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Mythili's POV -

" I am off to my first day of internship today." I told Amrita, Hritik and Viraj as we were walking out of the classroom.

" I start today too. I wish we could work together guys." Amrita said and we all agreed. Unfortunately, we all were interning at different places.

" I know right! I was actually no planning to intern at all. I was thinking to go for the research but Shivaay asked me to join office from today without even hearing me out." I told them, crossing my arms in front of my chest.

" Obviously he would. Interning with his company holds so much value these days and will reflect greatly on your CV. Plus now that you are his wife, he'd want you to stay closer." Viraj said, mocking me with the later half of his words and I hit his shoulder.

" Idiot." I muttered but apparently the others found his joke funny.

" Okay bye." I took my leave before they could tease me further and walked to the car and Kaka took me to his office which did not take much time, surprisingly.

The whole building of twenty four floors was his office and the windows were all glass. As I walked in, I found the place to be too extravagant with the natural stone flooring all around and the granite desks with mahogany furniture all around. All receptionist was dressed in a crisp black shirt with a grey pencil skirt and about six inches of heels and looked all the professional like she was.

The Reception was fairly unoccupied at this point of time since it was lunch time as I made my way to her.

" Welcome to RGI. How can I help you?" She asked me completely with a small smile.

" Umm Hi....I am actually joining here as an intern today." I let her know.

" May I have you name please?" She asked me politely.

" Mythili Kapoor." I replied.

" I see a Mythili Shivaay Rathore on this Appointment Letter, no Mythili Kapoor." She said and then looked at her computer screen and back at me.

" Yeah, that." I muttered, feeling like a fraud. Mythili Shivaay Rathore. A marriage where I was forced upon someone who could do much better than me.

" You are the boss's wife. He has asked me to send you up to his office once you are here. On the 24th floor Mrs. Rathore. His PA is expecting you and will let you walk right inside." Her polite smile was back as she guided to me to the elevator.

" Thank you." I replied, fidgeting with my fingers as I got inside and pressed the 24th floor button. Within no time, I found myself in front of Shivaay's office.

" Mrs. Rathore?" I heard a voice as I was contemplating running away from here and hide myself in the college library again but I was spotted.

A woman, mid-aged had called me out as she made her way towards the lift where I was standing and I looked at her.

" Mr. Rathore has been expecting you. You may walk in his office." She said with the same polite smile as the receptionist. How do these ladies do it? Does there jaw not hurt for smiling so much?

" Thank you." I copied her expression and took a few steps ahead, standing unsure in front of Shivaay's office door and raised my hand to knock.

" No need to knock, dear." She said, opening the door and there I saw him sitting behind a huge granite table with a laptop in front of him while there were a few files and folders scattered around the table. There was a couch with a coffee table by the glass panels on the left and a huge bookshelf which only contained files towards the right. Everything was as white and grey as it could get.

" Mr. Rathore, your wife is here." The PA announced and he looked up from the computer screen towards me.

All he did was give a curt nod to her and she walked out, closing the door behind her.

" Have a seat. I need to talk to you first." He said and by the look on his face, I was pretty sure that it had something to do with my parents because he looked completely pissed.

I did not say a word, just walked up to his desk and took the seat opposite to him.

" What did they do this time?" I couldn't stop myself from asking him, sighing. That's precisely why I wanted to give them whatever they wanted. Now they are creating trouble for him.

" How did you know it's about your parents?" He asked, raising a brow and he looked half impressed and half amused by my assumption.

" I just do. Besides, I told you that I have no problem in giving them whatever they want except for the house. I'd still say that let me give those shares to them and be done with this bother that you have been going through because of me. Don't you already have a lot on your plate?" I asked, looking around and then back at him.

" I thought that we had decided to let me worry about this while you focus on your college. Didn't we Mythili?" He asked, shifting his laptop away and now he was in my direct vision.

" But...." I tried to speak up but he cut me off.

" I still want you to do that. I don't want you to worry about anything other than your career right now. What I will need are you signatures sometimes here and there for the Court's paperwork.

" They are just shares." I murmured as he gave me a few papers to sign. They were Affidavits where I was declaring that all my details, name, age etc and true and stuff like that.

" Why are you so against me giving up what I don't want at the very first place?" I asked him as I was done signing.

" Because no one harasses my wife and gets away with it." Was what he said but the way he said it made my eyes widen before I recollected myself.

" Don't call me that." And add to my guilt was what I wanted to say but instead looked down to my lap, fidgeting with my fingers.

" Mythili, take as much time as you want but remember that I am your husband. Deny all you want but you have been married to me and now all your problems are mine just as much as all my happiness is yours. You are my wife and that is one undeniable fact." He got up from his seat to stand in front of me and placed his hands on the hand rest of the chair, leaning a bit and this made me look towards him and his eyes, unlike the other times, didn't make me want to look away. That hollowness, indifference and terror was gone completely and instead, I saw something very close to empathy but the way in which he was standing so close to me was making me nervous and my brain, slow. I didn't know what to say or do.

" I...I am...." I tried to speak after the initial wave of shock when my phone went off, interrupting me. He withdrew himself away from me as I searched through my bag which was lying on the lap. It was Maa who was calling.

" Hi Maa." I said, picking up.

" Did you reach Shivaay's office beta?" She asked.

" Yes, I did. Maa did you take your medicines post lunch?" I asked, taking a mental note that I had to remind her.

" Yes I did. Now quit worrying about me and focus on your work. Also, make sure that Shivaay doesn't make you work too hard or I'll take his class." She said and I couldn't stop myself from chuckling.

" Done." I agreed before she hung up.

The next time, the intercom kept on his table went off as he took the call. Within ten seconds, he was done talking.

" My PA will take you to the Marketing Department. I have a meeting that I require to be at and Mrs. Rathore if there is anything you need or any problem you can's handle, you come to me. Do you understand?" He asked, taking the coat which was placed behind his chair in his hands and then wearing it.

I didn't know how to respond to that so I just nodded my head as he walked out of his office, leaving me along for a minute to recollect myself before his PA was with me.

" Come on Mrs. Rathore." She said with the same smile and I followed her out.

" Please call me Mythili. I really don't want people to know that I am his wife and that's how I got this internship." I asked her.

" Nonsense dear. All our interns submit a copy of their mark sheet with us and you are the topper of the State University. Wife or not, this internship was yours." She spoke in the most polite manner as we entered the elevator which took us to the 22nd floor.

She then introduced me to Shalini Singh, the head of the department and I was to report to her everyday.

" Mythili, you are an impressive student who is brilliant in academics and I'm sure you'll have a lot to contribute to our department too. Come on, I'll introduce you to the team." She said and as promised, she did what she had said before leaving me with an old portfolio to read. She was going to make to read various portfolios before actually making me work on one.

It took me the whole day to read two of them and before leaving, I had to share my inputs with ma'am about what I would have done for the promotions and stuff.

" Although the implemented idea was extremely fresh, I would also have gone for traditional print ads too in the newspapers apart from the digital graphics for the people who still value words over images." I told her in regards to the portfolio.

" But don't you think that headphones are something that the people between the age group of 15 to 50 use mostly?" She threw a question at me.

" That's what we like to believe. I mean, yes, it stands true but there are most certainly exceptions! And in a country like India, with a population of over 1.4 Billion people, even those exceptions being our target audience will reap us some good profits. For example, my Grandfather as far as I can recall was the biggest technical savvy. He was among the first buyers in the family of the smartphones which were launched just then!" I recalled the only person in the family who gave me an ounce of love before realising that this was the first time I was talking about him or even thinking about him after he was taken away from me and his memories automatically placed a smile on my lips with an ache in my heart.

" Good thinking Mythili." She gave me a smile before dismissing me for the day.

" You may go home now. Shivaay is still not back from his meeting. He did try to call you but your phone was unavailable." Shalini ma'am said and I nodded before exiting her cabin. How did I not get Shivaay's call? I checked my phone only to find it on Airplane mode. I must have accidentally done it!

After I turned that mode off, I found a few messages from various people but none from Shivaay.

" He must have phone called me." I muttered before keeping my belongings back inside the bag and walking up to the car where Kaka was waiting for me. It took me about forty five minutes to get back home only to be greeted by Anamika and Nupur with packed suitcases.

" Where are you both off to?" I asked, keeping my bag on the couch.

" Rajasthan and Gujarat, various cities. We need to meet cloth contractors and other people for raw materials if we are going to launch our project own label in the next six months." Anamika told me and Nupur agreed.

" I'll miss you guys." I said.

" We're going to miss you too but don't worry girl, we are going to get so many dresses for you and then you will be our model! It's going to be so much for dressing you up!" Nupur exclaimed and I groaned. This wasn't the part I was looking forward to!

" When are you two coming back?" I asked them again.

" Maybe one month. It's not just about business, this trip is also about seeking inspiration before throwing ourselves into doing what we have dreamt of, together." Anamika said, holding Nupur's hand and they looked at each other, smiling.

" Okay. We are leaving now. Maa has gone for her Kitty Party and she will be late because apparently she is going for a movie with her friends afterwards. Yours and Shivaay bhai's dinner is in the kitchen so just heat that up before eating." Anamika was instructing me just like aunty and I was nodding my head. It has been a while since I've been living here now. I have started to get a hang of things now.

These two left and then I went up to the room to freshen up. Getting out of those uncomfortable clothes into something comfortable is just so satisfying even if it's just a cotton Kurti!

Mythili's Look -

I was so tired but I also had an assignment that had to be turned in tomorrow so I switched my laptop open and started researching about Cost of Innovation and Risk as I made myself comfortable on the couch which was in Shivaay's room. I was halfway through reading the article which talked about changes in production when suddenly I couldn't take it anymore and my eyes begun to drop and before I could really talk myself out of sleeping, I found my head to be leaning on the cushion and the laptop pushed away from me, closing my eyes but this almost sleep was short lived as my phone went off and my eyes immediately opened.

" Whaat?" I spoke to no one in particular and searched for my phone which indicated that my Mom was calling me as my hands started to shake a bit. What did she want from me?

I took a deep breath and answered the call in the fourth ring.

" Hello." I said, trying my level best to keep my voice from wavering.

" You truly are a selfish girl, aren't you? We raised you, fed you, kept you alive and this is how you repay us? By serving a notice to evacuate our house or you'll file another case? Do you even have one ounce of shame left within you and or were you born an imbecile and a thankless person?" She started hurling insults at me and I dropped to the couch once again.

" Baba left that house for me mom. He wanted me to have it." I tried to tell her without tearing up but ended up choking over my own voice.

" He was a fool who didn't understand the meaning of going with the flow and he paid of it heavily. Now if you want to be that fool, be my guest but if you don't want problems for yourself and you dear new family, back off and do as I say or else....." She went on. She was still saying something but I couldn't hear it.

My phone was taken away from me but I couldn't see the person standing in front of me as I found tears making way out of my eyes and once I blinked, it was Shivaay whom I saw standing and talking over my phone.

" Tell your husband that if you or him do something like this one more time, my lawyers will file another suit of mental harassment on Mythili's behalf. You dare threaten her once again and the consequences of those will be grievous and devastating painful to your family. If you don't want that to happen, stay away from my wife." I heard him say before hanging up and in anger, he threw the phone on the bed.

" I will go and heat up the dinner." I said, trying to leave him alone as I wiped my tears away and walked ahead to leave but he held me by my wrist and turned me towards him, pulling me closer to himself by my forearm and my hands landed on his chest, balancing myself.

" You will not do this to yourself again. If anyone of them tries to contact you, you will not take that call. You will inform me about it immediately." He said, the anger still very much present in his voice and eyes.

" No." I found myself speaking up.

" What did you just say?" He roared and his voice made me flinch as I tried to back away from him but his hold was firm.

" I said no. It's my fault that I couldn't answer her back. The next time, I will. But making you deal with all my mess is something I'm not going to do. I know that you were out today all day dealing with this. That is what got them so angry. They can't see anyone helping me and to be honest, I cannot do this either anymore. You say that I should focus on my career and let you handle all this but why? Why should you? This is my problem and I need to come up with a solution and not burden you with it. I quit being so selfish." I answered him back in clear words, still struggling under his hold.

" I cannot keep on having the same conversation with you time and again so this is the last time that I am telling you this Mythili that there is no way you will be able to make me distance myself from you so by default, this includes your problems as you call them. Now you can either accept it or keep resisting and fighting it. The choice is yours. Neither am I going to listen to you not wanting my help nor am I going to let your parents mess with you head anymore that what they already have." His words were as if they were a promise and tone, a determination.

His hold on me didn't loosen but I stopped struggling. Slowly, he made me sit down on the bed and himself kneeled down in front of me, taking his handkerchief out and dabbed my cheeks clean of the tears as I fiddled with my fingers. Him being so close to me somehow has started to calm me down but his words and actions are what had started truly bringing me peace, only that him and I were in a way, both unaware of this fact.

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