" Are you sure you wanna bunk the last class?" Ishita asked Paro, raising her eyebrows.
Since morning she can feel her friend's restlessness. She had a feeling Paro was disturbed about something. There was no way this girl would miss a class willingly. But she kept insisting that nothing happened.
" huh?! Oh. I... yeah. I gotta go. Aunty wanted me to be home early. Bye Ishita. See you."
Paro left hurriedly without giving any chance to Ishita to speak further.
Clutching her backpack tightly she almost rushed out of the gate. She let out the breath that she was holding for so long. Even the gatekeeper was looking at her weirdly.
Paro soon took some steps forward to make herself invisible from the building. It's all happening because of him. She can't believe she had to lie to everyone just because he wanted her to.
Looking at the sky she couldn't help but envy the birds. How they were flying utilizing freedom to its fullest. She dreamed of that freedom. Only if she were one of them she would disappear where no one could find her.
Her little moment of peace was gone as soon as a black car stopped in front of her. She didn't need to see inside to know who the owner was. Roaming her gaze around she entered reluctantly.
" Please start driving. Quick." The last thing she wanted was to be seen by anyone she knew.
Adi smiled at her in satisfaction.
" I see that you are excited about our date. Aren't you? I must say I was impressed when you messaged me to meet you at five instead of at six. Were you missing me, my feisty cat? Cause I surely was."
Adi leaned towards her.
Before he could make any action Paro put on her seatbelt and urged him to hurry up. Thankfully he listened.
As soon as the car started she rested her head on the glass window frame. She didn't bother to answer any of his previous teasings. Only she knew how she controlled the urge to smack right across his face.
Her friends would have been with her if she waited till the last class. She couldn't afford any more suspicion from her friends. She already had enough on her plate. So she decided to meet him earlier. But this jerk thought that it was for him. Bloody narcissist. She took some deep breaths to calm her nerves.
She didn't know where they were going but she felt it was on the outskirts of the city.
She asked him once but he didn't mind replying to her.
Paro clutched the backpack more into her chest as she remembered the pepper spray and knife she put in her bag before leaving home. If anything goes wrong she would make sure to use her weapons on him.
After almost one hour she suddenly felt the car halt.
" We have reached."
Coming out of the car, Adi soon went to the other side to open the gate but she already did it by herself. He groaned in displeasure. Without minding him Paro looked at the farmhouse in front of her. It looked straight out of a movie.
Taking her wrist into his Adi guided her inside. Paro looked at the decorated lawn in awe. The whole place was wrapped in lights and flowers. Does heaven look like this too?
The fairy lights looked like the constellations of stars on earth. For once she almost forgot everything and was lost in the splendid beauty of the scenario in front of her. She couldn't believe someone would put this much effort into anything for her. Everything looked magical. Straight out of a fairytale, too good to be true. A genuine smile made its place on her lips as she looked around, bewitched.
IMAGE SOURCE: PINTEREST.
Adi felt proud of himself seeing her expression. He had a feeling that she would like it. But he now must admit she was more mesmerized than he thought.
" It's just the beginning, my love. Just say yes for once, and you will see what it actually means to live life to its fullest." Adi uttered in his mind.
He looked at Paro with adoration. The light falling upon her face made her look radiant. As if she was illuminating to brighten up his life. She indeed did. His life was filled with excitement after her arrival. He very much planned to continue it as long as he wanted.
Tucking his hand in the pocket of his blazer, Adi brought out a small box. Opening it he brought out a diamond ring. He wanted to buy something more expensive. But knowing her for quite some time he was well aware that she wouldn't accept it. Her sense of self respect was pretty high and she valued it more than anything else.
So he decided that ring would work for now. After all, she will get a good idea about what type of luxury to expect in the future. His lips tugged slightly upwards.
At the same moment, her eyes met with him. Paro knitted her brows slightly, seeing the arrogant smile on his face. As soon as she remembered why she was here and with whom her smile was gone. She was pulled out of her reverie.
Suddenly her body became highly alert when Adi started taking steps towards her, calculated. Fighting with the urge to take a step back, Paro kept rooted at her place.
'But he promised he would not do anything wrong. Is .. is he a liar too?"
Her mind shrank in anticipation.
Adi took a minute to stare at her face gazing through her features. She was looking back at him with skeptical eyes. Her expression was screaming out what was in her mind. Damn transparent she was! She would have been anywhere but here with him. Adi smiled slightly in realization.
" Why.. Why are we here?" Paro asked in a low voice, to break the uncomfortable silence.
Without replying to her questions Adi towered over her and caressed her cheeks with his fingertips. His eyes filled with madness were fixed on her brown ones. Not wanting to break this sweet moment he took her hand in his large one and placed a long kiss on her fingers still staring at her. He tried to maintain his calmness as much as possible, he made up his mind to not show the desperation that was urged upon him in her presence.
Without even wasting a minute he placed the ring on her finger. Paro looked at him perplexed. A large diamond ring was put on her ring finger, reflecting the light, and showing its class. Her middle class mind couldn't guess the exact price of this beauty but she knew it would cost a fortune.
Before she can even ask him the meaning behind this Adi started speaking _
" Paro.. I.." he took a deep breath.
" I was intrigued by you the very first time I set my eyes on you. With each passing day, it kept getting stronger. Now I can't even imagine a future without you. It's so overwhelming I think I am going crazy. You have become my need. Now I want you in my life forever. I … I love you." Adi blushed.
"I love you Paro and now there is no going back. You have no idea how much I want to claim you right now to let the world know that you belong to me and only me. Please be mine."
Adi Looked at her with hopeful eyes. He felt he just delivered the most romantic speech ever possible. She had to be convinced.
But her eyes were saying something else. She was in pure shock. Not even in her worst nightmare, she imagined something like this. Of his reputation, she thought he would give her some nasty proposal. But she was quite hopeful that she would be able to make him understand she didn't want it at all.
But what she just listened to was beyond her imagination. The most fearful thing was those dark eyes. They were looking at her with madness and something more, more intense. Then suddenly the realization hit her like a truck. He was obsessed with her!
Adi frowned seeing her expression.
' Isn't she convinced yet? Should I say something more?" Adi questioned himself.
" I can see you are not fully convinced. Tell me what is it that I need to do to prove my love? Did you not like the ring? You want something more expensive?" He asked unsurely.
" ENOUGH! ENOUGH MR.MALHOTRA."
Paro bellowed, coming out of her stunned state.
" Are you crazy? You are nothing but an arrogant narcissist who thinks that he can have any woman under his feet just because of your good looks, an amazing career, and your filthy rich family. What were you saying? love ?!" She chuckled.
" Let me tell you. You don't love me. You don't love me at all. You are just excited by the idea of having someone in your life who dared to resist you. Of course! How can I, an average middle class girl, reject you?
The mighty ADITYA RAJ MALHOTRA!
You see me as a mere game. You just want to satisfy your fragile manly ego and nothing else. The feelings you are naming love are nothing but your infatuation mixed with your arrogance.
And even if you love me did you ever ask me like a normal human? Did you ever care about my feelings? The long speech that you delivered was all about you Mr.Malhotra. Where exactly did you ask what I want?
All you ever did was manhandling, disrespecting, and forcing yourself on me. Tell me which of these things exactly was supposed to make me fall for you?
The only thing that matters to me is my self respect and dignity and I will protect it with my life. Your so-called high class, ridiculous bank balance, this expensive jewelry none of these things excite me at all. You are a shallow person and I am too refined for your plate. You can never be the man for me.
I repeat. NEVER! "
By the time she finished, she was hyperventilating. She looked at Adi who was maintaining a blank face. But his jaw was stone hard and eyes cold. He was pressing on his palm with his nails, hard enough to draw blood.
Paro felt an odd satisfaction seeing him like this. She couldn't abstain from from giving him the taste of his own medicine.
" Aww! Poor Adi. Did I hurt your feelings?" She mocked him, pushing his temper to the edge.
Soon Paro stopped seeing his expression. She felt scared. Probably she shouldn't have let out her anger like this. She gulped a little.
A dark sinister chuckle left his mouth invading the eerie silence that fell upon after her speech.
And that exact moment she knew that she was screwed.
•••••••••••
I know, I know. I said I would update the chapter on very next day but here I am. Uploading it after 20 days.
University/ Work/ my health were taking a toll on me. It was overwhelming.
Sorry for the inconvenience.
And Thank you so much for 13 k+ views.❤️
Love you all. Please keep supporting ✨.