The Birlas' - CHAKRAVYUH

PROLOGUE

The Hotel, Mumbai:

The Birlas' in Mumbai had their dinner together. Abhir was on the video call, and they were all having a fun banter. Harsh joined in from Jaisalmer and the family somewhat felt complete. They have wordlessly decided for themselves to try having a meal a day like this. When Abhir excitedly brought up the topic of Instagram story, Neil's face paled. He almost thought he got away without having to give any explanation, but his Champ had to bring that topic again.

Abhimanyu stiffened but covered it up. He didn't want Abhir to get worked up for nothing. He was already dealing with a lot of emotions, and he definitely had enough for the day. Roohi was finding it extremely tough to control her laughter looking at Neil's pale face and frown. She didn't want to rile up her Chachu, keeping in mind the fact that she may be on the receiving end soon and might need her Chachu to cover for her. 

Otherwise, she wouldn't have let this opportunity slip away by any chance. She would have laughed her heart out and riled up her father further to land Neil in a bigger soup. Neil got a call just then from Anahita and excused himself. Roohi couldn't help but speak on Neil's behalf,

"Poppy! Kyun itna seriously le rahe ho us baat ko. Chachu bas khush the mere performance se. Excited hokar daal diya. Big deal?" She justified. 

"Agar hum hi apni privacy maintain nahi karenge, toh hum bakiyon se kya expect kar sakte hain? Agar main khud hi apni family ke saath photos daalne lag jaun casually, main kaise Media se unki privacy expect karun? We need to practice what we preach Roohi." 

He tried to reason but Roohi didn't look like she understood anything.

"Poppy! Aap bekar mein paranoid ho rahe ho. Sab log toh yahan vlogging kar rahe hain. Aap mujhe bubble wrap karke nahi rakh sakte ho. 

Kal ka performance teen din baad telecast hojayega and everyone will know. Do, teen din pehle pata lag gaya toh kya hojayega? It was just a glimpse waise bhi." She argued.

Abhimanyu sighed. May be his daughter was right. Maybe he was being paranoid and letting his nerves dictate his actions. So, he decided to back track. 

"I guess aap sahi ho. Bas mera protective instinct mujhse overreact karwa raha hain. I will watch out." Abhimanyu said with a frown on his face. He didn't mean to dampen the mood at all. 

Roohi hugged him and said, "Aap cutest ho. Pata hain na aapko?" 

Abhimanyu shook his head. She rose on her toes and pressed a kiss on his forehead like he always did to her. A smile formed on Abhimanyu's face, and he hugged her back.

In the Balcony:

On the other hand, Neil didn't realize that Anahita's call had danger bells written all over it. He was too occupied with getting away Scot free from Abhimanyu that he didn't give a thought to why Anahita might be calling him all of a sudden.