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“I am fine. I was just feeling unwell. I will be okay tomorrow.”

“Unwell? What happened? I thought my surprise comeback would bring a smile to your face but it looks like you got the greatest shock of your life.”

The greatest shock of my life?Yes, I definitely got that today when I married Aarav Raichand.

“I am fine, Mohit. Need to sleep. That’s all. I.. I will speak to you tomorrow.”

I shouldn’t be shutting him out, but that’s exactly what I am doing. My brain pokes me to tell him everything, but my heart is too weak to sustain another trauma of its aftereffects.

“Sure. Take a good rest.”

He is about to place a kiss on my forehead when I back off. I don’t want any man to touch me right now. I feel too fragile.

“Thanks.” That’s all I managed to say and shut the door.

Tears are all I have in my eyes at the moment, apart from sleep. How am I ever going to fix this? But what scares me the most is Aarav’s silence over this marriage. He married me to avenge the Raichands, then why didn’t he make it public? What is his motive? Is his silence a hint of any major storm?

CHAPTER 9

Aarav

It’s a night of victory. I pour some wine into my glass and bring it to my lips as I stare at the project papers before me. Just my signatures on it, and Mohit’s doom in the business shall begin. I have already snatched the woman he dreamed of marrying, ruining his personal life forever. He has nothing left anymore that he can claim as his. I had no qualms with Mohit before, because no matter how much I ignored him, he still had my father’s blood. That was one thing that made me feel for him. When Maa was alive, she always wanted me to consider him as my brother, and not as a step. It was her big heart that she took my father’s boy from his second wife, as her own son. I never understood where she got that strength in her to ignore my father’s biased decisions, which always favored my grandmother and Mohit’s mother, while all Maa got was rejection and pain. If there is anything that I don’t want to adopt from my mother, it is that strength. She was too kind to forgive what they did with her. I can’t.

I still can’t forget the day when Maa had wanted to wish Mohit on his 15th birthday, and as he was in India with his grandmother to celebrate the same, Maa specially made a cake for him, like she did on all of my birthdays and went to Raichand Mansion to gift him the same. I wasn’t home to stop her, but when I got to know from one servant of Raichand Mansion how badly Mohit insulted my mother and threw the cake on the floor, I couldn’t wait to punch his face and teach him what a grave mistake he did by calling my mother my father’s wh***. It was the biggest invisible slap on my mother’s face that I could never tolerate. If Maa hadn’t given me her promise not to create any further scene, I wouldn’t have minded digging Mohit’s grave then and there. It was that day when I promised to hate Mohit as much as I hated his grandmother, Durga Raichand.

A phone call breaks my trance. It’s Aman.!! My man! Always working for me, but I wonder why he called me at this hour though. I answer the call, putting it on speaker so that I can enjoy the wine simultaneously.

“You should take a break, Aman, or the best get married. You work too hard.”

He laughs brings a smile to my lips too.

“No thanks. I am better single. That at least keeps me focused. My friend had the same belief once, but alas.. he too changed his mind and got married today.”

I know he is talking about me. I am married!! To Jhanvi Sikand. My Jaan!! It’s been just three hours since I had sneaked into the Raichand Mansion to meet her. I just couldn’t stay calm without knowing if she did fine. It was obvious she had got the major shock of her life today, in terms of her marriage to me, so I had to ensure she hadn’t taken things too seriously. I have my sources in Raichand Mansion who work for them but are loyal to me. So, I used their presence to get an entry in the house, straight to my wife’s room. She had just returned from dinner and was undressing, a scene I should have skipped watching but I didn’t want to. Marrying Jhanvi might have been the motive of my revenge, but I have to admit, I craved her. With a fiery heart and feisty mind, she was exactly the kind of woman I would have loved as my wife. If only, the circumstances we met and had to marry weren’t so bizarre. Now I know she is going to hate me throughout her life. Wish I could change that.

“Are you listening?”

Aman’s voice brings me out of my reverie. I sip some more wine before asking him to continue.

“Sign the deal papers and we will officially let it out that the DG group of companies have lost their most precious clients of five years to the AR Group. That’s going to be the biggest news of this month, Aarav. It calls for a celebration.”

“Rightly said, Aman. It calls for a celebration and that’s the day after tomorrow.” I declare.

“Day after tomorrow?” he repeats.

I finish the wine in one go and sign the papers. So far, that’s what had been pending from my end to officially seal the deal.

“Yes, and invite every member of the DG group too. I want them all at that party. Afterall, I have another announcement to make.”

Aman takes a minute to read between my lines.

“Oh God, Aarav. Are you serious? Is this really how you…”

“Just do it, Aman and save your anxiety. Good night.”

I drop the call and head back to my room to call it a night!! What a day it was. Full of tricks and well played drama before Jhanvi Sikand to show how brutal I could get if she didn’t marry me.

I took pheras with Jhanvi in my arms. Never planned that, but somehow it gave me utmost joy and some beautiful moments to recall. Wow!! And how can I forget the kiss that I placed on her cheeks tonight when Mohit was just a door away from us? That kiss was a reminder to Jhanvi that she was mine and no matter how much she ignored that, she would always be mine. In every way!!

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