Arranged marriage was an age-old story that Khushi, the youngest of the infamous Gupta family, who revolutionized and dominated the trading market for generations, knew well.
For it was the only thing she heard growing up.
But that neither prepared...
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Arnav struggled to pay attention to the presentation in front of him, an uneasy feeling settling in the pit of his stomach. For almost an hour now, all the important members of the Raizada Industries were locked in a board room, discussing a potential land for investment. The seller had put forth an iron-clad deal, that if signed, could begin a long and necessary journey towards recovering the losses the company had endured in the last couple of months.
But Arnav didn't have a good feeling about it in the slightest. It was as if someone was watching him from above, waiting for him to make one more bad decision, before swooping down and ending the company once and for all.
Of course, if he had dared to voice out his concern, it would have been squashed within no time. His father –who had returned a little over a month ago to the hustle and bustle of the company– believed in numbers. After merging their shares with Gupta & Sons –thanks to Arnav's marriage– their own shares had shot up quite a bit in value, although not to the same amount they were before the collapse. He wouldn't foresee a problem in investing in this deal with the little extra cash they had to spare.
His brother-in-law, Shyam, a corporate lawyer by profession and yet still well-versed in some of the management decisions, would simply say there was no legal cause to mistrust the seller. The land in question was well maintained, its surroundings have been tested by their own engineers, and if something were to go wrong, they would be able to get some form of compensation from the seller (thanks to Shyam's stellar negotiating abilities).
And yet, those two opinions, the ones that Arnav held in very high regard ever since he stepped into the role of a leader, were not comforting. Something didn't feel right.
Or was it paranoia?
He heard only too many times, in very sweet musical tones of a life bygone, how careless he could be. It used to not bother him, but today, after making so many rash decisions, he couldn't just give into the flow of things and make one more uninformed decision.
But who could he ask? Stepping in as the interim CEO had not been easy. Most of the board, very old friends of his father, did not believe he was experienced enough to handle the mantle. They were probably right. What did he know of companies and shares and decisions? He had been just a boy for so long.
The meeting wrapped up at this point and Arnav quietly excused himself, making his way back to his office from some peace. He needed to think, although, would his decision really matter? His father mostly called the shots anyway, now that he was back in full form.
"Chote?"
Speak of the devil! Arnav turned around, trying to rearrange the concern on his face. "Yes, Papa?"
Shankar glanced at the seat in front of his desk. "May I?" he asked.
"Of course," Arnav answered, striding away from the gigantic windows to sit beside him. "What's wrong?"
