Chapter 29: chapter 29

En route to his home, Adhiraj, with a fuming Imara beside him, was not exactly having a leisurely drive at this hour. While she peered out the window with a tight jaw, Adhiraj couldn’t resist pointing out, “Had you just kept me in the loop, you wouldn’t be in this situation!”“Had I not come to the palace that day, I definitely wouldn’t be in this situation,” she shot back, still looking outside. This time, however, it wasn’t tears that welled in her eyes, but pure anger towards the man sitting beside him, an annoying reminder of the worst day of her life—their wedding day.“Perhaps…” Adhiraj whispered, his mind still consumed by thoughts of how destiny had orchestrated Imara’s presence in that very situation.“Perhaps?” Imara whipped her head around to glare at him. She was angrier than ever, saying, “You should be grateful for my help in preserving your precious reputation. Yet here you are, threatening me, cornering me, and trying to sabotage my business. What the fuck do you want from me?”Her outburst didn’t rattle Adhiraj in the slightest. He knew this was coming because ever since they met; she had been on a losing streak, always yielding to his arguments and bending to his wishes. Nevertheless, he took pleasure in his dominance and remarked, “No doubt it saved my reputation. But let’s be real, you didn’t do it for my family. You did it for your sisters. And let’s not forget,” he added sharply, “How you walked out on my grandfather that day.”“And your real motive for being here in the dead of night was to protect your own image, wasn’t it? You saw me living in my home as a threat to your reputation, hoping that no one would find out where the Shekhawats’ newlywed bride lived,” Imara snapped, desperately hoping for Adhiraj to kick her out so she could return to her own place, sleep it off and forget about ever meeting him.“The entire argument boils down to one damn thing Imara…” Adhiraj calmly stated, “Had you kept me in the loop, you wouldn’t be in this situation. I would have ensured your safety beforehand. This is a learning for you, understand?”“Buzz off…” Imara retorted. “Don’t give me this shit of my safety.”“You are my wife, damn it!” Adhiraj’s deafening roar caused Imara to instinctively flinch. Bringing the car to a stop on the side of the road, he turned to face her. She remained visibly startled, her eyes wide and her breathing shallow.His fingers wrapped tightly around the steering wheel, his jaw locked in a firm line as he persisted, stating firmly, “You are my wife. It is my responsibility to keep you safe. And nothing can ever change that.”Imara instinctively shifted further away, her senses overwhelmed by his booming voice and the possessiveness laced within his words—a combination that startled and unsettled her. It was the way he said ‘my wife’ that sounded too intimate to her.“I don’t care if it’s the highly guarded Rathore Mansion or your apartment,” he said, his voice filled with determination. “I would have torn the door apart if you hadn’t answered. Mark my words, Imara, whenever I feel you are unsafe, I will get you back home. Every. Single. Time.”And with that, he started the engine and concentrated on the road ahead as he drove back home. The worry had gnawed at him, wondering if she was okay, if she was crying herself to sleep. And she seemed determined to push him over the edge.Imara fought back tears as she felt stifled, confined, and deeply frustrated. In a moment of impulsiveness, she demanded, “How long will you keep me hostage for the sake of your reputation?”“What do you mean by that?” Adhiraj demanded, his voice stern.“We both know this is temporary. Everyone knows. So give me a timeline,” Imara replied.“Who said this is temporary?” Adhiraj countered, making Imara snap her head in his direction.Noticing her silence, he pressed on, “This is not a temporary arrangement, Mrs. Shekhawat. This is marriage. We are bound to each other. There is no free pass to come and go as you may please.”“I am not spending my life with you.”“Yes, you are.”“No way.”“Yes, you are Little Tyke.”“Why me?” Imara raged, on the verge of exasperation as Adhiraj once again brought up her firm in their conversation. “You can get countless girls who would leap at the chance to be your devoted wife. Why the fuck are you after me?”“I sure can,” Adhiraj admitted, his gaze fixed on the road. “But Dadu chose you. And here you are.”Imara squinted at him and challenged, “So, you just blindly follow whatever your grandfather tells you to do?”“I do tend to heed his advice, yes.”“So if he told you to let me go, you would?” Imara imposed.Adhiraj grinned, the corner of his lips lifting in amusement, causing Imara to narrow her eyes in response. “He would never do that…” and even if he did, I don’t think I would want to listen. He wanted to add.Imara shifted in her seat, looking at Adhiraj as she pressed on. “If he does, then?”Adhiraj arched an eyebrow as he looked at her and quipped, “So eager to get rid of me? Most girls would kill to be in your shoes!”“Really! That’s why your bride ran away!” Imara mocked.Adhiraj’s response to that comment was unexpected—instead of getting outraged, he just shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly and said, “Her loss! Your gain!”“No..no..no…” she asserted, shaking her head. “Definitely her gain….”Adhiraj was tickled pink and flashed a big smile, delighted to finally have a civil conversation with his typically unhappy wife.“And I wouldn’t even put up a fight for this position. You can bring in any girl you want to take over,” she declared.“There was no competition Imara…I also had only one option, you!” He stated, his eyes gleaming with a calculated intention to keep his wife engaged in conversation.“Well then,” she stated firmly. “Why don’t you just leave me now and we can both live in peace?”“I can’t go against Dadu’s wishes...” he responded.“If he tells you to?” Imara asked, a hint of hope in her voice. It was surprising for her to be having a civilised conversation with Adhiraj, and even more so that they seemed to be on the same wavelength. But then again, he was right. There really wasn’t a choice for him, either.“What if he doesn’t?” Adhiraj countered.Imara, not one to back down, replied with a hint of defiance, “What if he does? Will you let me go?”Playing devil’s advocate, Adhiraj prodded further, “But what if he doesn’t, Imara?”Imara looked away, her eyes focused on the distant horizon as she pondered a clever strategy to persuade Virender to agree to her will. She carefully calculated her next steps, methodically planning out every move and evaluating all possible alternatives. After finally coming up with a plan, she turned to face Adhiraj. Her voice filled with confidence, she declared, “I will stay,” fully convinced that Virender would show her the door of his own accord.“Alright! Deal!” With a wicked gleam in his eyes, Adhiraj replied, “If my grandfather tells me, you will have a free pass.”Was he setting a trap for his wife? Sure, he was!“Sounds good!” Imara leaned back in her seat, feeling a glimmer of hope. But Adhiraj wasn’t about to let her off that easily. “So, what’s the deadline?” he prodded.“What do you mean?” Imara turned her head towards him, slightly puzzled.“The deadline for convincing Dadu?” Adhiraj clarified.“As soon as possible…” Imara shrugged casually.Adhiraj shook his head. “Every challenge needs a deadline. How about a month?” he suggested with a raised eyebrow.Imara eyed him suspiciously. “Are you trying to pull a fast one on me?”“Of course not! Just giving you a fair shot at it. So, a month?”Wordlessly, Imara continued to shoot daggers at him. He cleared his throat and remarked, “Look, a deadline would work as a fair chance for me as well.”“How?” she raised an eyebrow.“Because I’ll have to put up with your childish tantrums only for a month, then,” he parked the car outside his house, “If you can’t sway him, we’re sticking to the current arrangement and you better behave.” With that, he got out of the car.Quick on her feet, Imara caught up to him and declared, “I never lose!”Adhiraj nodded, using his master key to unlock the front door. Motioning for Imara to follow, he led her upstairs to their room.Once inside, he quipped, “You may not lose, but we’ll need to come to some agreements if you do, alright?”Imara, with an eye roll, strutted towards the wardrobe room to grab her clothes. Adhiraj, with an air of patience, waited for her return before expressing, “A deal has to have something for either of the parties when they win the challenge.”In response, Imara casually dismissed his notion, quipping, “A deal has to have honesty, too. You are not supposed to alert your family about this agreement. If you agree to it, I will agree to your end of the bargain.”As she made her way to the washroom, she heard Adhiraj speak up from behind her. “Deal! And when you lose, you will behave as a wife should.”Imara stopped in her tracks, spun around, and gave a puzzled blink in response to what she had just heard. Seizing the moment, Adhiraj bravely closed the distance between them, stopping just a hair’s breadth away. He looked into her bewildered eyes and his words hung in the air as he declared, “You will fulfil every expectation I had for my wife.”Imara took a step back, feeling her heart race under the weight of his intense stare as he confidently stepped forward. “Respecting our elders...” he asserted, taking a step closer, prompting her to take another step back. “Accepting my family as yours...” he pressed on, steadily closing in on her, the scent of his cologne enveloping her until her back was firmly against the wall.Adhiraj trapped her against the wall, his hands creating a firm barrier on either side. With wide eyes, she watched as he leaned in, his voice dropped to a seductive octave as he murmured, “Everything a wife does... Every. Single. Thing.” His gaze penetrating into her soul.Imara’s breath caught and his heart skipped a beat as he struggled to resist the temptation of pulling her close and show her what he, as a husband, wanted to do with her.“In return, sweet wife of mine…” he murmured. “I will fulfil all the duties of a husband. We will do everything a married couple should do. So…” he paused, his gaze fixed on her fluttering pulse, “After a month’s time, when you lose, I will claim you as my wife and you will surrender Imara, to me, to your husband. Until then, I’ll give you your space. I’ll be moving to another room for now.”With a final glance at a startled and flushed Imara, he exited the room, saying over his shoulder, “A month, Imara…remember!”Imara stood there, struck dumb, gobsmacked, and unable to budge an inch. No, she won’t give in to him. Her heart belonged to Dheeraj, through and through. She was willing to do whatever it takes, absolutely anything, to get Adhiraj’s grandfather to agree.Meanwhile, Adhiraj was pacing back and forth in the temporary room he had settled into, kicking himself for blurting out his feelings to Imara. But was he making a mistake? No way! He just wanted a normal marriage. And did she really think she could just up and leave? That this was all temporary? He never saw it that way! From the moment they got married, it was all about her. Sure, he wasn’t thrilled about the wedding either, but he was willing to make it work.=========Author's Note:Hey Readers,Thank you so much for keeping patience. I really owe all of you this one. But in this month, I would be able to publish the chapters on alternate days. I am trying my best that starting May, I should be able to publish them daily.