Veiled Secrets

01.

The mansion stood tall with it's pristine white walls amidst the greens, acting as the shield to safeguard the secrets that the family hid.

From the world and from him.

Shivaay casually sipped on the——now cold cup of espresso as he looked through the papers, another staggering defeat, of one of their rivals. His eyes scanned the news bottom to it, he wanted to know the rest but there was nothing new in particular, most of these news were repeated except for the reports that were to be published daily.

He placed the newspaper next to the wooden frame over the table. His eyes turned to the family photograph that was kept on the table.

His hands reached out for the framed before he retracted his hands at the last moment——the photograph was an illusion, an illusion that portrayed them as the one happy family that is perceived by the outside world.

But only the people residing in the mansion knew the truth, of how twisted the things have been.

And how twisted they were, even now. But it was kept well hidden and disguised even from the members. From him.

He could care less.

It has been so, for as long as he could remember, long enough that he had forgotten what it used to look like or what he was grown to believe.

His delusion—the utopia of the happy family that had been etched in his mind faded, bit by bit.

As he grew, the bright smiles on the elders faces couldn't hide the treacherous grins. He had seen what they could have done to get to the top, especially his bade papa.

Instead of the warmth and relief those happy moments brought, it now brought him a feeling of unease. That he was being fooled. Or deluded.

He was three when he came back from Nani's house, that was the earliest memory of him when entered the mansion. The memory was hazy, he couldn't remember what was happening, what he remembered was holding his mother's hands as he walked inside the place, the first thing that had greeted him were the smiles on the faces.

He blinked.

"Shivaay." He looked up to see his father standing at the doorway.

"Yes dad?" His tone remained blank, an expression he had mastered up only around the seniors of the house, "The deal with Germans is to be signed today, you need to attend it." His father's features were schooled neutral, but he could see the anxiety behind those words, something was wrong.

"Further, we have decided that you will be the one as the face when presenting the proposal, in conference that is to be held today."

Shivaay frowned at that, he was rarely involved in the conferences, mostly they were handled by his bade papa. He preferred the official meetings over to the ones which involves the media.

Shakti stood by the door waiting for his response.

"I will be there." He said getting the unspoken message from the words, "Is there anything else I should know?" He asked when he noticed that his father hadn't moved from his spot.

"No, not anything in particular. The details are in the file and the rest information will be filled up by Kulkarni." Shakti turned to regard him with his seemingly kind eyes, "Your bade papa and I won't be home tonight, if anyone asks you know it."

Shivaay nodded. He didn't bother to ask because he knew what answer he would get.

"Will you be in Mumbai?" He asked.

His father paused for a moment, before shaking his head in no.

He passed him a nod of acknowledgement in return. He had expected it.

"Are you and bade papa going out?" Shivaay tentatively asked Shakti when he informed he and Tej wouldn't be home tonight. The teen looked forth between his father and his uncle.

"We have some work." He answered; Shivaay turned to look at his father, his eyes turning to his bade papa who was standing by the door while his father talked to him. He stopped himself from sighing at that.

"Alright." Was all he had said and he watched them disappear through the door of his cabin.

"Alright." Shivaay spoke.

Even after two years since his return, he couldn't make a head and tail of his family's dynamics, the things remained messed up. If not more as he looked deep into the interactions they had shared.

He had returned two years, after completing his masters, he has worked hard those three years in establishing the family name abroad, it was his bade papa's instructions that he had to follow. And it gave him a chance to grow. And once they were stable enough, he was advised to return.

It hadn't been long since he had returned compared to the one he had spent away, taking in the years of his masters and his debut in the business industry as the legal head of the business in the States, everything seems changed yet at the same time, they don't.

And ever since his return, the greatness that he was made to believe in, the prosperity of the empire that his grandfather has established, has started fading in front of his eyes. Things have been simpler when he worked abroad, he had track of things that have taken place, things were much more tangled here.

The more he grew involved, the more his suspicions grew.

Because there were some things, that would never be explained. And he was not the authorised one to be able to access them. That power lay in only one hand, Tej Singh Oberoi's.

He sighed at the sudden request, or per say command, his eyes narrowed at the slightest hesitance that clouded the expression on his father's face.

Wasn't he the one who had condemned him when he lost the deal a week ago. It wasn't unintentional, he didn't put any momentous effort in staggering the deal, they didn't have any profitable benefits to the company.

But he was in for a surprise, when his bade papa was after that deal for months. The reason? He couldn't know nor understand. He was furious, especially at him, when he was informed that he wasn't able to score the deal.

And now, he was again signed to handle a high profile project.

Apprehensive about the recent developments, he merely nodded. He looked at the file that his father had left on the table. He flipped open the pages and his eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

Deshmukh?

Didn't they lose the deal to Shekhawats a week ago?

His insides churned when he remembered the disappointed gaze of his father, and his bade papa's sneer.

The project should have already begun, and was led by the Shekhawats.

How come they are the one leading the project now?

Another one that was to be added to the pile. Shivaay thought to himself with a wry smile.

He looked through the contents, to realise this was the same project they had lost. Did the Shekhawats backed away? Or have they been granted a second chance?

Do not disappoint us again. He could hear the words being drawled in the gruff tone that his bade papa used.

As if, I have any other choice. Shivaay thought as he closed the file, his fingers grazing the spine, as he looked at the headlines of the newspaper that he was reading a few moments ago.

The Market reigns in one hand,

And he didn't have to wonder whose.