The other woman

"Tatiana was my fiancee."

I immediately screamed in my head- Son of a bitch.

"Whoa. I didn't think I would be able to say that", he said before I could reply.

Wow. This was really difficult for him.

"Did I say that out loud? Fuck", he continued.

Man, this was hilarious. I was shocked but I still found this funny. He was so disturbed by his own behavior. I pressed my lips together and then turned them to put them between my teeth, in an attempt to stop my laughter.

"I need a drink", he finished. He turned and walked towards the right wall of his room and pressed on a compartment in the design. A cabinet opened up and he took out a bottle of Whiskey and a glass from it. He filled the glass for himself.

"You want one?"

"No."

He closed the cupboard, whisky bottle and glass still in hand. I was still processing what he had told me. No wonder Mathews couldn't stop smiling. He thought his daughter's presence would bring problems in my marriage. For a man who knew me for almost five years, he didn't know me at all if he thought that. I couldn't care less about his daughter. As long as she knew that she and Miraj were done, I was cool. I had confidence that Miraj wouldn't throw away a five year alliance for an ex-fiancee. Not when Ari was involved.

"So let me get this straight, Tatiana is Mathew's older daughter and was engaged to you."

He nodded.

"But that's impossible", I said. He was about to take a sip of the Whiskey he had just poured when he heard me and stopped. He had a puzzled expression on his face.

"What does that mean? I just told you I was engaged to her. You think it's impossible that someone would want to marry me without a deal?"

I rolled my eyes at his behavior and said, "I meant that I had you checked. You weren't officially engaged to anyone. You had a thing with Tatiana but that was just three months and way before we met. When I read your file a couple years later, I was pissed that you had lied to me and I didn't know to what end."

"You had me checked?"

"That's the part you're focusing on? Don't act like you didn't do the same."

He shrugged at my reply and chugged his Whisky. Wow, that must burn. He poured another two- fingers in his glass. His silence confused me.

"Are you saying you didn't have me investigated before we got married?"

"I didn't have to. My father sent a file with majority of the things to me right after we first met. Then he kept updating it once in a while till I changed my name. But I just had it updated when I met you again."

"Okay. So you're saying I was a potential marriage alliance for two years before you proposed the deal?"

"Yes."

"Okay. That's gonna take some time to digest. Till then tell me why didn't anyone know you wanted to marry Mathews' daughter? Because that's the only way it wouldn't be in your file. Why did you try so hard to keep it hidden? I am guessing your father was the reason but I need details, Miraj."

He sighed and looked into his glass. 'Why was he still drinking near the cabinet? Why am I still standing?' I went to the couch to sit down for this conversation. He made his way to the couch with his glass and Whisky bottle in hand. He took a sip from the glass and said, "It's the same old tale of the rich guy who falls in love with the poor girl and the rich father disapproves. He envisioned a more beneficial marriage for me. Like ours."

I don't know why but getting his father's approval gave me goosebumps. I didn't like this feeling. And the way Miraj was behaving, he was still affected by Mathews' daughter. I felt like the other woman here because Miraj was with me. And I felt like the villain in their story. The one standing between the two lovers and their happily ever after. I didn't like this feeling either.