***Ramya's POV.***

"Good morning, Uncle." I say as soon as I enter Malhotra's house.

"Good morning, Ramya." He says and pauses as he looks at me. "You look ready to concur. What's the occasion?"

"Reyansh and I are going to meet the investor today." I say.

"Well, good luck then." He says.

"Thank you, uncle. By the way, where is Reyansh?" I ask.

"He must be in his room doing last-minute preparation." He says, "You can go up. No need to ask for our permission."

"Thanks." I say and go up.

Today is our meeting with Mr. Murthy, and I am dressed to impress. I specially wore black formal pants and a white turtleneck, sleeveless tee with a double-breasted checkered blazer of gray and black color. I have tied my hair in a professional bun. Even Mum took measures to keep evil eyes away from me. I feel so special.

"Good morning." I say and enter Reyansh's room.

I stop short when I see he is sleeping on the bed with his laptop still open. Did he even sleep last night? Or was he too excited to do so? I know the meeting is after lunch, but we thought we would meet up and discuss his plan together.

I slowly close the door and tiptoe towards him. Aww! He looks so cute sleeping. His hair looks messy and his mouth is slightly open. But most of all, he has a habit of holding a pillow in his arms just like me while asleep. We would need a bigger bed if we both want more pillows around.

"The room is in a mess. I never took him for an untidy person with the way he is always so dressed immaculately. Mum would kill me if my room was anything like this." I say to myself as I pick up his laundry and put it in the basket in the corner.

Then I closed the closet door and also put his laptop on the table, otherwise he would kick it away. I have been roaming around his room for the past ten minutes and made loud noises. Still, he didn't wake up. Either he has hypersomnia or is very much tired.

Well, enough with sleeping.

"Reyansh. Wake up." I say it in a sing-song way.

"Stop it, Jagvi." He says and I stop.

"It is me, Ramya." I say and snatch his pillow away.

He opens his eyes and blinks when he sees me. "What are you doing here, Ramya?" He asks.

"Get ready. We have to discuss business plans of yours." I say and open the door to leave, but stop and say, "Next time, I better not hear her name."

"I thought we were just a deal." He says.

"We are. But not in the far future. Also, the people I care about always stay mine. Don't ask me later if your ex-wife gets hurt if she plays dirty and you let her. Because this business is just not yours anymore." I say.

"I can still change my mind about making you my partner." He says.

"You can't. Not anymore." I say and go down.

"Ramya, are you okay? You look very red." Aunty asks.

"I was with your stubborn son. He sometimes makes me so angry." I say and sit down at the breakfast table.

"About what, dear? Tell me. I will punish him." She says as she serves me coffee.

"No, Aunty. I will handle him myself. If he is stubborn, I am not less, too." I say with a smile.

As I eat a sandwich, I try to evaluate my feelings. Why did I get so upset when he said his ex-wife's name in sleep? Does he still love her? He could be. I mean, they were together for over two years and before that; they were friends. But why am I feeling this burn in my heart? I don't like this feeling at all.

From now on, I will deal with this relationship as a strict business project. A project in which I have to make Reyansh trust my business skills and forget about Jagvi little by little. Then we will be brilliant partners in every way and make big in the world. Because Jagvi is not good for Reyansh.

Think about it. Instead of fulfilling the dream of the one person you love, you are trying to destroy his dream. That's not love. Love is something in which, even if you are separated, you still try to support each other's dreams.

Reyansh joins us halfway through the breakfast and looks at me. But I just stay busy talking to Mayra and Veer. After breakfast, we go back to his room, and I take out my notepad and pen.

"So, let's get started. Tell me everything about your start-up." I say with a blank look on my face.

"Are you upset about something?" He asks.

"Why would you ask?" I ask, not looking up.

"Maybe because you look way too serious than me. And it is scary." He says.

"I am not upset." I say, looking him in the eyes.

"Says the girl, who looks ready to tear the notepad." He says.

"It's my favorite notepad. Why would I do that?" I ask.

"Look, I am sorry if I said something offensive. And if you are upset about me speaking Jagvi's name, then let me clarify." He says.

"No need to." I say.

"I know. But... The thing is, I was having a nightmare that Jagvi again swooped in and took another investor of mine away. So I was trying to tell her to stop it. Nothing else." He mumbles.

"You mean to say you weren't having any romantic dreams?" I ask.

"No. I stopped having them since I got married to her." He scoffs.

I chuckle and ask, "So, we are fine?"

"Depends on you." He says.

"I am sorry for overreacting." I say.

"Apology accepted. Now we can start our business. But before that I want a promise that whatever happens in our personal life, we should not let it have any effect on our professional life. Okay?" He asks.

"You are right. I promise. Now shall we start?" I ask, and he nods.

He gave me a perfect presentation about his start-up and plans for the first three years with it. He has not only done research on what has more profit but also on small ideas which will matter later on. From logo to slogan to budget, he has everything ready.

"So how is it?" He asks.

"It is fantastic. I mean, you have done a perfect job. Why the hell you didn't get any investments till now?" I ask.

"You know." He says, and I understand.

"By the way, did you tell anyone about your future plans?" I ask with a frown.

"No. I only gave them ideas, but not what I was actually going to do." He says.

"Great. Does Jagvi have any idea about this?" I ask.

"No. Why?" He asks.

"The thing is, ‌keep your monopoly. Some things that you shouldn't share with anyone, otherwise your ideas would be used before you by someone else. And your plans are great. Just don't tell anyone about it." I say.

"I told you." He says as he closes everything.

"Well, I am going to be your life partner and business partner, too. So you can share anything with me." I say with a wink.

"Same goes for you." He says.

"Well, in that case... I want a destination wedding." I say with a big smile.

"What?" He asks.

"I want a destination wedding. I already talked with my Mum and she asked me to talk to you first. Then ask your family." I say.

"But what is the need? We can have just a simple wedding like Mayra had here." He says.

"Well, we are sisters, but that doesn't mean we have the same dreams." I say.

"But I thought you never wanted to get married, so how come your dream is to have a destination wedding?" He asks in shock.

"Hey, we girls may not think about marrying a guy, but we always think about our wedding day. We have dreams of wearing a beautiful white dress or red or pink lehenga. Have those special ceremonies all for yourself except for the groom. Every girl dreams that." I say.

"But I don't want a big fat wedding." He says.

"It happened last time." I say.

"I didn't like it that time either. It was full of loud colors and stupidity. I almost lost it on Jagvi but kept mute because I didn't want to hurt her feelings." He says.

"But it looks like you are ready to hurt mine." I say.

"Look, Ramya. I know you want a big fat Punjabi wedding, but it would take lots of time, which we can focus on for our business. And to be told the truth, isn't it getting too much? We are getting married for your mother and my business sake. Nothing else. Why make a fuss about it?" He asks.

And he hurt me a second time on the same day. Did I make a wrong decision thinking about marrying him? Because so far it is not fun or adventurous at all.

"Oh! It is getting time for the meeting. Let's go." I say, getting up.

"Ramya!" He says as I put my stuff in my bag.

"Let's not let our business get affected by our personal indifferences." I say.

"Fine. But this topic is not over yet." He says.

"Really? I thought it was over the minute you threw harsh facts at my face and stated clearly what you want. So I think the discussion is pretty much over." I say and walk out of the door.