Chapter 16

"He's an admirer."

His words that came out as a whisper made me slight angry. Why he's naming the sender as an admirer?

Closing my eyes for a moment, I inhaled a deep breath, and then looked into his black orbs, which were shining. They reflected the dark nights with a few stars glimmering around, making the whole scene mesmerising.

But this isn't the right time to think so deeply about his intense black eyes.

"And how did you know that he's an admirer of mine," I asked, thinning my lips into a smile so it won't seem that I'm affected by his eyes— which I most certainly not.

He held the eye contact for a few beats, and I felt my face warming up a slightly. When he gave no response, I pat my palm on his chest and asked again, raising my brows.

A sly grin takes over his lips as he nodded, "If he's not, then why do you still have his letters? You should have thrown them away by now, shouldn't you?" His question surprisingly made me question myself.

Why do I still have the sender's letters? It's not like I knew him personally, so why? But maybe when I was struggling with my past, his letters brought me some comfort. Perhaps that's why I've been waiting for my birthday every year, hoping for a new letter.

But he—veer doesn't need to know all of this.

"I was collecting the right amount of proof so that I could file the complaint," I lied smoothly. Despite the way he narrowed his eyes at me, I kept a smile on my face.

"Took you almost three years? Interesting."

"Not your business," I huffed, snapping at him. But instead of retorting, he leaned an inch closer to my face. Locking those intense black eyes with my hazel ones, he smiled.

"It is." he declared, and my heart seemed to stop for few moments.

the warmth in my face intensified, and I closed my eyes, ignoring his gaze—which I can feel on my face. I glanced at the letter before reaching out my hand to take it. His hold on my waist tightened, stopping me from moving as he stretched his hand higher, smiling down at me.

Gosh, why is he so annoying sometimes?

"Give it to me," I warned,

"But it would be a waste if I didn't get to read this, don't you think?" he said, chuckling and looking unaffected by how I was now pushing his chest with both hands.

But it didn't work at all; instead, he pulled me even closer.

I didn't stop pushing him, and he didn't relent either. Suddenly, his fingers brushed lightly against the side of my waist, causing a bubble of laughter to escape my mouth. I quickly covered it before he could notice.

Resting my hands on his chest, I closed my eyes and almost let my head drop onto his chest. It was so embarrassing to play this push-and-pull game with him, but I wanted my letter back.

Lifting my head, I cleared my throat and locked my eyes with his. His gaze flicked back and forth between mine. Ignoring the skipping beats of my heart, I extended my right hand in front of him.

"letter vapas do mujhe," I said with a stern look on my face. A smile forms on his lips— that damn dimple one, as he tightens his hold around my waist, making my breath to hitch but before I could protest, he release me.

I took a few steps back, creating distance between us. Our eye contact didn't break as he placed the letter in my hand. Suddenly, awkwardness filled the atmosphere as we stared at each other longer than necessary.

Shaking my head, I closed my eyes before muttering, "Papers! We've got papers to sign, yeah, papers." He nodded and was about to turn to get the papers, but I hurriedly pushed him aside.

There was no way I am letting him go through my drawers, ever!

Opening the drawer, I hid the letter behind a jewelry box. "I'll get them," I said, my voice a whisper. In response, I heard a hum followed by an "Okay," as I closed the drawer, opened the lower one, and pulled out the contract papers.

Turning around, I settled myself on the bed and gestured for him to take the armchair beside it. Placing the papers and the pen on the coffee table, I sat up straight, waiting for him to read the terms and conditions of the contract.

He gazed at the papers for a few seconds before picking them up from the table. Leaning forward, he placed his elbows on his knees, his eyes fixed on the papers. As for me, I just watched him.

The conditions are simple : the duration of our contract is fixed for 1.5 year, but we can reduce or extend it as per our likings.

no cheating. I know we both will never cheat on each other, but it's important to put it in the contract.

compensation. if someone ever wants to divorce or to close this contract before it's ending duration, they have to compensate with 5 billion us dollars. and in Indian rupees it's almost 30 crores.

faking. An important part of the contract, as much as it seems easy to fake, it's the hardest thing a person could do—in my opinion. Because there are some times when our emotions welled up too much, that we can't even cover them up. So yeah, we've to give our best to fake our relationship in front of public—even family.

and then there's the most difficult one—

"We can only touch when it's necessary," his voice brought me back to the present, and I looked at him, slightly absentminded.

My nose scrunched in confusion as I asked, "We what?" I was so zoned out that I hadn't properly listened to what he'd just said.

"Touch," he said, gesturing between us, "only if it's necessary."

It took me a few seconds to register the thing before I answered with a nod, "yeah, only if it's necessary." Giving me a nod, again he drift his attention to the papers.

no touching. Touch is a scary word to me—only if it's coming from men. Not that I'm a case of sexual assault or anything, it's just that everyone has their own choices, and I choose not to touch.

Because after spending enough time with Veer, I've found that being close to him is dangerous to me—to my heart. Every time he came close, I end up doing something wrong, or my heart doesn't find its steady pace. So there's no way I'm letting him into my system.

After a few minutes, when I thought he was done with the reading, he looked up at me. I displayed a smile.

When he showed no objection to the terms, I told him to sign the papers, which he did silently. Once he was done, he lifted his head and locked his eyes with mine as he slid the papers towards me.

Since I was sitting on the bed and couldn't reach the table for the papers, I moved and settled myself on my knees beside it. Suddenly, the dupatta of my suit slipped from my shoulder, and instinctively I raised my left hand to correct it.

Some stray strands of hair fell on my forehead, and I shook my head to move them while signing the papers. A smile formed on my lips as I whispered to myself, "Done."

Finally, we had signed the contract papers.

Dropping the pen on the table, I looked up at him only to find his eyes already on me.

A sudden knock broke our eye contact, and then the realization hit both of us. My eyes widened at the thought that whoever was on the other side could come in and witness what we were doing.

Hurriedly, I snatched the papers from the table and shoved them under the carpet. Meanwhile, Veer just sat there watching me. Glaring at him, I was about to stand up when suddenly my leg got caught in the hem of my suit, causing me to lose my balance.

Instinctively, Veer reached out to hold my hand, but it was too late. I fell directly onto him. My hands landed on his shoulders, causing my remaining body to hover over his.

Our faces were just inches apart. My eyes get closed on its own as I felt his hot breath against the skin of my cheek.

The knocking sound came again, and my eyes flew open, locking with his intense black ones. But whoever was on the other side of the door didn't give me time to compose myself. as the door swung open, and my sister's voice filled the silence.

"Siyu, sab tum dono ko niche bula rahe hain," her eyes met mine, then shifted to the person beneath me. But instead of saying something, she turned—after giving me a teasing smile—and walked away, leaving the door open.

Will she tease me about this later? Hell yes. And I'm not ready for this at all.

"Chale," suddenly his husky voice filled my ear, and I turned to look at him. The lightest shade of crimson covered the skin around his cheeks as he cleared his throat.

My eyes darted back and forth between his eyes and our current position before I quickly separated myself from him.

Standing straight on my heels, I dashed out of the room, saying, "Chalo."

I felt him following me as I heard the sound of the door closing. A different type of awkwardness filled our silent atmosphere as we walked without uttering a single word, and then settled back in our previous spots.

Virendra uncle and my dad were still talking but stopped when they noticed us. Lifting my gaze, I looked at his mom, who passed a warm smile to me, which I returned with equal warmth.

"So, we've decided on the engagement date—which is a week from now. As for the wedding date, we'll bring the pandit tomorrow," Dad informed. My sister elbowed me, grinning like a fool, but I shushed her with a glare.

Soon, they were all engrossed in discussing the planning and wedding details. They even asked for my opinion on whether we should make the engagement venue white-themed or something else I might prefer.

I agreed to the white theme.

After a few minutes, his family stood up to leave. Mumma hugged his mom and chachi, while Dad shook hands with his dad and chacha.

In a fleeting moment, I caught Ahaan—Veer's cousin—stealing a glance at Avni di when he thought no one was watching. I noticed, but perhaps he was just looking around.

Shifting my gaze from him, I looked at his parents, who were now heading toward the front door. Offering a warm smile, I glanced around, and that's when my eyes locked with his. He mirrored my smile.

And that smile made something in my stomach flip.

𖤐

The days went by much quicker than I expected, making me nervous as hell—that's why I'm here.

At Shreyanshi's place.

A therapist.

And a very good friend of mine.

We became friends in college when I was a first-year student and she was in her second year. It all started when I accidentally ran into her while searching for my class on my first day.

At first, I thought she'd just ignore me like the other students to whom I'd asked about the classroom, but she proved me wrong. She offered me a smile and then walked me to my class while asking about me.

After that day, she started visiting me regularly after my classes, and we'd spend the rest of the day gossiping about everything and anything.

"You sure that's it?" she questioned, breaking the chain of memories. Her expression showed she wasn't quite buying everything I'd told her—excluding some parts that I thought were stupid.

Releasing a breath, I answered, "Yeah, that's it. For now." I slumped back in the leather chair of her office.

"Umm, so now I've to ignore that psycho patient of mine!" she exclaimed, shaking her head.

By psycho patient, she meant Ekansh. He'd been receiving therapy from her for a year now—he definitely needed it, and that's not even a lie.

And why her? Out of all the therapists? Well, Shreya and his parents were pretty close friends. So his dad suggested that if he wanted—his uncle practically forced him to agree—to take therapy from Shreya, as she seemed to be a potential therapist.

She agreed because she thought he was normal—which he definitely is not. She believed she could handle him, but now she seeks every opportunity to ignore his presence in her life. She hates him but can't remove him from her patient list.

Since Ekansh knows how close Shreya and I are, he spares no chance to get information about me from her. And somehow, he gets it every time, either by scaring her or by making silly bets with her.

In which she loses every time.

"So? Are you up for shopping?" I asked, diverting the topic. After sipping the rest of her coffee, she abruptly stood up, flashing an ear-to-ear smile.

"Come on, who says no to shopping, especially when your friend is getting married? Let me wrap up the rest of my work, then we'll go shopping. Just give me 5 minutes." Saying this, she dashed out of her cabin, closing the glass door behind her.

Shreya came back after 20 minutes, but that's okay; I can wait. After that, we called Di to join us, and she accepted even before we could finish our sentence.

The rest of the day was spent shopping, talking, and giggling—a happy moment to add to the memories.

𖤐

"Ready?" Di asked, sitting on the bed. I lifted my eyes to look at her.

She was wearing a long, sleek dark pink dress with rhinestone straps. A simple silver chain adorned her neck, and her hair cascaded down to her lower back, left open. Her makeup was minimal.

She looked beautiful.

Humming at her question, I glanced at my own reflection in the mirror.

I also wore my hair down, letting it cascade to my lower back. My makeup was light, and I adorned my neck with a powder blue diamond necklace that matched my shimmering long gown.

The pastel blue gown hugged my body perfectly from the top and flared out from the lower half, giving it a princess-like quality—not the fluffy ones. To avoid tripping, I wore extra-high heels.

"Okay then, let's go. They're waiting," her remark made me slightly nervous, making my palms sweat.

Grabbing her purse from the couch, she walked towards me and picked up my purse as well. Together, we carefully descended the stairs until we reached the back of the venue, where I was supposed to enter.

As the venue came into view, my eyes sparkled with admiration. It was beautifully decorated with white curtains falling on either side of the guest seating area.

A pleasant scent enveloped me as I focused on the flowers: white flowers everywhere with hints of blue and pink roses, interspersed with green leaves.

Clutching the sides of my gown, I took small steps towards the stage. My eyes scanned the room, catching sight of relatives and friends engrossed in conversation until they noticed me.

Smiling at my friends—Shreya, Mumma, and Grandma—I walked further until I reached the stairs to the stage.

I stepped onto the first step when a hand came into view. I looked up to lock eyes with him. He was smiling, and the dimple in his left cheek deepened.

At first, I hesitated, but then I offered my hand, and he guided me carefully up the steps. Once we were standing still, I took a moment to look at him properly.

The dark blue suit he wore accentuated his masculine physique, making him appear even more handsome. But what truly made him striking was his eyes. Despite their dark color, they radiated warmth.

Not to mention his straight nose, sharp jawline, and perfect lips. The more you looked at him, the more admirable he became.

Admirable?

Are you serious, Siya?

"You're looking beautiful, Mrs. Oberoi," he complimented me, causing my heart to race and my cheeks to flush.

I closed my eyes briefly and smiled. "You too, Mr. Oberoi." I wasn't sure why we were addressing each other with "Mr." and "Mrs.," but I didn't dwell on it as the anchor announced that the ceremony could begin.

Di came forward with a tray in her hands, and she slowly extended it. My hand trembled slightly as I opened the box and held the ring in my hand, looking up to see him smiling—a genuine smile.

He extended his hand to me, and I placed mine gently in his as I slid the ring onto his finger. There was a burst of cheering, and I felt my cheeks warm up slightly. After a few beats, Ahaan brought the tray to Veer.

Taking the small velvet box in his large hands, Veer opened it, and a low gasp escaped my lips. The diamond inside sparkled brilliantly.

"May I?" he asked, smiling at me as he extended his hand.

Unknowingly, I returned his smile and placed my hand on top of his. He held my hand, his fingers grazing my knuckles, making my heart race.

I maintained eye contact with his intense black eyes as he slowly slid the ring onto my finger. Another wave of cheering and giggling passed, but our eyes remained locked, as if they were glued together.

My hand was still in his when he suddenly pulled me towards him, making my breath catch.

Hot air tickled my neck as he leaned closer, his lips brushing against the shell of my ear. He whispered something that made my heart stop for a moment.

"Should I manifest it to see my name beside yours on your ring?"

He knows?