Arranged Marriage to Kill Him

Chapter 18 : The Kiss

Ahanay was seated in his home office, scanning through contracts when the butler knocked on the door. "Sir, there's an . . . issue."

"What is it?"

"Your wife scratched one of the maids," the butler said, his eyes twinkling in excitement. "There's a war going on outside. They're pulling each other's hair and calling names that I can't say in front of you, sir. We need to---"

"What?" Ahanay raised his eyebrows in baffled amusement, looking up from the stack of papers. "Bring her---" Before he could summon her, the door burst open with Naina clawing at the maid's hair, the maid screeching and Naina spitting fire through her fierce eyes. "Woah, woah. What is my little demon doing." Standing up, he tried unclawing her fingers from the maid's hair, but she clutched on it like a baby. "Naina. Leave."

At that, Naina tugged at her hair one last time before shoving her away, the maid falling to the floor.

"Naina, is this how you treat---" Before he could complete the sentence, he noticed how the two women glared at each other with hatred that was . . . familiar.

"Sir!" The maid screamed as if she was straight out of a drama school, falling to his feet. "I have nothing sir and she beat me! I'm just a poor lady---"

"I beat you?" Naina snorted, her eyes still fierce and demonic. "Weren't you the one who tripped me down the stairs?"

Instinctively, Ahanay rushed to her, gripping her arms and his eyes searching her body. "Where are you hurt? Tell me now."

"She isn't hurt! I am!"

"Youuuuuuu---" Naina launched herself towards Varsha, pouncing on her like a wild cat and Ahanay had to lift her off the floor by her waist, to keep her away. "Leave me alone! Let me go---"

"Look at her, Sir! How cruel she is to me! Why did you marry her? I know her since she was a child, she's a murder---"

"You don't know me! You---"

"Silence!" Ahanay bellowed, sealing the lips of both the women. "Naina. You tell me. What happened?"

But Naina was silent, her tight fists shivering in quiet rage.

"Alright. You go ahead," Ahanay said to the maid who got up from the floor, her tongue rolling to spew words.

"We know each other since childhood. We were good friends, sir. But we lost touch when I went to college and she stayed back at home. She has never been to college. She's only 12th pass---" she paused to gauge Ahanay's reaction whose face was as calm as the sea at dawn. "---Today when I went to greet her, I don't know what happened to her. She just started beating me. I didn't know my old friend could do that to me . . ." She spilt a few tears, sniffing with her snot making weird, gurgling noises. "I don't know how you could marry such a woman, sir. You're so bright and handsome and she's only a---"

"That's enough," Ahanay cut her off, his eyes not leaving Naina whose head was down and deadly silent. "You can leave. From tomorrow on, you will be working with my wife to prepare the house for the dinner event."

Naina whipped her head up, her dead silence had come alive on her face for a flash of a second. "What?"

"WHAT!" The maid shrieked with her in a union, catching that flash that frightened her.

"Leave," Ahanay bellowed in a barely controlled voice, the maid's shrill voice had caused the last, patient nerve in his jaw to twitch. The maid scurried out of the door like a scared, sheep and Naina started to follow her out."Not you, Naina. Stay." She stopped, her back turned to him. His voice softened, "Turn around. I have something to show you."

At the sound of a click when curiosity began crawling all over and itching her, she turned around, seeing the biggest thing ever.

* * *

Naina couldn't believe her eyes as she blinked, all her anger vaporising into nothingness. The massive wall behind Ahanay had shifted, paving a way for shelves of books with spiral stairs disappearing above. She looked at Ahanay who was watching her, his eyes keen to see her reaction.

"This is nothing," he said, stepping forward and seizing her wrist. "Come with me."

He led her towards the stairs and above as Naina felt her being carried away on a floofy cloud, feeling herself dream a hundred dreams that lay in these sleeping books.

"Here," he said, bringing her on top of the stairs. Her eyes tried to take in the rows and rows of shelves in front of her like a maze as she started to feel dizzy from this daydream. He snapped her out of the dizziness as he said the most infuriating words that a man could say to a woman, "This should help you."

"Help me?" she whispered, wondering when has a man ever helped a woman. They make life difficult for women, not letting them study and face humiliation for the rest of their lives. She asked sarcastically, "How will it help me, dear? Show me."

Ahanay hesitated before striding towards the nearest shelf and picking a book. "The language of this book isn't difficult---"

Isn't difficult? Who did he take her for?! And who was he to educate her? Just because he got a Harvard education didn't give him any right to belittle her like this!

"---but it talks about---" Naina struck the book out of his hand, shocking him.

"I don't care. It's boring," she declared, walking further and knocking more books out of the shelves. As Ahanay stooped down to pick up the book, he could hear the riot breaking out. "Not interesting. For kids. Stupid. Idiotic." Thud. Thud. Thud. Darwin, Dickens, Dostoevsky, all fell down alphabetically under the tyrannical reign of Naina. "Nonsense. Rubbish. Out of the window---" As she was about to fling one book out of the window like a Frisbee, her wrists were caught and she was slammed hard against the bookshelf. The books behind her shuddered at the fury of Ahanay as he pinned her hands above her head and pressed his body against her. Naina's wrath tried rising above his and she spat out in hurt pride and anger, "You can teach me nothing."

"Watch me," he growled, roughly grabbing her chin, drawing her lips apart with his teeth and kissing her hard.

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