(Hey everyone!

Sorry to interrupt your reading experience. But, I think this is important for you to know.

Please understand that Sneha is not a perfect girl. She has her own fears and flaws. She is also learning with life's experiences just like all of us. And, she is bound to make a lot of mistakes.

She will be rude sometimes...maybe irritating as her mood and emotions guide her. But, the important thing is whether she accepts her mistakes and learns from them or not. She is a character that learns from her mistakes quickly. That's how I made her.

She is flawed but she is also innocent by heart.

Please remember, she is NOT perfect, like the heroines of daily soap dramas!

Also, I have planned to quicken the pace of the story a little. So, you may see some time-lapses in the upcoming chapters.

Thank you for reading! I hope you'd like this chapter.

Please do not forget to VOTE and COMMENT. You know they make me happy! :)

)

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Sneha was so lost in sleep that she didn't even sense anyone touching her calves or massaging them. Subconsciously, she was enjoying the free treatment as the heaviness in her muscles started to subside due to the rhythmic contraction and relaxation. Only once did she groggily open her eyes, but due to the heavy sleepy state, she soon closed her eyes after looking at Viraj who was working on her feet.

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The continuous chirruping of the birds brought Sneha out of her deep sleep. She rubbed her eyes and looked out of the window to see that it was already morning. It was a refreshing morning and since her sleep was completely fulfilled, she felt active as ever. Sensing her environment, she quickly looked behind her to see Viraj sleeping on his chest with both of his hands in front of his head.

She couldn't help but stare at him for a moment. He looked so normal in this state...attractive as ever. She wouldn't want to accept it, but the light stubble on his face suited him more than his clean shaved face. And, she unintentionally appreciated his manly features.

'What is wrong with you Sneha?" She scolded herself for appreciating the external beauty of a man she had seen murdering a powerless person.

Coming out of bed, she was glad that he was fast asleep. She grabbed her phone from the side table and unlocked it. The clock read 5:30 AM and there were about a dozen photos sent to her from her father's phone. She downloaded the photos and understood that her sister had shared the photos of the birthday party with her.

'Yup, make me jealous.' She internally scolded her sister and then quickly typed 'enjoy' as the reply.

Next, she went to the attached washroom and washed her face properly. Seeing two sealed toothbrushes on the cabinet, she used one of them and then came out.

She walked towards the window and the beautiful scenery of the tulip garden entranced her again. She wondered how it would feel to walk in the garden with the morning breeze hitting her face gently. The thought excited her and thus, she started walking towards the door to exit the villa. However, she had only reached the door when she suddenly remembered yesterday's event and Viraj's anger over going out without informing him. The genuine concern in his scolding and the evident fear in his anger made her rethink her decision of going out again without notifying him.

What if he wakes up and gets furious again about not seeing her anywhere here?

So, she walked back and was about to wake him up when she thought against it. He seemed to be in deep sleep. She looked beside him towards the side table and opened the drawer slowly, in order to not make much noise. Luckily, there was a torch, a pen, and some sticky notes along with other stationary items. She took out one sticky note and quickly scribbled her message in her signature bad handwriting. Sticking it on his phone, she walked out of the room.

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Sneha strolled in the soothing garden for about an hour. The scenery of the sunrise seemed surreal to her and she kept her gaze fixed on it. The moment made her reflect on the status of her life right now. She had expected to pursue PhD from a good university, just like her friend, Jyoti had gotten the opportunity to do so. But, here she was...engaged to the mafia don.

Thinking about him, brought back yesterday's memory again. His anger and scolding bothered her. The foul language he used bothered her as well, since he rarely said words like that in front of her so leisurely.

But more than anything, his racing heartbeat when he hugged her bothered her. His genuine concern regarding her safety made her heart soften at the thought of it.

His care for her made her feel...special.

'Does he love me?'

'What if he does!'

'But...why? We don't even know each other enough to fall in love!'

'And, he is heartless anyway.'

'No, Sneha. You are overthinking. Just because he was concerned one time doesn't prove anything.'

'Stop thinking about him!'

'What is wrong with me?'

'Viraj is nothing but a cold murderer who is just in the illusion of liking me. Once the fog of his feelings will clear, he will understand that what he was feeling till now was nothing but infatuation. So, Sneha, don't let his words mess with your mind. You can't have any feelings for him. Papa will kill me otherwise!'

She was deep into her monologue when suddenly she felt herself being pulled back on a stiff board gently. She squealed in surprise before realising what had interrupted her train of thought.

"Good morning." She heard Viraj's morning voice as he hugged her from behind with both his arms around her and his palms resting on her stomach.

The closeness automatically made her feel shy and she tried to step forward. But, to no avail, as he only pulled her on him further.

"Good morning, Sneha." He repeated as he snuggled in her neck. His stubble tickled her soft skin.

"Good morning." She greeted back.

"Why didn't you wake me up?" He asked and started kissing her neck, tickling her even more.

"You were sleeping. I did leave a note on your phone, though." She answered and tried to free herself by gently unlocking his hands.

Feeling that, Viraj quickly grabbed both her hands and locked them under his hands as he rested them back on her stomach.

"Hmm, I saw." He continued his sweet torture on her delicate skin as she stood with a stiff jaw, not knowing what to do.

"How's your leg now? Does it still hurt?" He asked.

His kisses were distracting her attention. This was one of those moments that she had always fantasized to have with her husband. But here, she was!

However, the question suddenly evoked a vague image of him giving her a leg massage.

"Did you massage my leg yesterday night?" She quickly asked.

"You don't remember?" He asked in a surprised tone.

She tried to recall more.

"I was in a deep sleep...So, I don't remember much."

He nodded.

"Yes, I did. But, don't tell this to anyone. They'll make fun of me." He said.

The mere acceptance warmed her heart again.

"Thank you...for doing that." She mumbled and then understood why her legs didn't hurt as they should have, owing to the amount of walking she did yesterday.

Viraj smiled and gently turned her around so she would face him. Bending to her level again, he whispered near her ear.

"Honestly, I wanted to do much more than that. But, you ruined my plans by sleeping before me." He said in a husky tone.

It took her a moment to understand his intention. And, when she did, she immediately lowered her head.

Seeing her shy eyes, he chuckled.

"But, it's okay. We have our entire lives to do that." He said and turned sideways to pluck a blue tulip.

Her eyes followed his movements.

"Why not start from now?" He said and carefully tucked the flower behind her ear.

His sudden chuckle made her look at him in confusion.

"You look funny with the flower behind your ear." He said when he saw the question in her eyes.

Getting self-conscious, she instantly tried to remove the flower.

"Then why did you..." She was about to remove it when his hand clasped over her firmly. Bringing her hand down, he spoke.

"Because, even if you do look funny, you are still mine." He said and then palmed her face softly.

She immediately knew what he was going to do. And, she wanted to run away.

Lowering himself to her level, he slowly closed the distance between them.

"Viraj, I..." She was about to give an excuse, but he remained adamant.

With his eyes closed, he placed his lips over hers and gently sucked her upper lip.

Seconds passed and she could feel him getting more greedy. His gentle kiss became more urgent and she didn't know how to stop him without offending him. Because offending him meant offending his father. And, that is a deadly lane.

"Viraj!" She tried to make him come out of the sudden lust phase he had entered.

"God! I have been waiting for this moment for so long...You are irresistible, Sneha!" He whispered on her lips before kissing her senseless again.

Minutes passed and finally, Viraj seemed to get satisfied with all the kissing and sucking.

He hugged her at last and made circles on her waist playfully.

"You know, I am still waiting for you to kiss me back." He mumbled.

He waited for her to answer but she didn't reply. He sighed at her lack of response.

"Come, I'll click your photo." He diverted the flow of the conversation.

"What?" She looked at him with furrowed brows.

"Photo. You like the flowers, right?" He said and withdrew his phone from his pocket.

"Uhh..." His sudden demand confused her.

"Stand here. The sun's rays are making your hair shine even more." He spoke the latter mostly to himself as he opened the camera app and adjusted the phone to a better angle.

"It's okay, Viraj..."

"Why? You don't trust my photography skill?" He joked.

"I..." She looked here and there wondering what to do.

"Stand still, Sneha. And, look at me." He instructed as he tried to capture the scenery on his phone.

Hesitantly, she stood straight and looked at the phone.

"Aren't you gonna smile?" He asked while looking at her from the phone.

'Is this guy serious?' She thought in irritation.

Faking a meek smile, she let him click the photo.

"Perfect!" He whispered as he captured the scenic moment of his fiancee surrounded by hundreds of tulip flowers.

Walking in her direction, he pulled her towards him by the waist and showed her the phone. Sneha looked at the screen where the memory of a few seconds ago was captured.

True to his words, her hair did sparkle under the sunlight. And, he had made sure to place her at the centre of the frame...unintentionally, though.

"Let's take a photo together." He suggested suddenly and in a flash, he switched on the front camera of the phone.

"Smile." He asked her as they both looked at the phone's screen.

Sneha faked the same smile but her smile faded when she realized that Viraj didn't smile at the camera. He just looked at the camera with a poker face.

"Perfect." He said again and faced her sideways.

"You look good with me." He commented, making her raise her eyebrows.

Before she could contradict, he had bent to her level and captured her lips in his...again.

As he withdrew back, she was surprised more to see that instead of her, he was more looking at the phone. So, she followed his gaze as well.

Her anger surfaced like a spark as she realised that he had the audacity to take the photo of their kiss! Even though it was just a peck on the lips, it still was an intimate moment.

"Isn't this cu..." He was about to say 'cute', when she literally shouted at him.

"Delete it, Viraj!" She ordered in a scolding tone.

"Why?" He asked with a chuckle, on seeing a glimpse of his fireball returning to her fire state.

"Just delete it." She asked again while trying to grab his phone. But, thanks to his height, she couldn't reach his arm as he raised it above his head on reflex.

"But why? We look so good together!" He tried to convince her.

"No, we don't. Please delete it, Viraj." She insisted, still trying to get a hold of his phone.

"We do. Look properly. Our..." He was about to convince her, but she interrupted him again.

"You are doing this to satisfy your male ego, right?" She asked in irritation.

And, the question...more like, accusation, took him by surprise.

"What?"

"You will show this to your friends to boast about yourself. I know." She mouthed her suspicion. She had seen enough movies to derive this conclusion.

A clear frown formed on his forehead and he finally lowered his hand and showed her the screen.

Sneha looked at his phone's screen as he quickly deleted the photo of their kiss.

"Happy?" He asked in a flat voice.

She only sighed in relief and nodded.

Viraj placed the phone in his pocket and pulled her by her waist, making her face him.

"I would never mock you in front of my friends, relatives or anyone." He said and cupped her face to make her look at him.

"Your honour is my honour. You are going to be my wife, after all!" He mumbled gently and honestly.

The simple statement felt extremely heavy on her conscience. And, she couldn't help but scold herself for doubting him on that line.

'But, still, taking photos like that is not correct!' She defended herself internally and stepped back.

"I hope these are not empty words." She mumbled hesitantly.

Viraj playfully cornered a stray hair behind her ear and answered her.

"They are not. Have you ever seen me mocking you?" He asked still staring at that stray hair. Every single thing about her, no matter how insignificant, pleased him dearly.

Sneha fell into thinking and a fairly recent memory clicked into her mind.

"That day in college...when you threw the pine cone in front of everyone..." She reminded him to contradict his statement.

Viraj audibly sighed.

"I know... I have hurt your feelings quite a few times before acknowledging my own feelings for you, Sneha. I was just...confused with the strange emotions that I felt for you, at that time. It was all new to me. I couldn't understand myself! You wouldn't understand, I know. ... But, since I have accepted my feelings for you, I have always made sure to not hurt you." He accepted and like earlier, his blunt confession did soften her. After all, as Viraj had told her, she was soft...soft, by heart!

'He is a murderer, Sneha.' Her rational self piped in and she broke the eye contact.

"I am...hungry." She lied in order to jump over this weird moment.

"Good." Viraj smiled, "I am hungry too. Vinay told me yesterday that he had stocked the groceries in the kitchen and everything is fresh and ready to use. Come, I'll show you the kitchen and then, you can prepare something delicious for both of us." He said as he pulled her along with him towards the villa.

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Sneha, very awkwardly, placed a plate stacked with six sandwiches and two bowls of muesli served with warm milk, in front of Viraj as he sat like a king with a content smile on his face. She felt as if she was in the nineties era where the wife served the husband with utmost dedication and love.

If she had any doubts about his patriarchal thinking, it was clear now. Although she didn't have any problem cooking for someone, the least she had expected from him was to at least serve himself or get a plate! But, no! He had to sit at the small dining table as if she was born to serve him. Plus, the way he kept his gaze on her all along as she prepared the dish was unnerving to her. But, she swallowed her irritation and feminist thoughts.

"Sit here, Sneha." He patted the chair next to him on the round table after she placed all the dishes in front of him.

She just gave him a look and finally sat at the spot he indicated with a sigh. Thankfully, he was distracted...and a little excited.

"You know, moments like this, when you prepare food for me or prepare the bed like you did yesterday, makes me feel like you are my wife already." He commented and grabbed one sandwich from the plate. The emotion was evident in his eyes.

Sneha, literally, rolled her eyes.

'Be quiet, Sneha. No need to argue with him. You are not going to cook for him forever.' She reassured herself and quietly took the spoon to eat the muesli.

She was about to eat a spoonful of muesli when she spotted two raisins in the spoon. And, just like salad, she wasn't a big fan of raisins. So, out of habit, she picked those two out of the bowl and placed them in the corner of the plate. As soon as the raisins touched the plate, she heard his deep chuckle.

"Why take out the raisins?" Viraj asked curiously, although he got the hint.

Sneha looked at him with unsure eyes and slowly answered.

"I don't like raisins."

"Why?"

She only shrugged, not knowing what to answer.

"Here, keep them in my bowl." He instructed her and pushed his bowl near her.

This surprised her.

"You...you sure?" She asked hesitantly since the simple act seemed too...intimate. Food sharing with her husband was one of her fantasies, after all.

"Hmm." He hummed and took his spoon to pick out the other nuts from his bowl to keep in her bowl. Before she could ask what he was doing, he answered her unasked question.

"Eat these nuts. They are good for your health." He mumbled and quickly transferred all the nuts, except raisins from his bowl into hers. Thus, slowly she gave him the raisins from her bowl as well.

As the breakfast proceeded, Viraj switched to a new conversation.

"Why were you so edgy yesterday?" He asked.

"When?" She asked.

"In the evening...when we were having snacks with Vinay. You became so...rude when Vinay talked about how women liked flowers."

"Oh... I...didn't like the generalization."

"But, isn't it an involuntary action? We all generalize something or the other in life based on our past experiences. Right?" He asked gently.

The statement forced her to look at him again. Thinking over it, she realized that he wasn't entirely wrong. She just never thought in that direction.

"I...did apologize to him." She said in her favour and looked back at her bowl.

"I know. And, it makes me so proud of you that you gathered the courage to do so. But, I am sure that was not the only reason."

"My mood was off."

"Why?" It caught his attention.

"Because you didn't let me go to my cousin's house." She answered instantly.

Viraj audibly sighed.

"So, we are back into that conversation?" He asked.

"I was silent. You only asked me the reason." She answered meekly.

Viraj was silent for a while before he finally spoke.

"Sneha...I waited the entire week patiently. I don't want to confess this but I actually wait for the weekends desperately because I know I will have you all to myself. So, imagine how I'd feel when someone tries to burst my bubble of excitement!" He asked.

"But, it was only for this weekend. I told you."

He sighed again.