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Recap:
Hi its me Riya again. In the previous part, I told you about my engagement ceremony, where everything was going fine: I and Ranjan exchanged rings and we danced like crazy, and the food was delicious as well. But the photoshoot ruined everything since Sameer, in the guise of a photographer, came suspiciously near me to take the pictures. I had been feeling uneasy since then. I also tried to tell Nisha about Sameer's proposal, but she was busy. Ugh! My life is so messed up and I can't even tell anyone!
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It has been 2 weeks since my engagement. Surprisingly, since then, Ranjan seldom meets me - its probably because he has this big project: about which he hasn't told me anything. The job of a CEO is hard, but boring as well. I haven't got any friends as such. I just scroll over my phone all day. Even though I have like 1M+ followers on insta, my friends are very few. Ironic!

It was a normal day in the office, when I got a call from my knight in shining armour. I picked it up enthuasiastically. I couldn't wait to speak to him. As I said, we hadn't met or talk much, so this was the perfect time to catch up!

"Hey Ranjan!! Its been a long time right? How are you..." I spoke excitedly.
"Uhh Riya... I have something important to tell you..." he said, his voice dangerously serious.

My excitement dropped to minus levels.

"Yeah tell me" I said in a low voice. I was so anxious.
"I need to go to London for a week. Hope that's okay.." he said abruptly.
"Yeah, thats fine!" I said, trying to act calm.
"C'mon don't act..." he replied, with a tint of sarcasm.
"I'm not acting!" I shouted.
"Jeez.. calm down. I know you're upset that we haven't met since a long time" he said, but I interrupted him
"Very long time. Be specific Mr.Busy" I said nonchalantly.
"Yeah, yeah... very long time. And I bet you must be raging by now hearing I'm going to London for a week" he said calmly.

How can he be so calm knowing what I was feeling?

"Hmm" that was all I could say.
"So, I've decided, the day I come back, I'll take you on a really special date" he said excitedly.

I almost jumped in surprise. I was glad that Ranjan was back to his usual mood again.

"Wow!! Thank you so much!! Okay now, get ready for your business trip - and don't forget about the surprise wala date the day you come back" I was literally jumping in my cabin at this point.

"I wont - I promise. Bye meri jaan" he said and cut the phone.

I was on cloud nine. When I and Ranjan weren't talking, it reminded me of the time when Sameer and I didn't communicate. I felt so miserable thinking that Ranjan and my story would end in the same way. I am so relieved that we're on good terms!

My happiness was short lived.

Not soon after the call, I got a message. A message from the same unknown number which I had ignored a month ago.

I was shocked. No, I was terrified. Nah, I wanted the ground to swallow me up!

The message had a drive link. I opened it and found 4 images. Two of them were of the time when Sameer and I were watching a movie and my head was on his shoulder for support, the third one was an image of...

I AND SAMEER SLEEPING TOGETHER??

What the hell? Where did he get that from?

It was of the time when Sameer and I shared the same bed on the Mediterranean Cruise Trip. Of course, nothing intimate happened - we just slept side by side.

But the image showed a completely different picture. It was taken from such an angle that it looked like I was cuddling him. If anyone would see the picture, all sort of dirty thoughts would emerge in their head. I felt uneasy.

The fourth pic was what disgusted me the most. It was a close up pic of me, nah not me, my freaking cleavage. I realised that during the photoshoot, my cleavage was a bit visible, and Sameer must have clicked a pic at that instant and cropped it. It made me puke to think that I had loved such a pervert once. Eww...

Then I realized that the unknown number must be Sameer's. Damn it!

Suddenly I got a new message from the unknown contact, a.k.a. Sameer.

It read: Meet me if you don't want these pictures to be leaked

What the hell? Now he was blackmailing me? Why? Oh why? Why can't he just leave me alone? I didn't want to meet him. But I didn't have a choice. Still, I was curious about how he got the picture of I and him sleeping side by side.

I texted: First you tell me how'd you get the pic of us in bed?
He replied: Aww pumpkin pie, its pretty, isn't it?
I typed vigorously: STOP IT! TELL ME HOW YOU GOT THE PIC?
He replied: Money can do anything babe

Hmm.. probably he bribed the cruise managers to give him the pic. Did that mean that the cruise had CCTV cameras even in the bedroom? Gross!

I didn't reply anything for sometime so he texted again: Lets meet on Wednesday. I'll send you the address. Don't be late, else I'll have to come yo your home to pick you. You don't want your neighbors to get the wrong idea right?

I was in a fix. I just had to meet him. I didn't have any other choice. Anyway, what could possibly happen? He won't try to kill me right? Nah - my martial arts that I learnt in high school will be helpful if he tried to do that.

I replied: Done.

That message kind symbolized my life - my life was DONE. I couldn't stop thinking why had God sent Sameer near me again? He wanted me out of his life right? He got that! What did he want now?

My mobile rang again. I thought it would be Sameer, but it was Nisha. I immediately picked it up.

"Hey Bestie! How'cha doing??" he cheerful voice lifted up my mood instantly.
"Nothing. Getting bored" I said.
"Ohh great! I'm in New York right now - you see my flight is delayed. We don't know at what time it'll come so I don't wanna leave the airport. Since your office is near can you..."

I didn't even wait for her to complete. I rushed out of my cabin.

"I'm on my way darling" I said and kept the phone in my pocket.

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"Nice to see you!" she said as we hugged.
"So tell me about your new big project" I egged her.
"No talking about work. Its frustrating!" she said, wiping off fake sweat from her forehead.

"Well I do have something important to talk about..." I said. Then I explained her each and everything that was happening between me and Sameer from the past month. For some reason, I skipped the part that happened today - the blackmailing one.

"OMGosh!! I wanna kill him right now!!" she said. Her eyes were full of rage.
"Calm down! You can't just go and kill somebody!" I said.
"Yeah, I can't kill him. But others can. I have a few contacts. Should I send them to you? Nah, I'll talk to them myself" she said and dialed a number.
I thought she was joking. When I realized she wasn't, I snatched her phone and cut the call.
"Dude just leave it.." I tried to reason with her, "Were you seriously going to call some random goons to kill him?" 
"Yeah, he's bullying you - literally - no wonder what he'll do next?" she said, trying to snatch the phone back.
"Its fine really.. he's just jealous... I'm not really harmed or anything..." I said.
"If you say so, but if he does something again, I'm sending you the contacts.." she said.

This girl was crazy. But she did all that just because she wanted to protect me. I felt grateful.

"Oh.. looks like my flight's arriving in 15mins. See ya' soon Riya. Byee" she said as we did a goodbye hug.

Its a good thing to meet besties once in a while. They really take your mind of somethings. I'm happy to have Nisha in my life. 

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As I returned home from work, I got reminded of Sameer. I was so furious at him that I would rip his head apart if I saw him. Nevertheless, I was really curious on why did he want to meet me? I had already rejected him! Was he gonna do a new proposal? Pfft! I would reject that too - simple! But I had a gut feeling that my meeting with Sameer would be anything but simple. It was as if my life depended on how the meeting goes. I seriously felt like a puppet. And the fact that Sameer was the one holding the strings made it even worse!

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Wednesday rolled around and I got ready. We had agreed to meet at 7pm. Surprisingly, he still hadn't texted me the address. I asked him for the location and you wouldn't guess what he replied.

He texted: Sorry babes! I'm busy tonight. Lets meet up on Saturday, okay?

I was beyond raging. Firstly, I had finally made up my mind to meet him. Secondly, I had somehow dodged my father who asked me where I was going. And thirdly, I spent hours choosing the perfect dress for an argument.

I replied: Nope. Not okay.

He texted almost immediately: I control you. Not the other way around. You get that? So do as I say and meet me on Saturday, or else you know what'll happen.

Yes, I did know what would happen. He would leak my pictures over the net and it would go super-viral. People would blame me for cheating on Ranjan with Sameer, and then I'll have no other option than to date him. What a cheap strategy! But still, it worked - atleast on me.

Probably because I was a girl. Which guy would care if his private pics got leaked? Its surprising that if a guy's private pics are leaked, nothing much happens - but if a girl's pics are leaked, her life is ruined. I hate this fact. Uh.. I'm diverting myself again. But anyway, I'll just have to meet him - I have no other option.

I texted reculantly: Done. 
He replied: Good girl pumpkinpie

Why did he call me that again? This Sameer business gives me a headache. I went to the kitchen to get some water.

"Riya, what happened to your girls night out?" dad asked.

I had told him I was going out with my friends tonight and thats why was decked up. I can't believe I had lied to meet Sameer. Why couldn't I just tell my father so? Maybe because I'm engaged and Sameer was my ex, and my moral compass forbade me from telling him the truth.

"Uh.. my friends are busy" I replied in a low voice.
"Don't worry, I'm free tonight! We can watch netflix together!" he said excitedly.

I didn't want to break his excitement, but I wasn't in a mood to have fun now. So I politely refused. Still, he egged me on.

"Beta, I know you're sad that Ranjan is away for a week. But he'll be coming back Saturday morning. Why don't you have fun yourself until then?" he said.

OMG WHAT?

I had completely forgotten that Ranjan was returning on Saturday. WE ARE SUPPOSED TO HAVE A GRAND DATE ON THAT DAY. Then I realized that I'm supposed to meet Sameer on the same day. Couldn't life get any more complicated? I just wanted to go out with Ranjan and forget about Sameer, and I would have done that also - if that asshole didn't have my pictures. I hate to say it, but I just had to drop out from the surprise date with Ranjan. I couldn't pick up the courage to inform Ranjan about the change of plans - so I decided that I would tell him on Saturday itself. Such a great strategy right? (notice the sarcasm)

As Saturday morning rolled by, I got two major messages that caught my attention. One from my fiancée and the other one from my ex.

Ranjan: Riya!! The flight's gonna land at 3 or 4pm. So I'm planning for the surprise date to be on 8pm. Is that okay?

Sameer: Today is the day you'll meet me pumpkinpie! Be on time , or else you know what I'll do. Location - Hotel Green Park & Time - 8:30

Both the meetings were almost at the same time!! Why?? I hated myself for doing it but I decided to reject Ranjan's surprise date.

I called him and told, "Hey Ranjan, uh.... I'm busy today, so can we have the date some other time? Please don't be mad..."
He was a bit shocked, since he replied after a pause, "That's okay Riya. I know that you have a separate life too - and now that you're a CEO it makes matters more complicated. But as a compensation, you'll have to prepare my favorite kulche..."
"Of course. And thank you for understanding" I said and cut the call.

He was so sweet and understanding. I felt awful rejecting his date for a dumbass like Sameer. My heart wanted to go on the date with Ranjan, but my mind reminded me that Sameer has sensitive information about me. I couldn't risk it  - especially when Ranjan is my fiancée. If anything happens to me, he's bound to get affected - and I wouldn't want that. So did I agree to meeting Sameer just for saving Ranjan? Maybe...