2. You Destroyed Me
Destroying someone and being proud of it only reveals your own character.

* * *

"I'm not apologizing to anyone," I said tersely.

"Just imagine if the video accidentally gets leaked to the media," waiter boy said. "Little Ms. Majhraut caught destructing property. Related article: Another Belieber Attack?" He laughed at his joke but stopped when no one else did.

He might think he had the upper hand.

Wait till I'm out.

"Annie dear, just apologize and let's get out of here," Mom said.

"Why would I apologize?" I asked. She was being absurd. "Your employees dropped soup on my shoes, insulted me, and now sent me to jail. On my birthday! If anyone deserves an apology, it's me."

The serf boy stood up at that statement. He faced my mother. "Your daughter made your employee drop the soup which--by the way--resulted in a burned forearm." He pointed to the waitress's red forearm. "She destroyed my car too while I was in there with Cecily to take her to a doctor."

"She said herself it was her fault!" I retorted.

"What about my car?" he asked.

"That rusty piece of junk--"

"How are you even Ravi Majhraut's daughter?" His face was scrunched up as if he couldn't believe I was related to my own father. He knew Papa?

I stared back into his black eyes and wondered why he dragged my father into this. My mom took me to the side but my gaze wouldn't leave that waiter's. Who did he think he was?

"Annie, look at me," Mom said forcefully turning my face.

"What?"

"Just apologize and everything'll be sorted out."

I crossed my arms. "Make me."

"If the media gets a hold of this--" she said worried.

"I don't care what the media portrays me as." I shrugged.

"Then worry about your father's reputation, Annie!" Mom said sharply. Her pale face turned rigid and those pale blue eyes narrowed down at me. "The first thing everyone will bring up is your father. How his daughter is out of hand, wild etc. Annie, you know he wanted you married as soon as you turned twenty one. If you keep these acts up, no sane boy of our status will marry you!" And I care because . . . ? "Think about your dad."

Every parent had that manipulative side inside them. My mother Alissa Majhraut was nothing different.

Silently, we walked back to the cop and my mom's two employees. I masked my face of any emotion.

"I'm sorry," I said aloud, without looking at anyone except the wall. All for my father's good reputation.

"What?" waiter boy asked.

"I said I am sorry," I repeated calmly.

He gave a satisfied smile. His partner, however, looked skeptical of my behavior. They were going to pay for forcing me to apologize. Cecily and Ashar were two names I wasn't going to forget anytime soon.

* * *

As soon as we reached our house, the first thing Mom did was fire the waiter. He had taken the CCTV video footage from our hotel without permission from anyone. We didn't have a reason to fire the waitress, so she was off the hook for now. I was still going to make her pay.

I texted all of my friends to pull their connections and get these two serfs out of St. Cloud, Minnesota. The waiter boy actually turned to be working in Roshan's dad's company as a graphic designer. So, he had two jobs. Roshan gave me the good news of having the guy fired at spot because his designs weren't "good enough for their company."

Cecily, the waitress, was an intern at a fashion designing company. Tara, my model friend, somehow managed to get Cecily kicked out.

Let's see how these two survive.

I spent the rest of the day in my room catching up on sleep. One of the maids woke me up in the evening for my birthday party. My beauty sleep was being disturbed for unimportant things.

I wore a black Gucci dress with a thick metallic gold belt. I had a matching pair of black Gucci stiletto sandals. After putting on make-up, I went downstairs and was greeted with birthday wishes and gifts. As usual, the gifts were expensive shoes, dresses, jewelry, and those items.

"Hello there," someone greeted me.

"Hi . . . ?" I said to the unfamiliar shiny blond-haired guy.

"Jeremy Pegram," he smiled, introducing himself. "Pleasure to meet you." He stuck out his hand. When I didn't shake it, he pulled it back.

"Pleasure is all yours," I said bored. Jeremy raised an eyebrow. He tried to make small talk, but I showed clear disinterest. "What do you do, Jeremy?"

"I'm an anesthesiologist," he said proudly.

"How boring."

"Excuse me?"

I shrugged. "Boring job."

"Well, it certainly beats doing nothing," he said smiling. If he thought I was offended, he was wrong. "If you'll just excuse me." He walked away to talk to another girl.

This procedure repeated. I met a lawyer, an orthodontist, a CEO, a pilot, a heart surgeon, etc. None impressed me.

My mom finally pulled me aside. "Annie, what are you doing?!"

"What?" I asked innocently.

"You have been giving attitude to everyone. You need to start looking at potential grooms or I'll have to pick one for you myself!"

"Marry me to some rich billionaire. I don't really care."

"Marriage is not a joke!" she said forcefully. "You have a lot of responsibilities once you become wife and husband."

"And money takes cares of those responsibilities."

Mom gave up on me. One of her friends called her and she left me to go to them. My birthday was turning worse and worse. I know Papa wanted me married as soon as I turned twenty one, but to whom?

Was getting married that important?

[Ashar's POV]

"Sorry, but because of your lack of punctuality and misbehavior to customers, we have to fire you," the manager told me.

"Sorry, but because of your lack of creativity and imagination in the designs, we will have to let you go," said the secretary of the boss.

Getting fired from two jobs on the same day was a new and different experience. I didn't know whether to slam my phone or my head into the wall. It was obvious why I was sacked: For sending the spoiled sons and daughters of notable figures to jail. Cecily had warned me not to interfere or get involved. But I did.

Now, I paid the consequences.

At least, the insurance is paying for all the damages to my car.

For two days, I looked for new jobs, but no one hired me. I had a feeling they knew who I was when I mentioned my name. Of course, those rich people had contacts.

I slammed the door behind me as I entered my apartment.

"Ashar!" My six year old sister, Rosie, jumped in my arms. Her light brown hair flying. "Why're you late?"

I held her and walked to the kitchen. "Too much work," I lied. "Let's cook some dinner." I set her down on the kitchen counter and started looking through cabinets.

"Where's Aara?" I asked.

Rosie's shoulders elevated and she held held her hands flat, palms up. "How would I know?"

I ruffled her hair and called out Aara's name. My seventeen-year old sister came running in, holding a mechanical pencil.

"What's the emergency?" she said, her glasses askew.

"What were you doing?" I asked.

"Homework for my advanced placement (AP) classes. I have to get into a good college and become a doctor, okay? Stop disturbing my education!" With that said, Aara went back to wherever she came from.

Rosie and I exchanged a glance.

"Nerd," we agreed.

* * *

"Your rent is overdue," said the apartment complex manager. I gripped my phone tightly.

"But--"

"Please pay the rent by Sunday or move out. Mr. Virk, this is the fifth time the rent is coming late!"

The guy ended the call. Electricity bills, grocery bills, water bills, internet bills, phone bills, insurance, and rent---all elevated my need for a job. Unfortunately, no company in St. Cloud wanted me as their designer! No hotel wanted to hire me as a waiter because of a bad recommendation from my previous job. I rubbed my face. I had to go talk to that Majhraut family.

I am officially broke.

Rosie sat down next to me on the couch.

"Why are you sad?" she asked.

I forced a smile. "I'm not sad. What makes you say that?"

She hugged my side. "Your eyes. They look sad." I returned the hug and rubbed my eyes, receiving no signs of any tears. How did my eyes look sad then?

"Rosie, I have to go to . . . work soon. Stay with Aara, okay?"

I got up and she nodded. After giving her a swift kiss on top of the head, I left the apartment.

Time to visit the Majhraut family.

* * *

I was about to enter the Majhraut company when I saw Mrs. Alissa Majhraut getting out of a car. Her long, dirty blond hair was held in a neat bun. I took my one chance to approach her. She didn't spare a glance at me until I said, "Mrs. Majhraut! One minute, ma'am." She waved me away. Like daughter like mother.

"Do I know you?" she asked stopping finally and looking me over.

"I'm that waiter . . . " I trailed off.

Recognition came over her face. "Ah, of course. The one who sent my daughter to jail."

"I'm sorry for that. Please just give me my job back," I said. My life in St. Cloud wouldn't progress if I upset the wrong people.

She pressed her lips.

"No." That said, she turned and walked towards the front door.

"Ma'am, please!" I insisted. I tried to go to her but one of the guards held me back and told me to leave.

"Sir, please leave before we call security," some man said.

Damn!

I turned to leave. "Wait!" It was Mrs. Majhraut. I saw a glimmer of hope as she told me to follow her. Her assistant gave me weird looks but said nothing. She told me we'll discuss everything in her office. Once we reached our destination, I sat down on a chair across her. She told her assistant to call her daughter here.

Not that brat.

Anmol came considerably fast. She sat down on the chair next to me, looking confused and giving me disgusted looks.

What was her problem?

"Why are we here?" I asked, growing impatient.

"I have a proposal for you." Proposal? This woman is my mother's age! Even Anmol seemed surprised. "I want to hire you as her husband for a year," she said coolly.

Did I hear it wrong?

"Did you just ask--" I began.

"Mom, what the hell?!" Anmol interrupted. "He's a serf!"

"Be quiet, Annie. Don't use that word again." The mother turned to me. "Mr. Ashar Virk, I'm asking you to have a contract marriage with my daughter," she elaborated. "Annie does not understand the concept of marriage or the concept of money."

"I hate marriage and I love money. It's not that complicated to understand," Anmol said.

Spoiled rich brat.

"Why me?" I wondered. "You can find guys of your status. I'm sorry, but your daughter doesn't even fit my standards."

"You're a waiter," Anmol accused.

"Exactly," I told her.

Mrs. Majhraut spoke up before an argument could erupt. "Annie, step outside, for a minute." Huffing, her daughter complied. The mother faced me and in a quiet voice said, "I chose you because you weren't afraid to take the right action against her. Plus, her feet need to touch the ground. After my husband's death, Annie turned into this out-of-hand diva. I need my daughter back to her senses. She considers marriage a . . . joke. I want you to teach her to be . . . an ideal wife. If she can fit your standards, she can fit anyone else's."

"I'm sure you can get those male friends of hers to help with this," I suggested.

Why would I want to be jailed with Anmol for a year?

Mrs. Majhraut smiled. "Her father never approved of Carter Fox or Roshan Chopra to be Anmol's boyfriend. Husband is out of the question." I still wasn't convinced. "Hear this, Annie has never had a boyfriend." I frowned. That was a lie. "If her dad didn't find the boy suitable, she immediately walked away from that guy. He never approved of any guy. She never had a boyfriend and never complained about it. But now, the disadvantage is that she doesn't comprehend the meaning of having a partner."

She must have been really close to her father then.

"What do I get out of this?" I asked. I wasn't going to work as a husband for nothing.

"Anything you ask for," she said smoothly.

I blinked at her. "Are you sure?"

"Anything reasonable."

"Deal," I said without thinking. All my worries and concerns will be solved by this.

"Great. Let's begin the contract formalities and special conditions then," she declared.

Annie was called in and we went to work.

_____________________

A/N
Banner credits to @akankshasharma3. Thanks so much! Check out her works everyone!

Happy Diwali to everyone celebrating. Doing anything special? (My family celebrates by saying "Happy Diwali" to each other. Yay. Thank god, I am not in India. I HATE firecrackers. Danger alert!)

How was the chapter?
How many of you would sign the contract?

What's your ideal career?

I need help with the cast.
Tara is half Indian and half Afri-American. Freida Pinto??Jessica Clark? Any suggestions?
Carter: Chace Crawford or Francisco Lachowski?
Roshan: Tiger Shroff or Aditya Roy Kapoor or Sushant Singh Rajput?
Myra: Jacqueline Fernandez or Ileana D'Cruz?

Thanks for the votes and comments on the books so far. Keep voting, commenting, and sharing <3<3<3