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Her mom glared at her. “Just because Myra found her love, doesn’t mean everyone does. It’s perfectly reasonable for parents to hunt for prospective spouses for their children when their kids are incapable of doing that for themselves.”
“Mom—”
“No. For years, we’ve wanted you take an interest in our business, but you haven’t. Your dad never wanted to sell, but we have no one to pass the business on to. What was he to do? He wants to retire and enjoy the rest of his life. But now, we’ve perhaps found a way to keep the business in the family and get you settled. So,youare going to meet this man and youwillbehave amicably or you will answer to me.”
Tiya leaned back in her chair, unable to believe her ears. Her parents were using her as some bargaining chip to sell their company to the right person, all so as to keep the bloody business in the family. No way in hell was she agreeing to that outdated philosophy. She wanted romance. She wanted love. She wanted to be swept off her feet with the most romantic marriage proposal ever. Not this arrangement that her parents were proposing.
She steeled her spine. “No.”
“What do you mean no?”
“It means I don’t want to meet this man you’ve chosen for me.”
Her mom crossed both her hands on the table, leaning forward. “Why? You haven’t even met him yet.”
“I don’t want to marry a stranger… Someone I don’t know.”
“Then you will get to know him. I’ve met him and I think he’s great.”
“Cool, then you marry him.”
“Don’t talk nonsense.” Her mom’s jaw firmed. “You are going to do this.”
“No.”
“Why, Tiya? Why can’t you stop being difficult for once? He might just be right for you. It’s not like you to have a boyfriend and actually enjoy life for a change. You’re too stuck with your own business and have no time for dating anyone. And no man wants a girlfriend like you, who doesn’t have time for him. Jash waited and waited for you to come to your senses until he got fed up and chose someone else. You’re never going to find anyone the way you’re going. Why do you think we’re taking it upon ourselves to see you married and settled?”
Sadness drenched her skin. It hurt that her mother thought so little of her. That Tiya would never be able to find anyone. She shook off that dejection and allowed the irritation and annoyance to settle in instead.
Tiya’s next words came out swift and sharp. “Well, you’re wrong. I do have a boyfriend. In fact, we’ve been dating for a while now.”
Her mom’s expression changed to one of utter disbelief. She stared at Tiya for a long moment.
Yes. A boyfriend made sense. That would deter her parents and put them off for a bit until she figured out a way to halt their matchmaking spree forever and her mother wouldn’t feel she was a lost cause who didn’t want anyone and who no one wanted to be with. That really pricked.
“I don’t believe you,” her mom shook her head, “You’re just making this up.”
Tiya shrugged. “You can believe what you want. It is, however, the truth.”
Her mom continued to stare at her suspiciously. Tiya returned her stare with a calm look of her own.
It’s not that she hadn’t dated in the past. She had. But she just hadn’t found anyone good enough who wanted her for her. The men she’d dated had changed colors the moment they’d learned who her father was. She’d learned the hard way that most of the men she’d been with, had eventually wanted to use her as their personal social climbing ladder. She refused to be with someone like that...ever. Even now, her mother’s proposal reeked of the same agenda. The man they were introducing her to would most probably flatter her and be nice to her with the intention of taking over her father’s business.
Thus, if she had to invent a fake boyfriend to put her parents off her case then she’d do just that. She just had to figure out who in her list of friends and acquaintances was suitable enough for her to pass him off as her boyfriend.
“Who is he?” her mom asked. “What’s his name, Tiya?”
A strange tingle shot up her spine, shocking Tiya with its sudden intensity. She looked up and therehewas, standing in the corner, leaning against the wall, arms crossed over his chest, that impish smile glued on his full lips, his shoulder length hair tied back in a manbun at the top of his head, as he watched her from afar.
“Vihaan Rajpoot,” Tiya gasped out loud, her eyes stuck on him.
“What?”
She barely noticed her mother’s shocked voice. Her attention was fully latched onto the man watching her in that deep, seductive way of his. His smile broadened and her heart rate jacked up.
He took a step toward her and her pulse began to hammer. The distance between them became smaller and smaller with every confident step he took her way. Her breath rushed out in a slow whoosh.
Crapballs! Vihaan Rajpoot was here and he was coming to meet her.
