Title: Scarlet Dreams

Author: Meghana Sarathy

Genre: Forbidden Romance, Age Gap, New Adult, Love Triangle

Release Date: February 29, 2024

When I was still a little girl, playing with barbies, I saw him as my Prince Charming.

The day I learned what a ‘crush’ means, he was bestowed with the title of my first crush.

As I transitioned into a teenager, he morphed into the man of my dreams.

Every time I got myself off, he was the one who starred in my dark fantasies.

The only one I ever wanted.

But for him, I was merely his best friend’s daughter.

Completely off limits and unattainable.

Until the storm hit.

The tragedy changing the course of all our lives.

He was there through it all..

The man I so easily fell in love with

The one who finally saw me as a woman who had eyes only for him

Hope of finally getting a chance with him blossomed in me

Only for reality to slap me in the face.

There was only one true love of his life

It wasn’t me.

It was my MOM.

“I would love to watch Spirited with you again, but not tonight. I’ve other plans for the night if you’re game.”

And there goes my thoughts again…..and no, this time I’m not reining them in. The more I resist, the stronger they get. The allure of the forbidden. 

“But since I’m so sure that you’ll refuse to do it, let’s play the betting game again. If I win, you do whatever I ask you to and if I lose…I lose. Game over.” She shrugs, ever so casually.

“Wait. What? That’s not fair. If you lose, you get to listen to me too. You’ll do what I ask you to. Now that’s fair.”

She shakes her head, making a disapproving face. “See, that’s the catch. I don’t have to win a bet to listen to you. Anything you ask of me, I’ll do it, Noah. No questions asked. I don’t have it in me to refuse you. In fact, acting on your words and following your footsteps gives me so much joy.”

Don’t I know it? But the billion dollar question that I hadn’t bothered asking up until now is - why? Why do I mean so much to her? How is it that we grew so close? And why does making her smile and seeing her happy take priority over anything else in my life?

Is not searching and probing for answers the safer option? If I had truly been in oblivion up until now, I was at least protected and in bliss. Now? It’s too late for that. Too late to go back. 

“Anyway, let’s get this started. I’ll keep it fairly simple this time. If you answer my question correctly, you give me a dare and I’ll do it..and if you get it wrong.”

“I’ll do whatever it is that you ask of me. Challenge accepted.” I smile coyly, curious about what she has in mind.

At this point all bets are off. There is no saying what can happen, where our thoughts are headed and how to do damage control. I’m scared about how this night can turn out, frightened by what tomorrow will bring us, but bigger than the fear is the thrill. Giving into whatever it is that's brewing between is an appealing idea, potent with so many possibilities I didn’t even know I had the urge to explore. The allure of the taboo is irresistible, and it shocks me to my core thar it’s having such a profound effect on me. Nothing is making any sense anymore.

Meghana Sarathy is from Bangalore, India. She is an avid reader and also a writer. She writes Adult and New Adult romance, and also wishes to try her hands at dark and psychological thrillers. She especially loves reading and writing love triangles, taboo romance, and angst filled stories that are quite complex and unconventional. Her books tend to involve protagonists who are flawed, far from perfect, and as real as they can get. Her all-time favorite characters are her very own characters- Jennifer, Brandon and Linden. She tends to fall hard for boys who are either cocky, bossy, good flirts and total charmers.

She spends most of her free time reading, writing, watching anime or binging shows. Her favorite genres are Psychological Thrillers, Teen Drama and Sci-fi (especially time travel stories). Being a business analyst in a financial firm, she is plugged into the world of finance and has also dabbled in cloud technology. She plays platform games in PS5 when taking short breaks from writing. She is a crazy fan of Dragonball Z and can be seen watching the episodes in repeat. Vegeta is her all-time favorite anime character. Steins Gate and Monster come second in the list of her favorite anime, and currently Mr.Robot and Dark are her fav non-anime series.

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