don't you just pack your bags and move into my place? I live in a massive penthouse."
As she spoke, she walked over to the tiny mini-fridge in the corner, bending over slightly to check the cabinets above it. Rahul watched the impressive curve of her jeans from behind.
"How come there aren't even any glasses in here? How exactly are we supposed to drink this?" Anika complained, standing back up.
Watching her, Rahul took a deep, steadying breath and let out a quiet exhale. His player persona firmly locked back into place.
"No glasses?" Rahul asked, his voice dropping an octave as he walked slowly toward her. "Then I guess we'll just have to drink it straight from the bottle."
Hearing that, Anika turned around. Her dark eyes were burning intensely as she looked up at Rahul...