19) Did it hurt?

Kiara's POV

Looking around my room for the last time, I tried to etch every single thing in my mind. After all, it was the last time I was seeing my room. Inhaling deeply, I walked out and closed the door, resisting a very strong urge to peek back.

The day was finally here.

16th August.

I was dressed in a simple shirt and jeans and my hair were flowing down my back.

No wedding lehenga? - you would ask.

3 days ago, Mr. Rajveer called dad to inform him that he had organized a court marriage. I was thoroughly confused as to why he would insist on a court marriage when he was the one who wanted everyone to know that his son was finally getting settled.

Nonetheless, I was happy that it was going to be a small affair. Only family and friends.

As I walked down the stairs, I realized that this was the last day in my home. Tears started prickling my eyes and I blinked heavily to prevent them from falling.

"The luggage is in the car." Dad announced, entering through the main door as I descended the last step, sniffling discreetly. Since the day I had overheard my parents talking, I couldn't help but think it was all my fault that dad had almost lost his job.

But now, everything was going to be okay. At least for my family.

Dad came near me and put his arm around my shoulders. I smiled at him but it didn't reach my eyes.

"Ready?" He asked, a warm smile adorning his face.

No.

I took a deep breath. "Yes."

"Are you sure, Kia?" His question took me by surprise. I looked at him only to find him gazing at me with concerned eyes. Worry lines creased his forehead and my heart clenched at the thought that he was so worried for me.

Putting on a convincing smile, like I had been doing the past three years, I said. "Yes, dad. I'm sure." I hugged him.

"Well, then, let's go. Your mom and Tina are already outside."

*

Staring at the papers in front of me, I swallowed harshly, my grip on the pen tightening with each passing second. Sweat trickled down my forehead and I leaned forward, no matter how much I wanted to run away from here. I was sitting in one of the most expensive lawyer's office beside an arrogant, brooding male whom I was supposed to marry. Our families stood in a around us.

I looked at the papers in front of me.

I had to do this.

For my family.

Without wasting another second, I signed the papers.

I just signed my marriage contract.

I just signed myself to the devil.

My hand felt numb as I kept the pen on the table.

"Okay, then. Mr. Singhania?" The lawyer took the papers from me and set them in front of Arjun. "It's your turn. You have to sign here."

My eyes snapped to Arjun while his were focused ahead. I hadn't seen him since that night.

I bit my lip nervously, my heart thundering in my chest as I stared at him. I could almost feel his teeth grinding against each other by the way he was clenching his jaw. His neck vein was popping out in anger and it must have taken him a lot of self-restraint to not lash out.

After a few long, painful silent moments, Arjun picked the pen and signed and I released a breath I didn't know I was holding.

"And we need two witnesses, too." For that, Mr. Rajveer and dad came forward and signed.

"And it's done!" The lawyer rejoiced. "Congratulations, Mr. and Mrs. Singhania."

Mrs. Singhania.

It sounded so... different.

Cheers erupted around us and I slumped in my chair as realization dawned upon me.

Mrs. Singhania.

I was Mrs. Singhania now.

I shakily stood from my chair and was immediately engulfed in hugs.

My eyes swept around the room and everyone, except the new pair, looked happy. My friends were grinning broadly. Mom was weeping while dad and Tina comforted her. Siddharth and Rohan were also there. Siddharth held my eye contact and waved, coming towards me when a hard voice spoke.

"We need to go."

Mr. Rajveer was about to say something when Arjun cut him off. "I have some important work, dad." His jaw was set in a taut line, his face blank, deceiving no emotion.

After then, everything was a blur. I bid goodbyes to everyone. One second, I was asking mom to stop crying and telling Maahi to stop giving me that creepy look while the other second, I was sitting in a Range Rover beside Arjun.

The car ride was eerily silent and I didn't dare speak a word, not because I didn't want to but because I was tired. My eyes had dark circles beneath them. I hadn't got proper sleep in a long time. And I blamed it all on a certain male sitting beside me.

The car stopped after about 20 minutes and the driver got out. I looked out of the window to see tall buildings everywhere. I haven't come to this part of the city before. The driver came to my side and opened the door. "Your luggage has already been kept in your room, ma'am."

Thanking him, I stepped out and looked around. We were standing in front of a very tall building. I was quite surprised as I was half expecting Arjun to live in a big, expensive bungalow. Not that I had any problem living in a normal apartment.

The driver opened other side of the door and Arjun got out and started walking towards the building without even acknowledging me.

I sighed.

Of course! What else did you expect? That he would pick you up bridal style and then enter the building?

Ha! In my dreams.

Okay, let's just not talk about that.

It amazed me that my sarcasm hadn't left me even in such serious situations.

Rolling my eyes at my own conscience, I followed him inside and we both entered a lift. He clicked the top floor button and then it hit me. He lived in a penthouse!

Well, well.

Talk about showing off.

Wringing my hands together in front of me, I tapped my foot lightly on the floor. I was getting impatient. I haven't been quiet for such a long time in my entire life. It felt like my insides were clawing me to say something.

"Stop that." Arjun hissed.

Well, okay then.

Cautiously, so that he wouldn't notice, I tried to sneak a peek at him from the corner of eyes. My head moved infinitesimally towards his direction and I squinted my eyes, trying to be as inconspicuous as possible.

"Quit staring at me." His voice was deep and rough and I immediately faced forward, trying to cool down my hot ears.

Way to be discreet, Kia.

I was being discreet! It wasn't my fault that he had ninja superpowers. What was he? A chameleon? How could he notice me when he was staring ahead?

"I wasn't staring." I squeaked in embarrassment.

"Sure." He drawled. Why did his tone sound a little teasing to me? No, I must be mistaken. My ears either needed a proper cleaning or a hearing aid. Arjun Singhania wasn't capable of teasing anyone.

The lift opened with a ding and we came in front of two large oak doors. Arjun moved forward and after rummaging through his pockets, took out a key and inserted it in the lock.

All the while, I waited patiently while he opened the doors and went inside. Trailing behind him, I entered the apartment but came to a sudden halt and a sharp gasp escaped my lips at the view in front of me.

Woah.

Holy freaking shit!

My eyes grew wide as saucers and my jaw hung open, enough to catch a dozen of flies.

I was tongue tied.

The penthouse was... It was... I had no words to describe its beauty. It screamed of elegance and money. I bit my tongue, resisting the urge to run around the apartment yelling like a banshee on fire.

I stood there transfixed, gawking at the house. In front of me was the living area where the sofas were set on the left side with tall French windows behind them, giving a spectacular view of the city. Opposite to the windows, was a very big TV attached to the wall and behind the wall were stairs. The sound of footsteps broke me from my trance and I immediately started walking after Arjun, unable to clamp my jaw shut, not before looking at the floor for any drool.

Now, let me tell you- the floor was perfectly smooth. I could have simply walked away from there. Like any normal person would have. But has anything normal and simple happened in my life since I met Arjun? No.

My legs must have thought - let's do something fun. And me, being the amazing ramp walker I am, tripped. Yes. Over nothing! On perfectly smooth floor.

Oh, come on! How could I keep from embarrassing myself? It had been a long time since I stumbled over nothing and gave my audience a good show of me performing an ancient tribal dance which was basically my attempt to hold myself up and not fall down.

My legs tangled with each other (I didn't know why they felt the sudden need to embrace each other) and I was ready to fall flat on my face and break either my front two teeth or my nose.

Who would marry me if I was missing my front teeth?

But you just got married half an hour ago.

Oh yeah. I almost forgot that. I was already married. So, it wouldn't really matter now. I could lose all my teeth for all I cared.

But a hand clasped around my arm in time and held me in place, preventing me from breaking my precious teeth and looking like a homeless, aged witch.

"Can't you fucking see where you're walking?" Arjun's voice was laced with annoyance. He pulled me up from my awkward, hunched position which caused our bodies to collide together. My breath hitched at our close proximity and I felt a sense of Déjà Vu, recalling the time in that cafe. His eyebrows were drawn together and a scowl was prominent on his face. My chocolate brown orbs bored into his black ones, a pool of black intensity and I licked my dry lips. He suddenly seemed to realize that he was still holding my arm and abruptly backed away as if my touch had burned him.

I, too, stepped away and looked downwards, tucking a strand of hair behind my ears.

He looks more handsome up close.

Gosh, Kia! Would you stop?

Silence ensued and none of us made a move to break it.

"That's your room." His icy, sharp voice cut through the tense silence surrounding us. We had already crossed the living area and were standing in a hallway. I shivered at the coldness in his voice and looked in the direction in he was pointing.

Without any more words, he marched off in the opposite direction towards what I assumed was his room. Before stepping inside, he turned around and fixed me with that icy glare of his and spoke with such venom in his voice that I wanted to curl into a ball. "Remember one thing. You do not matter to me, not at all. I don't care if you live or die. So, get this thing inside your pretty little head and stay away from me." His volume didn't rise but the intensity of his words hit me harder than a truck.

The door slammed shut with a loud bam and I flinched at the sound. Swallowing the lump in my throat, I moved towards my room. A hot tear trailed down my cheek and I wiped it immediately.

No.

I wouldn't cry. Not because of him.

I wouldn't cry and prove him right that I'm a weak, pathetic girl. Keeping my head high, I walked into the room that had become mine now.

I wasn't surprised when I entered the room because I had expected it. The room, like any other part of the penthouse was classy. A king-sized bed was present in the middle and on the other side of the room were two doors, one for the bathroom and one for a walk-in closet.

Gosh! A walk-in closet.

A study table was set in one side of the room. As the driver had promised, my bags were already there. Taking a look at the bathroom, I walked out and sighed heavily. And then I realized how tired I was. My head was aching badly and I felt like collapsing on the ground.

Walking slowly towards the bed, I sat and did a little jump just for the fun of it. A small giggle escaped my lips at my childish behaviour. Shaking my head, I laid down and allowed myself to fall into a dreamless sleep.

Knock.

"Go away, Tina." I mumbled into my pillow.

Knock knock.

"5 more minutes please." I groaned and turned around.

Knock, knock.

Oh god! Why can't she let me sleep?

"Ugh! What the hell do you w-" I stopped mid-way as I opened my eyes.

This was not my room.

Oh no, it wasn't.

Where was I?

Oh my god! I had been kidnapped.

How was I going to escape now?

I sat up immediately and was ready to jump from a window, if I found any, when my eyes wandered landed on the door where a lady in her mid-30s was standing.

"Hi, I'm Ritu. Arjun's cook." She smiled.

Oh.

"H-hi." My voice was a little croaky.

"I am sorry, I didn't mean to startle you." She sent me an apologetic smile.

"No, no. it's fine." I raked a hand through my hair.

I just had a minor heart attack, thinking that I've been kidnapped and I was about to swing your head with a lamp on the bedside and then run away from here screaming murder but other than that I'm completely fine.

"Dinner is almost ready. Why don't you freshen up and come to eat in the kitchen?"

Dinner? How much had I slept?

"What time is it?" I asked.

"It's almost 9 pm."

I slept for 4 hours straight.

"I... um..." I hesitated. "Where's Arjun?" I finally asked, gathering courage. I didn't want to see his face.

His pretty face?

Now, I was thinking of hitting myself with that lamp.

"Oh, he didn't tell you?" She frowned but then smiled. "He has gone to an important business meeting."

Oh.

"In Australia."

What?

"How long?" I found myself asking, despite my hatred towards him.

My inner conscience raised a mocking eyebrow at the word 'hatred' and the urge to hit myself with the lamp intensified 10 times.

"Usually, his meetings last a couple of days. But he said that it might take a week for this one."

A week, huh?

I was pretty sure that he hadn't gone just for a meeting. He was avoiding me.

"I am going to the kitchen, now. Freshen up and have dinner."

I sent her a grateful smile and she walked out of the room.

Rubbing my eyes, I stood up and picked up my suitcase. I needed to change first.

*

I opened the door of my classroom and was suddenly attacked by something jumping on me and giving me another heart attack.

I might need a heart surgery now.

Oh god! Since when are dogs allowed in my college?

I freaked out and was about to yell for help when I realized that these were not dogs hounding me but the creatures that I call friends.

Why was everyone hell bent on scaring the shit out of me?

Maahi and Nandini peered at me with excited eyes and wide smiles. I was starting to get a little scared by their expressions.

"How was it?"

"Did it hurt?"

"Was it big?"

They started firing questions at me simultaneously, the last one coming from Maahi.

I stared at them weirdly.

Why was I getting strange looks from other people?

Why had everyone stopped talking and looking at us, especially me as if we were a new trailer of Avengers 4?

And more importantly, what were my friends talking ab-

Oh.

Oh.

OH.

Heat quickly crawled to my face and my cheeks burned in embarrassment while I looked at them horrified, my face resembling a tomato.

"Come on, Kia. Speak up." Maahi urged. "Tell us. How big was it?" She shook my arm and her creepy face came closer to mine, excited for information.

"What, NO!" I screeched in horror. "J... just stop. Oh god."

They had completed lost their minds.

"What no? How did it go?" Nandini repeated her question, assuming I hadn't heard correctly the first time. An irritated groan escaped me and I opened my mouth, only to close it and then open again. I ended up repeating the steps 4 times with no words coming out of my mouth. I face palmed and looked at the sky, praying the gods above to pick me up from here.

We were so not having this conversation.

"That's it. I'm going to take you all to a psychiatrist." I growled.

"You didn't do it?" Nandini asked, furrowing her eyebrows.

"NO! I.....I didn't do it, you idiots." I whispered furiously, afraid that someone might hear.

"What? Why?"

"You mean to say you didn't have se-" I clamped a hand over Maahi's mouth to stop her from saying the S word loudly.

These girls and their imaginative minds.

They needed immediate help.

Helplessly, I looked sideways to find any escape when I spotted Saumya, staring at us and smiling cluelessly. She clearly had no idea what we were talking about. She was that naive. These idiots were going to corrupt her innocent mind. She waved at me and I waved back with my unoccupied hand. I felt a wetness at my palm and I immediately removed my hand from Maahi's mouth with a shriek. That psycho had licked my hand. Wiping my hand furiously on her clothes, I grimaced while she chuckled.

"Are you sure nothing happened?" Nandini narrowed her eyes suspiciously.

"Yes." I groaned desperately. I wanted to slam my head in a wall.

"And even if something had happened, I wouldn't have talked about it." I added as an afterthought.

"Then, why is your face glowing?" Maahi enquired with raised eyebrows.

"Because" I started in a calm tone, no matter how much I wanted to strangle her on the spot. "I bathed in the morning." I snapped. "And for your kind information, I always do."

At that instant, our professor entered the classroom and all the students scrambled to their seats. I have never been so happy to see that sadist of a teacher.

She started teaching but my thoughts wandered to a different topic. Yesterday, after having dinner, I went straight to my room and slept again. I had woken a little late today but managed to get ready in time. Ritu was already there, preparing breakfast for me when I rushed into the kitchen. God bless that woman. She gave me an extra set of house keys and even packed my lunch and I ran out of the penthouse, thanking her. Only after reaching on the ground floor, did I realize that I didn't know the way to college from here.

God bless the man who created Google Maps.

It was only at a 15 minutes distance from there and I took a bus since I was getting late.

The shrill voice of the teacher snapped me from my thoughts and I started noting down the important points, my current situation forgotten for the time being.

Arjun's POV

I took a sip from my glass and my eyes wandered around the hall. The hall was filled with excited chatters and happy smiles and the only person brooding here was me.

It had been a week since I got married.

A week since I left India and came here.

A week since I'm trying to indulge myself into work and forget the present situation.

But I know nothing's gonna help. I'll have to return back sometime.

Rubbing my forehead uneasily, I turned around for another glass of champagne but stopped when I saw someone approaching me. I straightened myself and stood rather proudly.

"Mr. Green." I nodded and shook hands with him. He was a major shareholder of the business that we had set up in Australia. The party was held by him in the honour of his 20th marriage anniversary.

Oh, the irony.

The one thing that I've been running from, hits me back in the face with full force. I wouldn't have attended the function if it had been someone else but Mr. Green was an important person.

"I talked to your father, Mr. Singhania. And I got to know that you got married last week. What a surprise. And where's your wife?" He asked.

Controlling the urge to smash his face in his stupid anniversary cake, I gave him a tight-lipped smile and pursed my lips. "She had some prior engagement and couldn't come. But she gives her heartiest congratulations to you and your wife."

Wow. I was such a convincing liar.

"Thank you."

My phone started vibrating in my pocket and I excused myself. Taking a glass of wine from a waiter, I moved towards a secluded corner, away from all the noise.

Taking out my phone, I got quite a shock when I realized that it was Kiara calling me.

Oh no, I hadn't saved her number. It was Sid who did it and then threatened me not to delete it.

As if I was scared of him. I snorted. I could delete it anytime I want.

Then why haven't you deleted the number yet? A small voice at the back of my voice asked and I tried my best to ignore it.

My first urge was to cut the call and throw the phone across the hall but something stopped me from doing so. I didn't know what got into me as I swiped the green button and placed the phone near my ear, taking a sip of my wine.

I kept silent as a soft, distracted voice spoke from the other side. "Hey, babe."

And I choked on my wine.

What the fuck?

Coughing uncontrollably, I spat my drink on the carpet and rubbed my chest vigorously to calm down. A waiter passed by, looking at me disgusted and horrified at the same time as if he had seen me doing ballet in a tutu.

"Anushka? Are you okay?" A confused voice spoke.

What the hell? Was she on drugs or something? Didn't she know that she had called me?

"Anushka? Hello?"

"Anu-" Her voice quietened down and a few seconds passed like this. All I heard was a loud gasp and a small shit before the line went dead.

And then it clicked in my head. She must have been trying to call someone named Anushka and dialed me instead.

Pinching the bridge of my nose, I shook my head a little and sighed. My lips twitched upwards in the ghost of a smile, I found the situation quite amusing. Shaking my head, I looked at my phone and called my PA.

Time to go back home.