Page 88 of Don't Date Your Nemesis

My stomach dropped. “Planned?”

“You were about to get the film with the director Mahesh Kapoor. It was a career-defining lead role.” She continued, laughing bitterly, “Yash wanted it for his friend, some actor he owed a favor to. But Kapoor only wanted you.”

I remembered that role and how I had turned it down months ago, right after I found Yash and Diya together. I was too devastated to function and too broken to work. Especially with such a brilliant director.

“He needed you distracted,” Diya continued. “And hurt, so he seduced me, making me part of his plan."

“And you went along with it,” I said, my words harsh.

“Yes.” She met my eyes, a similar shade of brown and gold. “I did.”

“Why?”

“Because I wanted revenge.”

I stared at her.

“He told me everything, Dee. Bragged about how he was going to ruin you and how easy it would be to manipulate your twin sister.” Her hands clenched into fists. “And I smiled and played along. Let him think I was stupid enough to fall for him. Let him think he had won.”

“I don’t understand.”

“Dee, I never slept with him,” she said softly. “That day… we didn’t do anything. I could never do that to you. All I’ve been doing is gathering evidence for months. Every text message where he admits what he did, every email to his friend about sabotaging your career, and I’ve recorded every conversation.” She pulled out her phone. “I’m planning to release an entire expose on him right before his new film drops. He’ll be destroyed and canceled. Everything he did to you, I’m going to do to him ten times worse.”

My mouth went dry as I stared at my sister.

“Why are you telling me this now?” I asked, still trying to process everything she had just told me.

“I’ve been trying to talk to you for months!” She said, her voice turning high-pitched. “You never pick up my calls, don’t answer my messages. And when we’re at family events, that shithead is stuck to me like a leech. I couldn’t risk him overhearing.”

“But what about those articles about me…” I asked, thinking back to the tabloids calling me difficult, unstable, and jealous.

“You’re my twin, Dee,” she said, tears glistening in her eyes. “Do you really think I’d ever do that to you? That has Yash written all over it. He has been feeding stories to the press, making you look bad so the Kapoor team would drop you.”

I thought about it, and she was right. Yash has always been petty.

“And he’s done this before,” Diya continued. “Remember his previous relationship? Riya Talwar? She got backlash until she had to settle for small modeling gigs right when she signed up for a big breakout movie.”

I remembered Riya. She disappeared from the industry almost overnight, and whenever I asked about his relationship with her, he’d scowl and tell me how she cheated on him and hated talking about her.

“He has a pattern,” I whispered.

“Yes. And I’m going to expose all of it.” Diya grabbed my hand. “But I need your help. We have to keep playing our parts in public. Make him think we still hate each other while we strategize and take him down.”

My mind raced as I said, “Blake! She’s my publicist, she could help.”

“I hope she will,” Diya said firmly.

I looked at my sister and saw the truth and determination in her eyes. She had the absolute determination to protect me, even if it meant destroying herself in the process.

“Why didn’t you just tell me from the start?” I asked. “I would have broken up with him, and then we would have…”

She shook her head. “You loved him, Dee. I tried to talk to you about him, and you thought he was going to propose to you.”

I remembered that and gave her a sheepish look.

“And if you had broken up with him, it wouldn’t have been worth it. And then… you found us. You were heartbroken, and Yash was watching everything. If I had told you then, he would’ve known I was playing him.” She squeezed my hand. “I had to let you hate me. I’m sorry, but I thought it was the only way to make this work.”

We sat in silence, the weight of months of misunderstanding settling between us.