There was a dead silence occupying the whole room.
Nobody spoke.
Dhruv cleared his throat while Meenakshi stood in front of him.
"Thank You." The words merely came out as a whisper. He knew that Meenakshi couldn't hear him.
He suppressed his ego for the moment and spoke aloud for her to hear.
"Thank You." Meenakshi was shocked for a moment. Was she hearing it right? Or was she dreaming?
She bit her tongue to check. The pain made her realise that it was really happening.
The arrogant, dick headed jerk was actually being grateful for his life saved. That also by her.
"I just did what anyone here would've done." she replied.
Dhruv smirked, more as if he was enjoying some kind of a private joke.
"You have no idea." He grabbed the glass of water and took a sip from it.
Internally, he knew that nobody would have come for him. He knew how everybody working with him hated him. They would've rather left him to die.
"Why do you hate me?" Meenakshi asked.
Dhruv frowned at her.
"Because I didn't want you to be my wife."
"I'm not talking about that. I've seen it in your eyes."
"Seen what?"
"Sheer hatred towards me. As if I have done something wrong to you."
"You did. Becoming my wife was the biggest sin you made."
Meenakshi clutched her fists in anger.
"So, you think I intentionally became your wife? Let me clear this out to you. I had no choice here.
And if you didn't want me, then why didn't you reject this marriage?"
Dhruv stared at her for a few seconds.
"I promised my mother." he replied.
Meenakshi's face softened.
"You didn't think of breaking it ?"
"Dhruv never breaks his word! Be it to living or dead!"
Meenakshi was quite impressed to hear it from Dhruv. He was a man of principles,it seemed.
"You're were entrapped by a promise, and I was entrapped by vows.
The vows we took around the holy fire that day, I don't if you remember or not. I can't break them, no matter what."
Dhruv looked at her with an amused smile.
"Either ways, it's your fault to think that you're worthy of being Dhruv's wife."
"What do you mean?"
"I'm the emperor of Underwood. My wife should be just like the Empress.
Bold. Confident. Principled. Strong. Just. A Fighter.
And you have none of those qualities! You're just a scared little kitten who doesn't even have the guts to speak to me properly.
Give me a reason for why I should like you."
Meenakshi felt her whole body trembling.
"He has a point "
Her inner mind supported Dhruv
It was as if the whole world against her. She felt the heat creeping up her face.
Enough was enough.
"I'm n-not a scared kitten!"
"Sorry, can't hear." Dhruv's mockery raged the fire within her.
"I'M NOT A SCARED KITTEN!"
Tears prickled down her raging eyes. The soft chocolate brown transformed into bronze.
Dhruv smirked.
"Show me!"
Meenakshi stared at him blandly. What did he mean?
"Show me that you're brave enough to face me."
"And if I do?"
Dhruv laughed.
"I'll take my words back, and you'll have my word of not hurting you in any way. You'll be free to do anything here. You'll claim to be my wife! I'll announce it in front of the whole world.
Even if you decide of leaving me, I'll give you 1Million to go wherever you want or live however you like."
Meenakshi's eyes sparkled with what he said.
"How do I trust that you will be true to your word?"
"I never break my words! But if you insist, I'll make a contract in which both of us will sign. It'll be witnessed by my lawyer and all the gang members."
"Ok." she agreed.
"But! If you fail to prove yourself to me..."
"Then?"Meenakshi gulped in the lump formed in her throat.
"You've to divorce me and leave this place forever. Where you go, what you do won't be my concern anymore."
***************************
"What!!! And you've accepted the offer?"Vijay passed his fingers through his hair.
"And now you want me to train you?" Vijay screamed at Meenakshi.
Meenakshi didn't make any eye contact with him. She kept her head down and figdegeted with her fingers.
"I-It sounded good, so I thought to accept it."
"Meenakshi, have you lost it! We're talking about Dhruv here! He never loses a bet. He'll spare no stone unturned to belittle you. And there's Veronica on top of that. She'll never let you win this!
Didn't you understand Meenakshi? This was Dhruv's trick to get rid of you. He knows that he can't get rid of you like that. It'll break his word to his mother. So he tricked you to seperate yourself from him on your will! Since you accepted the challenge." Vijay stated.
"But what if I win? He said that even if I choose to get divorce, he'll give me 1M dollars! I can start a new life with that much of money!"
Vijay sighed in defeat.
"Ok. But how will you prove him? Dhruv is far more wise than you know. I'm sure he has planned something in his head. He will make sure that you don't win. And on top of that, he'll insult you to the level that you won't be able to see your own face in the mirror with pride for whole life.
Think about it, Meenakshi!"
"I know that my chances are very low. But it's like either I take this risk or rot here forever. And I choose to do the former."
Vijay groaned.
"Meenakshi! Why don't you understand??"
"I understand, that's why I approached you! Help me prove myself. Help your small sister."
********************
Meenakshi walked inside a well lit room. It looked like a huge study with huge shelves of books and paper. There was a floor-ceiling glass door at the East end of the room and in front of it laid a huge red sofa with peach cushions on each end.
She noticed a old man with specs on his wrinkled nose sitting with Dhruv. It was obvious to guess by his black coat,that he was the lawyer. Every other person in the mansion including Veronica was seated in the room, as if they were attending a meeting.
Veronica gave her the statement malicious smirk. It wasn't tough for Meenakshi to guess that every other person in the room knew about the challenge.
Dhruv gestured Meenakshi to sit across him. She obeyed and settled on the opposite red couch. Her eyes caught the lawyer's hand pulling a paper from his brown leathers file.
It was the contract.
"Read it." Dhruv commanded.
Meenakshi picked up the paper and read the paragraphs. Her eyes stuck at a part , which stated the time limit of the challenge.
"1 month?"
"Yes. You'll be given 1 month of time. By that time , if you fail to prove me your worth, you'll be packing your ass out of here."
Meenakshi felt her body shivering. One month was very less.
"C-can I get atleast two months?"
"Why? Scared? Why not. You know how much your worth is, so I guess a time extension may give you some confidence." Dhruv smiled sardonically.
Meenakshi's grip tightened, crushing the edges of the paper. Why did he keep insulting her all the time?
"1 month will be fine for me!"She whispered, audible enough to reach his ears.
"Good then. Now, sign it."
The lawyer handed her the pen.
Meenakshi felt her fingers trembling while holding the pen. Was she taking the right decision?
What if she fails?
She sensed everyone's gaze burning on her.
"You've to do it. You can't step out now." her mind shouted.
With all the strength she could gather, she signed her name on the paper. She knew that Dhruv had already signed.
She looked up to find Dhruv's expressions turning dark. It generated shivers down her spine.
"Game On, little kitten." he smirked.
*********