To Love or Not To Love

Chapter 1

Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India

Tourists revel in the sights, sounds, and aromas that greet one in the city of Lucknow. The capital city of India's most populated state, Lucknow is known for the polite demeanor and hospitality of its residents. Sadly, one of its residents was not experiencing the city's best today. 

When Khushi Kumari Gupta, an average small-town girl, set out on a mission to save her sister's marriage, she did not imagine she would be standing in front of India's most successful fashion mogul and owner of the AR Group of Companies, Arnav Singh Raizada aka ASR. Worse yet, he would be responsible for the marriage being called off. She had come in search of her sister's groom, to beg him to do away with the dowry and proceed with the ceremonies. She had instead landed in the arms of the devil. 

Thinking about it made ASR flinch. He closed his eyes, rubbing his temples in concentric circles, willing the burgeoning headache to go away. The buying of Sheesh Mahal, the palace owned by the erstwhile rulers of Lucknow, had been an impulsive move. And then there was the decision to organize the annual AR fashion show at Sheesh Mahal. Come to think of it, ASR had taken more profitable decisions in his life. This one, he had to admit candidly, had done him more damage than he was willing to acknowledge.

The event management company he had hired clearly didn't have their act lined up. Although he had specified the theme of the show to be red, one of the interns had pushed a random girl decked in a green bridal outfit onto the ramp. The girl had difficulty walking, tripped and fell straight into his arms in the audience.

The press was having a field day with the news. Speculations about the identity of the girl and her relationship with ASR were rife. His PR team had been working round the clock for the last 48 hours to make sure none of the fashion show pictures or footage was released to the media. They had court injunctions prohibiting newspapers and news channels from printing and broadcasting any news in relation to the AR fashion show at Sheesh Mahal and so far they had done a pretty good job of containing the debacle.

The girl who was responsible for ruining the fashion show was in their custody and had identified herself as Khushi Kumari Gupta. She claimed she was there to talk to her sister's fiancé regarding their sudden demand for dowry but had instead been directed to where the fashion show was taking place, where one of the staff members pushed her down the aisle. She said nothing more except that she wanted to go home before it was too late and either her sister was married to the materialistic scumbag or ruined for life.

When ASR had categorically told her what he thought of her well-fabricated story, she had cried at his feet like a broken angel, begging him to let her go. His indifference angered her. Brushing her tears aside furiously, she then lashed out at him.

"What if it had been your sister instead of mine? Would you have done the same thing to her?

"You think you are bigger than God? Well, newsflash, Mr. Hotshot Business Tycoon, I don't think so.

"You think there is no one to question your actions? I will question them and I will make you accountable for every tear my sister sheds today."

Trust was an extremely precious commodity in ASR's life. ASR never believed anyone. That is precisely why ASR was running his own multibillion-dollar empire at the age of 32. He knew how to deal with competitors who hit below the belt. 

He was furious. That chit-of-a-nobody girl had dared to challenge him. She didn't know what she was up against. He ordered her to be locked up in one of the rooms at Sheesh Mahal for the next 48 hours while he tried to find out who she really was and what her motives were behind ruining his fashion show. He was confident he would uncover more dirt on her. And he fully intended to use the information to negotiate critical classified information on "this competitor".  

When his search didn't reveal anything out of the ordinary, he was perplexed. But he was equally certain that she was lying and a tad bit appreciative of the fact that she had managed to cover her tracks so well.  So he did what he did best. He baited her. He let her go and followed her to find out what the real story was.