Chapter 2

Dressed in a light green full-sleeved kurti that accentuated her curves perfectly, Tanvi was looking gorgeous. Her cheeks had turned crimson as her heart raced. Admiring herself in the mirror, she picked up her dupatta and applied pink lipstick on her luscious lips. She was excited to make the best impression on her in-laws who were waiting for her downstairs. Her ears were adorned with small pearl studs that belonged to her mother. She could feel her mother’s presence to support her whenever needed. She was indeed, anxious.

Nervously, Tanvi was pacing along the length of her room when Abhishek called her, "Di, guests are downstairs. Papa is calling you."

Smiling coyly, she opened the door when Abhishek chortled, "Di, he is freaking Arjun Singhania. You will get married to Arjun in the most affluent families of India. Goddamit, this is freaking awesome".

Tanvi could not contain her happiness for once. She walked down gracefully with immense excitement to meet her prospective groom, the great Arjun Singhania whom she had just seen in the newspapers. She remembered her cold exterior and dominating aura as exhibited in the photographs and she wondered if he would appreciate her simple demeanor or not. She got cautious of herself suddenly.

Arjun, was seated on the sofa with his parents and grandmother who were happily chit-chatting with Pandit Madhurshankar and his son. In reality, he had liked the humble priest and his intelligent son who were talking nicely with everyone. However, his mood was sour at the thought of getting married and he was brainstorming ideas to reject the girl when Tanvi entered the scene.

Arjun was dumbstruck looking at the beautiful, sexy girl coming towards him. Her milky white skin was shining brightly in the hues of light green dress. Arjun could not help but stare at her luscious, pink lips. His eyes wandered at her curvy body, heavy breasts and small waist. No doubts, he found her sexy and a perfect wife-material when his mind reminded him that she could be a gold-digger disguised in a gorgeous face.

Soon, she was made to sit on the couch just beside Arjun. Her vanilla body-scent hit his nostrils and he was truly, mesmerized. He forgot to exhale the sweet smell for once. A small smile played on his lips looking at her while Tanvi had her eyes glued to her lap but as soon as an incident from past flashed in front of his eyes, his demeanor changed and he realized Tanvi was none than a gold-digger who was brought up to lure old people from wealthy households and end up marrying a rich guy. He made his opinion that Tanvi was actually trying to be in good books of his grandma to bag him and flaunt him like her trophy. He was irritated at the mere thoughts of her being a gold-digger.

"They look so good together", Shikha squealed gleefully just like a teenage school girl while Vinayak and Vandana could not help but agree. Pandit Madhurshankar Rao was really happy for his daughter as he checked horoscope. “They will have a perfect future and they will be blessed with two kids", Pandit Madhurshankar Rao murmured and the anxious atmosphere turned into a blissful one.

Tanvi could feel a burning gaze from Arjun who was glaring at her coldly. Her anxiety was at peak and her heart was beating really fast. She wanted this ordeal to end up as soon as possible. She wondered if Arjun was unhappy or angry with the prospect of the wedding.

As the adults talked, Vinayak proposed, "I guess we should let the kids talk alone".

As the rest agreed, Madhurshankar said, "Tanvi, please take Arjun to your room."

Arjun was getting irritated at every second. He smirked as he had got an opportunity to rile up the gold-digger sitting right beside him.

Tanvi got up and ushered Arjun to her room while Arjun followed her not before admiring her slender leggings-clad legs. Suddenly he craved to see all the nooks and crannies of her curvy body as his wild imaginations raced up. He huffed as she opened the door of a small yet, beautiful room painted with pastel colours. He could not help but admire the neat and tidy room with everything arranged properly. He could see a study table on the left near the big french window and some bean bags arranged in the other corner with a small coffee table in the centre. The bed was neatly arranged with a pink bedsheet while the walls were full of photographs.

"Where is your mother?", he questioned looking at the simple lady in a family photo. He had not seen her in the house and he wondered why had her mother missed an important event of her life.

With a heavy heart, Tanvi gulped a lump in her throat as she answered, "She died of cancer last year."

Arjun felt awkward. Losing loved ones is never easy and he knew that. Mumbling a sorry, he made himself comfortable on one of the bean bags while Tanvi sat on the bed maintaining comfortable distance from him.

Reliving the beautiful memories with her mother, she said, "Mummy was really close to my heart. She was my best friend. She got really weak during her last days. Her eyes were sunken and she lost her hair. She lost all her weight. One day she just left us." Her heart clenched, she tried to fight her tears that were ready to flow from her eyes.

"I can understand", Arjun mumbled as his heart pained looking at her glossy eyes suddenly feeling bad to make her cry.

Tanvi cherished his handsome features, his pitch black eyes and his chiseled biceps ready to pop out of his black shirt. She could see the two buttons of his shirt which were open and suddenly she urged to touch him, feel him and run her fingers on his wonderful body. She admired the way he was concerned of her glossy eyes and her mother. She could feel the subtle way of his care and she liked that. She realized she had fallen hard for the handsome man who gave her the vibes of a dominating businessman like she had read in all the erotica literature. She gulped hard as the wild thoughts crossed her mind.

"Why are you ready for this marriage?", Arjun asked trying to make out if she was a gold-digger or not. He needed to be sure after all, getting married to a wrong girl would destroy the peace of his family.

"It was my mummy's last wish to see me married but my father did not know that she would leave us so early. Now that, Papa has got a proposal, I trust him with every thing. I have to take this chance, I cannot deny. If not you, Papa will find someone else. I am just here to see the grooms and exhibit myself in front of them. I need to marry one day as it is my father’s wish. Though I don’t want to leave my family, being a girl, I have my own downsides. With the fear of society, Papa wants to marry me off and I don’t have any say in this regard." Tanvi confessed. She did not want to lie and come out clear with every thing.

Arjun looked into her beautiful brown eyes trying to find facade or lies but he could not find any. Being genuinely impressed by her heartfelt answer, he planned to get a background check of the girl and decided he would give her a chance. He could not love her but he decided to give respect to his wife and fulfil all her desires. He hated girls no doubts, and he could not trust Tanvi because of his past but his heart urged to give things a chance, a very subtle chance though.

"I am getting married because my dadi wants this. I am still not ready so make a decision wisely." Arjun warned her as he wanted to know her more.

"I am just twenty five and I am also getting married for the first time. I am also not ready." Tanvi guffawed.

"For lifetime", Arjun corrected with all possessiveness while Tanvi cluelessly asked, "What?"

"You are getting married to me for your lifetime and you are just mine", Arjun spoke each and every word with immense seriousness that Tanvi flinched. She could feel the heat down there as she imagined Arjun commanding her to pleasure him. His dominating aura woke her wild desires and she wondered why she was acting like a nymphomaniac.

"I am not a commodity", she replied stuttering.

Arjun laughed trying to defy all her claims while she glared at him with equal ferocity trying to make her point very clear.

"I will continuing teaching. I might take a break for two months but I would not quit", Tanvi spoke confidently glaring at his pitch black eyes.

Arjun chuckled. Though he was quite okay with an independent girl but he knew his family might not agree to this. He wondered why his would-be wife wanted to teach out of all jobs that he could bring to her feet. He was daydreaming about opening a school for his wife when he heard her bellowing, "And dare you deny me!"

No doubts, Tanvi was already in the fiery wife mode. Arjun smiled and replied, "My family would not approve you being a teacher."

"Deny me outright then", Tanvi said with a heaviness in her tone as all her dreams of licking his Adam's apple got shattered for once. Arjun was surprised at the independent girl. Somewhere his heart wanted to believe she was not a gold-digger as she was certainly not after his wealth.

"No, you are marrying me for a lifetime, no seven lifetimes", Arjun teased a baffled Tanvi as he said, "I would invest in a school here and I am sure then my family would not deny you working with the non-profit wing of Singhania Enterprises".

Tanvi could not help but fall hard for him. She could sense the authority in his voice and admirable sense of making promises. She knew how to make him fulfil his promises and thus, she nodded in affirmation.

"Impressive, Arjun", she commented.

"I am okay with you calling me by my name but my family is not so broad-minded or liberal you people call, you will have to see to this", Arjun uttered the most patriarchal words leaving Tanvi baffled but she knew how families in Rajasthan worked. Despite she despised the idea of male dominance in the Rajasthani households but she was okay with everything after all, she knew she could change lot many things in favor of her. She was optimistic and confident of bringing about a change since childhood and this is why she was passionate of teaching kids and changing the lives of young children who were the future of her nation.

"I will see to it", she mumbled and Arjun who did not know what was going inside her little head, admired her sense of being a submissive wife. She was indeed, a perfect wife-material, he deduced.

Before they could talk further, much to their dismay, they heard Abhishek calling them down. A flustered couple thus, walked out of the room.

“You are gorgeous and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise", Arjun mumbled as she walked ahead of him though he wanted to yank her arm and kiss her hard. His thoughts were getting haywire with her.

She turned and smiled at him as butterflies did a happy dance in her stomach. She mumbled, “You look handsome too and don’t let anyone else appreciate your features except your wife", showcasing her possessive self. Arjun chuckled at her statement making her heart flutter. Little did she know Arjun actually did not allow anyone call him handsome or get romantically involve with him since last five years.