Maya's pov:

I was resting on my bed when He came inside . He had a tray in his hand. I got up and sat on the bed.

He came and sat near my feet on the bed.

"Liam left and gave me the prescription and your diet chart . You need to have this right now."

I looked at the tray and found that it was porridge. I hated that so much. I scrunched my face looking at it and that's when he said, " You are in no position to deny this right now Maya."

How rude is he! He even orders a sick person and talks to him rudely.

I was kind of getting intimidated by him. He had this aura around him that screams dominance and arrogance. Not wanting to increase my anxiety anymore , I quickly ate the porridge and took the medicines he gave me. Later, he walked away from my room.

As soon as he went, I was lost in my thoughts. Is my life gonna be the same everytime?

From my childhood , not that I am complaining, but it's a fact that I got less of those happy moments and more of the anxiety, depression and much more that's not healthy and normal . I was always a child who needed attention , pampering and some soft words from my parents . But, never got those . I learnt to deal with it.

Then, I wanted to make my passion ,my career . But I wasn't allowed that too. Still, I dealt with it . Rather than cursing my fate , I developed a liking towards technology and softwares . Now, I'm really happy about that. Then, when I learnt to embrace my destiny, I wanted to be independent for myself , to get a home , to live my life by myself but even that's not what I got to do . I was made to do instead.

I was made to decline the offer I got from the campus placement in a multinational company. I had always been a good student. So, it was offering me a six figure job , a good position and a good guidance . That's what I guess a person expects in a normal job. Many people get these things after struggling for almost half of their professional lives. But, I was offered all these things even before completion of my education . But, I didn't get to do that also.

Like a normal girl , even I wanted a beautiful love life . After that incident , I thought never to love again . But somewhere in the corner of my heart, I had this feeling or a desire to have a beautiful life with a partner who understands me, respects me ,values me and most importantly loves me the way I am. I wanted a partner who would not expect me to follow his orders but would encourage me to do something I love . I always dreamt of a life where my dreams matter to my partner as much as his matters to him .

But as they say not all dreams are meant to come true . Some dreams remain ' just dreams ' . I think that even my dreams will remain 'just dream'.

No one has seen the future. I cannot tell what will happen with me the very next moment . But, I know for sure that living life like this will be a lot of pain for me. I won't be able to survive like this .

Mr. Adams is a complete stranger for me. We are married just for the namesake. I know it's just been a day but still, even in this one day he called me a slut and assumed that I am might be pregnant with someone's child. I cannot live my life like this with the person who doesn't value me or my character . I need to have a talk with him.

I was busy with my thoughts when a knock on my door disturbed me.

" Come in ."I said . There comes Anna . She looked at me with tearful eyes. I guessed that she might be feeling bad about my condition. She came and sat near me.

" I am really really very sorry dear. Because of me you are in this condition. I didn't know that my insistence would bring you in such a bad condition . I am really very very sorry .I am guilty. Please forgive me child ."

She apologized to me as if she was at fault here.

"Anna please don't cry. It wasn't your fault. It was mine. I didn't eat anything from the last two days. I was at fault . You are not. You please stop crying . I don't know what made you assume that I might be angry at you. Trust me, I am not . You are the only one in this house, with whom I think I can talk without having any fear. I have known you only for a day but still I can say that you meant no harm to me . Please don't apologize . I request you please."

Even my eyes filled with tears. She looked at me for a second and hugged me and that's what was my weakest point .

I began crying like it was my end . For a second , she was a bit stunned. But, she give me a shoulder to lean on . I took out all that was stuffed inside me when Anna hugged me. I cried a lot and a lot. After nearly 15 to 20 minutes, my crying subsided a bit .

"I know dear you didn't cry because of your health . There's something else. You know, you can talk to me. I promise, I won't judge you. But, if you feel uncomfortable around me , I won't force you. It's your choice. I hugged her again and cried for sometime. Then, she released the hug and wiped my tears.

"Darling, you are my Xavier's wife. He is like my own child to me . You being his wife makes you my daughter. If there's anything that's bothering you or you are suffering from , you can talk to me. If you don't want my advice or suggestion regarding anything, I promise to just be a good listener. But darling, I understood that you have a lot inside you. You know, you can just vent out everything you have inside you. But still , I won't force you for anything . It's only if you want."

"Anna, I don't know if you have any idea about this marriage , but please trust me when I say, I was forced to do this. My parents , they never asked me that if I wanted this marriage or not . Do hell with Mr. Adams, I didn't even wanted a marriage with anyone at this moment . They *hiccups* they sold me for a mere amount of money. They didn't even bothered to ask me once or even tell me what the problem was .

Even I had a good amount of money with me. I could have helped them. If my money was insufficient, I could have arranged it from somewhere else. I would have really done everything I had in my hands, to help them.

But no , they preferred to sell me to god knows what kind of person. I am really sorry Anna if you think I am disrespecting Xavier but, I don't know him. I don't know what kind of a person he is.

Today just because he saw me puking , he assumed that I am *hiccups* I'm pregnant with someone's child . Also today in the morning, he *hiccups* he called me a slut . Trust me Anna, I am not that bad. I don't even understand what was my fault in all this. Why was I trapped in such a thing?

Mr. Adams , he is such a rich man . He could have got any other girl, he wanted. Girls would have , like really , thrown themselves over him but still, out of all people on this whole Earth, only I had to be trapped in such a thing.

For me, my self respect is everything and today Mr. Adams just crumpled it like a piece of wasted paper. And what was most shocking is that I couldn't even stand up for myself. I couldn't even talk to him or tell him that I am not what he thinks. I don't want to be this weak.

I may keep on saying that, I don't care what people say about me. But my condition right now, is that I have to live with Mr. Adams for god knows how much time. Even if we both don't agree to this , even if we both don't consider each other as husband and wife, but still we are married on papers and that's what hurted me the most, that my husband questioned my character.

Not only he questioned but he even gave me a character certificate based on he knows what things . And all thanks to my parents for this. I thought that after marriage my life would be great , my love life would be great. But , I guess God has really bad plans for me .

He gave me parents who don't value me, who don't respect my choices, my likings, my opinion and now a cherry on top, God even gifted me a husband who gives a damn about me and just within a span of 12 hours he questioned my character twice.

Anna , if everything goes at this pace, I don't know what I'll do and what future might hold for me. I am really stressed, not only stressed but I am afraid of what would life bring to me. Please, I beg you to help me. I don't want to live like this. Please."

I just vented out everything I had inside me .

Xavier's pov:

After leaving Maya's room , I went to my study and did the rest of my work. I completed my work at around 12:30 a.m. . While going towards my room , I thought to check on Maya . I don't know why but I felt that being in my house , she is my responsibility . I went towards her room and noticed that the lights of her room were still on. When I opened the door, I saw Mimi resting her head on the on Maya's head with Maya sleeping on her lap . I don't know why but I felt happy seeing that sight . It was good that Maya was getting with Mimi. At first , I thought she would be rude with Mimi and think of her as a maid like other girls did. But seeing Maya with Mimi made me realise that she proved my opinion of her being a rude person wrong.

I slowly went towards the bed and lightly tapped Mimi. She woke up and realised her position. She was going to move . I signalled her to stop and I lightly picked Maya's head from her lap and made her lie down in a comfortable position. I looked at Mimi and whispered," Let's go ".

She looked at me for a moment and went ahead. I didn't understand that.

As we reached the door, I silently closed the door and said ,"Goodnight Mimi."

"Hmm" . She said and went away. I noticed a slight change in her behaviour . I didn't overthink. It might be because of her sleep getting disturbed. I went towards my room and called it a night .

As usual, I woke up at 5, did my workout and without having breakfast I reached my office at 8:00.

And there, I see my sister Danielle sitting on my chair swinging side to side. She looked at me and went back with her swinging, tapping the pen in her fingers. I understood that I am going to get questioned . I went towards the couch in my cabin, kept my laptop and the files I had with me there and went towards her .

I stood at the back of the chair and kept my head on her head and said," Good morning, Dan " and she pushed the chair with such a force that I stumbled backwards. She got up and looked at me with anger.

" Look , I know you are angry with me, you are upset with me and I'll explain you everything. Can you please just sit and talk like normal beings . Please."

She ignored me and sat on my chair . I went towards the chair, pushed it back a little and lifted her from the chair. She started throwing her and hands and legs in air , but No Use. I smirked at my strength.

I put her on the couch and kissed her on her forehead, " Just listen to me once, Princess."That's when she calmed down. Dad used to call her princess . She always melts whenever I call her Princess.

" Her Dad was in desperate need of funds. He needed an investor to save his business from drowning. His ideas , his experience everything is great and it can be huge profit to us. But, he had nothing to present me as a guarantee that he won't backstab me. When I was about to back out, he himself proposed the marriage.

He didn't even ask her and confirmed everything there. I guess, he knew that his daughter was a gold digger so, she won't disagree. Even my client from India isn't ready to give me his villa just bcoz I'm portrayed as a cassanova by the media. He needs a family man.

My deal with Mr. Jones isn't something that'll last till years. It's a contract of six months. My deal with the Indian client would not only be finalized till then, but also I'll have the villa on my name by then. And looking at Mr. Jones' potential, I know for sure that his business would be back on track and he wouldn't need a investor.

After six months, we'll divorce each other. Everything will be as it was till day before yesterday. Okay?"

" I never knew that my brother who was expert at cracking deals , would make his and a girl's life a deal. Great." Dan taunted me.

" You know Dan , how these women are. They want nothing more than money. Even she wanted the same. She wanted a good lifestyle and she found a way to it. Even if it's a deal , there's no harm in this. "

" We are coming today for dinner." She was still angry and went without even waiting for my answer.

I called Anna. " Hey Mimi!"

" Hi". She replied.

Something's definitely wrong with her since yesterday night.

" Are you okay? Because you seem a bit off since yesterday night."

" Ya . I'm fine."

" If you say so. Dan and Lucas are coming for dinner tonight. Please cook something for her . You know she likes food made by you. She is upset with me. Your food might help me convince her."

" Okay. Anything else?"

" No." With that she hung up.

I really need to talk to her once I get home.

Maya's pov:

Anna was telling me about the days when she was working as a nanny for Xavier and Danielle. She looked so happy remembering those moments. I was laughing so hard when she showed a pic of Xavier in a skirt and a top. He looked so funny with that dress and all the make up.

Suddenly, Anna's phone rang and it was Xavier. She put the phone on speaker near her mouth. He told about his sister and her husband coming home for dinner. I noticed the way Anna talked to Xavier and I'm afraid that it might be bcoz of me. After the call ended, I took Anna's hand in mine .

" Anna, if you are talking to him this way because of me , then please don't. I would feel really guilty if there would any problem between you and Mr. Adams because of me. "

" No Maya, it isn't because of you. It's because, I'm ashamed of myself and my upbringing. Xavier's parents died when he was 16. Since then, I have been teaching them how to live life with respect and that respect comes both way . I've always told Xavier and Danielle to respect each other and everyone else who deserves it.

I've never in my life seen their parents being rude to each other or anyone else. I taught them to respect not only women but also men in every possible way. His parents were amazing people and I wanted both Xavier and Danielle to be the same like their parents. But, I guess I failed in raising Xavier to be a right gentleman. "

She told me looking at her lap with guilt coming out through her low voice.

" No Anna . It isn't your fault. I'm sure you would have raised Mr. Adams and his sister very well. But, right now as I'm finding it difficult to adjust to new atmosphere, Mr. Adams also , would be feeling the same. Having a stranger living in your house as your wife isn't a small thing to digest.

He was definitely wrong about judging me. I'm not justifying his actions. But, even it's difficult for him too. Try to understand him rather than getting upset at him. I don't want him to feel that I took you away from him."

" You are really something else Maya. You think too good for everyone. Don't worry, I know for sure that you're gonna have a great life ahead."Anna said.

" Thanks a lot, Anna. Now tell me something about Danielle. How's she? What does she do? How's her nature? Tell me everything about her. I'm so excited to meet her ."

Then, Anna kept on narrating me Mrs. Cameron's stories. She even told me that Danielle is married to the great lawyer of the country, Mr. Lucas Cameron. I've read a lot about his cases. I'm so excited to meet both of them.