Shivali moved in and out of consciousness. She had fallen into the sea at just the perfect angle to not break her ribs on impact.A marine life surveying crew had been working in the area, and as soon as they saw the figure of a woman on their infrared camera, they immediately got her out of the water and called for her rescue.
Shivali had been barely aware of her surroundings before the rescue, and the relief at being rescued knocked her out completely.
When Shivali was able to gain a little of her consciousness again, she thought that she had finally died. She was so glad to see a heavenly guy bending over her worriedly, making her this much closer to seeing her parents again.
Some rational part of her brain tried to argue that heaven wouldn’t be this dark, but then she thought, “How else would she be able to see such a gorgeous face? No human can do deeds good enough to be able to deserve that beautiful face.”
Rational part did not have a reply for that.
She still had to tell her brother the truth about Nandita. Well, at least she can tell her parents how good of a job she did raising Harsh after they were gone.
***
Vasu Khatri had not expected them to find a mermaid when the diving team said that they needed rescue for a person.
But that is exactly what the girl they got off the boat looked like, even in the fitted pinstripe suit that she was wearing.
She was like she was straight out of the fairytales his mother told him about as a child, a woman of such beauty that guided people to do better deeds through wise words.
He had woken up that day with a feeling that today would be a big day for him. He had expected that because the government was going to announce tender bidding results that day. But while his company did win that, the feeling did not go away. It was only now that he had seen her that the feeling went away, leaving him with a feeling of relief.
Vasu peered over her as the crew which rescued her felt her pulse and called in an ambulance. Her hair was frizzy and curled because of water, and her skin was smooth as porcelain. He felt the urge to touch her cheek and see if she was even a human.
The medics of the team pulled a wallet from her inner coat pocket and Vasu looked over their shoulder to see what was written there.
So her name is Shivali Agarwal, second chairperson of Agarwal Enterprises.
Vasu had heard of Agarwal enterprises, but had never really had any reason to do any business with them. While Agarwal Enterprises had more to do with wholesale distribution of FMCG goods and other logistics, Khatri Group of Industries was a secondary manufacturer of simple tools and other hardware.
Vasu called his secretary, feeling oddly motivated, and started giving her instructions immediately to look for common areas of interests between Khatri Group of Industries and Agarwal Enterprises and get as much information as she could about Shivali Agarwal as well. He had wanted to put Shivali in as the primary objective, but he put in her company first. If he worked with them he would find enough about her as is.
The amount of work that Vasu was putting into this was surprising him. Vasu was not the type of person to care so much about an acquaintance. The thought that he would care so much about this random woman he hasn’t even spoken a word to made him feel rather vulnerable.
Am I suddenly the type of person who goes after a pretty face?
Vasu felt like he should find more about Shivali, since she was definitely an important part of circles that he frequented. Especially how she ended up in the sea. If there was an iffy plot afoot, he needed to at least know about it.
Vasu hasn’t even cut the call with his secretary before his mother calls.
“You told Lena to not go on a date with Quinton,” Vasu’s mother says as an accusation, “Why?”
“Greetings to you as well, mother.”
“Do not sass me, Vasu. Tell me why? I did a proper background check on him. He is clean.”
“So you did a background check on him, but you didn’t bother asking him what he wants in his wife, though?”
“You are speaking as if he has some weird fetish, like wanting his wife to look like a pre-teen girl or something.”
Vasu could just hear the note of exasperation in his mother’s voice.
“Mother, you know why Quinton doesn’t care what his wife looks like? Because he wants a woman who will cook and clean after him.”
“I want you to get a wife who cooks and cleans as well.”
“Mother, I know how to cook and clean. I can survive even if my wife didn’t know those things and I couldn’t afford a housekeeper. Quinton cannot. He is not looking for a wife. He is looking for a second mother to do those things for her till he gets his hands on his trust fund.”
Vasu’s mother sighs and says, “Okay. But you need to tell me beforehand about these things. You went in directly with Lena and now Courtney is screaming up a storm that you are bent on destroying her daughter’s life and how we Hindus need to keep our noses out of Christian matters.”
Courtney had been Vasu’s mother’s best friend since childhood, and Lena was Courtney’s daughter. Vasu knew Lena had feelings for him, but he had always thought of her as his childhood friend and nothing more. He cared for her, but he just wasn’t in love with her. Never mind the fact that Courtney wanted her daughter to marry a Christianand there was no way Vasu was becoming Christian just to marry a childhood friend with a weird attachment to him.
Vasu hoped that Lena would not take this request to not date Quinton as an equivalent of him approving of her romantic interest in him. He was tired of prying her off him and hated the look of sadness she gave him every time, making him feel like he had kicked a puppy.
He was about to put his phone back into his pocket, but then thought against it and instead messaged Rani to send him Shivali Agarwal’s private number as a priority.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnMYrGm2Qg9
