𝐙𝐚𝐫𝐚- 𝟐𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐑𝐨𝐲𝐚𝐥 𝐒𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬 (ON HOLD)

𝐭𝐰𝐨

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Malik Mansion, Delhi, India, 5:00 PM, Present Day, October 24th

The dinner was in an hour. Till then, let's get familiar with the Maliks. Inaya and Aadil have 2 sons. Arsalan and Amir, who is 27 years old. Unlike his older brother and father, Amir never wanted to go into politics. His aspirations were to make his own business and be a huge businessman, which he accomplished. Within 2 years of joining Malik Industries, he was a millionaire and the CEO of the company.

Amir Malik is a very different personality compared to his grandfather, father and older brother. Ambitious, a complete workaholic, and hardly seen without a sarcastic smirk or frown plastered over his honey brown eyes and light brown hair. Despite being a politician's son, he was the least diplomatic of all. Amir said the bitter truth all the time. He wasn't always like this, but circumstances have changed him.

Abbas and Adibah had twin boys, 2 years after they had Aadil. They had named their twins, Ashar and Arham. Ashar is the older one by 15 minutes and he has never let his brother live that one down. Much like the rest of his family, Ashar Malik is a politician, the Chief Minister of India to be precise. Like his father and brother, he too is unapproachable and blank faced.

His younger brother, however, is the true rebel in the family. Arham Malik. younger twin of Ashar Malik and the youngest of Abbas and Adibah's children. He was the first boy in their family who refused to join politics and started his own business, Malik Industries. Currently he is the Chairman of the place and is very happy with the decisions he has made.

Ashar and Arham looked very similar, after all they were twins. They have light amber eyes, which were inherited from their mother, Adibah. The difference was that Ashar has the classic dark chocolate brown hair that most of the Malik's did, making him look more like his father than his mother, while Arham has light brown hair, his facial structure more like his mother.

Ashar fell in love with his brother, Arham's employee, Preet Singh and married her. Preet is a silent force. She too is into business, the COO at Malik Industries, she worked with her brother in law.

Preet is the most silent of the Malik women. Observant, but quiet and a little shy with new people. She is also the problem solver of the lot, evidently since she spends most of her time, thinking and not talking. Preet Malik has wide dark brown eyes and thick black hair. The woman is a beauty like the rest of the Malik ladies.

Preet and Ashar have 2 children, Zain and Zahir. Zain is 26 years old and an engineer, working as the CTO in the Malik Industries. Zain Malik is a little too silent, like his mother. However, there was this coldness and detachment that Zain portrayed, which worried the Maliks. He is not just cold and rude, but does not portray any attachment to family. He was affected the most from what happened 10 years ago and refuses to move on.

Zahir on the other hand is exactly like his name, which means bright. With a creative mindset and a brain full of ideas, at 23 he is the Head Chef at "Naya", working with his Badi Ammi, Inaya. Zahir is the boy whose attitude parents loved. Undoubtedly, he was the ladies favorite child. No tantrums, no arguments and cherry on top, he helped with all the household chores and cleaned up after himself without being told to do so.

Naina and Arham, the youngest couple, have 3 children, Daniyal Malik, CMO of Malik Industries. Daniyal is a Cassanova, probably the Malik with the most controversies surrounding their name. Daniyal lived carelessly. Sure he worked with full dedication, but adventure sports, biking and racing excited him and he often risked his life doing such activities.

Faaz and Farham Malik are the youngest in the family, 19 years old. The twins are in college, completing their studies. Faaz is interested in politics, while Farhan is into business. Both are naughty and reckless. Little tornadoes in the Malik household that are impossible to control. They were not always like this, but incidents have changed them and at a young age, they lost their biggest support system, cheerleader and best friend, making them who they are now.

Enough of introductions, it's time for dinner now. Adibah looked at the clock to find that it was already 6:00 PM, which means everyone will be here soon. Just as she was thinking that, the family arrived. Soon everyone took their spots.

At the left side of the table, Zahir and Inaya sat down together, talking about how the day at the restaurant was, their faces beaming in accomplishment at serving a huge order today. Beside Inaya, Aadil sat, with Arsalan and Ashar in line, discussing the new bill that was going to be passed. Naturally, Preet sat beside her husband, talking to Arham, who was seated on the opposite side, about the financial reports at the office. Beside Arham, his wife Naina was seated, with Amir, Daniyal, Zain in line. Adibah and Abbas sat at 2 ends of the table, on the head chairs.

Naina looked around to find that the twins were missing. Usually, they were home by now. She turned to her husband and tapped his shoulder, "Arham, where are Faaz and Farhan?".

Arham too noticed that the twins were not on their seats. He turned to his wife and grabbed her hand, squeezing it in reassurance, "Sweetheart, I saw their bikes in the garage, so they are home. They might be in their rooms, they will come down, stop worrying." By now everyone had noticed that the twins were not in their seats. Adibah reassured Naina and said, "Oh ho, you worry too much. Arre, the twins are in their rooms. I told them to come down, maybe they forgot."

Naina huffed at that and said, "That is the problem, Ammi. They have forgotten to spend time with their family. When they were younger, they would be so cheerful to have dinner and talk with everyone, ab toh un Shehzado ko chila chila ke bulana padta hai."

(*Translation: Now the Princes have to be screamed at for them to come down from their room)

Amir scoffed at that and sarcastically commented, "Choti Ammi, that is because the reason for them being so excited for dinner no longer exists in this family".

An uncomfortable silence stretched through the room, the tension was so palpable that it took everyone a few moments to comprehend what Amir was referring to. The awkward moment was broken by Abbas's deep voice, "Amir Malik, learn to control your tongue. If you cannot, please see yourself out of the room." Abbas stared deep into Amir's eyes, silently telling him to not broach the topic any further.

Amir didn't mind going out of the room, but one look at his mother and he changed his mind. Inaya looked so torn and broken, her eyes carried a strange agony and in that moment she did not look like the strong woman that had brought him and Arsalan up, rather someone broken. Amir was aware that if he left the room, his mother would dive deeper into those memories and he had no intention of hurting her.

Arsalan and Aadil didn't react to the comment at all, their faces remained black, but their grip around the plate turned firmer and their eyes darker. Preet decided that now was a good time to change the topic, in a low voice, she commented, "Inu Bhabhi, the food is delicious, you and Zahir have done a great job at the menu decisions."

Inaya understood her silent support and blinked her eyes, an indication that she was fine, at Preet who smiled in relief. The topic changed to the food on the table and everyone began praising Zahir and Inaya. Suddenly, the Maliks heard loud footsteps towards the dining room. Panting heavily, Faaz and Farhan looked terrified. Before anyone could ask them what had happened, Faaz said, "Turn on the news."

Arsalan switched on the news channel and his eyes widened in disbelief and anger.

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