Ruthless billionaire's Bride

Chapter 13

Sanket Mehta

Rather than being annoyed, I was amused. I mean, was she really that stupid? She could have taken a few files first, but no, she took all of them in one go. Apart from that, she really surprised me by arriving on time. I thought she would show up late.

Suddenly, the door of my office burst open and two men barged in; two men who never knock before entering my office; two men who are my best friends.

"What the hell man!" Both said in unison.

"Good morning to you too," I greeted them as I stood up from my chair and hugged them but to my surprise, they pushed me away.

"Keep your good morning to yourself." Manav snapped annoyingly.

"What the hell man! You got married and didn't even invite your best friends?" Tanzeel scowled.

I rub my face with my palms. Why did I even inform them? Because I can't hide anything from them. I sat back on my chair since I knew it was going to be a long talk.

"Seriously Sanket, what was the rush and you haven't even told us who the girl is?" Manav asked annoyingly.

"And I didn't even get the chance to eat the wedding food... because someone decided to get married secretly," Tanzeel said sarcastically.

I rolled my eyes. Tanzeel and food, no one can separate them.

"Seriously Tanzeel, you are more concerned about the food rather than his marriage?" Manav scowled looking at him, pointing a finger at me.

"Yeah, I mean he already got married without inviting us, we can't do anything about that, but I can always complain about the most important issue, that is food," Tanzeel replied.

"Tanzeel you can eat whatever, whenever and wherever you want. You have got money." I replied to his childish comment.

"Oh..no, no, no, you have no right to speak in the middle of this matter because you got married secretly and no one knows to whom. And the food, you know what free food tastes like? And out of all...wedding food, it carries feelings, love, and emotions." Tanzeel said the last line dreamily.

Seriously, no one at this moment could say that he was CEO of the USA's topmost company. Sometimes he acts childishly, but of course, only in front of his loved ones.

"Shut up Tanzeel! And you tell us why and how all this happened." Manav asked in a serious tone.

I sighed and explained to them how I got entangled in this situation.

"Oh!" They both said in unison, nodding their head.

"Just oh! Nothing else?" I asked annoyingly. They don't have anything else to say?

"Yeah, what's done is done. What I don't get is... why your parents choose Karthik Ahuja's stepdaughter?" Sean asked.

"I am thinking the same. When I asked my parents they didn't tell me the exact reason," I muttered.

"One more thing, you have appointed a new Personal Assistant and that too a woman?" Dean asked in utter surprise.

"Yeah, you had never appointed a woman as your Personal Assistant. You preferred appointing man, what's different this time?" Sean asked

Oh, they have already met her.

"About that...well... erm... she is Karthik Ahuja's stepdaughter," I said, drumming my fingers on the desk.

"The one you got married to?" Manav asked calmly. I knew it was the calmness before the storm. I nodded my head, biting inside of my cheeks.

"What the hell Sanket " both snapped in unison. I knew it!

"How many shocks will you give us in a day?" Manav said angrily.

"And may I ask why is she your P.A?" Tanzeel asked.

"Because I needed a P.A and now I don't want to talk about this," I said dismissively.

"Call her here and introduce us to her. It's like she doesn't know us, like who we are in the company and who we are to you." Tanzeel ordered.

"I'll introduce her to you afterward. Right now I have much more important work to do." I retorted.

"NOW!" Tanzeel said sternly, glaring at me. I glared back with the same intensity. But I knew who's gonna win the game.

"Okay," I huffed. I had to give up because I knew my friends very well, they would have bugged me to death. They sat on the couch placed on the right side of my desk.

I called on her intercom immediately " In my office, Now." And I cut the call.

She knocked on the door in a few seconds. When she entered, first she glanced at them and then stepped towards my desk.

"Umm...you called?" She asked.

"Yes... don't you know them?" I asked, staring at her. My finger was pointed at the two men sitting on the couch. She glanced at them before looking back at me.

"No," She replied nervously. Of course, what could I expect? Even I had to tell her about myself and my company. She needs to watch the news.

Manav stood up from the couch and approached her. "Hi, I am Manav Chabbra, Co-owner of this company and Sanket's best friend."

Her eyes became wide for a second, then came back to normal. "Good morning, sir." she greeted him, bowing her head slightly. Why does she do that?

Tanzeel approached her as well.
"Well, we met a few minutes ago but I didn't introduce myself before, let me introduce myself this time. Hi, I am Tanzeel Khan, the other Co-owner of the company and his best friend. Basically, we three are best friends." Tanzeel said with a smile as he extended his hand for a handshake. But she didn't shake his hand, instead greeted him while bowing slightly.

"Good morning sir, Sorry, I didn't know about you." Her voice was low.

"Don't worry about it. And please, call me Tanzeel or Tanzu."

"Same, call me Manav or mnv."

"Umm...I don't think it's appropriate, you both are my bosses." She said hesitantly.

"Oh, come on princess you are married to Sanket, which means you are a Mehta now and Sanket Mehta is like a brother to me, so, it means you are like my sister-in-law in short sister. So you have got all the rights to call me by my name." Tanzeel chirped.

Princess?

"But-" She was about to say something but Manav cut her off.

"Okay, you call us by our name when we are not in front of our employees," Manav suggested.

What were they both doing? I didn't get it as to why they were being friendly with her. And Tanzeel called her princess? The word 'Princess' was closer to his heart and was most emotional to him and he gave that title to her that easily?

"O..okay," She agreed.

"Now princess, can we shake our hands? We are no strangers now." Tanzeel asked with a smile.

She hesitantly shook his hand and smiled a little then she did the same with Manav. They both smiled back at her.

"That's enough! The introduction is over now. You can go back to work." I ordered her.

"Okay," She replied and went out.

"So, what you gonna do now?" Manav asked me.

"I'll plan on how to get out of this situation" I replied monotonously. I honestly had no idea what I was going to do, but I had to do something. I couldn't stay in a loveless marriage for life.

"At least give her a chance, she seems nice and polite. And she is beautiful and different." Manav suggested.

"Looks are always deceiving" I shot back.

"Yeah, looks are deceiving but not always." Daniel snapped. What's with him today?

"And how can you say in just first meeting that she is different, huh? And you Tanzeel? Why did you call her princess? Why you guys are getting friendly with her that easily? Don't forget she is Karthik's daughter, you never know she might be manipulative and deceiving like her father and sister." I said angrily.

"Don't forget she is Karthik's stepdaughter, okay? And the fact that she didn't gawk at us like other women or didn't try to seduce us in the first meeting and she didn't know who we are is enough to tell that she is different. Sanket, don't judge her on the basis that she is Karthik's daughter, try to know her." Manav replied.

"Yes. And out of all people, you should know that I will not give that title to just anybody. I called her princess because I saw her in her.Sanket, try to know her because she seems nice. Give her a chance." Tanzeel said and went out.

I didn't know what came into him that he gave that title to her. Tanzeel used to call his sister by the title princess. His sister's name was also Aashna, but that doesn't mean he should get emotional and call her princess.

"Well, I should leave as well. Sanket, She seems like a keeper, don't let that gem slip off your hand." Manav said, patting my shoulder. Then they left.

Okay... It takes four to five hours to sign a deal and sometimes even days. But they both concluded that she was different and good for me, that too in just a few minutes of meeting?

I had no idea what I could do about that. Like my parents, both of my friends' opinions mattered a lot to me. And right now my parents and my best friends were on her side. They were supporting her.

It seemed like I was the wrong one.

Was I really judging her based on her father and sister?.... Maybe I was...

Should I really give her a chance? Is she worth it?

I sighed out loud and mumbled to myself, "Thinking about this will give me a headache. I'll think about it later. Right now I have important work to do."

I began to read the document placed in front of me.

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