𝖉𝖎𝖘𝖎𝖑𝖑𝖚𝖘𝖎𝖔𝖓 | ✓

𝔱𝔴𝔢𝔫𝔱𝔶 𝔰𝔦𝔵

Shivaay groaned, massaging the back of his neck as he struggled to sit up. His mind registered the cold smooth surface, underneath him as he came about. Blinking furiously, he tried to dispel the grogginess that was keeping him subdued and in a daze.

"Ah, look who's awake," Shivaay frowned, trying to make out the figure that stood in front of him.

"Wh-who? Wh-where?" He mumbled groggily.

"I've been waiting to meet you Mr. Oberoi," Shivaay winced as the smell of paan and onions hit his nostrils.

He moved away, scrunching his nose in disgust. "Who are you?" His vision finally cleared and he saw the crooked smile of a man with greying hair and a pair of scars running from the left side of his temple to the right side of his chin.

"An old friend of your wife," the man answered.

"Annika?" Shivaay's eyes widened. "What did you do to my wife?" Shivaay sprang forward, clutching the collars of the man before shaking him violently.

"Calm down Mr. Oberoi," the man detangled his grip. Despite his age, the man was clearly still physically active. "I've not done anything."

"How do you know Annika? Or me for that matter?" Shivaay's eyes narrowed as he leaned back against the wall.

"You're an Oberoi," the man raised an eyebrow. "Why would I not know the son of the man who stayed quiet while his brother burnt Annika's father alive?"

Shivaay felt sick. The surname he had worked so hard to protect ended up being the legacy of despicable people.

"Where's my wife?" Shivaay tried to find the bracelet nearby and in his pocket, but to no avail.

"Looking for this?" The man clutched Annika's chaand bracelet in his hand. Shivaay's eyes turned red as the man threw it to him. "If you want your wife and sister-in-law to be safe, do exactly as I say."

"Gauri?" Shivaay whispered, worriedly.

"Oh, is that her name now?" The man shrugged. "I've been calling her Chutki till now."

"What did you do to Gauri!" Shivaay lunged forward once more.

"Mr. Oberoi," the man sighed in exasperation. He pushed Shivaay back into the wall, "Do exactly as I say or your wife's tears and your sister-in-law's blood is what will greet you." He leaned back in his chair with a smirk, "And then you can explain to your loving wife about how your stubbornness caused the death of her baby sis who she had just been reunited with."

Shivaay breathed heavily, rubbing his chest as he felt a stab of pain in his heart. Glaring at the man, he grit out, "What do you want?"

"For you to convince your pyaari biwi to give up investigating Kalyani Mills." The man shrugged.

"You want me to stop her from getting justice?" Shivaay spat.

"I don't," the man shrugged. "In fact I don't care. But saab wants her to drop it."

"Did Tej Singh Oberoi send you?" Shivaay's eyes narrowed.

The man snorted, "I stopped working for your Bade Papa a long time ago, boy."

"Who sent you?" Shivaay's eyes narrowed.

"Ain't you a businessman?" The man raised an eyebrow. "Figure it out." Tilting his head, he gave him a jeering smile, "Surely you're smart enough to do that."

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Annika's grip on her fork tightened. The people in front of her were responsible for having thrown her mother out because she fell in love with a poor man.