Dhruv's POV

I was moving towards her but I stopped in track as I witnessed the scene in front of me. She placed her hand on top of his hand. What the hell is she doing?

In a swift moment, she was behind him twisting his arm. It was clear looking at his face that he was in great pain. He is getting what he deserves. The crowd around them was looking at them with amusement and shock. 

"How dare you to even think that you are allowed to touch someone like that without their permission?" She said in a soft voice but her voice held great authority. This shade of my innocent kitten is so hot. Gosh, Dhruv not right now.

"Leave me. Got dammit." He winced in pain but he was barely audible.

"This is a reminder for you to keep your hands to yourself." She said and smacked her elbow on his back.

 "You will pay heavily for what you did today." He said rubbing the spot where she hit him.

"I am pretty sure that I will be able to afford it." She said and turned to leave. He rushed towards her and raised his hand to hit her. What the hell! How low was this man going to stoop? I started moving toward them to stop his foul act. I was about to reach him but somebody else held his collar and pulled him back.

"How dare you try to raise your hand on our guests and disrespect them?" It was Mr. Bansal's son.

"Do you know who are you talking with?" The old man roared.

"A pervert." She said.

"As if I care." He said at the same time.

They both looked at each other and she faintly smiled at him.

"Just leave before I ask the guards to come and drag you and throw you out. Leave." He said and the last word was a bit more authoritative and stern. The old man tried to open his mouth but one stern look from him made him shut and he rushed out as if his bottom was on fire.

"Are you alright?" He asked her softly with a concern looked. Why is he so worried about her? But why am I so restless with the fact that he is so concerned about her? Everyone was looking at them giving weird looks.

"Thanks." She said and started moving to the other end of the venue. He started following her. What is wrong with him can't he just leave her alone? I started following them. Dhruv you don't need to go behind them. My mind was telling me but I chose to ignore it. She reached a corner at the far end from where the incident happened. They were barely loud not wanting to catch attention. She took a halt and took a glass of water and gulped it down swiftly. He approached her and I was at an audible distance.

"Are you alright?" He said startling her.

"Gosh." She said placing a hand on her chest.

"Didn't mean to scare you but are you alright?" He said with a small smile.

"Why are you so concerned? You saw that I handled it very well."

"Because I can understand that no matter how well you handle that kind of situation it still leaves a great impact. So are you alright?" he said in a soft tone. Whatever he said was true. I hope she is fine. I want to go and comfort her. But why is he standing so close to her? She gave him a soft smile. Don't smile at him and especially not like that. Anybody will readily fall for that smile. 

"I am fine." She said softly.

"Your smile should be banned." He said with a weird expression on his face.

"What?" She looked baffled.

"It's deadly. Somebody with a poor heart will get a heart attack." He said placing his arms on his heart. What the hell? He is flirting with my girl. 'Your girl. When did this happen? Why was I not informed' My brain said mocking me. 

She looked at him with amusement and then she burst out laughing. 

"Oh my god! I have never seen someone complementing anyone in such a poor way." She said in between her laugh.

"At least I made you laugh." He said patting his shoulder.

"Yeah, thanks." She said.

"Tarun Bansal." He said forwarding his hand towards her.

"Aakriti Nanda." She said and shook his hand. Her name is as gorgeous as herself.

"I think I should leave now." She said.

"I will come with you." He said. What the hell is wrong with him?

"What?"

"Don't worry. I will accompany you only to the parking space. I hope you don't mind. I am not a stalker or psycho who will kidnap or kill you." 

"But you surely require treatment. Let's go" She said softly and then both of them burst out laughing.

They started moving out of the venue and I was simply following them. I was feeling a pang of pain in my chest whenever she was smiling or laughing at something he said.

"Bye sweetheart." She chuckled and sat in the car. Why the hell didn't she yell at him for calling her sweetheart? I am very disappointed with myself. I have never felt like this before. My feelings and emotions were always sorted. This is the very first time I am feeling so confused. Her car drove off. I looked at him and he was smiling like an idiot. Don't you dare fall in love with her? She is off limit for you. You idiot. I was no longer in the mood to go back inside. I decided to go back home. I was not able to remove her face from my memory. What has she done to me? Why am I only thinking about her? Am I falling in love with her? Stop. You don't even know whether you will meet her again or not. Dammit, Dhruv stop. Go to sleep.

 I woke up late so my schedule is messed up at this moment. Luckily I didn't have any meetings today. I called my secretary and informed him that I won't be visiting the office. Today, I will be working from home. I started working on some important projects and after few hours went down. I entered the hall and saw Kabir sitting beside Dadu and talking with an intense look. Kabir is serious. Did the sunrise from the west today?

"Bhai. You didn't go to office today?" I heard Kabir reaching me as soon he saw me.

"Idiot Stop screaming." I said.

"Why grumpy Mr. Dhruv Rathore? Is it because your marriage got fixed?" he said in his usual teasing tone.

"What the fu*k are you talking about?" I said glaring at him.

"Didn't dadu tell you that he has searched a nice proposal for you?" He said looking at dadu.

"I was going to but you did the honors." Dadu said glaring at Kabir and he was smiling sheepishly.

"Dhruv I have been looking for a good marriage proposal and I finally found one. She is my friend's granddaughter and I think she is perfect for you."

"But dadu." I don't want to get married to someone whom I barely know.

"No more excuses. Just go and meet her today with an open mind." Dadu said. How am I supposed to meet her with an open mind when Akariti is continuously running in my mind.

"I am over the moon, my workaholic bro is finally getting married." He said wiping his fake tears. Over actor.

I hope she gives me a good reason to reject her or else it will be very difficult to stop dad from getting me married to her.

"Why this gloomy face? You are always cheerful in the morning." Kabir asked placing his arm on my shoulder.

"I have a headache." I said rubbing my forehead.

"Aww, Bhai are you indirectly calling me a headache. we will argue on this later. Go and get dressed up. You need to impress my would be bhabhi. Go." He said.

"Idiot, Why are you so excited?"

"I can group up with bhabhi and tease you. It will be so much fun when somebody can scold you and control you." He said with a weird smile. What the hell is he thinking? He is already planning my future.

"I am surrounded by idiots." I murmured under my breath.

"I will select your outfit otherwise you will go wearing a formal suit only." He said and dragged me towards my room.

"Will you just stop irritating me?"

"Bhai don't tell me you fell in love with someone in my absence. Why didn't you inform me?" he said looking at me and his smile vanished when he analyzed my expression.

"You actually fell in love with someone. Who is she?"

"I am not in love with anyone."

"Is it a he? You can tell me bhai. We are very open-minded. We will welcome him with the same warmth. When are you planning to propose to him? I want to meet my brother-in-law, when will you take me." What nonsense is he talking. 

"I am not in love with anyone. You idiot." I yelled at him.

"You can come and take advice from the love guru if you ever decide to chase your love. Let's select a nice outfit for your lunch date." Kabir said and we entered my room.

We entered the wardrobe. He started scattering my clothes on the floor. What the hell?

"Kabir if you threw one more cloth. I will bury you beneath it."

"Bhai why is your wardrobe so boring and dull." He said with a pout.

"My wardrobe is perfectly fine. I will select my outfit. You just leave my room." He ignored me and again got back to looking through my wardrobe.

"Perfect. I didn't know you had such a nice outfit. You are wearing this for today's lunch date." Kabir said and gave me the outfit.

He shoved me into the washroom. I quickly got ready and checked myself in the mirror. I looked presentable. I came out and saw Kabir sitting on my bed.

"What the hell? When will you leave this room?" I asked him with a bored expression.

"No need to be rude bro. I am just waiting to wish you good luck. All the best bro." He said and left. Why is he wishing me luck when I want to get rejected by her.

I reached the restaurant where Dadu asked me to go. I seriously don't know why I am wasting my time here?

I have been waiting for her for almost 20 minutes now. If she is not here within 10 minutes, then I am leaving.

I was looking at the entrance waiting for this stupid girl. God knows what she thinks of herself. I am so done, I am leaving right now. I got up and saw Aakriti entering the restaurant. She looks gorgeous. No! Dhruv. Stop looking at her. You are here for an important task. She was talking with the waiter as if asking about something. The waiter pointed in my direction. Who is she meeting here? She came and stood near my table. She sat in front of me.

"Hello!" She said. Is she the one Dadu selected? I can't be that lucky. Can I?

"Hi...um" I was out of words. I was planning so long that whoever arrives will earn a scolding from me for making me wait for so long, but I forgot everything the moment I saw her.

"Listen Mr whatever your name is. Let me tell you clearly that I am not interested in this marriage and especially in you. So you better cancel this alliance or else be prepared to experience hell. There is a reason why everyone calls me devil." She looks hot when she is angry.

'She rejected you, and all you can think is that she looks hot.' My brain told me.

'But she is looking hot right now.' I reasoned out.

'She rejected you. She rejected you.' My brain pointed at the important topic.

'Yes, She rejects me. Is she in love with someone else? Is that the reason why she rejected me?'

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