Bhumi's POV:

As we reached the temple, I told him he can leave and come get me when I call him.

He refused at first, but I forced him to leave. I like to be alone today.

But I realised I didn't bring my phone with me, only after he left.

After the prayer I did for my mom, I went to sit under the huge tree in the temple compound, as I always do, but stopped in my tracks seeing a woman about to faint and fall from the long flight of stairs.

I ran to her and held her protectively.

She is, maybe, in her mid-forties.

"Ma'am, careful please," I said, holding her arms tightly.

"Thank you, dear," she said with a beautiful smile.

I helped her sit on a bench near the tree and got her some water.

"Thank you, child. What's your name?" She asked me softly.

"Bhumi," I said, flicking my hair in my usual style and she laughed.

"Oh dear. How cute you are. Oh, I forgot, my daughter-in-law's name is also Bhumi," she said excitedly.

"Really?" I asked.

"Not daughter-in-law actually. Would be daughter-in-law," she said.

"Oh, your son is getting married?" I asked.

"Yes. The date isn't fixed yet. Hopefully soon," she said wishfully.

"How are you going home, Ma'am?" I asked.

"I have my car. And don't call me Ma'am. Call me Chhaya aunty. That's my name." She said.

"Sure. Do you have a driver with you, Chhaya aunty?" I asked.

"No, dear. I drove here myself," she said.

"Then how will you go back? I am not letting you drive back alone. Come on, I will drive you home and go home from there," I said.

"No, child, I don't want to bother you more than I already did," she said apologetically.

"Nonsense. If I let you drive home alone after your near fall, then it will keep bothering me and I won't even be able to sleep tonight," I said with a pout.

"Such a lovely child," she said, cupping my face and I smiled.

"We have one more son. I will introduce him to you when we reach home. He is a little immature, but he is a sweet boy. You might like him," she said and winked at me.

"Oh no, Chhaya aunty. I am already engaged," I said and showed her my fake engagement ring.

"That's so sad," she frowned and I laughed at her.

She is such a cutie.

"Okay, leave it. Come, let's go. At least you should stay for the family get-together," she said.

"No, Chhaya aunty. How can I? It is your family get-together and I don't know anyone there," I said.

"No worries. My elder daughter-in-law is a sweet girl like you, and you won't feel like an outsider. Now come on, let's go," she said.

I drove her to her home.

Scratch that.

Her mansion.

As we entered the mansion, a woman, maybe a few years older than me, came running to us.

She looked so familiar, but I couldn't quite place where I had seen her before.

"Who is this, Mom?" she asked, looking at me.

"This is Bhumi. She will be here for lunch today," Chhaya aunty, whose surname I still don't know, said. The girl nodded and smiled at me.

"I am Ishitha," she said, and I smiled at her.

"Mom? What took you so long? I was worried," she said, looking really worried.

"Now I am back, right? No need to be worried," she said, and I frowned.

"How not to worry, Chhaya aunty? Ishitha di, Chhaya aunty almost fainted in the temple compound, and she would have fallen down the stairs if I didn't see her at the right time," I said, and Ishitha looked at Chhaya in horror.

"What?? Come sit here," she said and ushered us to the couch.

She picked up her phone and dialled someone.

"Daksh. Come down fast. Mom fainted at the temple, and a nice girl brought her home," she said and hung up the call.

"Ishitha, you are making a big deal out of this. And you. Why did you have to tell her that I fainted?" She asked, looking at me with a pout.

"So that they won't let you go out alone next time," I said, smiling sweetly, and Ishitha laughed.

"I like you already," she said.

"That's my specialty. Everyone likes me," I said smugly and winked at her.

"Mom, what happened?" I looked up to see Daksh bhaiyya running towards Chhaya aunty.

Wait?? Mom?? That means this is the Mehrotra mansion.

How could I not know? There would have been a name board outside the gate. I didn't even see that. I was so occupied by the grandeur of the mansion.

"Damn it," I cursed under my breath.

"What?" Ishitha asked, and I shook my head.

"Bhumi. How come you are here??" Daksh bhaiyya asked in confusion, seeing me there.

"Uh, Daksh bhaiyya..."

"You two know each other??" Ishitha di and Chhaya aunty asked in unison.

"Mom, this is Bhumi. Arya-" he was cut off by the voice of the man I don't want to see at the moment.

"Bhumi," I looked up to see Aryamann Mehrotra looking at me furiously.

He is gonna shout at me for coming to his house without his permission.

As if you haven't done that before! My alter ego scoffefd.

Aryamann's POV:

"Aryamann. Why don't you ask Bhumi to come home for lunch?" Mom asked, and I nodded.

It's been a week since the first date.

I couldn't get the feel of her lips out of my head.

It was just a peck, and it has left me craving for more and more.

Arghh! Why did I have to hire an attractive girl for my wife?

I picked up my phone and dialled her number.

But she isn't picking up the call.

What a girl she is.

She is the only one who can ignore my calls like this.

She is the only girl who can fall asleep forgetting about the date with Aryamann Mehrotra.

She is the only girl so far who hasn't responded to my kiss.

Arghh! I need to get laid.

Speaking of which, I haven't been with any women since the day that crazy girl sneaked into my house. For some bloody f*cking reason, I didn't even feel like looking at another girl. My entire thoughts were occupied with this little firecracker.

Seriously Aryamann, what is wrong with you?

I dialled her number again, and it went straight to the voicemail.

"Aryamann. Did you call Bhumi?" Daksh asked.

"She isn't picking up the call," I said in an irritated voice.

Daksh's phone rang, and he picked up the call.

"Ishitha?"

"....."

"What?? Ishitha? Ishitha?"

"Aryamann, mom fainted," he said and ran out of the study.

Gaurav and I followed him out.

As we reached the living room, I stopped dead in my tracks seeing Bhumi clad in a green chiffon saree and a golden blouse, hugging her perfectly on her curves. And every cell in my body reacted to that.

Oh god! Why this torture?

"You two know each other??" I was brought out of my fantasies about my fake fiance by Ishitha's and Aunt Chhaya's voice.

"Mom, this is Bhumi. Arya-"

"Bhumi," I looked at her furiously.

She has been avoiding my phone calls for hours, and now I find her at my house out of the blue.

She looked up at me and smiled cheekily.

"Where the hell is your phone?" I growled.

"Well, I forgot it at home," she said, and I looked at her suspiciously.

She already fooled me once saying she doesn't have her phone with her.

"I swear, I forgot to take the phone," she said, with her pretty hazel eyes widening, pinching her throat.

Fu*king cute!

"So this is Aryamann's Bhumi?" Aunt Chhaya asked, and I nodded.

"I was planning to set her up with Gaurav," she said, and I looked at her in horror.

"What??" I growled, finding that thought so repulsive.

"Relax darling. I didn't know that this Bhumi is your Bhumi. I really liked her and thought it would be nice to have her as our daughter-in-law. But she told me she is already engaged, so I thought I would ask her to stay for lunch and tell Gaurav to charm her and convince her to back off from her engagement," Aunt Chhaya said with a sheepish smile, and we all looked at her in disbelief.

I looked at Bhumi to see her looking at my aunt with her jaws grazing the floor.

Guess she can be left speechless at times!

Bhumi's POV:

Guess what??

The whole Mehrotra clan is crazy.

Like seriously?

She brought me here so that she could convince me to back off from my engagement, by asking her nephew to charm me.

Where have you trapped me, Shiv ji!

"Oh, Bhumi, sweetheart. Finally, you are here? I have been waiting for God knows how long," I looked up to see Darsha Maa coming towards me with a wide smile.

What does she mean by finally?? Was she expecting me here? How come I didn't know that?

"Yes, Darsha Maa?" I said in confusion and it came out more like a question.

"I was calling you to tell you about the family lunch. Mom wanted me to bring you here. And you left your phone at home," Aryamann whispered in my ears.

Oh, he wasn't calling me because he wanted to....

What the hell is wrong with you Bhumi? So what if he called at his mother's insistence? That's what you signed up for. A show before his family. This is not real. Get this into your thick head.

"Bhumi, tell me about your love story. This Aryamann is so tight-lipped when asked. He didn't say a single word about your story," Ishitha di complained, and a mischievous smile appeared on my face.

"That's right. Tell us your story. We would love to hear," Chhaya aunty too supported her daughter-in-law.

"Actually, it all started with a dare," I started saying, and Aryamann coughed awkwardly.

"It's already lunchtime. We have enough time for this later," Aryamann said and I heaved a heavy sigh dramatically.

"There will be a small prayer before the lunch," Dadi said to everyone.

"Okay, I will tell you the story at a later time. Let's start the prayer," I said.

"Okay, let me start preparing the sweets," Chhaya aunty said and got up from the couch.

"But mom, you are not well. Take a rest. We will ask the cook to prepare the sweets," Daksh said, forbidding his mother from going into the kitchen.

"Today is your grandfather's birthday. We are holding a special prayer in memory of him. Every year, only a family member prepares the sweet on this day. We can't let the cook prepare it. And I am terrible at cooking sweets," Darsha Maa said.

"Don't worry Aunt Darsha. I will prepare the sweets this year," Ishitha said and everyone looked at her in absolute horror.

I looked at them in confusion. Why are they looking so shocked?

"Ishitha, you are aware that you are a disaster in the kitchen. I don't want to have a casualty today. Mom already gave me a heart attack today. I can't handle more," Daksh said and Ishitha glared at him.

"I know I am a terrible cook, Daksh. You don't have to rub it in my face every now and then. I just offered because Mom is not well. And Aunt Darsha has to overlook other preparations. So that leaves only me," Ishitha said, stating the obvious.

"If you people don't mind, I can make the sweets," I said, and I didn't even understand why I offered. This is their family matter. I am not a family. Why did I do this?

Damn!

"You know how to??" Dadi asked curiously.

"Yes, Dadi. And you know what? Aryamann absolutely loves sweets made by me. Don't you, my love?" I asked, looking at him with the sweetest smile I could muster and he looked at me in horror.

"Is it? Wow! I was surprised when Darsha Aunty told us he ate the gulab jamuns from your hands that day. We didn't realise that Aryamann had started having sweets," Ishitha di said and I smiled widely at that.

This is going to be fun!

What did you tell me just before signing the contract, Mr. Mehrotra?

'Now I am giving you a year to annoy me'

You made a big mistake, Aryamann Mehrotra.

Now I am going to take full advantage of that and annoy the hell out of you.

A/N

Here goes the next shot..

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Love,

SF❤️