The Mysterious CEO's Domineering Devotion

CHAPTER 7 - Burning Hatred

At Midnight

Jwalin sat in his room holding a glass of red wine. Looking at his disheveled appearance, his cousin, Deepak Oberoi's forehead wrinkled, "what's bothering you?"

"I don't want this marriage to happen. But there's nothing I could do to avoid it." Jwalin stated miserably.

"I heard from Uncle. She seems to be a nice girl, Jwalin. Give her a chance." Deepak pressed his shoulder while he shook his head in disapproval, "never." He shouted and broke the glass in rage.

"I don't even consider taking that pretentious bi*ch as my employee, forget about it as my wedded wife." He yelled taking another glass from the cabinet.

Deepak frowned hearing that. He couldn't help but ask, "What did she do to you? Why were you against her? She's such a sweetie, you know? I can say that just by glancing at her picture!"

Glancing at Deepak, Jwalin scoffed in disbelief, "Hehe!!! I'm not liking her? You're wrong! I f*****g hate her."

Seeing Deepak wide eyes, he continued wile lighting his cigarette, "And what did you say, she's a sweetie?"

Deepak gulped noticing Jwalin's temper, and remained slient.

Jwalin sneered, "No, she's just desperate to have me. You're all fools to think of her like that." He enunciated each word, causing a shiver in Deepak.

His chuckle seemed scary, making hell break loose any minute.

"This is going to be a huge mistake." Deepak thought, seeing his brother, "this marriage, and their lives are doomed."

"Why did uncle force you?" Deepak asked, raising a brow out of curiosity.

"I don't know, but one thing for sure is, I never expected him to threaten me using my position and inheritance. That bi*ch must plot a scheme behind all this." Jwalin stated in a hoarse voice while taking a puff.

"Why do you think it's all her fault? Do you think uncle was gullible?" Deepak stressed observing Jwalin's expression and continued, "Don't you know him well?" Deepak asked, as a matter of fact.

But Jwalin was hell adamant about his views, and he was trying to make himself believe that she was a witch who ruined his life in the name of marriage, instead of believing his father was the main culprit!

Shaking his head, annoyed, Jwalin murmured, "Just tell me one thing, Deepak."

Turning his gaze towards Jwalin, giving all his attention, Deepak answered, "Hmm. What is it?"

Taking another of wine, Jwalin reasoned, "Without dad knowing her prior, is there any way he'd be forcing me like that?"

Tilting his head aside, Deepak thought for a second, "Nope. He surely knows her. I saw his proud smile when he was telling me about Pranavi."

Hearing that, a sly chuckle erupted on Jwalin's lips."Exactly. Isn't it enough that she's behind all this?" Jwalin tried to make a point.

Deepak eyes popped out hearing such an explanation, "What the f**k is wrong with you, Jwalin? How can this justify your accusations against her?"

"I don't care. But I'll make her life a living hell after marriage. That's for sure." Jwalin enunciated each word with utmost hatred.

Deepak froze listening to the tone Jwalin used. He didn't understand what to do or say to make Jwalin change his view.

Stroding towards a nearby wall, with his hands folded across his chest, Jwalin continued, "If she has the guts to toy me, trick me and play with me, then I'm more than willing to do the same with her."

His gaze hardened as the aura coming from him became deadly. His coldness can freeze anyone who's on his way with no return.

Deepak swallowed hard, "But... This is wrong, Jwalin. This isn't you!"

With a clenched jaw, Jwalin said, his eyes bloodshot, "No, this is me. I don't tolerate some cheap slut trifling with me. If she needs money, she can come to me directly. Why all this facade?"

With a scoff, he pulled his hair in frustration, "She's just another gold digger who's waiting to get in my pants to be Mrs. Oberoi." Those venomous words from him made Deepak bewildered.

The entire nation is well aware of how the Oberoi family dealt with scheming people. And a few people knew exactly who the person was behind that!

It’s none other than Jwalin Oberoi! His gaze was enough for people to shudder in fear, his word was a command. He was known as a ruthless, mysterious, and devilish man.

"Is my brother going to be this cruel to his family? To his wife? Is he going to ruin her life? Poor Pranavi!! How is she going to take all of this?" He wondered while patting Jwalin and left him alone.

"You can make my dad smitten by you, but not me. I'll show you how wrong you're for messing with me, Pranavi, you little vixen." Jwalin curled his lips waiting for his prey to fell in his hands!

...

It was dark, with bright stars shining in the sky, making it appear beautiful. The roads were almost empty and the place was serene.

Pranavi sat in a car in the backseat and was chatting happily with her elder brother while her father was driving the car.

Her mother smiled, gazing at her two kids, who were so busy in their world. The atmosphere was pleasant with a bright smile settled on all their faces as if they were a happy family.

In the next second, it was raining heavily with ear-piercing thunder and Pranavi saw blood dripping from her clothes and head.

Glancing aside, she saw her mother and father lying in pools of blood motionless.

Her brother, with his little strength, struggled hard and was also drenched in blood on the muddled ground.

She was crying so badly though she was heavily injured too. Suddenly, she could only see the red liquid everywhere, and the haunting voices were driving her crazy.

Her forehead was covered in sweat, and she was desperately struggling to get out of that nightmare. Fighting with herself, she woke up from her slumber with a mourning loss.

For a while, she couldn't forget what she had seen. It's been a year since she last got that.

Unfortunately, Dheeraj and Leela made her remember the things she was trying so hard to forget, which brought her back to square one.

With a sigh, she strode to the washbasin, and all she saw was red blood. Shutting her mouth tightly with her hands, she leaned onto the wall while tears flew freely.

Her forehead creased, her breath hitched and she was suffocated. It was becoming hard to breathe and her heart tightened in pain. She knew she should get out of there as soon as possible before she lost it.

Immediately, she threw cold water on her face repeatedly to just remove the sight of blood from her vision.

Slapping her cheeks a couple of times to get back her sanity, she saw the time, 05:00 Am.

With that, she strode out of the house and hopped on a bus to return to M City.

...

By the time she got back to her house, her eyes became red, her face eerily pale, and she collapsed onto the floor.

Grabbing the medicine box, she consumed the pills and rested her head on the bed while she sat on the floor, defeated.

"How many times am I going to suffer from this?" She mumbled with neverending pain in her voice.

"It was as fresh as it happened in my memory." Her eyes closed shut bitterly, but the haunting memories weren't leaving her.

When the clock hit 11:00 am, her alarm banged in the room, making her jerk from her thoughts.

"Aiya! I'm going to be late for class!" With a shriek, she temporarily forgot the troublesome issues she needed to deal with.

Abruptly, she grabbed ankle-length blue denim, paired it with a baggy black full sleeves T-shirt, styled her hair into a quick messy ponytail, grabbed her tote, and slipped into her sneakers.

She reached the parking lot and couldn't see the bike she was riding for college. "ugh! It seems Shreya left in that."

"Couldn't she wait for me!" Pranavi muttered when she remembered she had suddenly returned without informing her.

Glancing at her Harley Davidson, she doesn't want to catch attention by going on that for college. With a sigh, she hopped in a cab and dialed Shreya.

Shreya cut the call and a message popped on Pranavi's screen. "Yes, girl?"

Pranavi understood that Shreya couldn't answer her call since she might be in class. So, she replied, "I'm back. Coming to college!"

"Good. All okay?"

"Nuh-uh. We'll discuss them later."

"Got you!"

...

Pranavi walked into her class and, as usual, occupied the last row without glancing at anyone. She was long used to those staring and mocking glares.

Since she has social phobia, she mostly avoids getting close to people but will respond confidently when needed.

Although Shreya and Pranavi were at the same university and pursuing a Dual MBA together, one of their majors was Finance Management.

For the other major, Shreya was in Operations Management, and Pranavi was in Business Analytics.

Unfortunately, on her depressing day, they were in separate classes and Pranavi couldn't focus on the lectures.

It doesn't matter how much she was trying to concentrate, her focus was drifting to yesterday's unbelievable events.

She was even scolded by her lecturer for being absentminded, which was really rare for her, because she was the topper in her major!

How can she concentrate when there are a ton of things that need her immediate attention other than this class?

Her thoughts were completely consumed by Jwalin Oberoi, her fiance, whose presence screamed power and demanded obedience.

The only thing that remained constant over time was he was not the one for her, and she should do something to stop the marriage from happening!

Pranavi heard about Jwalin Oberoi, but Jwalin being the mysterious and aloof man he was, there weren't any news articles on him apart from the way he does business.

He was known as the most talented businessman and was listed in Forbes when he was 25. For the last four consecutive years, he occupied the most prominent ranks in Forbes.

He even established a few companies on his own in various industries, and they were among the top businesses in just a couple of years. That itself speaks of how capable he was!

He was a man whom anyone would think at least ten times to be on his bad side and offend him because they definitely wouldn't get a good end!

Several businesses vanished by challenging Jwalin Oberoi! Many tried to compete with him and get him down, but none succeeded.

Surprisingly, there were no pictures of him on the internet showing how mystifying and low-key he really was!

Moreover, most people don't know what Jwalin Oberoi looks like, but the name itself sends them onto their knees. That's the power he carried!

After seeing all the articles on Jwalin, Pranavi came to the conclusion that Jwalin was a man who was dangerously powerful, terrifyingly mysterious, sinfully tempting, and freezingly cold!

"How can such an almighty man marry me?" That question was burning her insides.

Gazed at herself, she mumbled, "I'm an average-looking girl with no stunning looks! Whereas he was totally extraordinary!"

Reminiscing his style, looks, and aura, which screamed richness, she mused, "I'm not from his world, and I'm not even rich!"

"Moreover, I'm just a student!" Scratching her neck in annoyance, she punched the bench and mumbled an ouch.

But the question wasn't leaving her. "How can we be together? That's insane!" She couldn't help but doubt herself when facing Jwalin.

Shaking her head, her brown eyes held determination, and she decided not to let this marriage fiasco be completed!

...

She strode to the entrance of the university gate and quickly hailed a cab.

"To Oberoi Entreprises HQ." Pranavi said to the driver and leaned her head on the window with questions clouding her thoughts, "What if he didn't agree?"

Closing her eyes shut, she licked her lips, "What am I supposed to do then?"

With a defeated sigh, she murmured, "How can I escape this?"

Soon, she reached the tall building, which was located at the heart of the city surrounded by bustling traffic.

The setting sun had hues of orange on the once clear blue sky, making it warm.

Pushing the nervousness aside, she practiced a nice smile to look good, though it sucked!

She stepped out and walked to the entrance of the building where everyone was busily moving in formal attire.

She looked like a clown in front of them, but she didn't mind because she was not there for business!

Pranavi went to the reception when the receptionist glanced at her from top to bottom, making her self-conscious, and at last, she asked, "how can I help you, mam?"

"Um... well, I need to meet Jwalin Oberoi," Pranavi said while fiddling with her fingers that held her tote tightly.

The receptionist gave a scowl and asked, " Do you have an appointment?"

Pranavi shook her head in denial, and requested, "but he knows me. Please let me go in once."

The receptionist thought Pranavi was crazy. "Looking like a college student. How can she possibly know our President? She must be bluffing!"

With that conclusion, the receptionist rudely declined, "no, mam. I couldn't allow anyone without a prior appointment. I couldn't help you with this."

Pranavi tried to convince the receptionist but was of no use for almost twenty minutes.

When the receptionist was pissed and about to call security to drive Pranavi away, they noticed Jwalin coming out of his elevator followed by a whole bunch of his secretary's team.

Instantly, Pranavi was elated, "Thank goodness!"

"He came by himself? What a lucky day!" She assumed that was a good sign and pondered, "Now I can talk to him and cancel the marriage!" With some pep talk, she gathered her courage and called Jwalin a couple of times but no one heard it.

She patted her heart in encouragement, "come on, Pranavi. You can do this!"

With that, she ran in his direction and shouted, "Jwalin."

For a second, Jwalin's steps halted and the atmosphere tensed. Everybody present heard her calling Jwalin by his name, and they were sweating profusely.

Jwalin's brows scrunched and his gaze became pitch black, and he turned to find the person who had the guts to call him by his name.

Gazing at Pranavi, his hands clenched into fists, his jaw ticked, and lips pressed into a thin line while his aura screamed danger!

...