Flawed

Flawed IN DISGRACE BOOK ONE SHILPA SURAJ Copyright © 2023 by Shilpa Suraj All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review. To Z, as always! Contents Prologue Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Chapter 15 Chapter 16 Chapter 17 Chapter 18 Chapter 19 Chapter 20 Chapter 21 Chapter 22 Chapter 23 Chapter 24 Chapter 25 Chapter 26 Chapter 27 Chapter 28 Chapter 29 Chapter 30 Chapter 31 Chapter 32 Chapter 33 Chapter 34 Chapter 35 Chapter 36 Chapter 37 Chapter 38 Chapter 39 Chapter 40 Chapter 41 Chapter 42 Chapter 43 Chapter 44 Chapter 45 Chapter 46 Chapter 47 Chapter 48 Chapter 49 Chapter 50 Epilogue Acknowledgments About the Author Also by Shilpa Suraj Prologue Vaani pouted, her lush red lips coming together like the perfect Cupid’s bow. As she leaned forward, she brought her arms together, making sure her cleavage rose and showcased its ample charms to the camera. “But baby,” she said, her voice husky with need and yearning. “You can’t be serious!” Rohan shook his head, a wry smile on his lips. “You don’t want me, Vaani. You know that.” “But I do, baby.” Vaani licked her lips, watching as his gaze dropped to them. She saw it then. The flare of need. Oh yeah, the ass may claim he was choosing another contestant, but he wanted her. “You are all I want. All I have ever wanted.” Anger surged within her, but she continued to smile at him, her sultry gaze hooking on to the slight bulge in his pants. She would not lose! Not to a simpering, innocent of the ages. Lasya might look innocent but she sure as hell wasn’t. Vaani knew that because she knew nobody, literally nobody, was as nice as Lasya pretended to be. Everyone was out for themselves and the more watchful you were, the less likely you ended up with a knife in the back. Like the one Vaani was metaphorically sharpening in that moment. This show was Vaani’s shot at the big time. She would not let anyone, not even her so-called fake BFF take it from her. Ambition, drive, and hard work, the most important things in life. She could practically hear her father’s voice droning on in her head. Well, Vaani had all three in spades. She just chose to apply it in a field of work her father didn’t or rather refused to understand. Across from her, Rohan shifted uncomfortably in his chair. His pants were looking awfully tight, Vaani thought smugly. Time to move in for the kill. She blinked hard, forcing the tears that she’d always had ever ready to the surface. She could feel the camera zooming in on her face. This was reality television gold after all. She allowed one solitary tear to flow down her cheek, glistening in the harsh lights on set. “I love you, Rohan. No one will ever love you the way that I do.” She stood up and sauntered over to where he was sprawled on a couch, manspreading to the hilt. “Where is Lasya, Rohan?” she asked, slowly lowering herself into his lap and running her fingers through his hair. “Why isn’t she here today?” A twinge of guilt sparked to life inside her and Vaani ruthlessly squashed it down. Lasya was sleeping in her cabin, the one that Vaani and she shared. She was sleeping because Vaani had disabled her phone alarm. All ten single girls had been assigned cabins with a roommate for the duration of filming. Ten women, one man. Whom would he choose to be his soulmate? Vaani, of course. She scoffed in her mind even as she continued to gaze adoringly at him. As if that twit Lasya stood a chance. Vaani would win. She had to win. The talent agency she’d wanted representing her from day one had told her that if she could make herself visible and saleable on this show, then they would take her on. Take her on. Her. Vaani Jaishankar, a nobody from nowhere. She would be represented by the same agency as the top Bollywood stars. And one day, she would be a top Bollywood star too. One day. Soon. She gazed lovingly at the man watching her, his eyes glazed with lust and his hard on prodding her hip. All she needed was for this fool to pick her in the grand finale tomorrow. So what if her roommate and friend had genuine feelings for him? Genuine her ass. Who actually fell in love on reality television? That was the real con. Lasya was the real con. At least Vaani was honest about what she wanted, even if it was only in her mind. Fame. Money. Stardom. Escape. With that in mind, she lowered her mouth to the man panting slightly beneath her, his chest heaving like a piston. So unattractive, she thought even as she smiled seductively at him. She poured it all into that kiss, the furious need to win, the desperate fire to show her family that she could and would succeed on her own, and the ambition that drove her to betray the only girl who’d befriended her in years. She heard it then, a loud gasp. Lasya. Right on time. It had taken some real machinations to engineer this moment and people thought she was just beauty and no brains. Vaani sat up, one hand on her chest, eyes wide and, hopefully, fearful. “Lasya!” The prat under her gasped too. “Baby no!” But with one last tearful look at the two of them, Lasya whirled and ran, her pretty white dress trailing in the mud and gathering muck as she