Sneha looked at Viraj hopefully.

"Let's postpone the marriage to July. Till then, your exams, as well as the results, will all be done. Okay?" He proposed.

She didn't know whether to say yes or no. But, July was still better than March! So, she slightly nodded.

"You want to continue your job right? If it is so important for you then you can. But only till June. You need to take the sole responsibility of being my wife after that. Okay?" He proposed.

Even though it sounded sick and wrong, she still agreed. At least she had time till June.

"But then I want something in return too." He stated. She slightly raised her brows.

"The weekends will be mine." He said.

However, seeing her narrowed brows, he further elaborated.

"I will be busy during the weekdays and so will you too. So, let's spend the weekend together. In this way, you will get to know me better as you want to."

"But...I have karate classes on weekends." She reminded him.

"You have five bodyguards assigned to you, Sneha. You don't need self-defence now."

The revelation came as a surprise to her.

"What?" She asked and looked here and there to spot them.

"You won't see them. They are skilled at their work, so don't worry about it."

"Will they follow me everywhere? How long have they been following me?"

"They were assigned when you said yes to our marriage proposal. And, except for the private places, they will follow you everywhere."

"But, why do I need them?" She whined, hating the fact that her privacy was utterly exposed like that! How would she behave normally now when she knows that she is being followed!

"You know the nature of my business, Sneha. Even though no one would dare to harm my family, I do not take risks."

Sneha wanted to object but then she remembered a crucial thing.

"Your bodyguards couldn't protect Ananya, Viraj." She reminded him, yet gently since she knew how seriously Viraj took insults or mocking.

"That was a different scenario. It was a slip from my end and I accept the mistake. My security team has been very careful since then."

"Still, Viraj! It was my self-defence skills that came into use that day." She added.

"Fine! If the self-defence classes are important to you, then you can practice with me. I am sure I am more qualified than your teacher."

"What?" She asked since she had never hinted upon that! She just wanted some alone time! The proposal was as absurd as the idea of their marriage.

"Yes. I am compromising enough here, Sneha. I will not compromise on the weekends." He said while leaving no room for any arguments.

For a moment, she felt like they were bargaining over a commodity. In that case, she was ready too. After giving it a thought, she added her part of the bargain as well.

"How many hours during the weekends? Because I need to complete the assignments and study for the semester exams too."

"The entire weekend. I will take you somewhere for a short tour. You can complete your work on the weekdays."

"That's impossible..." She was about to complain when he interrupted her quickly.

"And...I said, no compromise on the weekends. We will spend the entire Saturday and Sunday together."

"But, Viraj, my father would never allow it."

"I'll talk to him then."

"What about our family members? They will assume the worst if they'd find out that we have...you know...spent time together...before marriage!"

"My family has no issues. But, if your family has any problem with this, then let's get married on the first week of March as I had proposed earlier."

"But Viraj! How can two unmarried people spend the night together? Will you let your sister spend..."

"Stop bringing my sister every time in our conversation, Sneha. If a man gathers enough confidence to come to me and ask for my sister's hand by looking into my eyes, I'll marry her off as soon as they want. I want us to get married quickly too. But, just for your small wishes, I am ready to wait a little more. Either spend the weekends with me till our marriage or marry me on the first week of March."

When Sneha didn't give a response, he added, rather sternly.

"And, let me tell you one thing. You are the first one to actually get an option from me because I do not give choices. So, decide carefully."

She knew that they were back at the same spot. After weighing the situation deeply, she finally gave her answer.

"Okay. We can spend the weekend as you want...but the marriage must be after June only." She clarified.

"July. No one will pressurize you before that. You have my word." He assured.

As Sneha nodded, his gaze fell on the ice cream that she was holding.

"Now eat the ice cream before it drips on your dress." He reminded her.

She quickly looked at the dessert about which she had literally forgotten. A small portion from the top had started to melt. So, she quickly pulled the cone near her mouth and licked the top of the ice cream. Taking the now almost melted portion in her mouth, she licked her lips when she felt the cone being pushed away from her hand roughly.

"F**k the ice cream." Viraj cursed as he placed his free hand behind her head and pushed himself towards her lips. In a flash, his lips caught hers and the ice cream fell to the ground.

Sneha was stunned for a moment before she understood the scenario. Instinctively, she started pushing him away by placing her small hands on his wide chest.

Viraj could swear that he had never seen such an erotic scene as the moment when Sneha licked her lips to wipe away the traces of cream. His heartbeat automatically took off and he just wanted to go physical. The desire to touch her once again resurfaced and he couldn't help but claim her beautiful lips.

For him, she was the most tempting seductress...without even doing anything.

"Viraj!!!" Sneha whined in an accusing tone as she successfully detached herself from him and almost lay on the bench to be away from him.

Her girlish glare made him chuckle.

"What?" He said and tried to close the distance between their lips again.

But Sneha was adamant. Perhaps, his light mood a moment ago had given her some confidence to oppose him.

"You can't kiss me like this!" She complained and placed her elbow on the bench to support her weight.

His eyebrows quickly shot up.

"I can't what?" He asked as he resumed his original position on the bench. Sneha too uneasily sat erect.

"I mean..."

"You weren't so reluctant yesterday. What happened now?" He asked which came as a statement.

Almost instantly, Sneha remembered his father's warning. And the fear returned. What if he complained to his father, she wondered.

"I...don't...like it when someone...disturbs me while eating." She quickly lied.

Viraj's brows scrunched in distaste.

"Then don't seduce me." He complained as a small smile grazed his lips.

"I didn't..."

"You did." He immediately interjected making her go dumb again.

It was futile to argue with him.

"Now, you are not eating, right?" He asked while giving a short glance towards the fallen cone.

Sneha too looked at the cone. She knew why he was asking this question.

"Let's go inside?" She asked in order to jump over the situation.

Viraj chuckled at her attempt to hideaway.

"Not so fast." He mumbled and pulled her gently towards him to engulf her in another kiss.

.

.

.

"Hey, Sneha!" Sneha heard her name being called from behind her as she sat with Ananya again inside the hall.

Both the girls turned around to look at the newcomer. She immediately recognized her.

"Hi, Natasha!" Both Sneha and Ananya said in unison.

"Hi, Ananya! Welcome to the family, Sneha. Gaurav told me all about you and Viraj. Although I am a little surprised that you accepted Viraj's marriage proposal so quickly. But, nonetheless, I am happy to see you becoming a part of our circle." Natasha said after taking a seat beside them.

Exactly at that moment, someone called for Ananya due to which she excused herself, leaving Sneha alone with Natasha.

"Uhh...Thank you." Sneha answered with pursed lips. She didn't know much about Natasha, so, there was no way she could trust her with anything.

"But seriously, Sneha. How did Viraj convince you about marrying him? If you don't mind answering..." Natasha asked hesitantly.

Sneha took a deep breath before replying.

"My father told me how this is a good proposal for me." She reiterated the lie that she had told Viraj too.

Natasha's face fell on hearing her answer.

"So, you don't think he is good for you?" Natasha asked curiously.

"It's not like that..." Sneha sighed.

"Then?"

"I...don't know anything about him. And, whatever I know about him is something that scares me more than...like him." Sneha elaborated.

"I don't know whether I should say this or not...but, Viraj is not all what he shows. He might look rude and arrogant, but from the inside, he is softer than even Gaurav. If you'll try to understand him, you will get to know him better and perhaps, like him as well." She encouraged.

Sneha only nodded in response. The last thing she wanted to hear right now was Viraj's praise.

"You don't believe me, right?" Natasha couldn't help but chuckle.

Sneha lightly smiled in embarrassment.

"It will take me some time to get accustomed to everything. I am not used to this lifestyle." She said while looking around the party house.

"That's true. Perhaps that is what Viraj finds so interesting about you." Natasha said casually while grabbing a drink for herself from the passing waiter.

Sneha's ears perked up when she heard Natasha.

"What does he find interesting about me?" She asked carefully in order to not sound too desperate.

Natasha looked up from the glass of wine that she was leisurely drinking.

"I mean, I am not sure...But, there must be something that he finds interesting about you that he literally went against his father's decision and choice. And, let me tell you one thing...Viraj considers his father as his God. He only listens to him. And, if he can disregard his father's choice for you, then surely you must have impressed him beyond imagination."

"But what about me does he like?" She asked, a little desperately.

Natasha chuckled.

"Shouldn't you ask this to Viraj?"

"I did. He didn't answer properly."

"What did he say?"

"Just that...I was not leaving his mind...something like that." Sneha hesitantly answered.

"This sounds too romantic to be spoken by our Viraj. But then again...he does behave differently when you are near." Natasha added with a chuckle.

"So, he finds me interesting because I am not from the underworld?" Sneha asked, trying to revert back to the conversation.

"Uhhh... Not exactly the reason, I think. I mean, Gaurav and I were recently talking about this only, to be very honest. And, we think that your confident attitude and your complete ignorance and disinterest in him might have attracted him in the first place. I may be wrong here...We were just guessing..."

"So, Nupur wasn't a bold type of person? Is that why Viraj broke the engagement with her?" Sneha asked curiously.

"Viraj didn't want to marry Nupur from the very first day the proposal was raised. However, it was his father's desire to fix their marriage. And about Nupur being bold...Have you never met her?"

"I have...But only once." She said, recalling the day when they met in the cafe.

"What do you think about her then?"

"Nothing. I didn't analyze her much."

"Well...Nupur never went against Viraj. If he asked her to sit, she would sit. And, if he'd ask her to stand, she would do so happily. If it were in her hand, she would have never left his side for even a second. Perhaps, her intense care and love suffocated Viraj." Natasha replied.

The gears in Sneha's brain started working quickly. She suddenly got a fool-proof idea of getting rid of Viraj and this disaster of a marriage.

'I just need to imitate Nupur. Then, Viraj will get bored of me too. And then he will break the engagement himself. Happy ending!' Sneha concluded internally.

"So what did she do that suffocated Viraj that much?" She asked curiously to get some insights.

Natasha looked at Sneha in confusion. She wondered why she was so interested in Nupur!

Sneha understood Natasha's expression.

"I mean...I wanted to know what Viraj doesn't like...so that, I would make sure to not repeat that." She added quickly.

Natasha chuckled. She understood Sneha's real intention. But for her sake, she told her the truth.

"Viraj is Nupur's first crush and, of course, first love. I remember how she always used to follow him around in their teens. In the earlier phase of their relationship, when their engagement was just fixed, she used to give him gifts...almost on a daily basis. Since her father is loaded with money, getting real expensive items, like perfumes, wallet, etc was pretty easy for her. And because of Viraj's father, he couldn't deny them. In return, he had to gift her something or his father would nag him. This went on for some months when finally, Viraj got irritated and scolded her in his infamous rude way. He even returned all those gifts to her since he never even opened them or used them. Gaurav had seen him throw the bouquet of roses that she had sent for him on Valentine's day from Spain. She even used to call him ten times a day since he'd not answer the calls due to his busy schedule. Viraj's birthday was like a festival for her. She'd literally go crazy on that day. But then again, it was her way of expressing love and I am no one to criticize it. However, it was easily evident that Viraj didn't really appreciate her efforts."

Sneha's eyebrows scrunched in confusion.

"Why did she do all this if Viraj didn't like it!" She asked, not really expecting a response.

Natasha shrugged.

"I guess, love makes one go crazy and do crazy things!" She replied nonetheless.

Sneha couldn't digest the news. She knew that she'd never chase a man or anyone who didn't want her. Love is a two-way street after all!

However, internally, she was glad that Nupur did what she did. At least, this gave her an idea of what she should do now.

'So, I need to act like a caring, loving and clingy fiancee. Alright! You can do it, Sneha!' Sneha told herself and looked in the direction of Viraj who was again busy talking with someone.

"Hey, Sneha!" Gaurav exclaimed when he spotted her sitting with his girlfriend.

"Uhh...Hi, Gaurav." She greeted back.

"Viraj told me that you both are getting engaged this Sunday. Congratulations and welcome to the family!" He said excitedly as he sat beside Natasha.

Sneha only faked a smile as a response.

He could read her expression clearly though.

"He is not that bad, you know." He chuckled and continued. "I mean, for the world, he is...not good...But for family, he can do absolutely anything. And, since you are going to be the core of his family, I am sure he will treat you as his queen. So, try to give him a chance, please?"

Sneha looked at Gaurav uneasily. She didn't want to give Viraj anything...not even a chance. He was a murderer who should ideally be in jail, according to her rationality!

But externally, she only nodded.

.

.

.

Soon, it was time for dinner and everyone sat together at the huge dining table. Sneha, as expected, sat between Viraj and Ananya.

The food was as diverse as the spectrum. So, among the continuous chattering between different groups, Sneha slowly picked up the nearest bowl of something she didn't recognize.

Before she could take a spoonful of the dish, Viraj held her wrist and took the bowl from her hand.

"Don't eat it." He said and instead passed her another bowl of breadsticks.

"Why?" She asked in confusion. Was he going to control her diet too, now? He wondered.

"It has fish, Sneha. You are vegetarian, right?" He reminded her, surprising her even more.

"How did you know?" She asked because she never remembered telling him anything about her eating preferences.

In response, Viraj only chuckled and passed the bottle of ketchup toward her.

She waited for him to say something, but when she realized that he wasn't going to say anything, she looked at her plate.

The breadsticks looked too plain for her taste. Nonetheless, she picked up one and started nibbling on it, while trying to listen to the conversation in which Ananya was engaged.

Seeing her not taking anything else from the table, Viraj sighed and urged the waiter to serve some pasta and veggies to her.

.

.

.

Sneha yawned when Viraj parked the car in front of her house. Instinctively, she placed her hand on the door's handle to open it. However, it didn't budge a centimetre.

"Where's my goodnight kiss, fiancee?" Viraj asked with a small smile, knowing very well that she will show that cute confused face of hers.

As expected, Sneha narrowed her brows.

Seeing him adamant at his demand, she looked here and there to make sure no one was in the affinity. Thankfully, no one was out at this late hour.

So, she pulled herself up slightly to kiss him on the cheek, as she did the last time.

"On lips." He directed when he noticed her approaching his cheek.

Sneha almost glared at him.

"Viraj...what if someone...sees us here..." She worded her fear and looked out of the window.

"We are only kissing, Sneha!" He said and approached her to capture her lips with his.

She let him gently suck her lips for a few seconds before getting free from his touch.

"You should start kissing me back, Sneha." He stated after returning back to his seat.

In response, she just looked at his shirt.

"For now, go home. You look tired." He noted and unlocked her side of the door.

"Bye." She said and took her sling bag.

"You forgot the flowers." Viraj reminded and reached the backseat to get those.

Sneha held the bouquet in her hand carefully. She was about to turn around when she remembered Natasha's words. So, she faced him properly and met his eyes. Viraj looked at her in curiosity.

Plucking a white rose carefully from the bouquet, she slowly presented it to him. He obviously looked at it with narrowed eyes.

"What...is it for?" He asked in doubt.

"It's for you." She said and pushed it towards him more.

When he still didn't take it, she felt a little more confident. His blank eyes made her conclude that he didn't like it. Getting more confident, she pushed it forward and tucked it under his shirt's pocket carefully.

"You don't like flowers?" She asked in a fake sad tone as she assessed his expression.

"A man doesn't take flowers from his girl." He reminded her but didn't remove the flower from his pocket.

Sneha looked at him again.

"Why not? If a girl can get flowers from a man, then so can the man too!" She smiled sweetly while internally hoping he'd throw it and scold her too. Perhaps, he'd then forget about this marriage completely.

And, just like that, he melted in that beautiful smile of hers. He was seeing it after so many days! His entire body felt hot and tingly at that sight. At that moment, if she'd have tucked the flower behind his ear, he'd have gladly accepted that too!