3 Chapter 2

Author's POV:

On the same flight from Melbourne to India, there sat a guy who was in his late twenties. Unlike others who were sleeping, he was wide awake, busying himself in verifying the documents on his laptop.

From the time he had boarded the flight, he was completely engrossed in his work, not even paying any attention to others and his surroundings.

That was how he was, always drowned in work.

He could work for hours even without having proper sleep. For him, work comes first and it was an excuse for him to escape reality. That was exactly what he was doing at that moment.

It was Arjun. He was a lawyer by profession. He had his own business which he had inherited from his family, but his company was handled by one of his best friends, Dhruv, along with his own company.

Arjun always preferred assertiveness as compared to aggressiveness with his dealings in the court. Sometimes, he couldn't help but unleash his inner beast when he had to deal with the inhuman behavior of the people.

He was always known for his success in every case that he had handled till now.

His name was enough to make the opponent submit himself to the defeat. Everyone knew when he was the one to take up the case, the victory would certainly belong to him.

Not only was he famous for his skills, but also his handsomeness. Being a big shot lawyer was no easy task. He had to face many challenges and threats. He couldn't even get enough time to spend with his family.

In addition to that, he had to handle the business matters related to the company inherited from his family, which was currently handling by his best friend Dhruv.

His mother and sister were always supportive of him and understood that he could not find much time due to his busy schedule but deep down in his heart, he knew that they were missing the old him.

He couldn't behave like his old self after facing so many struggles and heartbreak. He stopped thinking about himself and always drowned himself in his work.

(From here on, it is going to be about Arjun's past.)

Arjun's father, Sarath Kumar, was an invincible business magnet, a loving father, a caring husband, and finally, CEO of the Empire Corporations. He started and run his business single-handedly.

Later, his close friend Raghunath joined his business as a partner but Sarath still had the highest stake in the company. Raghunath was a cunning and shrewd businessman.

Sarath's humbleness always won the hearts of one and all, so everyone respected him and ignored Raghunath, who always felt like he was just a pushover.

He always thought that the CEO's position belonged to him and him only. He was just waiting for an opportunity to seize the power and authority. He made Sarath agree to the proposal of marrying his only daughter, Anusha, to Arjun as well.

Even though Arjun was the only heir apparent of the company, Arjun never showed any interest in the business field. So, his father never once forced him and even allowed him to do whatever he wanted.

That was the reason why Raghunath proposed the marriage alliance between his daughter and Arjun. At that time Arjun didn't want to involve himself in any relationship.

But when his father proposed the engagement, even though he was only 19 years old, he agreed to that proposal as it was a request from his father. His father had done so much for him, so he gave in without any hesitation.

At first, for Arjun, the relationship was just an obligation but after seeing Anusha, he fell for her at first sight, or he thought so.

Anusha had every quality which he ever wished for in his future partner. She was a good-natured girl with irresistible beauty and she always had a smile that anyone could die for.

So, Arjun took great efforts in their relationship which turned into a blissful one from a mere compromise. He always tried to fulfill her every wish, no matter how what it was.

The only thing Arjun didn't like in Anusha was her being overly dependent on her father and her submissive behavior. She always did what her father wanted her to do.

She could not imagine going against Raghunath's wishes, neither did she dare to. This created insecurity in Arjun's heart. He always feared that Anusha would even leave him on the demand of her father.

Much to his chagrin, Arjun's fear became his reality one fine day. When he turned twenty-one and was studying as a final year law student at Harvard University with only three months left to graduate, he received a phone call that broke him and left him completely devastated.

Over the call, his sobbing mother asked him to return to the country immediately as his father was no more.

Yes, Mr. Sarath Kumar had suffered a heart stroke the previous night and was immediately rushed to the hospital but passed away the next morning, leaving everyone shattered.

Hearing the news, Arjun immediately booked a ticket to India on the next available flight. The rituals were done hurriedly in the midst of hundreds of people whom Mr.Sarath had helped when he was alive.

Everyone was present there except for his father's so-called best friend and business partner. Not even Anusha attended the ceremony for the final send-off.

A week after Sarath's death, Raghunath came along with Anusha, not to console the grieving family and give an explanation about his absence during the rituals, but to call off the engagement between Arjun and Anusha.

He announced that as he was the one who proposed the engagement, he also had every right to cancel it. Anusha, as usual, being a puppet of her father, did what she was asked to do and broke the engagement as well as Arjun's heart.

Yet, it was not the end but just the beginning of his miseries.