Lawful Sins - Season 2 - Part 2

BANNER TO COME SOON

PREVIOUS PART 

Chapter 2

Auction – Farm House
There was still an hour for the auction to begin. Khushi Gupta and Mrs. Pinto had purposely chosen to reach early and get in touch with Sanjay, assistant manager of Hooda’s who currently owned this house called Prem Nivas.

“I don’t understand why Mr. Hooda had to keep this auction? He knew I was interested in the property. I have contacted him from years.. .right from the time he didn’t even have plans to sell off this house. I had asked him to quote any price. Why do all this drama of auction?” Khushi Gupta argued.

“Ma’am” Sanjay interrupted. “It’s not about price. Hooda Sir was contacted by many other VIPs apart from you. And he wanted the best bidder to have the house”

Khushi clenched her jaw.

“Where is Mr. Hooda?”
“Unfortunately, he is not present here today. But please make yourself comfortable. Feel free to see the house and quote the right price. The auction should begin soon. Excuse me”

Sanjay slipped away. Khushi Gupta stared at Sanjay angrily as he left. She just wanted to save some time of hers and Hooda by buying the property right away but seemed like the later was keen enough to attract an auction play.

“Mrs. Pinto. I hope the paperwork and finances are ready”

“Yes Ma’am. Whilst you see the house, let me make a few calls and confirm everything again”

Khushi nodded and made her way inside the house. It was old but nothing really had changed. The walls.. the paintings.. the fireplace. Every little corner of this house which once used to be a weekend gateway for the Guptas, reminded Khushi of her childhood. But it didn’t matter to her anymore. That part of her life was over and she had victoriously come out of that grief. She climbed the stairs, glancing at the paintings hung on the side wall. They were hand painted and though she had seen them from the time her father bought this house, she had no clue whom they actually belonged. She skipped the next stair unknowingly and in the process was about to lose her balance when someone gripped her waist and pulled her towards him.

“Careful” he muttered before leaving her waist after she balanced her body. An unknown man touching her waist was a strict no for Khushi Gupta. If it had been intentional from his end, she would have sued him.

As she raised her head, her gaze swept over his face and her eyes locked with his. His pristine suit, dark hair and faintest shadow of stubble around his sensual mouth almost took her breath away for few seconds.

“Mr. Raizada” Sanjay broke their stance returning to the staircase. “You forgot your invitation card downstairs”

“Oh, thank you” Arnav Singh Raizada took the card from him and put it back in his pocket.

“No problem. By the way, you must have met Miss Khushi Gupta. And Ma’am he is Arnav Singh Raizada, another bidder for tonight’s auction”

Khushi and Arnav shared a quick glance again but she didn’t let it hold on to him for long.

“Another few minutes and we are starting the auction” Sanjay mentioned and left them alone.

Arnav by now had registered she was the same woman Shyam had told him about. The moment he had reached the auction, his eyes kept scanning every woman which fit that description Shyam gave. None did. That’s when he saw her so lost in admiring the paintings and losing her balance afterward that he had to rush in to help.

“The paintings are beautiful, aren’t they? Anyone would get lost in them” he initiated the conversation.

“They are just paintings Mr. Raizada and they would go straight away in the bin once I buy this house tonight”

Her reply was to the point and just like Shyam had warned earlier, very rude.

“You look very confident to win this auction tonight” he muttered.

“There would have been no auction had Hooda agreed to take this Offline with me. But never mind. He likes wasting time. But you don’t seem to fit that category”

Arnav smiled ruefully.

“I didn’t get you”

“Don’t waste your time in even bidding tonight. Its waste. I am buying this house at any cost” she explained.

Arnav rolled his eyes.

“I can warn you the same, Miss. Gupta” he replied.

She didn’t like his argument.

“Its old.. very very old.. what will you do buying this junkyard?” she snapped.

“That’s my lookout. What are your plans though?”

“I will demolish this place and make a hotel instead” she proudly stated.

“Demolish?” he sighed. “Such a beautiful house?”

“Houses are beautiful by their memories. Not the walls or furniture” she answered.

“Agreed. And that’s exactly why I want to buy this house. My grandfather built it for my grandmother in his early days.” Arnav mentioned. “But when she fell ill, he sold it off”

Khushi took a minute to gauge the situation and then connected the dots.

“He sold it off to my father. That’s why your last name is so familiar” she said. “And then my father sold it to Hooda for paying off his extravagant debts. I don’t have much attachments to this place except some hateful memories and that’s exactly why I want to demolish it and earn some money by erecting a five-star hotel in its place. It’s pure business”

She looked supremely confident. Arnav had done a bit of research himself. He had the exact same knowledge about how the ownership of this house, Prem Nivas, kept changing all these years. He had never stepped back after wanting something. He would have still given up this time for her, had she not shared her plans of demolishing the house. This place had his grandfather’s love memories and Khushi Gupta’s hate memories. And he would never let hate win over love.

Khushi clicked her fingers to get his attention back.

“Decided to back off then?” she proudly asked.

Arnav chuckled.

“Technically, we both fit in this race. We both have every right to win it” he answered. “For me every corner of this house depicts love and for you, hateful memories. Let’s see whose wish fulfils tonight. Let’s see who wins.. My love.. or your hatred”

So now he was challenging. Though she loved challenges, she didn’t want to take up this one. But before she could argue further Mrs. Pinto was back.

“Ma’am our bankers are ready for initiating the remittance” she informed. Arnav glanced at Mrs. Pinto once and made his way to the garden before the house where the auction was arranged.

“That was.. that was Arnav Singh Raizada?” Mrs. Pinto queried quizzically.

“Yes” Khushi got down the stairs with her; this time carefully.

“He is back?”

“Whatever Mrs. Pinto. Lets focus on the Auction for now. I want this house at any cost”

Mrs. Pinto nodded and hurried out with her Boss.

*****************

The VIPs were seated at the front row. The bidding begun. Khushi waited till the bid was over 200 million and then whispered the next value to Mrs. Pinto who raised the card making the bid on her behalf.

“250 million” Mrs. Pinto claimed.

The moment Khushi Gupta started her bid, Arnav Singh Raizada joined.

“255 million” he raised his card.

Khushi frowned at him and whispered the next higher value.

“300 million”

“355 million” Arnav raised his card again.

“400 million”

“455 million” Arnav raised the card again.

Mrs. Pinto looked frantically at her boss. The house was not worth bidding more but Khushi desperately wanted to win it.

“500 million” Khushi quoted herself.

Arnav was about to raise the bid but he didn’t.

“Anyone beyond 500 million?” the anchor asked. “no one? No one above 500 million?”

When no one responded, he finally took the call.

“Prem Nivas for 500 million sold to Miss Khushi Gupta”

Everyone clapped for Khushi who raised from her chair with Mrs. Pinto and gave a winning glance to Arnav Singh Raizada. She had no doubt about acquiring this property today and she did. She made her way to the desk to finish the formalities.

“I don’t understand how foolish some men are” Khushi held out the pen for signatures. “Despite knowing whom they are competing, they don’t back out. They need to do their home work well”

Arnav Singh Raizada rose from his chair and strode to her. He purposely didn’t reply yet. He was waiting.

“Remittance?” the auction team asked. “Sorry Ma’am but we are not allowing foreign remittances to settle off this bid. We had already mentioned that in the Bid invite”

Khushi turned to Mrs. Pinto who was equally clueless.

“Look Sanjay” Khushi said. “I was unaware of the terms. You should have briefed me before. And this is not the only auction I have bid. So far, I have always used my foreign accounts for payment”

“Ma’am” Sanjay intervened. “I am sorry but these are our rules. We cannot alter them at the last moment”

Khushi glanced angrily at her secretary for missing such an important term mentioned in the Auction invite.

“People tend not to do their homework Sanjay” Arnav mocked. “Because they are too busy in evaluating their competitors”

Khushi fisted her fingers noticing the grin on Arnav Singh Raizada’s face. But this moment was not about him. She could teach him a lesson some other time. Right now, she had to take care of the farm house payment.

“I can settle it by other modes of payment. Give me few hours”

“Hours?” Sanjay let out a chuckle. “I am sorry Ma’am. We don’t have that much time to complete the legalities. We need the money now or else”

“Or else?” Khushi snapped. “Do you know whom you are talking to?”

Sanjay didn’t care.

“Or else the offer of bid goes to the next highest bidder which happens to be Mr. Raizada”

Both Sanjay and Khushi Gupta turned to Arnav waiting for his statement over this.

“If the offer is still open, I am more than willing to accept” Arnav shrugged his shoulders casually.

Khushi’s fist tightened. She will never forget this royal insult. She broke the nib of the pen she was supposed to sign the papers with and threw it away. Mrs. Pinto wondered the hurricane which would burst out on the Raizadas after this incident. She knew her Boss will not sit quiet.

“Congratulations Mr. Raizada” Sanjay greeted. “This property is now legally yours. Mr. Hooda will call you any moment to wish”

“Thank you, Sanjay”

He was about to follow Sanjay to sign the necessary papers when Khushi blocked his way. She was fire.. in every sense.. But before she could say anything to him, he mocked at her again.

“Please don’t congratulate me Miss. Gupta. I know how much that hurts… to lose yet put a fake smile for people”

“You” she pointed a finger at his face. “If I don’t peel off this pride from your face in the coming days, I swear to change my name”

Arnav was amazed how cruel she could get but he didn’t give up either.

“But I am not ready to share my last name with anyone if that’s what you meant”

He didn’t know why he said that. Was it his inner subconscious who wanted her to be come Khushi Singh Raizada in future? Damn No!! It’s not that he cannot handle her.. He didn’t want to.. Not when his life had just come back on track.

“How dare you?” she scorned and raised her arm to slap his face but Arnav gripped her wrist.

“Ahh. Don’t even think about that.” His tightened grip hurt her but she didn’t even flinch. Her body was so heated that for a second even Arnav thought she would explode. He loosened his grip and eased down his own frustration. “I didn’t come here to compete Miss. Gupta. Not with you at least” he swallowed recalling Lavanya was having an affair with Khushi’s brother. “It is not necessary that we always win. Its good to lose some times. The early you realize this, less complicated your life would be”

Khushi didn’t need his advice. She shoved off from his grip and strode back to the car with her wounded pride. This game was still ON and she wouldn’t stop until she gets this man at her feet.

To be Continued


NEXT PART 

Note: Since I couldnt finish the  draft for He Loves Me Not, posted this FF instead which I had pre-drafted. 

________________________________________________________________________________

It is said that every Palace has its own history buried deep inside the walls that supports it.. It isn't easy to know what had actually happened in the past.. It isn't simple to digest the truth that was been hidden from long.. This is a Story of a Well Known Respectable Family of Jodhpur who lives in the 3rd Biggest Palace of India which has an Unfortunate Past. Something worst had happened years back but no one from the family ever talked about it. In fact this Cruel Past was always hidden from the new generations of the family. Will the coming of the Eldest Bride of this Palace Sort everything out or will things here get more complicated?

When the matriarch of the Khurana family of Raj Mahal, Saroj Khurana, decided to get her eldest grandson Sharavan married, destiny played its card and got Preeti Mehra, the businesswoman of US, as his life partner. Where the entire Khurana family was shattered by this match, Raj Mahal glowed with joy welcoming the real bride of Raj Mahal back to its place, to hold its position.

Unravel the mysteries of Raj Mahal in this romantic thriller of reincarnation.

SAMPLE CHAPTERS 1 to 4 HERE

To Read the Complete Fiction on Amazon Kindle
Buy PDF Copy by Card
Buy PDF Copy by Paypal


Note: Imposed Knot, Cursed Bride & Stardom ebook pdfs at 99 each. Pay by Card option available. OFFER FOR LIMITED DAYS. Click HERE