Beautiful Infatuation

Chapter 78

"What are you doing?" Shankar asked in a surprised tone, seeing Viraj on his knees like a beggar.

"If...if this would have been a different situation, then yes, I would have just shot you and cleared my way to bring my wife to my home. But it is not. It is complex. I love her and she loves you. Hurting you would mean hurting her. And, I'd rather hurt myself than hurt her. I thought of many ways to convince you, but couldn't find any because I knew that... neither money nor power could move you. So, here I am...powerless in front of you...begging you to please give your daughter to me. Please." Viraj said...so slowly that it was visible how hard it was for him to beg.

He is the king of arrogance! So, what brought him to his knees?

Shankar knew all about Viraj's ego. So, him going to his knees and begging for Sneha was indeed a huge shock.

"What...why...I...Why did you remove your gun then? To scare me?" Shankar asked.

The question confused Viraj.

"What? No! Kneeling with a gun on the waistband is not comfortable. So, I removed it. Why do you only see me in a wrong way?"

Shankar was speechless now.

When he seemed conflicted, Viraj added to assert his request.

"You have to trust me, Mr Bohra. I'll keep her happy and safe. She is my wife, after all. I love her."

"You don't understand, Viraj! You can't understand the fear of a father. I have only two daughters. I have raised them to be strong enough to tackle any problem in their lives. But, only I know how scared I get when they get into any problem. I can't...let them ruin their lives when I know I could have stopped them. If anything bad happened to them, I don't know what I would have to live for. I won't be able to forgive myself." Shankar worded his vulnerability.

"Exactly, Mr Bohra. You have two daughters but I... I have only one wife. You at least have the option of the other. I have none. So, imagine how delicately would I protect her. Her safety is more important to me than anything. I can't compete with you in terms of who loves her more. You are her father, after all. Your love for her is pure and innocent while mine isn't. But, I can tell you confidently that you won't find any man more capable than me who could even come close to how much I love her and can protect her." Viraj said boldly while still kneeling before him.

Shankar didn't know what to say anymore. He felt short of words as they continued the argument.

What if he really loved her as he was asserting? Shankar wondered.

"Mr Bohra?" Viraj called for his attention when he seemed to have been lost in a long internal battle.

Shankar looked at Viraj again.

"Fine." He said and Viraj immediately stood with a huge smile on his face.

"You won't regret your decision, Mr Bohra." He said without even letting him complete his dialogue.

"Let me complete, Viraj."

His smile fell.

"I will give you my daughter...in fact, I'll accept you as my son-in-law if and only if you promise me that you would become the kind of man you would give your daughter to."

"I don't understand."

"Someday, you will have your daughter and you will have to marry her off to someone, right? What kind of a man would you give her to? If you can be that kind of man to my daughter, then I'd gladly give my child to you too." Shankar explained.

Viraj now understood where his fireball had gotten her wit from.

The seriousness on Viraj's face was something to be feared.