"Remember, I married you not because I like you but because I need to. Listen carefully, if an apocalypse occurred and you are the only female alive in this world, I wouldn't even take a glance at you. You are just nothing to me. I hope there won't be another situation where I need to remind you of your position in my heart" Ria heard her new husband's cold voice and his bone cutting stare pierced through her. Although his lips were curled up, she knew he wasn't smiling at all but simply mocking her.
She struggled to maintain her composure and the grip on the champagne glass in her hand tightened. She knew the man she married was a difficult to please kind of man but never expected him to be the worst she had ever seen.
Submitting herself to this man now was no less than walking into hell. She raised her head, presenting the same emotions as him, cold and ruthless.
"Heh, finally. Atleast, we are on the same page. And don't even try to intimidate me using your status as my husband. Also, know your place before you talk to me in the future"
As her voice faded, the man beside her stiffened, probably bewildered by her unexpected answer.
Unbothered by his reaction, Ria sipped the champagne slowly, submerging herself into her past.
Ria recollected how the men she met previously on blind dates treated her.
One asked her to get regular skin whitening treatments as she appeared too dark for his eyes.
One enquired if she could get a surgery soon as he didn't want to have a wife with glasses. He was concerned that it would make her look more intelligent than him.
One demanded her to go on a diet immediately and hit the gym as he always wanted a wife with slender figure.
One mocked her height and another asked her if she had to shop at kids section for her shoes
Thinking she had to stay patient with rabid beings, she rejected everyone after saying in her heart "I think you should immediately go see an Ophthalmologist? I think your eyes had gone blind with all that evilness pooled in your heart and stupidity in your head"
Coming out of her reverie, Ria sighed helplessly. It was an absolute waste to think of her past interactions with men.
If not for her father's wish to marry her to a potential man he personally selected, she would have atleast tried to find a man all by herself, fall in love and get married instead of going to meaningless matchmaking sessions.
She indeed once tried to find love. However, it was useless as every man she fell for turned out to be a bastard of some kind or other.
One betrayed her and married a rich family's daughter. One broke up with her saying she's too domineering for him to continue their relationship. One was too selfish while one was caught gambling. Another one turned out to be an unemployed man with no real ambitions wanting to freeload on her income.
Not losing hope, she registered into several online matrimony sites. Even that was futile.
As she was finally trying to persuade herself to stay single forever, she received a call from her grandmother from whom she hadn't heard for atleast a few months. Before she knew what was happening around her, she already ended up getting married and here she was.
Standing at the centre of the crowd with her new husband beside her, toasting to the guests.
From the corner of her eye, she noticed her grandmother seated at a table along with her husband's grandmother. Both the elder women were laughing heartily, like two little girls.
Suddenly, there was a pang of pain in her heart and a stifling sensation overwhelmed her.
Ria was confused.
Was the pain in her heart due to her regret of marrying some stranger or was it because of her reluctance to hurt her grandmother?