My Treacherous Marriage (Vahana Vamsathaar Series #3) - Published

Chapter 2

My mind numbing panic subsided a tiny bit allowing my brain to take over.

Marriage.
To Vignesh.

Why couldn't I just marry one of those old, rich guys? Most of them wouldn't even realize the lack of sex if I could just spin a tale of how wonderful they were in bed. Where were the rich, demented, old coots when you need one?

Vignesh has been a thorn in my side for as long as I can remember. Our first meeting, that I can vividly recall, was when I was 6 years old. I had a new pencil that had a picture of a car on it. I was proudly showing it off to everyone in class when Vignesh walked right up to me and plucked the pencil out of my grip.

"Girls shouldn't play with cars. Cars are for boys. My brother said so. This car pencil is mine," he said and ran away.

I remember crying and complaining to the teacher who didn't really understand the significance of a stolen pencil. She told me I had to learn to share my belongings and informed my parents I had issues with sharing. I can still remember his smug, chubby face gloating at his victory.

From then on, it has been a steady downward slope. We used to fight over who came first in studies, sports and every other competition at school. Unfortunately, we both ended up in the same college and the rivalry continued. He made it his personal mission to date every single friend of mine who all came back heartbroken, crying about their supposed loss. I tried warning them all but they never seemed to listen. I tried my best to ignore him in college. He was an insufferable jerk and I recall him and his friends making a list of the hottest girls in class. He and his posse marched up to me one day to mock about how I was at the very bottom of the list. I flipped him off with a few choice words but the insinuation did sting a bit.

Our parents were close so I always saw him and his family at any major event. His father was grooming him to take over the company since his elder brothers weren't interested. Our lifelong rivalry has become somewhat tiresome. Nowadays, we both try our best to stay out of each other's way. It has worked marvelously so far.

Now, the meddlesome old coots have decided we had to get married. Why now? If Veda Uncle really wanted us to merge families we could've done this ages ago. Everyone was aware of the fact that Vignesh and I never got along. We both had huge egos and no house was big enough to house us together.

My parents have tried long and hard to get me to settle down with a family. I've been firm so far and even scared off potential suitors. Marriage is a fucking disaster and I've yet to meet a happily married couple. And the ones I know who are happy, have unusual relationships.

My mother once sat down and had a talk with me. She asked me what I thought about marriage. I told her that marriage was a legally binding contract between two people who stay together for two reasons.
1. To not die alone.
2. To have children so they can tell society to shove it when somebody claims they haven't performed their biological duty.

Amma seemed sad by my answer but couldn't refute what I said. She then asked me what I thought about love. I told her that romantic love doesn't exist. Lust, which is the physical manifestation of love, causes hormones to be released and makes people believe that they can't live without each other. In reality, they only miss the sensation the other person's body can bring them. This answer made Amma rub her forehead and I think she was muttering about where she went wrong in raising me. She also said she would pray for me and that one day I'll be married with many kids.

Amma was so naive.

By the time Appa had his driver drive us to the Gyan Pharma Headquarters, my mind was rearranging itself around this new concept of getting married to a guy I loathed. I was still feeling quite dizzy from my near panic attack. My heart rate was still teetering along a 100 and I gave up trying to calm myself. It just wasn't going to happen.