Page 89 of Wicked Trap

Her cheeks heated even more at the memories. She had wanted to resist him, but the arrogant devil knew exactly how to kiss her and what to do in order to make her lose her mind. And once he was done with her, it took her nearly an hour to redo her hair and makeup. The arrogant ass simply watched her with a smirk even as she cursed him while getting ready in a hurry.

Pushing away the thoughts of her distracting lover, she focused on the mission at hand.

The music grew louder as she neared the lawn area. When she entered it, she was taken aback.

She had expected it to be a small garden party with an exclusive set of people. But her father seemed to have gone all out and invited everyone he knew.

How am I to find the damn chairman in this crowd when he arrives?

And even if she did find him, it would be quite a task to corner him and find time to speak to him uninterrupted.

Frowning, she walked into the lawn area and tried to find her father.

Her father hadn’t spared any expense for the event. The house was lit up and decorated inside and out. Dozens of uniformed men and women were hired for the event to serve the guests. Drinks seem to flow generously while live music played in a corner.

She was barely there for a few minutes, but she was once again reminded of why she hated attending her father’s parties. The place was filled with noted politicians, bureaucrats and businessmen. The politicians and bureaucrats got on her nerves right away. With their fake smiles and deliberate modest clothes that hid their corruption, they canvassed the place extracting campaign funds and bribes from rich businessmen. In return, the businessmen showed off their wealth in expensive suits, shoes and watches while they sealed investment deals and future favors from the influential people.

The women who attended the party were mostly wives of the politicians, bureaucrats and businessmen. They were rich socialites showing off their clothes and jewellery. She could hear the buzz of conversation which was mostly gossip.

Her mother had taught her to be kind and not to judge people. But the current company made it very hard for her not to.

She wanted to go up to the stage where the live music was playing and take the mike and scream into it saying, ‘Don’t you all care about City Central Park! The ruthless bastard who is the guest of honor wants to destroy it!’

But she knew that before she could finish her speech about conserving the ecosystem and the health of the people living in the city, her father would have her escorted out of his home right away.

So she kept her instincts under control and decided to suffer through the party until she met the Prism chairman.

Her dress shimmered in the soft yellow lighting. Her father had the dress and matching accessories delivered to her earlier that morning. The woman who had dropped it off was also told to stay and help her get ready. But Tanvi sent the woman away insisting she could get ready on her own.

The dress was traditional yet modern. It was a long red gown with heavy ethnic embroidery. The sleeves of the dress were thin straps with a plunging neck that bared her back and a generous amount of cleavage. The long, sheer gold duppatta with embedded pearls was the only thing covering her nearly exposed cleavage.

It was the dress that had driven Arjun crazy. It was obvious to him and to anyone that her father wanted her to attract the attention of the billionaire businessman.

Normally, she would have ignored the dress her father had sent and chosen to wear something much simpler and sober. But since even she wanted to attract the attention of the billionaire, she went ahead with the low-cut dress.

She pulled up her sheer duppatta as it began slipping. Her face heated since there was an obvious love bite right on top of her left breast where the arrogant devil had deliberately left his mark for the night.

“Hi, Tanvi.”

Tanvi turned and was surprised to see her friend, Divya.

“Hello, Divya. What a pleasant surprise. How are you?”

Divya looked tensed and worried. Although Tanvi knew that Divya was always anxious, she sensed something was wrong.

“Are you okay?” she asked.

Divya shook her head. “C-can we talk somewhere?”

Although Tanvi wanted to find her father to let him know she had arrived, seeing her friend’s anxious face, she nodded.

“Let’s go into the house. We won’t be disturbed there.”

Divya nodded. Tanvi led her friend into the house and into the sitting room that had some privacy.

“What happened?” she asked.

Divya looked close to tears. “I-I got engaged recently. My father brought me here because m-my fiancé is attending the party.”

---