𝖉𝖎𝖘𝖊𝖓𝖈𝖍𝖆𝖓𝖙𝖊𝖉

𝔬𝔫𝔢

Shivaay stared at the pan as the eggs sizzled—— it had been three days since he and Annika settled in their house in Goa.

He moved the spatula around the pan absentmindedly, sprinkling salt and black paper robotically onto the eggs before scrambling them further.

Shivaay turned off the stove, closing his eyes and leaning forward, placing his palms on the kitchen island.

In the past three weeks, he'd thought about his family more than he ever had in the past three decades.

And given the fact that he'd lived for them for as long as he could remember, it was more than a lot.

Swallowing the bile that rose up his throat, he sighed.

He had grown up within the towering walls and large domed ceilings of the mansion—— each and every corner of the establishment held a memory and thus a special place in the organ which pumped blood around his body.

He had taken his first steps; said his first word; seen his brothers and sister being brought home after having been delivered at the hospital—— all under the roof of Oberoi Mansion—— a structure as grand and majestic as the surname whose members it housed.

Shivaay exhaled slowly—— they had seemed like the picture perfect family, and for a while he had believed it too.

Until he had seen a twenty-year old Svetlana being led into his Bade Papa and Badi Maa's bedroom at the mere age of eight. He had had a bad gut feeling seeing the young woman giggling—— but had not understood what had been so wrong.

After all, she had just been his Bade Papa's newly appointed secretary. There must've been work to be completed which they hadn't been able to complete during office hours.

Shakti and Pinky had decided to take Omkara and Rudra to the nearby park, as Jahnvi had had to visit her great-aunt who had been diagnosed with stage four breast cancer. Kalyani had decided to accompany her elder daughter-in-law while Shivaay's parents had tried to keep Omkara and Rudra distracted from all the gloom.

Shivaay had had ended up catching a cold the very last minute and thus he'd had to cancel on going with Omkara and Rudra. Despite his brother's protests, Shivaay and Pinky had coaxed them into giving in and going along with the pre planned events.

Shivaay had been walking to the kitchen when he'd seen Svetlana and Tej. He'd spent a good one hour preparing hot chocolate for himself as well as his brothers who would surely be upset if he didn't make any for them.

Shivaay hadn't been permitted in the kitchen since his mother preferred to cook for him. But she'd taught him how to toast bread and make hot chocolate—— just in case he ever got hungry or would crave anything sweet.

He'd walked back towards his room, balancing the hot mug of hot chocolate in his hands when he'd seen Svetlana being escorted out by Tej Singh Oberoi—— both had been dishevelled and the first few buttons of Tej's shirt had been open.

Later on, hours later, when the whole family had sat down for dinner and Jahnvi had commented on the strange vanilla perfume in their room—— a smell she'd never used, Tej said that he'd brought a perfume for her and had ended up breaking it accidentally.

He never mentioned a thing about his secretary having come over to discuss business issues.

"Shivaay?" Shivaay's eyes snapped open as he listened to the familiar voice behind him.