• Poisoned •

24.

"Swetlana confessed something before dying..." Bhavya whispered.

Taking the small glass of tea from her hand, Om asked, "What?"

"She was with Dad so that she could take revenge..." Bhavya shrugged. "She thought dying that her father was wronged."

Rudra's jaw clenched. "I honestly have no sympathy with her. That bitch deserved it. She made our lives hell. God knows how much Bhaiya hid from us."

"That information makes no difference to our case. We are still stuck..." Om poured over the file in his hand. In stark contrast to Rudra, he was calm. There was a point in his life when he had thought that Swetlana's death will bring him peace. Nothing of that sort was happening now. He felt pretty much the same. Perhaps, the enemies, as much as one liked to believe otherwise, didn't drive one's lives. The people closest to us did.

Om knew that he would feel fine only after he saw Shivaay. That's what mattered. Nothing else.

"That's what I am trying to say. Can we keep this Kalyani Mills siyapa aside for a few days?" asked Gauri. "Shouldn't our priority be Shivaay Bhaiya?"

"I wish we could," replied Bhavya. "But it is all a tangled mess. I am pretty sure that everything is somehow linked with Kalyani Mills."

The four of them fell into silence before Om spoke up. "Guys. Hear me out with an objective head. The only person from our family who is not seemingly affected by Shivaay's disappearance is Mr Oberoi. In fact, if you think about it, he only stands to gain if something happens to Shivaay. Do you think he has a hand in the disappearance?"

"Maybe not the disappearance," Rudra added. Om who was expecting a vehement disagreement; widened his eyes in shock. Rudra took a sip of the tea. "But there is something that Dad knows for sure. He is very obviously hiding it from us."

"I think you should check the CCTV's footages from all our offices. Check where he has been in the past few days..." Gauri muttered. "That should give us an idea where all he has gone and who has he met."

"You are right. We should do that..." Bhavya nodded.

She called someone, gave instructions and cut the call. Then she told them. "I told my colleague to do that. He will get back to me tomorrow."

Bhavya sank on the couch. "Where is Annika Bhabhi?"

"In the bedroom..." informed Gauri. "She is just...lost. Completely. I can no longer recognize her."

Om sighed. He kept the file that he was looking at aside and went to the kitchen to make some instant noodles for Annika. If she remained hungry in his watch, Shivaay was going to make his life hell after he returned. He couldn't allow that.

***********************

"Shivaay..." Veer grabbed Shivaay's mouth and prised it open. Like an invalid, Shivaay only managed to moan a weak whimper. Veer titled Shivaay's face until the back of his head was not touching his back. Then Veer poured a semi-hot liquid into Shivaay's mouth. "Do you know what this is? It's chicken broth. I made it for you."

Shivaay was thirsty but even then he panicked because of the sudden flow of something in his mouth. It did soothe his throat a little but it was too much and he longed to take a breath. His throat spasmed, as did his chest. Shivaay gruggled.

"No!" Veer chastised him. "You will have to finish the whole beaker. I am not taking any excuses from you. You have to survive for a long time with me. You need energy for that."

Shivaay's feeble struggles intensified as Veer poured more liquid down his throat.   

"I am a good cook, no? I think you take after me!" Veer laughed.