An ideal wife? Piramal Industries is the jewel in Mehtab Rathod's crown, but he needs a wife to convince the board his playboy days are over and that he's finally settled down to business - even if it's just for show!
Amrita Piramal grew up playing the faultless hostess, helping her father to woo investors - and, with her delicious curves, Mehtab knows she'll make the perfect trophy wife. With her family bankrupt, Amrita is forced to accept Mehtab's shocking proposal - but that doesn't mean she'll be obedient! Soon the spark of defiance flares into attraction, and their fake marriage starts to feel all too real! Amrita took a deep breath and re-entered the lion's den. Before her nerve failed her she announced, "Mehtab, I accept your proposal."
And then she added, "But I have one condition."
"Anything you want," she heard Mehtab say. She put on a defiant but calm expression."I will continue to work after I get married, and the less you interfere in my work, the better."
'She worked?' Mehtab thought, surprised. He had taken her to be a spoilt brat, living off daddy's money. What was this work? But he knew better than to ask that question now. Instead he said, "Of course. You are free to live life as you want."
"Well, then, I agree."
Mehtab saw her bottom lip quivering. He knew this was not what she wanted, and it was far from an ideal situation, but it had to be done. Amrita would understand in time. He might not be the Romeo to her Juliet, but he would give her all that she wanted. She didn't realise how much this marriage would enhance his image and his career - the family man who had a perfect wife and a perfect business. He wanted to be admired and looked up to in all areas of his life - and Amrita was going to make that happen.
About The Author
It was from a very young age that Army brat Aastha Atray knew she would end up living her life dabbling in words. Words had always been her friend, and through them she expressed herself most clearly. Growing up, she penned Enid Blytonesque novels about herself and her friends as they dealt with teenage life and all that came along with that. As she grew up, her stories became more about relationships and the perils of falling in love. Alongside, she became a journalist, and kept up her love affair with words as she wrote stories about ordinary people doing extraordinary things.
Aastha's own love story also has a fairytale quality to it. She met her husband at twenty-three, in Mumbai, when she was not ready for a relationship, and he was so not her type (or so she thought). After she returned to her home town, Delhi, they spoke over the phone fifty times a day and love blossomed. Six months later they were married, and five and a half years on she swears she still lights up every time she sees him and that their favourite pastime is laughing! With him, she is the best and the worst she can be, and she says that's what has made her believe in love stories.
Aastha, a Delhi girl at heart, now lives and writes in Mumbai. The constant support from her family and her husband encourages her to write from her heart. Always the romantic, she is glad she has finally got a chance to make people believe in true love - through words, obviously....