"I do not wish for too big nor too small. Just the right to feel human and be proud of that." Priyanka Kapoor, a 20 years-old lady, faced with a hard life after her father's death, is forced to venture into the worst career she could imagine – dancing in public pubs! With a dancing competition set in place, Priyanka sets her goal of winning to save her family's situation. When an unavoidable accident happens, causing her to miss her competition, Priyanka thinks all hope is lost. But, was it? Or was there more when a dashing stranger who ruined her chances reappears with a strange proposal? Karan, the arrogantly charismatic wealthy young man with a secretively messed up family, who has no regard for the lowborn, and is the eye of every young girl, finds himself marrying a girl from the SLUMS! What could be the main reason behind his proposal? And how did she end up as a Bargained Bride? ***** Excerpt. He brought his face so close to hers, that she thought for a moment, that theirs were going to meet. What was he doing? Who told him she was going to fall for this? "Do not be stubborn, Priyanka" "What do you say about my offer?" "For my brother's health, I will marry…" "Not so fast," a wicked smile appeared on his face. He placed his lips, right before her ears and said "nothing goes for free, here. I have my terms and conditions." "I will provide you with all the money, you need in this world" the Billionaire's voice rang in her ears. "Sign a contract with three rules and save your dear family." "What are these conditions?" "Firstly, you will be a mother to my daughter. Secondly, this marriage will be built on trust, not love. You are not allowed to love another man or woman." "Lastly, you can't divorce me. This marriage is forever and ever" his lips curved into a smile. It seemed he enjoyed tormenting her. "What about…Uhm…sex? Are we going to stay from…" "I never mentioned that, sweetheart. It is not part of the contract, because at the night we are husband and wife…we will teach each other, the wildest things in the world…" *********** Disclaimer: Book cover is not mine, credit goes to the creator. chat me on Discord: Ella_dominic#9871 For now, 14 Chapters/week with the bonus chapter only on weekends.
He was supposed to drop his younger brother Kieran off at work but he was not ready yet. The room was not arranged.
Kieran stood at the door watching his brother destroy the good looks of the room. "Karan, tell me what you are looking for. Who knows I can be of help."
"Go to work, I don't want you to be late because of me" he pulled out more clothes from the wardrobe and flung them on the bed. The more he dug into it, the more he became frustrated. Karan tilted his side and saw his brother still waiting at that door. "Goodbye, Kieran."
"Karan will always be Karan" he shook his head in pity. His brother acted like their father in all situations. He made sure to protect them from both family and social vices. Kieran was grateful to him for always being the best big brother in the world. "Don't be stupid in this situation, Karan. It is obvious that you lost something of value."
His eyes traveled around the room and saw the mess that he invented. Karan frowned and continued with his search. More clothes were tossed to the floor. The servants were going to take care of it, so He did not panic about getting them to arrange it again.
"What is going on here?" Another voice came from the door. There was no need to check who it was. Arjun, his cousin was the only one with such a voice. A deep and loud voice.
"Oh my god, what did you turn this beautiful room into? Arjun asked again, with his gaze on the clothes. He entered the room and stood next to his cousin "we could be of help. Nobody will go to work without finding that which is missing in your room."
Karan sighed. This was one of the reasons why he wanted to keep it a secret. His brothers loved and cared about him a lot that they might forget that they had duties to perform. The largest company in the country belongs to the family. He had been the CEO for two years now. Handling both company and his patients was not an easy task for him.
Most of the time, he comes back home late mid-night. When Koran left for the United States of America, he had to hand over the company to Arjun. Karan concentrated on the hospital since nobody was there to assist.
"We are staying back," Kieran insisted.
"Fine, I will tell you what I'm looking for" Karan grabbed a jacket from the bed and dug through the side pockets. His face dropped when he found nothing "It's my phone. I can't find it anywhere."
"What? I saw you with it, last night" Kieran reminded him.
"No. I'm not talking about my Samsung phone. Guys, It's my iPhone" he told to them. Karan bought the phone four days ago. It has important documents, that were supposed to be sent to the company's system. The workload was much on him and he forgot about it.
"When last did you use it?" Arjun interrogated, checking the drawer closed to the bed. He was disappointed when he found nothing in it.
"Yesterday morning. I used it at the office. Koran called me with it in the afternoon. I think that was the last time I saw it."
"We will ask the rest of the family members. I'm sure someone must have picked it" Kieran announced, going out of the room but Karan stopped him.
"You don't have to go upstairs. Grandmother will blame it on the patients I went to check on, yesterday. And I don't want to point fingers at anyone without knowing how I lost my phone" Karan explained. His head was spinning at the fact that the documents were only saved on that phone. If anyone lays a hand on it, the company's accounts would be ruined! And this was where the problem lies... his father will never forgive him for this.
"So how are we going to find it, if we don't ask others?" Kieran was confused about what to do. He knew how important the phone was to his family. His brother was not a careless person he wondered how come he misplaced such an expensive phone.
**
Her mother stared at the device, thoughtfully before asking. "Whose phone is that?, Priya"
"Oh...T-the phone? It was given to me by mistake" she stammered. "I think the guy that gave me the jacket to wear yesterday left it inside."
"You should return the phone to him. I don't want you to keep what is not yours" Kamala told her.
"What?"
Priyanka was surprised. This was a gift from the creator to her; she was going to sell the phone and recovered the money they lost at the competition. The stranger was not going to notice that his phone was missing because he was a rich man with enough dollars in his bank account.
She wondered why Kamala was so pure and honest. Again, they were going to give back an expensive item to the owner. Why can't they sell it and pay for Krishna's surgery?
The buzzing of the phone kicked her abruptly from her deepest thoughts.
"You shouldn't think of selling that phone in your, Miss Priyanka Kapoor" Kamala warned.
Whenever she addresses by full name, Priyanka knew that there was no change of mind about her decision.
" Forget about making money and return the phone to the owner, the creator will bless and reward you, dear."
'Not again!' She grimaced. Her mother was going to soften her heart with those holy words of hers. Of course, she did not forget the teachings of her parents. They warned her of stealing and unlawful possession of properties. But this situation was different. They were desperately in need of money for Krish's treatment and the creator made a way for her.
Priyanka went to the kitchen and washed her hands. She tried to pick up the call but it ended. so she went to her room and lay in bed thinking of what to do, should she sell the phone or return it to the owner?
Moreover, the guy was kind by lending his expensive leather jacket to her.
Since he showed concern for her yesterday, she decided to return the phone first thing tomorrow morning.
when she checked the phone again
Priyanka pressed the power button on the phone and found out that its battery was low.
She needed to charge the phone before the next day. But will she do that?
Zara, her best friend owned an iPhone but how was she going to communicate with her?
Priyanka had no phone to make calls. Even though the iPhone, was locked, she has no access to it.
Again the phone rang and she picked up this time. The number was saved as k-Singh with a lot of emojis.
Priyanka clears her throat before answering with a sweet and pretentious voice "hello."
"Karan, are you home?" A masculine voice came on. She put the phone on her chest and hissed. Why will they name such a bitter person Karan?
"This is not Karan. He left his phone with me. Who are you to him?" She asked, ruffling her hair again and again.
"I am his brother. I haven't been able to talk to him, for two days now. It seemed you can't reach him too."
"Yes, we are not friends. I bumped into him mistakenly and now, I have his phone and jacket."
"Oh...I see" The caller paused for a few seconds. She heard voices from the background. "I will meet you at the Pub to get it... sorry, the dancing house. Is that convenient for you?"
How did he know that she was a dancer? The guy just told her that he could not reach Karan for two days now.
Was he trying to play with her brain? Maybe it was even the owner of the bike speaking. He had annoying characteristics as a human being.
"Then we shall meet there at 6:00 pm. Please I don't want to wait for you, be there on time" she told him.
"Yes I will," the call hung at the other end.
Priyanka was angry. Something tells her that the caller was the same guy that gave her the leather jacket. The voice sounded the same. He had a western accent, like the bike man.
She placed a thumb on the fingerprint and it did not match. A picture appeared on the lock screen.
She was sure that this was Karan. To confirm if he was the one that call her, she needed to go to the dancing house this evening and find out.
**
"Did she suspect anything?" Karan asked his twin when the car stopped in front of a skyscraper. He found out that yesterday evening while going to the Slums, he took the phone along.
It was in the jacket, he gave to the dancer.
"No, boss" Kieran answered. He was wondering what game, his brother was trying to play with the girl. Behind him, sat Arjun, whose eyes were fixed on a phone. "How did you two meet? I mean the girl that picked my call.
"At work? Kieran, we should not be discussing these issues right now. I'm already in a bad mood, let's talk about it later" he replied, avoiding the question.
"Then we will discuss later. When the time comes, do not run away from the topic."