After walking a few kilometers, Rudra stopped in front of a bakery shop. It was quite large and looked luxurious even from the outside.it looked more like a five star hotel rather than just a shop.
"This should do," he muttered to himself and walked inside.
Once in, he didn't take a seat. Instead, he headed straight to the counter where a young girl was working.
"Excuse me. Can I speak with the manager?" he asked.
The girl, around 19 years old, had a fair complexion, a slender face, and long hair. She looked stunning. She was busy typing on a laptop but looked up—and froze. Before her stood a handsome young man. She stared at him blankly.
'Hi… I just made a wish yesterday, and it's already come true today. My dream prince is standing right in front of me. Thank you, God,' she whispered to herself.
Tap, tap—Rudra lightly tapped the counter with his fingers. "Hello? Are you listening?" he asked.
"W-what? Did you say something?" she stammered, snapping out of her daydream.
"I asked if I could speak with the manager," he repeated calmly. He was used to these kinds of situations and didn't lose his patience.
"The manager…? So you're not here for me?" she muttered under her breath, visibly disappointed.
"Did you say something?" Rudra asked again.
"No, no… nothing at all," she quickly replied.
"Come on, say something. I've already asked three times, and you're just standing there like a saint listening to my voice without responding," he said, still calm but clearly irritated.
The girl realized she'd already made a bad impression and didn't want to mess it up any further. "The manager is here in his office, but you need an appointment to meet him," she explained quickly.
"Appointment? This is just a bakery shop, isn't it? Though pretty luxurious, I'll admit... But no, I don't have an appointment," Rudra replied honestly.
"This place is owned by a big business tycoon. This is just one of many branches, and even this one holds a lot of value. Without an appointment, it might be difficult for you to meet him. But wait—let me try something," she said, eager not to let her prince charming walk away so soon.
"Mhm," Rudra nodded.
She picked up the phone, dialed a number, and waited for the call to connect.
"Sir, someone's here in the hall requesting to meet you."
"Appointment? No, sir, he doesn't have one..."
Rudra noticed the color draining from her face and understood that the manager was likely scolding her.
"His name? Yes, sir, his name…" she trailed off and turned to Rudra in a whisper, "Your name… what is it?"
"Rudra," he replied quietly. He didn't like causing trouble for others over his own work, but this girl was practically throwing herself under the bus, so he let it be.
She returned to the call. "His name is Rudra."
The moment she said that, cold sweat began to form on her forehead.
"Idiot… There goes my job," she cursed herself mentally.
Seeing her reaction, Rudra realized things were getting out of hand. He gently took the phone from her.
"I need this shop for one hour. In return, I'll pay you one lakh," Rudra said firmly.
There was silence on the other end.
"Hello?"
No response.
He realized the call had been disconnected. He handed the phone back to the girl, who was now staring at him, wide-eyed.
One lakh... That's this shop's entire weekly profit. And he's offering that for just one hour…
People sitting and enjoying their cakes had also started to notice the commotion.
"Is he some kind of millionaire?"
"Look at his age—must be some spoiled rich kid with his dad's money, probably here to impress a girlfriend."
Whispers filled the room. Just then, a middle-aged man in a black suit stepped up in front of Rudra.
"Yes, sir. What were you saying?"
"So, you're the manager. Hm. As far as I recall, I already explained everything on the phone."
"Yes, yes, I heard. Please tell me when you'd like to book the place?"
"Right now," Rudra replied.
"R-right now?"
"Yes. Right this moment."
The manager glanced around. The shop was filled with people, all now staring at them.
"Sir, as you can see, the shop is full. If we ask everyone to leave, it might damage our reputation…" he hesitated.
Rudra scanned the room with his piercing blue eyes, then said, "That's fine. Let them stay. I don't care who's here. I need access to your kitchen—that's where my work is."
"The kitchen? Why the kitchen?" The manager hesitated. In the food business, the kitchen was sacred. No one just let strangers into it.
"Don't worry. I won't harm your kitchen. I just need to bake a cake. But if any damage occurs, I'll compensate you double."
Double… The manager's eyes lit up. The customers were now in shock too.
So he didn't bring a girlfriend?
If he's so rich, why is he baking the cake himself?
More whispers followed. The manager ignored them—he was too busy mentally celebrating.
Trying to remain composed, he said, "Sir, if you're insisting this much, I won't say no. Do you need help? We have five chefs, all highly skilled."
'Two-faced,' the girl at the counter muttered under her breath.
"No. I don't need any help. Just send them out for an hour. I don't want any disturbance," Rudra said bluntly.
The manager was a bit taken aback, but quickly composed himself. With a hand gesture, he said,
"Very well then. Please come this way—the kitchen is right over here…"
As they were heading toward the kitchen, a middle-aged man came running from that direction.
"Sir… s-sir… all our cakes have been ruined!"
"What?" the manager shouted angrily.
"Sir, I don't know how, but almost all of our cakes have bite marks. None of them have been eaten completely," the man said nervously.
Rudra understood immediately what was going on. He stepped forward and handed a card to the manager.
"Transfer one and a half lakh rupees from this," Rudra said.
The manager looked at him with confused eyes. Wasn't the deal just for one lakh? Why the extra fifty thousand…? he thought to himself.
"That extra fifty thousand is for the ruined cakes. I want to buy them," Rudra answered, reading his thoughts.
"What? But why? Why would you pay for all these cakes?" the manager asked.
"Huff... Because it's my fault," Rudra replied.
"Your fault? But you were with me the whole time?"
"Will you sell them or not?" Rudra cut him off.
"Yes… yes, of course!" the manager responded hurriedly.
"Then stop asking questions and clear the kitchen," Rudra said firmly. He wanted to get his job done quickly and didn't want to get caught up in unnecessary talk.
The manager stared at Rudra one more time. He still had questions, but he didn't want to lose this lucrative deal either. So he instructed the man and all the chefs in the kitchen to leave. They all wanted to ask why they were being told to leave, but he was the boss. They had no choice but to comply.
Now Rudra was alone in the kitchen.
Suddenly, a black-and-white squirrel ran up from under his feet and perched itself on his shoulder. Rudra glared at it angrily and said, "You just can't help yourself, can you? Because of you, I had to pay an extra fifty thousand."
In stark contrast to Rudra's frustration, the squirrel blinked its big, cute black eyes at him innocently as if to say, What are you talking about? I just got here.
Rudra shook his head and got back to work.
Meanwhile, in a different part of Mumbai, the atmosphere at Maratha University was buzzing with excitement. Decorations were put up all over the campus. In the university ground, more than a hundred chairs were lined up in perfect sequence, and in front of them stood a stage, its background draped in a red curtain.
People were walking here and there, busy with preparations. But amidst all this excitement, one face was clearly filled with worry and restlessness. A girl kept trying to call someone on her phone, but no one was picking up. Two more girls stood beside her—Maya and Kavya. They were dressed in modern outfits, while the girl in the middle wore a simple blue salwar kameez.
"Come on, Meera. She'll be here, don't worry so much. She's not a little kid," Kavya said.
Meera turned toward her. Fair-skinned, with deep black eyes and long black hair reaching her waist, her simple look only added to her beautiful personality.
"But her shift usually ends by now. She should've been here already. What if something—" Meera started.
Thwack…
"Ow…"
"Hey, Meera. First of all, empty all that junk out of your head," Maya said, tapping her on the head. "Stop thinking such nonsense. Nothing's happened. She's probably on her way right now."
"Hey Meera—" Maya was still speaking when suddenly a voice interrupted them. All three turned toward the sound. A girl was walking briskly toward them. Smiles bloomed on their faces—except Meera's. She was glaring at the approaching girl.
As soon as the girl reached them—
Thump!
Meera punched her on the shoulder. But there was no real strength behind the punch. It felt more like a tickle to the girl, though she still pretended otherwise.
"Ow! Who hits that hard? If you'd hit me a little harder, my arm would've broken!" she said dramatically.
"Cut the crap, Riya. Where the hell were you? Do you even realize how worried Meera was?" Maya scolded her.
"Oho... my cutie pie was worried about me?" Riya teased, looking at Meera.
Meera turned her face away. Riya immediately realized Meera was really angry, so she quickly began to explain.
"Aaa… please forgive me. I know how important today is for you. I didn't want to be late. But just as my shift was ending, this guy walked into the shop. Oh my God… he was so handsome…"
Riya drifted into her thoughts again, clearly smitten. Yes—this was the same receptionist from the bakery shop.
"So you were late because of some random guy you don't even know?" Meera snapped.
That brought Riya back to reality. She felt Meera's cold stare and quickly clarified,
"No, no! You've got it wrong. I wasn't exactly late because of him. I mean… maybe a little. But the real thing is… I got promoted!"
"What!?" all three girls said in unison, shocked. Riya simply smiled.
Huff...
Meera immediately pulled her into a hug. Just moments ago, she had been fuming at her—but all that was forgotten. Joy had taken its place.
Riya's smile widened. She wasn't sure how the others would react, but she'd expected nothing less from Meera.
"You idiot! You should've told us right away!" Meera said.
"I wanted to, but you all were so mad! You didn't give me a chance to speak," Riya replied with a grin.
Meera pulled back and asked, "But how did this happen so suddenly…?"