The cool breeze found it's way through the french window, landing directly on the soul who was having a peaceful sleep dreaming about an exotic vacation in Maldives. The lights were dim but the freshness outside was complimenting it.

The whole atmosphere was soothing and serene, it being only 5 AM in the morning. The sounds of birds chirping were heard as they began their duty of waking people up.

And in between this, the annoying sound of her phone ringing made her jolt in the sleep and she could only whine in irritation.

Barely opening her eyes, her hands searched for the annoying little machine for her at this point of time and as she found it, she pressed it onto her right ear still not looking at the caller ID.

"How dare you call me at 5 in the morning? Have you lost your mind, fucking idiot." She groaned into her phone, untangling the nest of her hair.

"Ms. Grover, is this a way to talk to your boss?" A deep, masculine voice reached her ears making her mouth drop open in immense shock.

"S-Sir-"

She stuttered.

"I have called you for informing that you need to come to my house in 30 minutes. And yes, don't forget to pack a bag for yourself as we might need to spend the night there." Came his fresh as ever voice, not letting her speak.

"But where? And it's just 5 AM. And it's sunday too!" She reasoned, sitting upright on her bed.

"Did I say that you can ask me questions? No, right. Do as I told and I would not appreciate any kind of delay because of you!" He gritted out the very last part making her roll her eyes.

And the very next moment he hung up the phone making her curse him out, in the loudest sound she could.

She and her boss never get along well would be the correct thing to say.

Since she had joined her office as her Boss's PA, he had never left a day without shouting or embarrassing her. But she was adamant on doing a job in this company and there was no way she would let anybody affect her thinking. That's the only reason why she hadn't left this company till now.

And now hearing that she needed to present herself at his house in 30 minutes, she ran to the direction of her bathroom thinking this might be another one of a boring as heck business trip.

//////////

"Dammit, tumhare saab na mujhe faasi par latka denge agar tumne mujhe ek minute ke andar andar ghusne nahi diya toh." She yelled at the guard who was standing in front of her Boss's mansion gate.

(Dammit! Your boss is going to hang me to death if you will not open this door under a minute)

"But sir isn't picking up the phone so that I tell him about your arrival." The guard stuttered badly, sweat beads appearing on his forehead seeing the angry little woman in front of him.

She was a chhota packet bada dhamaka in every sense.

"Ajay! Let her inside!" A distant shout was heard and her eyes searched for the source of it.

They finally landed on her boss who was standing in the balcony on the first floor, shirtless.

She lowered her head in embarrassment and then gave a wicked smile to the guard who went back to opening the gate for her to enter with the car she drove till here.

Upon entering through the massive gate that took almost 5 minutes of her to open due to it being so massive, her eyes wandered to her surroundings only to notice how amazing the interior of his house is.

"How long will you keep staring Ms. Grover?" His voice snapped out of the dreamland.

"Uhh- Good Morning sir." She tried to greet him politely, getting to her professional mode.

"This is no time to greet this Ms. Grover. It's bloody 6 AM when I had told you to come by 5:30." He pointed out, walking flawlessly to a direction as her eyes went to the same.

He had draped a shirt over his bare chest that was at display earlier and she mentally cheered for herself as she'd always believed he had a pack of amazing abs under those suit jackets and now she'd seen the same.

But according to her, he didn't deserve those abs.

"Go and iron this so that we can finally leave." He said, taking the shirt out of his body and she gave him a bewildered look.

"Sir, I am your personal assistant in the office. Not in your house or any other place." She reasoned, getting on a safe distance from him.

"When you signed the contract with my company, it clearly said how you'll have to do whatever I ask you to. Does that ring a bell?" He asked sarcastically, raising his eyes almost in a challenging manner.

"Fine!" She huffed taking the shirt from him.

How would she tell him that the only reason she didn't want to iron the shirt was her carelessness. She would always burn the clothes and that's why her mother had banned her from ironing anything. And even if she would dare to tell him, he wouldn't leave a chance to mock her about the same.

And how right she was! It was for a whole hour that Mr. Reyhan had shouted on Ms. Reva for ruining his expensive shirt. A shirt that had a massive brown imprint of the iron in the middle, just because she had gotten lost in her own world of sleep.

She could feel the ringing in her ears because of his yells for hours after that.

//////////

"Matlab biryani toh bohot acchi thi lekin chicken curry me thodi kami thi. Agar thodi spicy aur bana dete na toh alag hi maza aa jata." She voiced out, wondering about the perfect chicken curry according to her.

(See, the biryani was just amazing. But if the chicken curry was a little more more spicier, then it would've been just perfect)

"Ms. Grover, it'll be better if you'll snap out your thoughts related to food and talk about the business meeting for which we'd come here." Reyhan Kapoor voiced out, his eyes concentrating on the road ahead as he was driving his sleek car.

"Bhyi ye meeting me kya hi rakha hai." She scoffed while letting out a laugh, making Reyhan clutch the steering in his hands tightly.

(What is even there in that boring meeting to talk about?)

"Meeting me kya rakha hai? You're my personal assistant and you need to be attentive as much as I am. I want you to prepare the report by tomorrow since we have got free today itself." Reyhan said while paying her a glance who was frowning.

"How are you even able to drive this late at the night, that too on such roads?" She voiced out, putting a finger under her chin as if she was thinking something really important. She was the best in changing topics.

And the very next moment, the car stopped with a big jerk making her heartbeat increase due to the sudden action.

"Kya hua bhyi? Aapka hume aise maar daalne ka iraada hai kya? Maaf kar dijiye par hum aage se pakka meetings me dhyaan denge." She rambled, placing a hand over her heart to calm herself down.

(Umm- what happened? Do you by any chance have the intention of killing me? Forgive me please. I will surely pay attention in the meetings from next time.)

"Shut up woman, will you? People of this village have blocked the road." Reyhan hissed at her making her head jerk to the windowsill of the car.

True to his words, around 7-8 village men were standing there late in the night blocking the road in such a way that there was no way they could move forward.

The sound of the car door opening snapped her out of her thoughts and she noticed Reyhan had stepped down, now walking towards them.

Deciding to follow him, she too got down and walked towards him who was standing at a good 6 feet distance from him. She had quietly stood beside him seeing the tension in the atmosphere.

"Ye tum dono itni raat gaye hamare gaon se kyu guzar rahe ho? Kya irada hai tum dono ka?" One of the men voiced out, a local cigarette hanging in his hand making Reva scrunch up her face in disgust.

(Why are you two passing our village late in the night? What's your intention)

"Ye public roads hai for your kind information." She stepped in, inflating her chest.

(These are public roads for your kind information)

"Humse zubaan ladayegi tu?" One of the old men glared and she clutched on Reyhan's bicep tightly making him go stiff.

(You will argue with us now)

"Shut up right now Reva. You understand?" His challenging, husky tone reached her ears and she nodded like a small child, trying her best to hide her small frame in his big and hard one.

"I am sorry, but we don't have any bad intentions. We were just passing this village because the highway has a traffic jam going on since hours. Please let us silently leave so that you all can rest as well." Reyhan said, trying his best to turn his tone into a polite one.

"Tu batayega hume ki hum kya kare? Hai kaun tu?" A young man amongst all those shouted all of a sudden only to let everyone know his presence.

(Now you will tell us what to do? Who do you think you are?)

"I will gladly tell you who I am. R&R enterprises ka naam suna hai-"

(Have you heard of R&R enterprises-)

"Oh God sir. This place is not even a proper village. How would they know about some R&R Enterprises?" Reva hissed in Reyhan's ears in a low voice, making him pay a glance at her.

He looked as if he was trying his hardest to control the anger. Veins were popping out on his neck that was visible along with some part of his chest due to the top button being left open. She noticed his fist clenched because of his arm tightening under her grip on his bicep.

What she didn't know is this anger was not on her, but on those village men who were doing nothing but wasting their time.

"Ye sab faltu ki baatein chhodo. Hume pata hai ki tum iss ladki ko bhagakar lekar ja rahe ho. Tum dono ki nazdikyaan dekhne se hi pata chal raha hai ki tumhare beech kuch na kuch toh jhola hai." One of them said, looking at them with disgust.

(Stop this nonsense. We know that you two lovers are running from your families. Just after seeing your closeness, I could tell that something must be going on between you two.)

Reyhan was ready to pounce on him when Reva held him back by putting pressure on his bicep.

This time, she held him by both her hands knowing one would not be enough for him.

"Dekho zara. Sareaam aise kartoot kiye ja rahe hai. Isse toh lagta hai tum dono pati-patni ho." A man said, emerging from the group of few who were standing still till now.

(Just see. What all these two are busy doing openly. This only means that you two are husband and wife.)

"Why do you care? We are no husband and wife. Just get out of our way so that we can leave otherwise you'll face my wrath." Reyhan shouted, his voice turning stern second by second as he showed his palm to everyone.

His physique was clearly better and bigger than the men of the village considering he worked out everyday. But for now, it seemed as if it would be the correct thing to not use violence.

"Bina shaadi hue itni raat gaye, ek aurat ke saath akele ghum rahe ho! Hamare gaon me ye sab nahi chalta. Ye ek jurm hai, jurm!" One yelled, making Reva release a breath full of panic.

(Without marriage you are openly roaming with a woman! This cannot happen in our village! This is a crime, a crime!)

"And that's why we are saying that let us go calmly. We'll happily go away since this doesn't happen in your village." Reva said, putting her point with a cute little frown.

"Ladki! Zabaan chalayegi humse? Agar tum dono yaha se zara bhi hile toh ye bandook se seedha tumhare sar par goli lagegi." An old man glared as all of a sudden two guns appeared out of nowhere making Reva's mouth drop open in shock.

(How dare you argue with us, girl? If anyone of you will even slightly move from your place, this bullet will be straightaway knocked into yours heads)

Her grip tightened on Reyhan's arm where he could feel her nails digging in his skin but didn't react. This firecracker was scared, he realized.

"Relax Reva. Do not utter a single word." He ordered her, whispering in between and she again nodded obediently.

"Kyuki tum dono ki shaadi nahi hui hai, hamare gaon ki parampara ke hisaab se hum tumhe aise jaane nahi denge. Ya toh tum dono abhi shaadi karoge, nahi to iss bandook ki goli ke liye tayyar rehna." The one standing in the middle who looked the oldest amongst everyone, took two steps forward declaring this in a stern voice.

(Because you two aren't married yet, according to the norm of our village we won't let you go away. Either you both will get married now or you'll be shot by us right now)

"Ye aap kya bakwaas kar rahe hai? Dimaag kharaab toh nahi hai kahi. Aisa kuch nahi hoga. Koi shaadi waadi nahi hogi hum dono ki aaj!" Reyhan yelled, jaw clenched at the nonsense these people kept uttering.

(What nonsense are you speaking? Have you all gone insane? Nothing like this will happen. No way in hell we both are getting married.)

"Yeah. I won't marry this khadoos. I already have a fiance back home." Reva butted in, looking at Reyhan with a weird look.

He sighed in frustration, massaging his temples. Here it was Reva who couldn't understand a simple statement to stay quiet so that could handle the situation and there the villagers kept on dropping bombs on him.

His migraine was taking everything inside of him and all he wanted to do was leave everything here as it is, maybe even Reva and drive back to his home.

"Shaadi toh hokar rahegi. Agar tum iss ladke se nahi karogi toh hamare paas aur bhi hai. Raju, idhar aa." One shouted.

(Marriage will definitely take place. If you will not marry this man, then we have another option as well. Raju, come here)

And the very next second, a man emerged from another group of men who were standing at the very corner.

His appearance clearly showed how drunk he was. A big grin was resting on his face, the teeth gap visible as he neared them. He was around 5'9 or less and everything in him only seemed creepy.

"Agar tum iss ladke se nahi karna chahti, toh koi baat nahi. Raju abhi ki abhi tumse shaadi karega kyuki aaj toh iss ladki ki shaadi hokar hi rahegi." The oldest one declared and his voice was something that left no arguments.

(If you don't want to marry the man standing beside you, then no problem. Raju will marry you right now because this girl will definitely get married today!)

"Are you people out of your mind? Since the starting we have been listening to this nonsense, but this is enough. Stop this shit right now so that we can leave with peace." Reyhan gritted out, looking at everyone with a harsh glare.

"Ab toh yaha se tum akele hi waapis jaoge. Iss ladki ki shaadi jo hogi hamare Raju se. Tum chaho toh abhi ja sakte ho." One of them voiced out and everyone else nodded in agreement.

(Now you will return back alone. This girl will marry our Raju. If you want, you can leave right now.)

These people were clearly sick.

"S-Sir-" Reva breathed out, her eyes glistening with fresh tears that were begging to escape.

Knowing how this man didn't appreciate Reva's presence, she had believed that Reyhan would right now step away from her, going back to his car and leaving her all alone at the mercy of these villagers. But she still had a hope in her heart that she decided to use to plead him once just so he doesn't leave her all alone like this.

"I am not going anywhere without her. No way in hell I will let her marry that Raju." Reyhan roared, taking a step closer to them.

He was easily towering over every men there. There was a flash of fear in their eyes but it vanished as they must've realized it was two against more than 50 people of this village.

"Shaadi toh hakar rahegi. Agar Raju se nahi hone dega toh tu kar na! Abhi raazi ho isse shaadi karne ke liye. Hum kuch nahi bolenge uske baad!" The oldest one said, his voice holding honesty yet, he was telling them to do something unbelievable.

(The wedding will definitely take place. If not with Raju, then you have to agree! Say yes right now to marry her! We won't say anything after this then!)

"Okay then! If any wedding of hers will take place today, it will only be with me. No one else! Let me also see how you'll make her marry him!" He yelled challengingly, making Reva's heart skip a beat.

"S-Sir- you..." Reva stuttered, not able to let out any words.

"Muh band rakho apna. Bilkul chup." He hissed at her who bent her head in defeat, tears pouring out her eyes without any resistance.

(Shut your mouth right now!)

What all has lead to a situation like this? She couldn't help but to curse at her fate.

Her family would maybe even disown her seeing that she was supposed to someone else's bride. Someone who was forced to her by her family. If this marriage isn't in her hands, even the one with Izaan wasn't. Heck, she barely knows that man, let her be in love with Izaan be.

"Hume koi aitraaz nahi hai. Ishwar, saari tayyariyan karo aadhe ghante ke andar. Kyuki iske baad, shaadi toh hokar rahegi." The oldest declared nodding his head a little to another man who nodded back.

(We don't have any issue. Ishwar, do all the preparations in 30 minutes. Because after this, the wedding will definitely take place.)

And at all of this happening, Reva could only burst into a pool of tears as the ladies dragged her to a room. She didn't have the energy to fight back. She just kept looking at Reyhan while they were dragging her, who had his eyes fixated on her with an emotionless face. Yet she noticed his red eyes and clenched jaw that was hardest to be ignored.

//////////

"Tum chinta mar karo bacche. Hamare goan me ye pehli baar nahi ho raha hai. Abhi kuch 3 saal pehle bhi aisa hi hua tha. Uss jode ki shaadi zabardasti kara di gayi thi. Vo toh shayad ek dusre ko jaante bhi nahi the jaisa uss ladki ne hume bataya tha. Par abhi kuch 4-5 mahine pehle vo yaha aaye the sirf ye batane ki vo hamare shukr guzaar hai ki unki shaadi karwa di gayi thi. Vo apni zindagi me kaafi khush hai ek dusre ke saath." The woman who looked the most wise amongst everyone else had whispered in Reva's ears when they were waiting for the preparations to be done.

(Don't worry my child. This isn't happening in our village for the first time. Around 3 years back, the same thing had happened. The couple was forced to get married just like you two. They both maybe didn't even know each other. But around 4-5 months back, the couple had visited us only to thank us that we got them married. They have found their soulmate and they're happy with each other as well)

Reva had not reacted to any of this.

According to her, everyone's fate isn't the same. Maybe they were meant to be each other and this was a way they found their life partner, but she and Reyhan had no match. They almost despised each other but were only bearing because of professionalism.

And what are they? Cupid? Making different people marry each other forcefully? She will definitely sue them after this.

And yet everything was done.

These people had forcefully made them marry each other, with the mercy of guns that were settled on both of their heads. One wrong move and they would be killed right at the spot.

Sniff

Sniff

"Shut up! Shut the hell up! If I hear the sound of your annoying cries anymore, I will leave you right here and go back alone." Reyhan yelled at her, who was sobbing quietly sitting in the passenger seat of his car.

He quickly untied the dupatta that was connecting the both of them, done by the priest in between their apparent wedding rituals.

The whole time Reyhan was glaring at her would be the understatement. While she was shedding tears, he was looking at her with red eyes that didn't go unnoticed by her as well. But this time, she couldn't help it.

"It's not my fault. Stop blaming me and giving me that look." She snapped back, wiping the tears by the back of her palm.

"Oh, is it? Did you even once say that this should not be happening? Like a doll, you just went with those ladies and let these people do whatever they wanted. It wasn't with my consent!" He continued yelling, busy driving on the deserted roads.

It was pitch black here. The only source of light was because of his car.

"You must've gone deaf in the past 3 hours if you think that I didn't stop them or that I agreed with everything. And you're forgetting that you were the one telling me to shut up everytime I'd spoken up." She responded and this time her tone was broken.

She was helpless. It was nowhere her fault and here he was busy putting blames at her.

"Whatever. Now, just forget about what all has taken place. As it should happen, we'll be departing our ways to our houses. I'll send you the divorce papers as soon as possible so that we get over this shit soon. No matter I don't consider this a marriage, a divorce would still be needed. And dare you tell anyone about this. Not even your family because if I come to know that anyone except the two of us know about this marriage, then the consequences won't be good for you." He ordered, still manoeuvring his way on the roads making a wavered breath come out of her mouth.

And yet she merely nodded her head, eyes slowly draping close as sleep overtook her senses. She was tired. Tired mentally, physically and emotionally.

*******

Reva the whole time:

○So, how was the chapter? What do you think about Reva and Reyhan?

○According to you, what'll happen ahead? Will there be a divorce or would they stay together?

Love,
Myra❤