CHAPTER 5 - Surprising Meet
1633 Words
In her room
Throwing her sling bag aside, Pranavi huffed, annoyance written all over her face. "Ugh!! What the f**k is wrong with all of them?"
Reminiscing about the unknown people in her house, she pondered, "Who the hell are they?"
Palming her neck in aggravation, she screamed at herself, "Why should I be presentable?"
Glancing at herself in the mirror, she couldn't help but murmur, "Isn't this good enough?"
Shaking her head, she turned around and her eyes narrowed upon seeing the red Banarasi saree lying on her bed along with some matching jewelry.
Tilting her head aside while biting her plump lips, her hand touched the fabric and a gasp escaped her lips.
"It was beautiful." She uttered in disbelief while her eyes bulged.
Instantly, a question popped into her head, "why would my Aunt buy it for me?"
Because in all these years, Mehta's never bought anything for her, let alone something this costly and good looking!
She couldn't help but speculate about their reasons behind it and hoped it wouldn't do much harm to her.
With a sigh, she stood in front of the mirror and began draping the red Banarasi saree.
But her mind drifted to Jwalin's piercing black eyes, "Why did that Arrogant man look at me weirdly?"
Squinting at herself, she recalled Ananya's disgusting look at her, "Why did that overly enthusiastic woman was taunting me?"
Anger flared up in her, and she cussed, "Who the hell was she to point her finger at me!"
After all the cursing, she felt a bit better. With a huff, she muttered under her breath, "finish this act quickly."
Put the jewelry on her and left her hair loose, and suddenly it struck her mind. "Is it about marriage?"
"No f*****g way!!!! How can they fix my marriage? I'm still studying!" She suspected, but she knew better than anyone that they could do anything without her consent.
Because over the years she understood Mehta's way of doing things!
"Huh god. What's going on here?" With that, she went down, and instantly Leela came to her side and handed her a big plate with tea and some snacks.
With a frown, Pranavi took that and handed it to the Oberoi family. Her confused eyes met with Jwalin’s infuriated black eyes, but still, he looked inexplicably calm.
The icy cold look he's giving her as if he's piercing her soul is known to her. She gulped, seeing the freezing aura around him.
"Who's that fascinating yet arrogant handsome man?" Her subconscious began attacking her with nonsense!
"How would I know? I saw him for the first time." She responded, equally curious.
"Then why is he staring at you like you're some dessert on his plate?" Her subconscious mocked her, which riled her.
With a sigh, Pranavi finally occupied her seat and remained silent while gazing at her palms in her lap. "God, how much time should I stay like this?"
The atmosphere in the living room was eerily silent, making Pranavi nervous and fiddled in her seat.
In a while, she heard her uncle saying, "Pranavi, meet Jwalin Oberoi, your fiance."
She jumped from her seat after hearing that. "What? Fiance?" She blurted out, no she actually screamed out in shock!
Leela pinched her to shut her mouth, but she didn't. Instead, she turned to Leela and asked, "what's going on Aunt?"
Immediately, Leela came to her ear and said, "call us Mom and Dad."
With thousands of questions in her mind, she still behaved and asked a bit loudly, "what's going on, um... mom? What is d... dad saying?"
The words mom and dad felt foreign to her. Her throat constricted while letting those words out of her mouth.
She was getting suffocated by all the flashes and scenes disrupting her thought process.
But she should get a grip on her. With that, she bit her inner cheek to control her emotions and maintained a blank look on her face.
In the meantime, the Oberoi family listened intently to her questions and got to the conclusion that she didn't know about it.
Ananya gave a fake sympathetic look at her but did nothing.
Jwalin saw her and hated her guts. " Well, who do you think you're trying to fool?"
His eyes turned a shade of black as rage churned his insides, "Cheap tricks! I already agreed to marry you, then why this act?" He killed her a thousand times in his head.
"Pranavi, I and your mom fixed your marriage." Dheeraj released the bomb on her. She was beyond shocked and gaped her mouth like a fish.
"But, but, ..." Dheeraj cut her off, "we'll discuss everything later."
Pranavi just nodded not to disrespect him in front of their guests. This whole time, Tushar's glance never left her. He observed her even more and felt proud of his decision.
Pranavi stared at Jwalin, and pondered, "Wow, he looks alluring, but he had traces of dark aura."
Gazing at his deep pools of black eyes, chiseled jaw, and sharp nose, she mused, "His manly features are hell attractive."
His firm appearance with the cold look highlighted his features. She pondered in incredulity, "I'd definitely drool over him under normal circumstances, but not now!"
Shaking the unnecessary thoughts aside, she was bewildered, "How can I marry a stranger?"
Lifting her eyelashes, she contemplated, "Wait! Who is he?" It clicked in her mind after a couple of minutes, "Jwalin Oberoi!"
Instantly, her eyes widened in realization, "As in the Jwalin Oberoi of Oberoi Entreprises?"
Her mouth agape, her breath hitched in alarm, "What the f**k is going on here?"
Thousands of questions arose in her, and she blinked her eyes continuously in shock, "Why would he be my fiance?"
She scratched her forehead while her eyes narrowed, "Did he have any defects?"
But she immediately denied it, since there would be no way her speculation was true. But the question didn't leave her, "If not, what's his reason for doing that?"
Clutching the ends of her saree tightly, she gulped while she was trying to analyze what was going on, "I'm nowhere near his rumored girlfriends."
Eyeing at his royal presence, domineering aura, the power he emanates, she bit her lips in frustration, "I'm not from their world! We live in entirely different classes of society!"
Pranavi raised her head and stroked her tiny nose, which was turning red due to her stress of the unknown, and met Jwalin's fierce eyes once again.
Her jaw dropped with his beauty and intellect, "He's a freaking god in the business world. But why is he here?"
Licking her lips with raised brows, she couldn't help but question herself, "How can he be here for me?"
It doesn't matter how hard she was trying to figure out, she couldn't get any answers. "God! This is so annoying!"
A defeated sigh escaped her lips, "What the heck am I supposed to do?"
Pranavi was occupied with her thoughts which were driving her crazy while Jwalin glared at her a couple of times, and fury churned in his veins by reminiscing about the injustice he faced!
...
Soon Jwalin and Pranavi stood in front of each other while their families cheered for them. Jwalin's deep gaze fixed on her as if trying to uncover all her hidden secrets by just looking into her brown eyes.
Her saree clung to her curves, making her more elegant, the simple makeup made her attractive while highlighting her delicious lips. Jwalin licked his dry lips as his whole body became heated in her presence.
He gawked at her brown eyes, chubby cheeks, tiny nose, luscious lips, curvy figure, petite frame, "she's beautiful." His heart said, while his mind roared, "No!!! She's just a pretentious bitch."
He saw how uncomfortable she looked, but he denied believing her. He scoffed seeing her putting on a show, "this cunning shrew. She'd become a good actor. No, in fact, an Oscar-winning actress."
He took her slender hand in his palm, and the fire in him was aroused by her cold body.
The sudden touch caused waves of current to flow in between them which made his mind a mess. "Why the heck am I reacting to her touch? Did I just lose my self-control?"
He shook his head and stared at her. He knew she shivered with his touch.
His rough calloused hands caused turmoil in her fragile heart with the feelings he evoked in her.
Strangely, she's comfortable in his presence although she's a bit scared of his stoic gaze.
He saw the effect he was having on her and sneered in contempt while pushing the diamond-studded ring on her slender finger, and she took her hand away as if his touch burned her.
She craned her neck to his level and saw his displeased look. The hatred in his eyes was visible to her. She wondered why he agreed to this arrangement?
When Leela patted her shoulder, she immediately wiped off all the thoughts and stuffed the ring onto his ring finger.
"I'm doomed. What had I gotten myself into?" She thought in ridicule.
They stood side by side and she reached below his shoulder.
The pair looked extremely stunning, but neither did they smile once nor exchange glances.
Their faces held no emotion, just remained blank. Neither of them showed interest in knowing about their soon-to-be partner.
They took the blessings of their elders and their families discussed for a while. In this entire ritual, Jwalin and Pranavi didn't exchange a single word!
She wanted to ask him a lot of questions but swallowed everything as he showed no interest in her.
With a nod, Jwalin excused himself and his family left the house, leaving Pranavi with a bunch of questions.
...
- Writer
