Everyone was looking at me oddly; why wouldn't they? A girl like me was standing next to a wealthy man.

I felt both shy and nervous at the same time. To avoid people's weird stares, I attempted to release my hand from his, but instead of letting go, he clutched it even tighter and gave me a strange look.

After a second, Rahul approached and asked to Mr. Rajput, "Miss Vaidya is coming, right?" Looking a little tense.

Mr. Rajput shook his head in no and exclaimed, "No, Vrinda will represent our brand; she will be our model," in a dark and loud voice, grabbing everyone's attention.

When he spoke, everyone present there became quiet.

"Does anybody have any problem?" Avyukt questioned in a dark and terrifying tone, and everyone shook their heads in "No" . His dark gaze was enough to make everyone gulp.

There was just 30 min left for the event, I was sitting alone on the couch in the makeup room , and everyone was preoccupied with their own jobs. I was all set to attend. I was assisted in getting ready by makeup artist and an outfit stylist.

My hands were trembling due to nervousness. I'd have to walk in front of so many people, and everyone's eyes would be on me. Would I be able to do it properly? What happens if something goes wrong with me?

At the time, I had a lot of questions, but there was also hope in my mind that everything would be fine.

Tears welled up in my eyes, and I was trying to stop myself from bursting into tears ,There was a time when I used to work as a servant in my own house , but today I am living my dream day, I never imagined that such a opportunity would arrive in my life. Tears rolled down from my eyes.

Who knows what tomorrow will bring, where I'll go, what I'll do, and if it will be good or bad . I simply want to live in the present moment, and I want this day to be the happiest memory I have. I sobbed.

Mr. Rajput is solely responsible for the existence of today in my life ,more and more tears rolled down from my eyes.

I instantly stood and covered my face with my hands to hide my emotions as I noticed someone entering the room. I didn't want anyone to see that I was sobbing. I couldn't wipe my tears otherwise my make-up would get spoiled.

As footsteps neared, I took a step back. I couldn't see that person as my hands were covering my face, but I could hear footsteps.

Within a few seconds, I was in that person's arms. He gripped my waist hard, drew me into his arms, and whispered, "Take your hands off your face."

I have understood that he is none other than Mr. Rajput. I slowly moved my hands away from my face and lifted my teary gaze.

Seeing my teary eyes, he tightened my waist more and asked, "Who made you cry?" gnashing his teeth in rage.

I couldn't stop myself from bursting into tears. After hearing him ,I snuggled my face in his chest and started sobbing. I couldn't help myself. I wanted to lighten my mood by crying. I wanted to say thank you to Mr. Rajput.

"If you are uncomfortable with that, then just tell me once, and I will cancel everything." he said , caressing my back .

I pulled my face from his arms , looked at him and said , "No one has made me cry Mr. Rajput nor I am feeling uncomfortable , these tears are of happiness as well as sadness" , sobbing more and more.

I cuddled my face into his chest again and said, "These are happy tears because I've never had a day like this. I've never felt more special than I do now, yet I'm crying because I just recalled something bad. Thank you very much. I have never felt such closeness as I have felt with you in these 2 days.. .."And then the sound of the room door opening abruptly cut me off.

A girl stormed into the room, yelling, "Who is that girl....tell me ?..who is..she?" She yelled and saw us in each other's arms and began approaching us aggressively, which startled me.

She was heading towards us when her foot slipped and she collapsed. I tried to separate myself from Mr. Rajput so that I could help her get up, but he ignored her and snuggled my head into his chest, saying, "You were saying something , tell me I'm listening."

Then two girls came into the room and started lifting the fallen girl and took her to the medical room . While doing this, everyone jumped into the room because it was time for the event.

"Goddamn, they couldn't have come after some time", he said, getting angry.

Even after so many people entered, he was not leaving me.

I pulled myself from his arms, and suddenly a man came and said to Mr. Rajput, '' Sir, all the guests have arrived, and everyone is waiting for you..'' He nodded to the man , then he glanced at me and left .

Then after some time the makeup artist took me for the touchup.

AUTHOR'S POV

Vrinda went backstage after touching up. A lot of people were busy taking care of her, as per Avyukt's order that she should not lack anything.

After some time, Avyukt came, and everyone present there left as he ordered all of the servants to leave.

Vrinda looked at him and gave him an ear-to-ear smile and asked, ''How am I looking?' getting up from her seat.

Avyukt approached her and murmured in her ear, ''Only the choker is missing; how about my hands, sweetheart?

Vrinda felt a tingle throughout her body as she heard him call her sweetheart. She lifted her brow, feeling bashful, and asked, "SWEETHEART!?" "Why did you call me that?''

He smirked and replied ''Currently I'm your boss , I can call you whatever I want here.'' hearing him , she laughed.

And few seconds later Rahul also joined them.

" Why are you laughing " Rahul asked her as she was laughing like mad man.

"Yo..Your brother don't know how to smile, but whenever he tries to smile, he looks very cute." she replied , chuckling more.

"Cute?....my brother?," he said, laughing.

"Have you also seen my brother smile?...impossible.. It's like seeing dinosaurs in 2024," he exclaimed, chuckling.

They both, broke out laughing.

Avyukt became annoyed and rolled his eyes and stated, "I didn't find it funny; you two immature people, stop your nonsense."

Hearing him they both gulped and Rahul said "oho brother ,I can understand you , I should go from here" Rahul said teasing Avyukt and left.

After Rahul had left, Avyukt turned his gaze to Vrinda, pinned her to the wall, locked her in his arms, and said, "And you... yes, I can't smile properly, but there are many things that I can do . If you don't believe it, would you like to experience it?" He then drew closer to her, making her body shiver.

Suddenly a knock disturbed them , a voice came from outside saying, "Miss Vrinda, are you ready...?" hearing that , he released her from his arms and stated, "We are not done yet."

His words made her wonder.

Avyukt extended his hand to Vrinda bringing her out of her thoughts ,Vrinda held his hand and they began heading to the stage.

"How will I be able to do this ,what if I make a mistake?" Vrinda asked with tears in her eyes, looking at him.

He smirked confidently , wiped her tears and said "You have been chosen by me, and I can never make mistakes in my work, go and show everyone what my girl can do."

Hearing him , she gave a tight hug to him and approached confidently to the stage and Avyukt went to his seat.

She drew everyone's attention when she went onto the platform. Her one move was enough for everyone to become lost in her, and the eyes of the whole audience were on her.

But there was an evil eye staring at her in that crowd.

______

''Look at her big brother, she is slaying," Rahul said.

"Nah ,The Queen is slaying ," Avyukt said confidently correcting Rahul.

"You are correct, brother, but stop being jealous; you told her to do all of this, so why are you jealous now that everyone's attention is on her?" Rahul said in mischievous way to Avyukt.

"Who said I am jealous?" Avyukt said . Making an emotionless face.

" So why are you squeezing the plastic bottles in anger?" Rahul said.

Avyukt observed the bottle being squeezed in his own hands, as if he was doing everything unintentionally .He hurled the bottle, and his watch began to ring, as if there was an alert for something.

_____

The event was over. Vrinda was searching for Avyukt when she spotted Rahul. She approached Rahul and asked, "Have you seen Mr. Rajput anywhere?"

"Bhabhi!.... No, I mean Vrinda. "I will drop you off at my brother's house." He stated this to her with a loving grin.

She refused, saying, "No, Rahul, I'm not going to your brother's place now. Our paths have parted. I only want my bag, which is at Avyukt's place."

"Wtf!" Rahul yelled with disbelief.

"No, no, no, I can't let you leave. Stay with Avyukt, please, and where will you go in this rain?" he asked, concerned.

"I'm not sure, but I don't want to bother your brother too much." she said forming sad pout .

"Okay go, but I have to tell you something. After hearing that you decide whether you want to go or not." he said .

Both of them sat in the car and head towards Avyukt's house.

While driving, Rahul starts telling Vrinda about his past.

While talking about his past he says that......"Brother's parents are no more, he has a family but that family only wishes bad for him."

"What , What do you mean?" Vrinda asked furrowing her eyebrows in shock.

"Let me explain everything to you from the beginning" he said and Vrinda nodded.

"Avyukt's father, 'Abhiraj Rajput,'as 15 years old when his mother (Yuvragi Rajput ) died, yet his father ( Devraj Rajput ) remained unaffected by her passing. Because he was having another affair in London.

He used to go to London again and again on the pretext of work , and when his wife died, he left Abhiraj Rajput alone in such a big mansion at the age of 15 and went to his second wife( Josephine ).

Abhiraj Rajput somehow thought of opening his new business "Aalasa" but at that time this business did not worked but still he was not giving up on his business.

Time passed and he got married to 'Maheshwari Rajput' and had a son who is none other than Avyukt bhai...everything was going well but.

Then history repeated again, when Avyukt Bhai was 2 months old, his mother died. Now only brother and his father were left , there was a lot of love between them, but when the Avyukt turned 3 years old, The news came that grandfather is dead, and grandfather's second wife, his son ( Amar Rajput ) and daughter-in-law( Aloka Rajput ) will stay with him in that mansion.

Because our grandfather had already divided the mansion for Abhiraj and Amar , But as soon as that Josephine came to that mansion, that witch started taking everything under her control, She loved her son and daughter-in-law and treated Avyukt Bhai and Abhiraj uncle like servent , she tortured them. She wanted Abhiraj Rajput to name his company Alasa in the name of her son ' Amar Rajput'.

Amar Rajput also had two sons, Vyom Rajput and Rahul Rajput. Yes, I am the second son of that Amar Rajput and the grandson of that witch.

Abhiraj Rajput's aka my uncle's business was going down a lot but now it had become his dream to make that business the number one business in Asia.

But before the dream could come true, everything went wrong., It was brother's 15th birthday, that day brother and uncle were going home in the pouring rain when they were attacked.

They killed uncle so brutally , they had beaten Avyukt so badly ,his bones were fractured. Brother could not even see those people in so much rain, his world was completely destroyed.

But before uncle's death, he had transferred his company to Avyukt's name. So the shadow of that witch and my dad started hovering over Avyukt bhai and they started torturing him.

Brother endured this torture for 9 years with the hope that one day my father and grandmother will accept him....when brother turned 24, he decided that under any circumstances he won't let 'Alsa' to go into those hands and brother left that mansion.

From then till today he has never set foot in that mansion.

And in these 4 years, brother has progressed so much that now he can build more than 10 such mansions.

Today's brother has everything; he just doesn't have anyone close to him who can support him. While fulfilling his father's dreams and enduring the torture of my grandmother and father, he has become a stone-hearted person."

Tears welled up from Vrinda's eyes hearing him , she looked down and murmured "We both have the same story , The only difference is that I express my pain through tears, but he hides his pain in his heart."

" We have reached" Rahul's voice bumped out Vrinda from her thoughts. She glanced outside the window , it was raining heavily and saw that they were outside Avyukt's house.

"But where is Mr. Rajput?" she asked

"You will know that only after going inside the house. I want you to stay with my brother so that he never feels alone." he said .

She glanced down and spoke with tears in her eyes "No, I don't want to bother anyone anymore, I will take my bag and leave." Then she immediately gets out of the car and starts going inside the house.

"I have never seen him be as possessive of a girl as he is of you. I wish you would stay with my him" he said , with hope and tears in his eyes and then left from there.

She stepped inside, and the entire house's lights were turned out. Things were broken in the house, as if an earthquake had occurred , Vrinda went towards Avyukt's room and was shocked to see.......

Hey supporters, don't forget to vote

Thank you 💓

Follow me on instagram for spoilers, I have provided the link in bio.