~•} C H A P T E R|7 {•~
Ishani was coming back from the bakery where she worked as a part-time receptionist and cashier.
On her way, she remembered that she forgot to bring groceries yesterday and today her shelves would be empty as she always had a tight budget.
Looking at her wristwatch, she saw it was 8:30 pm.
She rushed towards the city mall.
Grabbing the things which were needed, she strode towards the billing counter.
She let out a frustrated sigh when she saw the long line at the billing counter.
She was already dead tired from her college, bakery, and then this!
But slumping her shoulder in defeat she waited for her turn to come as this was all she could do and hoped for all this to end quickly as she needed to make her dinner too.
Suddenly she saw a man, who walked directly towards the billing counter, not giving a damn about the line. Her insides boiled in rage when she saw that the cashier at the counter said nothing and silently started billing.
Not being able to control herself anymore, she yelled as all the frustration took a toll on her.
"Bloody idiot, you are blind or what? Can't you see the long line behind!"
That man turned immediately, taking out the sunglasses he looked at her sharply.
Sunglasses in the evening! Huh what a stupid thing in the name of style, She thought and gave him a mental eye-roll.
"Are you deaf too Mister!"
"Do you even know who I am Miss?" that man questioned while his eyes bored into hers.
"No, and I am not even interested to know." her tone was sweet like sugar.
"How dare you talk to me like this! I am VARDHAAN SINGH RATHORE!" He yelled enraged and thought that now she would stop her not-so-sweet mouth.
"Oh, Bloody Hierarchy!" She shouted in front of all making Vardhaan lose his sense.
How dare she insult ME in front of all! He thought bitterly.
"Control. Your. Tongue." He said emphasizing each word and controlling his rage as he wouldn't destroy his image in front of all.
"Why should I when I know I am stating the truth. You all are born with that freaking gold spoon stuffed inside your mouth, everything you wish is served to you in gold platters and then you people come and disturb our peaceful lives." Her eyes squinted in anger and chin high as she spat out each word harshly.
Vardhaan shut his eyes hard at the disrespect thrown on him. His jaw clenched hard as he opened his eyes which burned with unadulterated rage.
But before he could even say a word, she went away mumbling, "I don't even want to stay here for a second. I will go and collect groceries from some other store."
Vardhaan gazed at her retreating back
with hatred and anger.
"Just pray that you won't cross paths with The Vardhaan Rathore again girl or else you are gone." He growled as his eyes glowed with fury.
After all, she crushed his ego brutally and insulted him in front of all.
On another side, Ishani reached her 2bhk apartment after purchasing groceries from a general store.
Running a hand on her face in frustration, she mumbled, "I never want to see that idiot again!"
Flashback end~
Ishani's thoughts came to halt when the air hostess asked her to put on her seatbelt as the jet was going to land.
Nodding her head in affirmation she sighed.
I never wanted to see him again, after that day. And here I am.
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Sunrays peeped through the curtains disturbing the slumber of Aadarsh Rathore.
Blinking his eyes, he found something odd today, his wife hadn't wrapped herself around him. He was kind of used to waking up like that.
Suddenly the memory of their yesterday conversation rushed through his mind and in a swift he woke up.
His eyes wandered here and there till they finally landed on her. There she was curled up on the couch and sleeping like a baby.
The frown on his forehead deepened as his shoulder slumped and a frustrated sigh left his mouth.
Don't blame yourself. She called this upon herself.
He told himself and went inside the washroom not before slamming the door harshly making her awake.
Naina jolt awake due to the sudden noise. Blinking rapidly, she gazed at her surroundings and was shocked to find herself on the couch but yesterday's memory hit her hard.
She felt her eyes brim with tears again. Blinking away the tears she looked at the bed with hope. But no, he wasn't there. That means he didn't care about the fact that she was upset or cried terribly. He simply went to the washroom well known to the fact that she was here curled up on the couch being upset and chose to ignore it like she didn't matter to him a bit.
He doesn't care... Not even a bit.
Unknown to her, a tear escaped her eye thinking this.
Sniffling, she harshly wiped that tear.
No! I can't be that attention-seeking a wife. I can't be this broken.
She thought determined.
You are strong.
She chanted in her mind again and again till she felt strong enough to face him, her husband. Till she was strong enough to continue her efforts to make him fall for her even when deep down her heartfelt numb.
Getting up she went downstairs to prepare a cup of tea for him.
........
Aadarsh came out of the washroom only to get worried when he didn't find her on the couch or the room.
No, he wasn't worried about her exactly, he was worried because he didn't want to become the reason if she tried to do something stupid.
He didn't want to live the rest of his life with guilt just because he was too straightforward last night.
Just then he saw her entering inside the room and unknowingly a relieved sigh left his lips.
His gaze fell on her eyes which were puffy and slightly red due to her constant crying last night.
He hated when she cried! He never knew the reason but when she cried, he felt terrible. He drew in a sharp breath as he again felt like that, like a shit!
But looking at the cup of tea in her hand, his expressions changed to surprised and frustrated both. Surprised that even after ever everything that happened last night she still had the guts to do all this. And frustrated with her because of her constant tries to make their relationship better.
Why do you try again and again?
He thought annoyed as his expressions remained the same, emotionless.
Accepting the tea, he went inside the walk-in closet to change being aware of her constant gaze.
Naina gazed at him continuously with hopeful eyes as he got ready in front of the mirror.
But he never spared her a look like always making her sad.
Just before he could move out of the room, she called out, "Aadarsh..."
He turned and looked at her perplexed. She just walked towards him and throw her arms around him like she usually did when he left for office until and unless when she was too tired.
He stilled as he felt her arms around him. It was kinda their routine before he left for work though he never hugged her back.
But today he didn't expect her to do this after whatever happened yesterday.
Slowly she unwrapped her arms and stared into his cold eyes. Getting on her tip-toes she kissed his cheek suddenly. He didn't react but she knew he was shocked.
And then again she hugged him, tightly. Few tears trickled down her cheeks as she could feel herself breaking again.
"You are the cause I am hurt yet you are the only one who heals me." She mumbled ever so softly to herself while fisting his shirt.
"Yet you are the only one my heart yearns for," she whispered to herself.
"Naina..." He uttered softly and this lone word was enough for her to understand that he was getting late.
Detaching herself from him she hurriedly looked at the mess she made on his white shirt, her smudged kajal and tear marks were proudly sitting there making her tense that she would anger him this time.
Before she could say something, she felt his one hand cupping her cheek as he slowly wiped her tears with his thumb.
"Don't shed them for a useless person." He whispered gently while referring to the precious drop on his thumb.
With this, he moved towards the closet to take out another shirt.
Her heart raced as she registered his words. This was the first time he said something to her on his own.
She stared at him as he changed his shirt and went towards the exit of the room, she wanted him to turn towards her for once at least.
He abruptly stopped at the exit and turned.
"Tears don't suit your eyes Naina." she heard his faint whisper before he turned and walked away.
Naina's cheeks turned red as she heard him whisper. She was too shocked to react to anything. And then a blooming smile graced her lips as she remembered his words again and again.
Aadarsh felt light after seeing her smiling face. He never liked when she cried. Also, he couldn't go leaving her in tears as whenever he go leaving someone in tears, something bad happened to him or the family and at any cost, he didn't want this to happen.
But unknown to him, again her innocent heart had developed that hope forgetting everything that happened yesterday.
The hope that everything would be alright.
The hope that he would love her back...
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"Aakarsh it was your job to make sure that we would get that Lonavala land deal.!" Yuvraj stated looking at his brother inside his cabin where no one was standing except Yuvraj, Aadarsh, and Aakarsh.
"Sorry, bhai..." Aakarsh mumbled as his knuckles turned white due to fisting his hands so hard due to the anger he was feeling right now. He was always the short-tempered one.
"Singhanias won that deal," Yuvraj slammed his fists on the table hard as he never liked to lose from Singhanias.
Clenching his jaw, Aakarsh yelled, "Next time Bhai, I will make sure to cut their wings so brutally that they won't dare to fly in front of us."
"Bhai, Aakarsh was having a headache and due to this he wasn't able to concentrate." Aadarsh defended his twin making Aakarsh glared hard in his direction as he never liked to play the sympathy card.
Yuvraj stared at Aakarsh at Aadarsh's words.
"If you were not well then you should have informed me Aakarsh. Remember this from next time. Now resume the work!" Yuvraj told and both of them nodded and headed towards their respective sectors.
The Rathore Empire, which is a big name in the business world. It is a combined chain of hotels, resorts, and restaurants. They are mainly famous for their unique architecture and interiors. No one can match their standards when it comes to weddings, receptions, or parties.
The hotel chains are managed by Yuvraj, resorts by Aadarsh, and restaurants by Aakarsh. And due to their unique architecture and interior, they had a separate department for architecture and interior which solely focus on best designs, managed by Vardhaan. And they together form THE RATHORE EMPIRE.
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Ruhanika arrived inside her room slowly. It had been months since she was entering inside but still, it always felt like her first day. And the sole reason being Yuvraj who been the same since the first day she arrived.
Sighing she looked at the bed to find her husband working on his laptop. Not a new sight for her though.
Gazing at the wall clock which was indicating 12:00am, she sighed tiredly.
He and his work are inseparable.
She thought and rolled her eyes.
Shaking her head she went to change her clothes and after coming back lied down on her side.
She exhaustedly stared at him who was fastly typing something on his laptop.
She had a weird habit that she couldn't sleep until and unless there was pitch black darkness inside her room.
And right now Yuvraj had switched on the whole lamp which was on his side so how could she sleep!
She was too scared from his eyes which would coldly gaze into her, to even say him to switch the lamp off.
Muttering a few incoherent words in frustration, she switched on her side lamp as well and started reading the novel she took out from the library. Yeah, this mansion even had a library.
It was 1:30 am when Yuvraj sighed tiredly and rubbed his eyes being exhausted.
Closing his laptop and keeping it aside, he switched off the lamp. But couldn't sleep as he had the same habit as Ruhanika.
He looked at the other side frustratedly and found her engrossed in her novel with so much interest that even he became curious about what she was reading.
Slowly he peeked his head through the partition which was in-between. His eyes widened with each word he read. She was freaking reading a romance novel and right now reading an explicit kissing scene.
"What the hell are you reading!"
Yuvraj questioned loudly making her jump in terror as she didn't expect him this close.
He was more shocked than angry.
He never knew his little wife was into things like these. He had always seen her being so calm and respectful that this was hard to digest.
"N-nothing" Ruhanika stammered.
"Nothing?" Yuvraj questioned with a stern expression making her gulp in fear.
"You aren't reading all this shit again. Do you freaking understand this?" He declared and she felt anger rise inside her as he was no one to order her or interfere in her life and he had made this clear on their wedding night.
"I am old enough to decide what I will read." She protested.
"And Yuvika is old enough to have a sibling," Yuvraj stated calmly.
Why did I say that?
He asked himself after a second as his reply came out of nowhere but he had no answer.
Well she caught him off guard with her sassy argument because he thought she would just listen to him and nod her head obediently like she always did.
But maybe, just maybe his wife wasn't as obedient as she showed she was, right?
Well, Ruhanika could compromise with everything other than her novels. Those fictional men kept her sane and made her heart flutter, making her not care about the world and her so-called husband.
Because no man could ever match them, right?
Her cheeks redden as she hurriedly threw the book on the bedside table and closed the night lamp.
"Go-od Nig-ht." with this she turned to another side as fast as she could and wrapped the blanket around herself in an attempt to disappear.
Yuvraj shook his head at her behavior and laid down on his side.
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Aakarsh was continuously punching the punching bag in anger as that deal they lose due to him was, again and again, coming into his mind.
One could feel the wave of anger that was rolling off of him.
It was almost midnight and here he was trying to calm his anger down but nothing was helping him today.
Raina wasn't able to sleep due to the constant noise which was coming through the adjacent punching room, as Aakarsh liked to call it.
Their room was decided into five parts; closet, balcony, bedroom, washroom, and a special small room with his boxing equipment as he was too fond of boxing.
Raina peeked inside the room and saw his eyes blood red, sweat trickling down his body while he repeatedly punched the punching bag.
She visibly shivered at this sight as this was the time she was terrified of him. His anger was the worst.
What if I was instead of the punching bag?
She gulped at her insane thought.
Aakarsh's attention shifted towards her.
"Get lost from here!" He yelled balling his fists.
No, he wouldn't hit me I feel. He can't be that worse to hit a woman. Even though he acts like a jerk and is always rude to me, I don't feel-
She blabbered in her mind and stopped when she heard his angry shout, "RAINA!"
She felt a chill run down her spine as she looked at the beast which was coming towards her furiously with bloodshot eyes...
Target- 150+
So finally the next update is here!
So whom do you hate the most?
Is the story proceeding well?
I m exhausted so yeah I m gonna 😴
Take Care❤️
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