Let Me Go Mr.Singh! (From the Start)

4

Anubhav froze and remained silent.

The cameraman was inwardly sympathetic toward him. It was a pity that a good-looking man like him was suffering from facial paralysis.

After Anubhav and Haseena were done taking pictures, they headed to the first floor to register their marriage.

It was only when Anubhav took out his citizenship certificate that Haseena finally learned his real name-Anubhav Singh.

However, Vivan's mother's surname was Verma. In that case, his uncle's surname was supposed to be Verma as well.

In a daze, Haseena asked, "Why is your surname Singh?"

"Uh-huh."

As Anubhav was lowering his head to sign the documents, he did not bother to know what she meant. He casually answered, "I adopted my mom's surname."

"Oh." Haseena finally understood. She had been filled with fear earlier, thinking that it was a case of mistaken identity.

She flirted with him for the very reason that he was Vivan's uncle.

However, she felt that something was somehow not right.

Ten minutes later, the marriage certificates were issued.
Haseena felt a twinge of sadness but found this to be incredible at the same time.

Since young, she had always assumed she would marry Vivan. Against her expectations, she married a man whom she had only met once.

"Here's my contact number. I have something to attend to, so I'll be leaving first." Anubhav jotted his number on a piece of blank paper for her before he left.

"Wait a minute..." Haseena stopped him the moment she came back to her senses. "Now that we're a married couple, we should live together."

With a dull expression, he replied, "I don't enjoy living with someone else."

"I'm your legal wife, not someone else. Even if we're going to divorce three years later, we should still live together."

Shaking the marriage certificate in her hand, Haseena pouted in an attempt to gain his sympathy. "I'm really miserable. Ever since my long-lost sister returned, my parents have been treating me with contempt. Now that I've been kicked out of the house, I don't have a place to stay."
"You can go and rent a place."

Anubhav walked away with indifference.

"Don't abandon me, hubby!" Haseena suddenly let out a howl, hooking her arm around his. "I'm left with nothing but you right now."

Her increasingly loud voice had attracted a lot of sidelong glances in the registry office.

Pulling a long face, Anubhav regretted getting married to her at random.

"Fine. I live in Jadeite Bay. Go there on your own."

Anubhav could not help but stomp out of the registry office. He then warned her softly, "You'll sleep in the guest room. You're not allowed to step into my room."

Secretly elated, Haseena believed that he would be the one begging her to enter his room in the future.

"By the way, don't disturb Fudge."

"Fudge?" Haseena gasped. "You already have a son?"

Anubhav raised his eyebrows. "Take good care of him."

Once he finished his sentence, he left straight away.

Haseena was so shocked that he forgot to go after Anubhav. Although she had braced herself to marry someone she did not love, she was not at all ready to be someone's stepmother.
She stood at the roadside for half an hour, picturing her conflicting future identities-namely as a stepmother and aunt.

At last, she dashed into the mall to buy children's toys after glancing at Vivan's disgusting photo.

A person named Fudge had to be a boy. After selecting several types of toy cars and Lego sets, she drove to Jadeite Bay.

Carrying a variety of things, she took a deep breath in front of the door. She punched in the password and the door was opened.

A friendly smile spread across her face. "Hi, Fudge-"

"Meow!"

A fat cat with a white body and light yellow ears was seen lying on the couch lazily. It produced a cute sound in the quiet living room.

"..."

Haseena blinked. "Fudge?"

"Meowww!"

After the fat cat stretched its body, it jumped down the couch and walked toward her legs to smell the toys that she was carrying. Uninterested, the cat returned to the couch and lay on it in an arrogant manner.

Haseena was speechless.

Anubhav should have explained this earlier.

She had spent the past few hours worrying about being a stepmother!
A feeling of helplessness washed over her.

Despite that, the chubby cat with clean fur was adorable.

She stepped forward, intending to pinch its fat cheeks, but the cat dashed into the master bedroom at the speed of lightning. The master bedroom was a place she was not yet qualified to step foot in.

Haseena let out a sigh at the rejection. Then, she scanned around the house that had three bedrooms and two living areas.

There was a master bedroom, a guest room, and a study.

The interior of the house was decorated in a minimalist, modern style using black, white, and gray as its main color scheme. It was pleasant to the eyes but gave out a cold and cheerless vibe at the same time. The renovation probably did not cost much.

Was this really the residence of Vivan's uncle?

The man was supposed to be a successful entrepreneur. It was one thing if he chose not to live in a grand villa, but there was no sign of luxury in this place at all.

Not to mention the shelves in the study room were filled with books like The Science of Law, The Law Society Gazette, and Are We Slaves to Our Genes?
Something did not feel right. Could it be possible that this man was not Vivan's uncle?

No, that would be impossible!

Shreya could be quite careless at times, but for something as serious as this...

She could not possibly have made a mistake, right?

The overthinking was killing Haseena. She retrieved her phone to ring her friend. "Are you sure that he's Vivan's uncle?"

"Of course, I heard it from my brother. He even had a meal with that man before."

Relieved, Haseena placed a hand on her chest. "I was afraid that I married the wrong man."

"Oh my God, did you actually marry him?" A shriek of surprise sounded over the phone. "He really showed up?"

"Uh-huh," she replied. On the other side of the phone, Shreya's eyes were welled up with tears. "We promised to be each other's angels. How could you abandon me in the blink of an eye?"

The words were stuck in Haseena's throat.

"Well, the two of you should treat me to dinner at the very least."

"Um... Nothing has really happened between us yet." Haseena summoned up the courage to explain her exchange with the man.
"You've got such a pretty face but love hasn't been easy for you." Shreya showed her sympathy. "But don't worry, I'm sure he'll surrender to your sugar-coated bullets in no time."

"I believe so."

After the phone call ended, Haseena dropped by the nearby supermarket. The new house was too cold and empty to be called a home. It definitely needed a new makeover.

...

4:00 p.m. at Jennings Solicitors.

Anubhav had just flipped open the document file when Karan Oberoi stepped foot in his office.

"Congratulations! Should we have dinner with your new wife tonight?"

"It's not like you don't know the real reason why I got married," Anubhav replied coolly without lifting his head, his eyes glued to the words on the documents.

"You truly are inconstant in love. I heard that Haseena Mallik is quite a beauty. Aren't you at least a little bit interested?"

Karan was filled with excitement. He lowered himself on the swivel office chair as he studied his friend's expression with curious eyes.
Anubhav paused what he was doing for a split second. He recalled the woman's smooth, milky skin and her face that was as beautiful as a blooming flower. However, her shameless behavior...

He replied several seconds later, "I've seen countless attractive women."

"Fair point. An insignificant young lady from Melbourne wouldn't stand a chance to be your wife if you weren't trying to avoid an arranged marriage set up by the elders of your family. Indeed, she's not a good match for your grand status."

Karan let out a meaningful sigh. "So, the famous undefeatable legend has returned. How are you adapting to working in a small place like Melbourne?"

"It's certainly an experience to live like the poor."

"Tsk." Karan hissed. "The world is so unfair. We graduated at the same time but you've already climbed to the top of the ladder."

"It all comes down to the structure of our brains," Anubhav replied, lifting his indifferent gaze.

Karan gritted his teeth at the humiliation. "Forget it, I'll leave this as is. Do me a favor, let's have dinner with several other solicitors of the company tonight."
"Hmm," Anubhav replied. His phone then beeped with a notification sound.

He picked up his phone to see an incoming text from someone named 'AnuSeena'.

[Hubby, this is Hasi.]

Anubhav did not know what to reply. He massaged the space between his eyebrows and accepted the message request.

[Hubby, will you be home for dinner?] Haseena sent another text within seconds.

Anubhav: [No. Don't call me that.]

AnuSeena: [Fine then, I'll call you Anu. It's a cute name.]

He did not know what else to say.

Was it too late to back out of the marriage arrangement?

Later that night.

The group of people was enjoying dinner in the interestingly designed courtyard-style restaurant.

The bunch of lawyers exchanged their opinions on the new cases recently taken in by the law firm.

Anubhav listened absent-mindedly when he heard a notification alert on his phone again.

Haseena sent him a picture. Under the illumination of the soft yellow lights, the chubby cat was indulging itself in a small treat of dried fish.
AnuSeena: [Anu, don't worry about us. I'm taking such good care of little Fudge.]

Anubhav sighed grudgingly. The greedy cat had been bribed effortlessly.

The time was 9.30 p.m.

The passcode entered unlocked the door. Anubhav was evidently stunned the second he set foot into the house.

It appeared that his house had undergone a complete makeover. The black couch was decorated with peacock blue cushions. The white dining table was covered in a green table cloth with a wave pattern. A glass vase filled with pink hydrangeas sat quietly above it.

The entire house was decorated with green plants and fresh flowers. There were also several hanging baskets out on the balcony.

Was this still his house?

Did he enter the right place?

"Anu, you're home."

Haseena walked out of the guestroom wearing a long sleeve silk sleeping gown. Several white bunnies were printed on the wine red material of the gown.

Her thick and long brunette hair that was the color of milk tea was draped over her shoulders. Beneath the hem of her gown were her fair, slender legs.
She looked like a seductive vixen.

Anubhav's eyes darkened. "Who allowed you to dress like that around here?" The brows on his forehead twitched into a frown as he said sternly.

"Like what?" The woman swirled innocently. "My boobs and butt are well covered. Only my knees and calves are showing. All the young girls go out in the streets dressed like this. What's wrong about it?"

He did not know where to look. Indeed, she was not wearing revealing clothes, but she was also not wearing anything underneath the nightwear.

The man averted his gaze. "I agreed to let you move in, but I didn't give you permission to do this to my house."

"Isn't this better? It was too empty before that it didn't even feel cozy like a home should." Haseena showed him her palm. A hint of flirtatiousness was detected in her tone. "Look, I even have a few cuts on my palm from moving the plants around."

He lowered his gaze to have a look. Indeed, there were a few tiny cuts on the tender skin of her delicate palm.
"You deserve it."

He uttered softly before retreating to his room.

Annoyed, she pulled a face at his departing silhouette.

This man did not show any care for women at all. She would not be trying so hard to please the cold man if not for the plan to become her ex's aunt.

7:00 a.m. the following day.

Anubhav's biological clock woke him up early every morning at the same time. He bumped into the woman who was brushing her teeth in the bathroom.

"Good morning, Anu. Are you going for a morning run?" Haseena's eyes landed on his sportswear. The basic black outfit felt like a classic style on the man as if he was the spokesperson for the brand.

The man had a bad temper, but his impeccable appearance was undeniable.

Besides, the habit of going out for morning runs showed that he was a man of discipline.

"Yeah."

Anubhav was a little surprised.

Young women her age were not normally early risers.

"Well, don't get breakfast before you come home. I'll prepare something for you," she spoke like a proper housewife, "It's more hygienic than store-bought food."
He frowned. "No need for that. When are you planning to move?"

Her pretty face froze for a split second. "Although we're married, I don't want to get too involved with you. Don't waste your time on me because I'm not interested in you at all," he replied.

Then, he left the house.

Haseena pulled at her hair slightly as tears immediately welled up in her eyes.

She stood there motionless in the living room for a brief moment. Quickly, she collected herself and started making breakfast.

The man returned after jogging around the park. A delicious smell came from the kitchen, making him hungry in an instant.

"I made breakfast. There are churros and cinnamon rolls..."

She poked her head out from behind the kitchen door while wearing a light green apron that was dotted with little daisies.

"I don't like sweet things for breakfast."

He refused coldly. The straightforward remark he made earlier this morning was meant to drive her out of the house. Unexpectedly, she stayed behind and even made him breakfast.
Would the food she made be edible?

At first glance, she looked like a pretty spoiled young lady who had never done a single chore in her life.

He was accustomed to seeing women like her.

Anubhav retrieved a carton of fresh milk from the fridge.

Haseena pouted.

It appeared he was determined not to try the food she made.

What a pretentious man.

Regardless, she had no problem enjoying the food herself.

She returned to the kitchen to continue making churros.

He appeared a few seconds later to warm up the milk. From the corners of his eyes, he noticed the woman shaping the dough into several long sticks in a practiced manner before placing them into the hot oil. Within seconds, golden logs floated to the top of the oil. They released a delicious smell that attacked his nostrils.

A hint of light flashed across his eyes.

This skill must have been acquired from years of practice.

He shifted his gaze downward. Beautiful cinnamon rolls with chocolate swirls were baking in the hot oven.

Her cheeks were tinted with a rosy pink because of the heat in the kitchen. Her skin was unquestionably beautiful. She did not have the defined sharp jawline that was favored by most social media influencers nowadays. Her slightly chubby cheeks and the mole beside her lips made her appear youthful and adorable.
Haseena noticed him staring and playfully picked up a churro, waving it in front of his eyes. "Anu, are you sure you don't want a taste of this?"

"Not interested."

He averted his gaze and placed the milk inside the microwave. Then, as if out of habit, he placed a piece of bacon between two slices of toast and shoved in a handful of lettuce. He started munching on the sandwich by the dining table.

The sandwich in his mouth suddenly tasted bland when he thought of the golden brown churros.

Frustrated, he covered one side of the toast with a thick layer of fruit jam.

Right then, the woman reappeared from the kitchen and placed a whole feast in front of his eyes. Churros, cinnamon rolls, pancakes, a cup of hot chocolate...

Anubhav twitched his brows into a deep frown as she blinked innocently. "Anu, you don't mind me eating here, do you?"

He watched on silently as she began the show.

Her performance was better than he expected. "Please forgive me for having a sweet tooth. I really can't endure having to start the day with a bowl of boring cereal or a plain sandwich. It would be a huge disappointment for my tastebuds."
Then, she took a massive bite of the churros. She closed her eyes as a look of satisfaction washed over her face.

"The flavor just bursts in your mouth. Mhmm, it's so delicious."

He remained silent.

What a waste of talent that this woman did not pursue an acting career. How could he still eat his plain sandwich now?