C10 10

"Everything is set. A trusted member of my office team will be coming over to act as the registrar. We will sign some fake documents in front of Appa. His surgery is scheduled for tomorrow morning," Mithran told Chaahat, who nodded in agreement.

Mithran closely watched the woman to check if she betrayed a single emotion, but he was disappointed. He could see nothing on that face. Ice princess!

"Did you check on Appa?" Mithran asked.

"Yes," came the monosyllabic answer, and Mithran's lips thinned in annoyance.

Does she think her words are pearls? If she opens her mouth and speaks more than two words in a sentence, then the other party will gain a huge treasure!

"And?" Mithran prompted.

"And?" Chaahat asked, not understanding what he is asking for.

"How is Appa? Does he look better?" Mithran asked.

"He looks less stressed than before," Chaahat answered, wondering why this man couldn't leave her alone. Can't he just take the hint? That she is not interested in having an idle chit chat.

"Chaahat," Mithran's voice was laced with exasperation, and Chaahat wanted to scream out loud to leave her alone.

"Yes, Mr Yadav?" she asked.

"For heaven's sake, we are going to sign a marriage document in a couple of hours. The least we could do is be civil with each other. I do not want to spend the next three months of my life with an ice rock," Mithran ground out.

"Fake," Chaahat said, making Mithran frown.

"What?" he asked in confusion.

"We are going to sign a fake marriage document, Mr Yadav. And we won't be spending the next three months together," Chaahat said.

"Oh really? What exactly is your plan? Sign the marriage documents and go back to your village?" Mithran asked mockingly.

"Fake," Chaahat pointed out again.

"The f*ck. I know it is fake. There is no need to repeat it like a broken record. Now answer my question. What is your plan?" Mithran asked.

"I do not have a plan as of now, Mr Yadav. The priority is Uncle Madan's surgery. It will happen only if we sign the fake documents and make him believe that we are getting married. What comes next, we can plan once the surgery is over," Chaahat said.

Mithran extended a glass of water towards her, and she stared at it in confusion.

"Drink. You must be tired after that very long dialogue. I know you are not used to it," Mithran said sarcastically.

"Mr Yadav, if you are frustrated about this whole mess, the solution is not to try and pick a fight with me. You are not going to get it from me. So it would be better if you let your steam off by doing whatever it is that usually helps you relax," Chaahat said.

The woman is smart, Mithran acknowledged.

She is one hundred percent right about it. He is frustrated with this whole mess and he wanted to take it out somehow. And Chaahat being a part of his frustration became a good choice, as far as he thought. And her devil-may-care attitude towards everything just ticked him off.

He sighed and took deep breaths. She is right. There is no point in fighting with her. And as she said, she is not going to fight either. He should have known that, seeing how emotionless she is. An apology is due. This is not her fault. She is as much a victim as he is.

"I am sorry," Mithran said.

"That's alright," Chaahat said, with a casual shrug of her shoulders.

They sat on the chairs in the hospital corridor in silence. Chaahat's mind was whirling with so many thoughts.

Marriage! Fake or not! She had once dreamed of becoming a bride, like every other woman around the world, only for those dreams to come crashing around her, shattering her to such an extent that she never recovered.

And now, destiny is playing a new game with her, trying to tie her in a relationship she does not want. What is her fault? Why is she being punished? Ever since the day she was born. Her hands clutched the ring hanging on a chain around her neck. A smiling face appeared behind her eyes, a handsome man with wicked blue-green eyes. The man who broke her heart.

Mithran stared at Chaahat as she clutched onto the pendant of her chain, as if her life depended on it. He couldn’t see the pendant clearly, but he could see that it meant a hell lot to her.

What is her story? Nobody could be born emotionless. Only circumstances make them so. What could have happened to make Chaahat into an ice princess? Who is she really? His father never answered that question.

"Who are you?" Mithran asked, startling Chaahat out of her painful thoughts.

"Excuse me?" Chaahat asked, wondering if the man had gone mad. She has been here for almost a week, and he is asking her who she is.

"Chaahat," she said, and he rolled his eyes.

"I am asking you, what is your relationship with my father? How do you know him?" Mithran asked.

"Uncle Madan never told?" she asked.

"No," he said.

"If he didn't, he must have a reason for that. And I prefer to respect his decisions," Chaahat said.

Damn infuriating woman! Before Mithran could respond to that, he spotted a close friend of his father's walking in.

"Hello Mithran. How are you?" the man asked.

"All good, uncle. Appa is awake. You can visit him as it is visitors' hour now," Mithran said.

"This must be Chaahat, your fiance?" the man asked, shocking both Mithran and Chaahat. They had planned to keep it a secret. Seems like it is already spreading.

"Uh, Appa told you?" Mithran asked.

"Of course. I had to prepare the documents for the registration, right?" the man asked.

"What do you mean?" Mithran asked in confusion, and the other man chuckled.

"Everything is happening in a hurry, I know. Madan is worried about you. He wanted to get you two married before his surgery. And since the doctors had advised him not to leave the hospitals, he had to agree for a register marriage, right? Here are the documents for the legal procedure," the man said, showing the file in his hand.

Of course, they know all that. But what they couldn't figure out is why this man is here. And that's when it clicked for Mithran. The man is a sub registrar. His father must have called him in for the marriage registration. How couldn't he see it coming? He should have thought about that.

"Let me go and see Madan," the man said and walked towards the private room in which Madan is admitted.

"What is it?" Chaahat asked, seeing the frustrated look on Mithran's face.

"Everything is messed up. He is the sub registrar. There is no way out now. Our marriage would be legal," Mithran bit out angrily.