Chapter 2

Rane Mansion, Mumbai

Guests had started arriving as the evening started approaching. The Rane mansion was decorated with flowers, lights, and beautifully crafted elements. After all, the house belongs to the biggest business tycoon in India. Not only that but also Sudhir Rane has expanded to other Asian countries too. Despite having immense money and power his daughters Suhani and Rohini grew up under strict discipline. They were given freedom but they had never turned themselves into rich spoilt brats. The party planner was none other than the famous Mr. Devdeep Suman. He had personally planned everything. Suhani's friends from Law College and Rohini's childhood friends were invited along with some important personalities. Guests had started coming along with other people from Rajveer’s family. Rohini has few friends in India as after high school she moved to the US for further study. More or less she avoided keeping a long list of friends who liked to show up only for their needs. 

Both the girls were getting ready when their mother knocked again telling them to hurry. As Suhani was fixing her gown she saw her little sister still in shorts.

"Are you planning to go to the party like this? Mini, move your ass quickly." Suhani was annoyed seeing Rohini like that. 

 

"Babe, people are coming to see you, not me." Rohini mocked her sister and got rewarded with a smack on her head. 

"Get ready Mini, for my sake." 

Finally, she made her ready to come downstairs for the party. Rohini is always like a carefree child who prefers spending time more on computers rather than on other things. She is a ticking time bomb who can burst on anyone at any time without a single prior hint. 

Looking at their reflection for the last time they moved out of the room. 

"Rajveer is going to eat you, today girl. You are looking too sexy." Rohini couldn’t help but taunt her sister with a big smile.  

"Shut up. Don't you have a filter in your mouth?" Suhani glared at her. She knew Rohini is a person whose heart is as clear as a crystal.  

"Don't you have a filter in your mouth?" Rohini mocked her sister. She never left a chance to irritate her but also everyone knows she loves her older sister madly. 

"Damn girl." 

"Hey, don't tell me you are keeping your virginity to offer him on the wedding night. So cliché." Finally, Rohini blurted out another thing making Suhani blush like a cherry. 

"Even if I do, do you have any issues?" She pressed her lips and spoke silently. 

 

"Girl, what the hell. Have you guys done nothing since all these years?" Rohini was shocked to see her sister like that. 

"We kissed. I mean...." Suhani could not complete her sentence as she was embarrassed badly after hearing such things.  

"I am ashamed of calling you, my sister." Saying that Rohini laughed like a little kid and pushed her to reach down the party. 

"Mini..." Shouting Suhani followed in her footsteps too. They reached the hall where the party was organized. Lots of influential people, lawyers, businessmen, and political leaders had arrived. But Suhani's eyes were only roaming from one place to another in search of a single person. 

"He will come in 20 minutes. I have just received his call." As Suhani turned her face being ashamed of her actions she met Rajveer's father who gave her that info. 

"Uncle, actually I was wondering... as he told me... I mean he is supposed to come by now..." Suhani tried to hide her emotions. She knew she wasn’t good at masking her emotions but still, she tried hard. 

"I know. He just got stuck with some work. Today only he has won the big case so he just got a few calls to attend. But I warned him already that if he continues in this way I will tell you to not marry my son." Saying that he laughed and Suhani's father joined him too.

Vinayak Malhotra is Rajveer Malhotra's father. He is an industrialist. Neelam Malhotra is his wife who has her designer boutique. Rajveer's father was an old mate of Suhani's father and they were in the same college. Suhani knew Rajveer from a young age. As soon as Rajveer came with a law degree from the USA, he started gaining popularity in India. Within three years he became the famous highest-paid criminal lawyer. His sharp mind and fearless attitude made him more popular. Moreover, he is the kind of lawyer who could not be bribed no matter what. Suhani used to go to their house. During her exams also Rajveer helped her a lot. As they were discussing all such things a deep voice reached their ears. Suhani's ears heated up hearing the voice. 

"Sorry, for being late. I will make it up someday."  

"Veer..." Suhani looked back and her cheeks got reddened just taking a glance at him. The man in a grey suit with a thin layer of beard was standing in front of her with a bouquet. And it was having all those red roses. 

"Oh... Love is in the air." Rohini taunted her sister looking at her face and the man standing there. 

"Oh, the little devil is here too," Rajveer spoke seeing Rohini beside Suhani. 

"Yes. And this devil would not show any mercy if you don't listen to her." Rohini smiled with a smirk while speaking. She was seeing him from a young age too. And never she left any single chance to embarrass him or irritate him.  

"As you say, your highness." Rajveer bowed his head in front of Suhani and Rohini. 

"See sister, that's how you need to take him under control." Rohini lifted her imaginary collar to show off her attitude like a kid. 

"Mini. You would never change." Suhani was always a soft-spoken girl whereas Rohini was a talkative one. 

Both the families sat together with drinks to discuss various matters. Being bored Rohini left to look for some handsome guys throughout the party. She started walking with a glass of wine and met some of her old friends. They discussed something and then again started giving points to some men who were standing. 

On the other table Suhani, Rajveer both were seated with their respective families. 

As their parents were busy Rajveer took their leave to take Suhani's hand to walk away to have some quality time. For the past month, he was so engrossed with his case that he barely managed to have some time with Suhani. They did talk over the phone, even Suhani was present in some of his case's hearings too. But things were not that close to having a good time.  

They walked towards the lawn while smiling back to the coming and leaving guests. Their hands touched many times but she denied that feeling. Once his large hand grabbed her hand she couldn’t release her tiny wrist from his grip. She started enjoying his warm grip around her and closed her eyes to feel more. Going near the fountain on the lawn a bit away from the crowd he looked at Suhani with wide eyes. He turned her towards him to see her. The peach color gown was perfectly fitted on her making her elegant enough. The major breathtaking feature in her was her green eyes. Both the sisters look quite similar but Rohini got blue eyes like her mother but Suhani got this unique one. None of her parents have green eyes. The more a person looks into that, the more the person would lose himself in that. Along with that her honey brown wavy hair makes her more serene. Her milky white skin, tender soft body, and her red petal-like lips. Rajveer could never forget his first kiss. She tasted like strawberry ice cream. Any man can die a hundred times just to be with her. As he was looking at her without saying a single word Suhani felt awkward. Though they were standing under the sky, she felt like standing with him a room away from everyone. His gaze was roaming romantically on her body to admire. He wanted to see the creator at that time who dared to create such a pure thing in this world. A perfect creation of beauty with a brain but with loads of emotions. A kind-hearted girl with the courage to love someone deeply. 

"Veer... What are you looking at?" She finally managed to speak.  

"The best creation of GOD. You know what, even the criminals would be ready to confess their crimes if you stand in front of them." He chuckled by saying that. Of course, that was true. People could die for her. 

"I am not interested in being a criminal lawyer. That's your department. I am afraid of them." She replied with her clear ignorance of the fact of becoming a criminal lawyer. 

"You are too fragile for that. Don't worry you don't need to. It's better not to have two criminal lawyers under one roof." Rajveer smiled saying that. “They might start fighting with each other over a case.” He added again. 

"Hmmm. I know...." Suhani replied. 

"So ready to be Mrs. Malhotra?" Out of nowhere he suddenly asked her the question. Of course, it was their dream that was about to come true. 

Suhani turned into a red tomato hearing that and ran towards the mansion. She was unable to form a sentence though her mind already nodded and she knew she would be Mrs. Malhotra only. 

"You can't run away like this Miss. Suhani Rane." Rajveer smiled while speaking his words. But she sprinted towards the entrance as she was way too shy to reply to something at that time. 

“I will let you know.” She managed to speak with a smile before turning her face again to run leaving awestruck Rajveer in front of the fountain. 

As she abruptly moved towards the gate a sudden bump made her imbalanced enough to fall on the floor. Somehow a pair of hands got the hold of her and made her stand properly. 

"Hey, you. Have you left your eyes in your house before coming here?" The savior of Suhani was none but Rohini and without wasting a single time she simply opened her razor blade mouth. She was the one whose arms reached her body to hold her back at her position. She spat her words towards the wall or the man standing in front of them. 

"I can say the same for her." The man spoke with whom Suhani had just collided. He was more like a stone structure dressed in a black expensive suit with a French cut beard and sharp jawline. He had dark brown eyes that were intimidating enough to send chills through her spine. His height was tall enough that even Rohini needed to hold her head high being a basketball player.  

"Man, it's her house. And how dare you ask such bullshit to my sister?" Before Rohini could speak further Suhani pulled her away from there. She was feeling way too scared and uncomfortable under his gaze. She felt that he could see through her clothes. She was not willing to keep her sister in front of that man. But she had not seen him earlier. Rohini obviously would not have any idea also as she was mostly in the USA. But keeping her sister there might bring some more troubles. She remembered during her school time how brutally Rohini bit a boy who pushed her during recess. 

As she moved towards their parents Rajveer joined them too. Suhani took a minute to convince Rohini to not burst out over the matter. In such an organized party it was better to avoid such unhappy moments. And somewhere the fault was on her part too. She didn’t notice her steps too and ran into a man heedlessly. 

"What are you all discussing?" Rajveer spoke, reaching the round table. 

"We are talking about dowry." Rajveer's father Vinayak replied in such a way that everybody looked at each other with question marks on their faces. He didn’t expect his father to be so orthodox to ask for dowry.  

Before Rajveer could say something, Vinayak spoke again. 

"Of course there would be a dowry. I would pay a huge amount to Sudhir to give me another lawyer for my useless son." Everybody burst into a burst of big laughter hearing that. 

Sudhir slapped Vinayak's back by saying, 

"Tu Nahi sudhrega."(You will never change.) 

Everyone joined the rest of the discussion when Sudhir and Vinayak moved towards the crowd taking the microphone in their hand.  

"Good evening ladies and gentlemen. As today we have gathered here to celebrate not only Suhani's victory but also my childhood friend's son Rajveer's victory too. Now with the consent of Vinayak, I would like to announce the engagement date of Suhani and Rajveer." Saying that Sudhir passed the microphone to Vinayak to speak further. 

"And the engagement date is 28th of November. Their wedding date will be on the 2nd of January." Vinayak looked at Rajveer and Suhani after announcing the dates. They looked at each other holding their hands. Rajveer put a small kiss on Suhani's forehead.  

Far away in the crowd, a man looked at those couples with a devilish smirk on his face. He was not at all clapping for the news but his clap was for something else. He looked at the girl in a peach color gown leaning on Rajveer’s shoulder. Beside him, another girl with a sharp nose and eyes were laughing and saying something.  

“One is fire, one is ice. Both the girls are useless. But the man matters the most to get my things done and his love will be his weakness and my strength.” The man murmured.