I zipped up my pants, my eyes fixed on her naked form.She was crying, her legs cramped against her chest as if trying to protect herself from me.Her body shook with sobs, her skin pale and vulnerable.
"Get dressed," I said, my voice low and husky as...
This is the initiation of story 2 in Taming the beast:Predatory Marriage
Story name:Arranged to him
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It was a busy hospital dormitory. A timid looking girl walked through the busy figures making her way forward. She was holding a bag clutched to her chest tightly as if her life dependent on it. She cleared the bills for this month and stared at the receptionist. Getting a green signal to meet her ailing life partner.
She walked inside the chamber where he was resting. He was so handsome as she remembered. He was strong before the disease caught him up. Now he was almost a shell of him mixed with the bed.
Her footsteps alerted him. He opened his eyes and smiled at her weakly,"I was missing you."
"Madhav,"she whispered his name. Reaching her hand on his forehead she gently patted him. Amidst his weakness,he sneered ,"How do I look when I am bald? Look at my figure it seems the skeleton from the anatomy class escaped."
"You are handsome,"she whispered with her eyes pooling with tears. He smiled painfull at her attempt to cheer him up. But he knew the truth. He had seen him in the mirror. Initially he was devastated but slowly he started to accept his reality. People were worried about his life and him being heartbroken just because he got ugly was too selfish on his side.
"I am sorry I couldn't put the ring on your finger,"he said. She smiled gently.
"After you get well,we will get married and have three little cute kids. You promised me. You have to keep up with your words,"She mumbled.
"If I fail then do get married to someone else and fulfill your dreams."
"You want me to slap you in this condition?"
She sounded bitter. He zipped his lips. He knew it wasn't possible anymore. This stupid disease took everything with it. Not just his dreams and wishes but Swarna's too. He would never be able to give her children even if he made it. He was going to be bedridden,sick and ugly for the rest of his life. Like a burden on her. She was working sweat and blood to hold onto whatever amount of lifeline he had remaining. He tried to pursue her many times but it useless. She told him she found a job and it was paying well. He was convinced because his treatment was going on smoothly. He had ask her times about her job. She told him one of her uncle gave her a job in his company and she was happy doing it.
He was born with a golden spoon in his mouth. He knew nothing other then love, getting pampered and wasted. He was successor of a rich fortune. It was his stupidity that cost him. He never learnt a thing about business and after his father's death he was seeing stars. Still,he was trying his best to get ahead with the work. But then appeared Kaidan.
Kaidan Raghav Upamanyu,his half brother. Illegitimate child of his father. His father loved a woman and impregnated her. But his coward ass refused to accept her before his strict grandfather. He was forced to marry someone by grandpa's choice and Madhav was born.
Madhav had seen that woman with her child coming to beg to his father to accept them. He had seen the torn look on his father's face. That day he had seen his half brother Kaidan with his mother. He was kind of malnourished and dirty,staring at his mother begging before the heartless man to atleast accept the child. But they were kicked out.
A week later they got the news of her death. She died due to tuberculosis. Nothing was heard about the boy.
After so many years,Kaidan was back. He dismantled their business. The story of his father's cruelty and deception was in the media. He had heard his father even personally visited Kaidan and begged him to stop his game of revenge. He even offered to accept him as a legitimate heir but what was done was done. It was too late.
That very night his father hung himself to death. They were on the roads and he tried his best to work for the survival of the company but it collapsed. Kaidan finished whatever they had on their plate.
He had to move out after their house was confiscated and sold in an auction. He was living in a cheap apartment and working errands. When he had met Swarnalekha.
She was living in the same building. With her grandmother and a school going sister. He was enamoured at the very first sight. She was also going through a terrific economical condition and was the only support system of her family. Working in a garment factory to make their ends meet.
She used to avoid him until he saved her from getting assaulted by a thug in the narrow lane. It was friendship and within a year around they were romantically attached to each other. They were going to get married but but before the very wedding day he was hospitalized.
"It's Karma,"he said getting out of his flashbacks. Swarnalekha was cutting fruits for him. She looked up and furrowed her eyes. Her hands stopped their action,"What?"
"That innocent helpless woman...... abandoned with a child. No one to look after. Imagine the pain she went through when she died. Kaidan saw her dying before his eyes. He was a child and even after getting that news my father never went to get him."His eyes moistened although Swarnalekha was suddenly stiffened at the particular name. "Now thinking about his sufferings,I don't find him wrong. My grandfather and father created a monster who wasn't a monster to begin with."
"You should not think about it,"she forced up a smile and held a piece of apple before his mouth. At this moment the only thing you are supposed to do is get well."
Madhav stared at her face. Even after so much hard-work,stress and mental breakdown she was pretty. Her eyes had slight dark circles. But it was complementing her. She looked liked a beautiful fawn.
"I have to go to work,"she said looking at the time. "Be good and take rest. I will come tomorrow."
He disliked their brief encounter but rule was rule. She kissed his hand and covered him wit the duvet.
"I love you."
When she was out,she spotted the familiar car. The driver upon spotting her silently opened the door. She gulped before climbing in. For someone like her, affording this car was beyond dreams. It was already raising eyebrows in her colony. Everyday,she would get in the same car and return dead at night dropped by the same one.
The car drove away. Sometimes the driver was flicking his gazes at her,his eyes full of sympathy for the poor little girl unaware of the dirt she had landed her in. Not only the dirt,but the dangerous lurking in her choosen path was beyond imagination. He pitied her. His boss was a dark and mysterious figure and when it started he thought he would toss her away after getting what he wanted but it looked liked his fascination was growing. Or he was burning in his fire of revenge.
When the car stopped after Devil's Villa, Swarnalekha tiptoed out. Her little legs making way to the room. She spotted the housekeeper Prema who smiled at her. Sometimes she didn't know why?Why were they smiling at her?What was there to respect her?To feel empathy?
Afterall,she was Kaidan Raghav Upamanyu's bed warmer,his rakhel......................
Her heart was pounding against her chest. She walked inside his bedroom and stopped finding shreds of glass pieces on the floor. Entire room was in a mess. Things were scattered, curtains were teared off. She gasped feeling two hands enveloping her from behind.
"Why are you late?You know what was I going on when you weren't here on time?" His breath was hot.
"If...if you are so desperate you should have called for someone else. I am not your wife afterall. Just your mistress,"she replied trying to sound brave. She closed her eyes feeling his erratic heartbeat against her back,his violent breathing. He chuckled which tickled her earlobe. She gasped when she was suddenly swept off her feet. His piercing eyes met her.
