THE BEST PROPOSAL

PROLOGUE

UNEDITED

Please ignore typos and grammatical errors.

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10:00 AM, 22/01/2020

Standing outside the Church in a long, flared, silk and lace detailed white wedding gown, Kiara Pandit, Ex-Miss World, stared at nothing, all her hopes, her faith, her dreams died inside her, though she knew that this was going to happen, there was still a little ray of hope in heart that he would show up, despite the fact that she had made up her mind that she won’t marry him, she still somewhat believed in him that he would at least have the audacity to show up in person and apologize to her for everything he has done in the past, but as the hours passed by, that tiny ray of hope died too, and by each passing second her face turned emotionless, her eyes turned icy, the warmth and smile that were always there on her face were now gone as she remembered the moment everything fell apart right in front of her eyes.

Flashback

A month before the wedding day, Kiara arranged a surprise for her boyfriend by returning home from Kerala, three days earlier then what was planned from a magazine cover photoshoot. Though she and her boyfriend were not in a live-in relationship, he still had a key to her house and went over to her house every day in order to feed her fishes whenever she was gone, which made it easier for her to plan a surprise for him.

Hearing the sound of the door unlocking, Kiara ran to hide in her bedroom closet, excitedly waiting for her boyfriend to show up so she could see the surprise and happiness on his face to finally see her after a week, every single day that he called her, he always mentioned how much he missed her and this was an opportunity for her to surprise him, but what came next shattered her heart and her trust into million pieces, her boyfriend, and her best friend, the two people she trusted and believed to be her well-wishers, entered her bedroom, making out as they pushed each other towards the bed while removing each other’s clothes as fast as they could without letting go of each other’s mouths.

The scene in front of her made Kiara cry in disgust and agony, she looked away from the disgusting play in front of her but didn’t make a sound, even though she wanted to storm out and confront those two people, whom she considered to be her best-friends just till a few moments back, but she held herself back wanting to know how far could those two, who claimed to be her family, could go in betraying her.

"Anant, my love, let's go to the guest bedroom, I'm sick of having her ‘Oh! I’m so innocent and naive’ face in front of me, let's try something new." Subha said pushing Anant away from her as Kiara just listened.

“Why babe, it’s just so comfortable here, this mattress is way too expensive and soft.” Anant complained as Subha sighed loudly in irritation while sitting up on the bed.

“Why don’t you ever listen to me? I told you to marry Kiara as soon as possible, acquire all her property and leave her, but you were not able to convince her, now that I want to do it in the guest bedroom where I won’t have to look at her disgusting face while I have some fun, you still won’t agree, What’s wrong with you? Do you even love me?” Irritation was clearly audible in Subha’s voice as Kiara was finally faced with the reality that was hidden from her, that she failed to see even though it was all happening right in front of her, they were never with her because they loved her or because they considered her as their friend, the only reason that they were with her was just to rob her of everything that she had left, everything that she earned with her hard work, with her sweat and blood, without any support from her family or friends, what disgusted her more was the fact that they knew all of it and were still ready to snatch everything away from her while pretending to be her friends and eventually something more.

“Of course I love you, but she is really stubborn and you know that very well, if I had forced her to marry me earlier she could get suspicious, we have been able to fool her for so long, why not wait for another few weeks and then everything will be ours.” Anant reassured Subha while caressing her cheeks as Subha finally smiled while nodding her head, but inside the closet Kiara was furious, she wanted to throw those two out of her house but she had already decided to wait and held herself back, there was no way that she would let them off that easily.

End of Flashback

Back in the present time, Kiara just sat there on the stairs leading to the Church, lost in her thoughts when she heard something that would change her life forever, for better or for worse, even though she least expected it, all she knew at that moment was that it was the day she will get married, it didn’t matter to whom or why, if she would even be happy, but she didn’t care about all that anymore, now all that she could think about was getting revenge, she was ready to put her whole life and happiness at stake.

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Aditya Malhotra, the CEO of MALKOP group, the largest multinational conglomerate company in India and one of the leading in the world, was standing in front of the Church accompanied by his PA waiting for his bride for their contract marriage in a crisp, tailor-made, body fitting navy blue tuxedo with a crisp white shirt and textured navy blue tie, looking exactly like a prince right out of a Disney movie.

“Sir, we are not able to contact Miss Gandhi, she is already thirty minutes late.” Karam, Aditya’s PA told Aditya, who stood there, leaning against his car, with his arms crossed over his chest, his eyes hidden behind his sunglass and his lips pressed together in a thin line, after all, he was a man who hated wasting even a second of his own time and the time of person he is dealing with, being an annoyingly punctual person himself, he expected everyone around him to be punctual too, he was a busy man and wasting even a minute of his time meant losing millions of dollars.

“I’ll give you fifteen minutes, contact any girl from any prestigious, well-known family, I have to get married today at any cost, forget about the contract, just keep my family in mind before you make any calls.” Aditya ordered coldly as Karam nodded and was about to leave when he noticed a familiar figure of a girl, wearing a white wedding dress approach them and stand in front of Aditya.

“If you are okay with it, would you like to marry me?” She proposed right away and came straight to the point without twisting or playing around with her words. Her eyes as cold as Aditya’s, no emotions reflecting from her face, but she looked and sounded determined, and confident, which Aditya noticed and liked, it was the first time that someone dared to come up to him and speak so straightforwardly and to the point, even though it was an unusual proposal, he decided to let her explain herself and even considered accepting her proposal if it was worth it.

“Why do you want to marry me? Is it because of who I am?” Aditya questioned bluntly and coldly but it didn’t affect her nor did her expressions change.

“From what I heard earlier, you need to get married today at any cost, and your bride isn’t here yet, as for me, the person I was supposed to get married to isn’t coming too, he is busy cheating on me with my best friend, but I have decided that today is the day that I get married, therefore, this is something that we both have in common, and as far as you identity goes, I don’t care who you are or what you do, all I know is that we are in the same situation right now and are in a position where we can help each other.” Aditya was impressed with the girl in front of him, she was fearless and determined, and even though she looked familiar, he couldn’t remember who she was.

“I’m Kiara Pandit, Miss World 2017.” Even though there wasn’t any change in Aditya, Karam clearly seemed taken-a-back, which Kiara notice.

“I know who you are Mr Malhotra, which is why I understand what you are thinking and would like to explain and make myself clear.” Aditya now remembered who this girl was, after all, she stirred up the whole world at one point of time, as he patiently heard whatever she had to say.

“I don’t need your help, or your name to make a way for myself in the industry, I just want to keep a promise I made to myself, and help you keep yours.” Her reason and she herself sounded genuine to Aditya as he then looked at Karam, silently ordering him to find out more details about Kiara, who just nodded and started, he had already searched up about Kiara as soon as she approached them, he already remembered her because his own sister, who dreamed of becoming a model herself, had posters of Kiara in her room, though he wasn’t sure it was her in the beginning, but once she introduced herself all his confusion was gone.

“She is telling the truth, she retracted from mainstream modelling in 2017 due to some personal reasons and has since modelled for various domestic brands. She is the grand-daughter of the Chairman of LOGTEX LTD, which is owned by the Pandit family and are the leading pharmaceutical company of India all around the globe.” Karam was about to continue but Kiara cut him off in between.

“Let me be clear about one more thing, I don’t have any relation with that family now, so it will be better if you reach a decision keeping in mind that I don’t have anything to do with that family anymore.” Kiara was blunt and clear as Karam just started at her surprised, before continuing, while Aditya just stood there un-phased.

“She doesn’t have any criminal record or any civil wrong registered against her, and is considered extremely professional and hard working in the industry, al..” Before he could complete, Karam was stopped by Aditya who just showed him his palm, asking him to stop, as Karam stepped back, allowing Aditya to take over.

“Miss Kiara, are you sure that you want to do this? What if you regret your decision later on?” Aditya asked as a smirk appeared on Kiara’s lips.

“I don’t regret my decisions, Mr Malhotra.” A smirk appeared on Aditya’s lips as well, as Kiara continued.

“And because I’m the one making this proposition, if you do agree to this marriage proposal, I promise to remain faithful to you and this marriage till my breath, and in case things don’t work out between us, I’m ready to sign a contract stating that I don’t need any alimony from you in case we get divorced on any grounds, in no case you will have to suffer any loss because of me and this marriage,” Kiara promised and made herself and her intention clear to Aditya, which answered all of Aditya’s doubts that he had regarding this girl in front of him, and above everything else, she was offering him a better deal which only benefitted him in all aspects, and above all, what made him want to accept Kiara’s offer and marry her was her straightforwardness and confidence and belief in her own decisions, she was ready to face the consequences of her decisions head-on, which that similar to his own.

“Fine, let’s get married.” Aditya announced as Karam looked at his boss surprised, but he also understood that the proposal made by Kiara was indeed in Aditya’s favour and projected no harm to him, which wasn’t the case where he was getting into a six-month contract marriage with Miss Gandhi, who in return wanted a whole lot of shares of one of MALKOP’s leading subsidiary company.

“Do you have any condition or request of your own before we get married?” Aditya asked, waiting to know if there was anything that Kiara wanted or had a hidden intention for.

“Actually, I do have a request.” Kiara said in a low voice, as Karam suddenly doubted his observation and looked at Aditya but he was just the same, Kiara looked at Aditya who asked her to continue by making a gesture with his hands, ready to hear her hidden intention.

“I want to keep our marriage a secret for at least six months.” Aditya was surprised hearing her condition or request in her words, but he masked it well, Karam, on the other hand, wasn’t able to mask his emotions as he started at Kiara with his eyes wide open.

“You can inform and disclose our marriage to your family, but not in the media, it’s a request, I need to prove myself to myself, I have sacrificed my dream and a whole lot of opportunities in the past two years for someone who didn’t even deserve it, so I need to prove it to myself that I can still achieve my dream, and also, I don’t want you to be embarrassed in front of anyone when you introduce me to the world, after all I’m a nobody now, I need to be someone that you can be proud to call your wife.” Aditya was amazed by the condition that Kiara placed in front of him, never had he imagined that someone could request something like this, especially when he had the power to make anyone’s dreams come true.

“Also, if the world knew that I’m you’re your wife, every opportunity that I’ll get will solely be based on the fact that I’m your wife, not my own abilities, which isn’t acceptable to me, I hope you can understand.” Kiara completed, not for once did her eyes leave Aditya’s face as she put forward her request, which clearly projected her determination and honesty in each word that she spoke.

Hearing Kiara, the one thing that Aditya was confident about was that he would never in his life regret his decision of marrying this girl, and in answer to her condition, he finally removed his sunglasses as their eyes met, both their eyes were icy cold,  deprived of any emotion or warmth.

“Let’s head in.” And that was Aditya’s answer as Kiara nodded as the two made their way up the stairs to the Church, followed by Karam.

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“Do you Aditya Malhotra, take thee, Kiara Pandit, as your lawfully wedded wife, till death do you apart?” The Father asked as Aditya and Kiara stood in front of him, facing each other, ready to start a new life together.

“I do.” Aditya answered looking straight into Kiara’s eyes, displaying his sincerity and promise, which Kiara understood instantly, as the Father now turned to Kiara.

“Do you, Kiara Pandit, take Aditya Malhotra, as your lawfully wedded husband, till death do you apart?” Kiara continued staring into Aditya’s eyes as the father asked the same question to Kiara, and without any delay or hesitation, she replied.

“I do.” Her voice was low and soft, just loud enough for Aditya and the priest to hear, and just at that moment, Aditya saw a flash of warmth appear in Kiara’s eyes as if telling him that she actually accepts him as her husband and that now she only belonged to him.

“I now pronounce you, Man and Wife, you may now kiss your bride.” The priest announced as Aditya started at Kiara briefly, trying to find any hesitation or discomfort in her eyes hearing the priest, but all that he found was warmth, so without any delay, Aditya slowly slid his arm around Kiara’s tiny waist pulling her closer, while his other hand slowly made its way to her neck, holding her face up softy as he dipped his head and placed his lips on hers, within seconds, Kiara’s hands made their way to Aditya’s waist as she held on to his torso, supporting herself as her legs turned into jelly, the kiss started as a mere touching of lips, but Aditya deepened the kiss, sucking her lips one by one, and then together as Kiara too responded by opening her mouth and kissing him back, while Karam, stood there clicking pictures and video of the couple, along with two more couples who were to get married next.

Finally, as they ran out of breath, Aditya and Kiara broke the kiss, their foreheads joined together as the panted, with the other two couples clapped and congratulated the couple with big smiles on their faces.

“Hello, Mrs Malhotra.” Aditya whispered as he opened his eyes and looked at Kiara with their foreheads still joined together, as Kiara slowly opened her eyes hearing Aditya and looked at him, a soft shy smile appeared on her lips as she immediately looked down shyly, no matter what happened in the past, since the moment she said I do, she accepted Aditya as her husband, and promised herself that she would do anything to make this marriage work, and try her best to trust her husband and gain her husband’s trust.

“Hello, Mr Malhotra.” She whispered still looking down as a smile appeared on Aditya’s lips watching his shy bride as he withdrew his hand from her neck, and took a step back, before walking out of the Church with his bride in his arms.

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Hello people, I hope you liked the plot of my story and would like to read it further, so please do show your support in any way possible and also, all your suggestions regarding the improvement of this story are welcome.

Hopefully, I'll see you in the next update, till then stay healthy and blessed.

Lots of Love,

A.