"Her sister is very intelligent. Has already sold 3 companies." His assistant spouted while driving.

Shivaay scoffed. "Yeah right. She is only 21. Her father is just making it up." He clenched his fists. He did not want to marry some random girl but if this was what his grandfather wanted for him to get the property, he was ready. Just an heir and he would be done. He watched as his driver drove into the yard of the huge palace where his wedding was going to take place.

"Sir?" An alarmed voice called from the front of the car. Shivaay looked out of the car, in the direction, his assistant was looking to see a girl in a red lehenga running down the stairs in full speed with guards of different shapes and sizes chasing her. His assistant jumped out of the car to open the door for him, only to be yanked to the side of the car, while the girl slipped in.

"Sorry uncle ji. I need this car now." She whispered loudly to the steering wheel. "I am sorry bhagwan ji but marry a man who has no time for me is a no go. Now to drive." She reversed the car so quickly that Shivaay slammed against the window.

"Fhat the wuck" he muttered.

"Hey Bhagwan! I stole someone's car. What if he reports me to police. Poor uncle ji. I even threw him out of the car. What if I returned the car to him. Let me see if there is a license." The was muttering her gutts away while Shivaay looked at her shocked and annoyed.
She lifted her hands of the steering wheel to search the glove box. Shivaay's eyes widened as the car swerved towards a tree. At the last moment she looked up and swerved the car. Shivaay was thrown against the other side of his car. His head was aching and his blood was boiling.

"Maybe I should take it to the police? They will scold me but might not jail me? What will the sentence be for stealing a car?" The girl muttered.

"5 years" Shivaay grumbled.

The girl's eyes widened as the car came to a screeching halt and Shivaay was thrown forward.

"Bloody hell!" He cursed.

"That is why Jhanvima always says wear your seat belt. Are you okay?"

Shivaay glared at the girl looking at him from the driver's seat. She grinned.

"Sorry I took the car, I had no choice. I had to get away from there." She looked down. "You can have it back."

Shivaay looked at the girl puzzled. Who was she? She seemed so different from what he had thought she would be. Shivaay had never met Mallika. He did not even care for his bride-to-be. All he wanted was to become the CEO of his company. In his life, he had some one-night stands and girlfriends and having seen the devastation that his aunt had wrecked, he did not believe in love at all. 

His aunt had been his everything growing up, with his parents going to some Ashram or the other trying to conceive another child. His aunt and uncle had the most beautiful love story or so he had thought, until she stole away in the middle of the night with his cousins, Omkara and Rudra. His entire family had been devastated. His mother, father and sister had rushed in one car while his uncle had gone in another. In those few hours, 7 year old Shivaay became an orphan and a parent to a 2 year old, Priyanka.  He had even begged on live television for his aunt to come back but she did not. He had lost all faith in love.

"Oh bhaisahab, where are you lost?"

He glared at her. "Get out of the car." He opened his door.

The girl looked at him shocked. "But we are in this deserted highway. Can't you at least drop me in the city. I will find a way after that."

Shivaay rolled his eyes and stepped back into the car. "I will drop you where you want to go. But I will drive from here."

She smiled and looked relieved and for some strange reason, Shivaay felt his heart feel lighter. She opened the door and jumped out and rushed to the passenger's seat.

Shivaay took the driver's seat and watched her struggle with her huge lehenga. "Why did you run away from the wedding."

She stopped fidgeting. "I couldn't do it. Jhanvi Ma always said that her biggest mistake was marrying a man who had no time for her. He didn't even come for the wedding shoot with Di."

Shivaay's heart felt heavy and then he realized something strange. "Di?"

The girl nodded. "Yeah the Oberoi heir was supposed to marry my Di. But I couldn't let her lose her love for a man she did not know. So I sent her away and took her place. Papa just wants the deal, he did not care who sat at the mandap."

"So your Di ran away with some lover." Shivaay felt a bit annoyed at almost being ditched at the alter. The girl shook her head. 

"Hey Bhagwan no! Di would have never run away. Rudi and I smuggled her." She laughed.

"Meaning?"

"I will tell you."

Flashback

"Didi, you should go with Om. You love him." Anika stubbornly pushed Mallika towards the door. 

Mallika shook her head. "No Anu, I cannot. Papa wants me to marry Shivaay. If I don't he will take it out on you and that hurts more. And Shivaay is really nice. Very kind and a real gentleman."

Anika glared at her twin. "Yeah right! From one meeting you knew all that. Don't lie to me. I know you never met him. Rudra was there. He said that the buffalo just left a bouquet of flowers."

Mallika shook her head. "He sent flowers. He was stuck in a meeting. Today is the photoshoot. I will meet him there. You don't worry. Now put the flowers in my hair. I have to go."

Flashback ends

Shivaay grimaced remembering the day of the photoshoot. He had been stuck in a meeting but that did not justify not meeting his bride to be.

"He was genuinely busy that day."

The girl chuckled sarcasm dripping from every sound. "Yeah. So busy that he could not even bother to meet his bride."

Shivaay felt annoyed. "Well she did runaway even if it was with your assistance. And now even you have run away leaving him at the alter."

The girl hissed. "It wasn't by choice. I want to live the only life I have to the fullest. I want to fall in love the way my Di did. I prayed that perhaps he would be a nice guy and we could maybe make it work or we could separate. But he just did not have the time."

Shivaay huffed. " He runs a huge organization what did you expect?"

The girl rolled her eyes. "I ran two companies and did my masters at 19. Still had time to help my sister with her medical studies and also play pranks with Rudi. "

Shivaay rolled his eyes. Yeah right. he thought to himself. This girl really built on her father's lies.

The girl glared at him. "I saw you roll your eyes. I am Anika Raichand in case you did not know. My companies sold for more than 3 million each. She is also busy. She is trying to become a doctor I am sure he did not even know that."

Shivaay blinked. He did not know that. He knew his Dadaji also probably did not as they wanted a housewife for Shivaay's wife. His mom had been a housewife while his evil aunt had been a businesswoman prior to marrying his uncle.

"I had to even drug her to send her away if not she would have had to spend her life with that useless man. Some stupid old man somewhere. "

"DRUGGED?"

Anika nodded. "Yes, Rudi and I gave her some sleeping pills and snuck her into Om's car.....oops I mean Om Jiju's car."

Shivaay looked at her disbelieving. "Why did you sneak her?"

Anika laughed. "Jiju would kill us but Di would not listen. Jiju was going away because he could not stand seeing Di getting married to someone else. Rudi was also going to go. So I sent her with them."

Shivaay shook his head in disbelief. Anika's phone rang. She glanced down at it then him.

"Papa!" Her eyes wide. Shivaay stopped the car as he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket as well.

"You take the call. I will take mine." He stepped out of the car.

It was his dadaji. "Hello Shivaay. The girl ran away. The Raichands will find her soon. She is really a hot tempered girl, you will have to keep her under control."

Shivaay glanced at the car where his supposed bride looked like she was going to fling the phone away.

He wanted the Raichand and Oberoj business and if to get that he had to dupe her, he would do it. She can give him a child and go her way. He did not care.

"Dadaji, I found a girl to marry. You tell the Raichands to give us their business as their daughter has failed to arrive."

His grandfather sounded smug when he spoke next. "Works for me. I will go to the ashram. I will pass all the documents to your sister."

Shivaay agreed and cut the call. He opened the car door.

"I will not marry him. I don't care what you have to say." She snapped and cut the call.

She looked at him. "Would you like to marry me?"