𝖉𝖎𝖘𝖊𝖓𝖈𝖍𝖆𝖓𝖙𝖊𝖉 [ON HOLD]

𝔭𝔯𝔬𝔩𝔬𝔤𝔲𝔢

"Leave Oberoi Mansion! And don't come back!"

He closed his eyes, rubbing his jaw as he did the needful. The screen of his laptop glared back at him brightly, while he typed in the details and confirmation.

Shivaay Singh Oberoi had never—— in thirty-two years of his existence—— ever imagined that there would be a time when he would be ousted from the walls of the place he'd called home by the two people he had admired and respected the most—— Tej Singh Oberoi and Jahnvi Singh Oberoi.

Clenching his fists, he forced his emotions to stay at bay, watching the blue circle turning around as he waited for the shares to be transferred. Rolling around the paperweight on the table, he drummed the fingers of his other hand on the table, watching impatiently. As soon as it was done, he shut the cover of his laptop and stood up, fiddling with the wristwatch around his wrist.

꧁꧂

She stood draped in a simple saree, arms crossed in front of her chest as she stared at her reflection in the mirror.

"As long as you are here, Shivaay, nothing will be fixed."

She clenched her fists, digging her nails into her palms.

Annika breathed in deeply before exhaling slowly, as she stared at her bloodshot eyes. The image of the woman being reflected was so unlike the woman she had been a mere year ago.

She wanted to march to Jahnvi Singh Oberoi's room and throttle the woman—— she didn't understand how Jahnvi of all people could not understand the fact that there was clearly something or someone compelling Shivaay to do all that he was.

The Shivaay Singh Oberoi who hadn't thought twice before sacrificing his relationship and his love for his family—— was now being doubted by the very people that he'd fought tooth and nail for.

He was being ousted by those that he'd always believed in despite the insults he'd had to bear—— from Tej Singh Oberoi—— and the drunken state of Jahnvi Singh Oberoi he'd watched growing up—— deciding to take on the role of a father and a mother for Omkara, Rudra and Priyanka.

Annika remembered what her mother-in-law had said when Pinky had stopped her from handing over the keys to Gauri.

Inn na shukre logo ke liye, kuch bhi karna zarurat nahi hain.

Annika had not been handing over the keys to Gauri Omkara Singh Oberoi—— daughter-in-law of Tej and Jahnvi Singh Oberoi.

She'd been handing the keys of happiness—— as termed by Kalyani Singh Oberoi—— to the woman she considered a younger sister. Someone who reminded her of the baby sister that had drowned and died right in front of her eyes when Chutki had tried to run away from her adoptive parents to return to Annika at the orphanage.

Annika closed her eyes, anger surging through her as she recalled the heartbroken look in her husband's eyes right after he'd promised Jahnvi that he would do anything to make things right.

"You shouldn't have promised her, Shivaay," she whispered.

And he truly shouldn't have.

She knew why he had done so—— Shivaay loved his family blindly and deeply. Every single wrongdoing of the elders he'd forgiven in his desperate attempt to keep the legacy of Prithviraj Singh Oberoi alive—— to fulfil the promised he'd given to his Dadaji when the sixty-year-old man had died on his death bed beside a five-year-old Shivaay.

"Did you say something?" Shivaay's voice made her eyes snap open. She noticed the way he frowned, as he took in her state. Annika glanced at the mirror, wincing as she relaised her eyes were bloodshot. "Annika, are you alright?" Shivaay walked forward and cupped her face.