Chapter 13: chapter 13

MADHAVThe whole beach is decorated for the wedding. It was Sruthi’s idea to have a beach-themed wedding. Since she is shifting to another city after her marriage, she wanted the marriage to happen here, somewhere near her childhood and brother’s house. The whole stage for the marriage is decorated with flowers and ribbons. I check out all the last-minute details. There is a solid hour for the auspicious time the priest has fixed for the marriage. I do one task after another in my checklist without pausing to think about what I am doing. I keep myself busy with welcoming the guests. Most people at the wedding are high profile and these people know me as  Madhav Gajendran—the owner of the famous jewelry shop ‘Gajendran Jewellers’.  That is my cover story for the assassin work I do. The world knows me as Madhav, the jeweler. They have no idea about the shady work I do for their defense minister. I walk among the guests in search of my friend. I throw out greetings as I walk. Men give me handshakes and more than one woman gives me a secret wink in hopes of having a one-night stand with me after this function. I am not sure how it started but a rumour about me being a playboy spread through the country. Since the media likes to spin its own story, they spun stories about how I do one-night stands and all those bullshits. But truth be told, I haven’t touched any woman in my life. Sruthi ruined any other woman for me. It is not for the lack of trying. I have gone on dates but the moment, the woman tries to get close to me I feel like an imposter and Sruthi’s face keeps flashing in my mind. Many women after reading the rumors assume that I am someone who is in want of female company and tries approaching me.It is a real hassle to stop them from approaching me. I am always pestered with proposals and love letters. Women assume that I am a kind and gentle man. A knight in shining armor. They fantasize about me being their perfect gentleman.  I am far from that. The only woman who saw me for who I am is Sruthi. Half the women who have approached me would run for their lives if they knew the truth about how many humans I have killed over the years. It was my conscious choice to become an assassin. Vikram had a lot of threats to his life after he became a minister. His life was constantly targeted and he needed someone who would clear out the threats. When I was released from the juvenile, my life was hopeless and dark. I had no one to rely on and nothing meaningful to do. So, when Vikram came offering the job, I took it without any hesitation. Vikram pulled some strings and made Gajendran—the original owner of the jewelry shop I now own—adopt me as his son. Gajendran was a widower with a lot of wealth. He was looking for someone capable of inheriting it. I proved my capacity and was made the heir to his assets. In the process, Vikram buried my dark past. No one knows who I am really. No one has any idea that I was in juvenile except for a select few members. The world likes to see what it likes. The world chose to see my large inheritance and good looks. They ignored my violent temper and dark past.The sound of a loud horn blaring takes my attention to the front entrance. There is a black limo and security guards get out of it. Jammers are set out in the area. Guards line up the entrance and any suspicious-looking person is removed by the security. The whole area becomes silent as they wait for their leader to emerge from the car. I grab the bouquet that was specially ordered for the Prime Minister and walk to the entrance. Originally, it had to be Vikram who had to give the PM the bouquet but he is nowhere to be found and I can’t make the PM wait. So, I walk to the old man exiting the car. Dinesh Chakravarthy, the current prime minister of the country is an honest and down-to-earth man. He was one of Vikram’s father’s best friends. The only problem with this man is that he has a big ego. He wants people to respect him. I give him my best smile as I hand him over the bouquet that Vikram was supposed to give. He looks surprised to see me but receives the bouquet all the same, “Madhav, it is nice to you. I want you to bring my wife the new jewelry collection from your shop.”I give him my best smile. He is one of my regular customers. His wife is a sucker for jewelry and a secret that no one knows is that the PM is a sucker for his wife. “It is my pleasure to hear that Sir. I will come to your house as soon as possible with the new arrivals.”Someone clicks their tongue and I see the PM’s assistant and first son Vinod Chakravarthy scowling at me. Like the minister’s position, the Prime Minister's position is also hereditary. The only thing different is that the heir must serve as the current PM’s assistant and get to know the issues before becoming the ruler. The ruling PM will resign from his position when he feels that his PA is ready to rule the country.“Where is Vikram?” Vinod asks not bothering with greetings. “Hello to you too,” I reply giving him the cheekiest of my grins. Vinod used to be Vikram’s best friend before Vikram’s parents were murdered. They fell apart after Vikram became the defense minister. He hates me because I took up his position as Vikram’s best friend. He never hid his disdain for me. Unfortunately, he is one of the people who knew about my prison sentence in a juvenile.“It is nice to see you Madhav and I appreciate you welcoming me but the etiquette says that only the bride’s blood relation or the groom should welcome me. Are you related to Sruthi by blood?” the PM asks kindly. “No, I am not related to her by blood,” I answer.“Then are you her groom?” Vinod asks with a snicker. I grit my teeth at him. Though Vinod fell apart with Vikram, he remained in contact with Sruthi. Heck! Sruthi sees him as an elder brother. He knows how much Sruthi hates me.I ignore him and look at the prime minister, “Sir, I am sorry that Vikram is not here to receive you. He is with his sister. You know how much he values his sister. Since she is going away to another city, he is spending all his spare moments with her.”The prime minister laughs good-naturedly, “Of course, he is spending time with her. Sometimes, family comes first. Go tell him that I am waiting.”I turn away from him with a grin on my face. The prime minister is a man who values family more than anything else. Thank heavens! I already had my answer prepared. Now, I need to find my best friend. I have no idea what is holding him back from welcoming the prime minister.❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥