The Birlas' - CHAKRAVYUH

Chapter - 1: Manipulation And Guilt

At Akshnav Residence, Mumbai:

(A few minutes earlier)

"Anya! Please ek baar meri baat sunlo. Main jaanti hoon ki... I am asking too much from you but you are my last chance. Please stay." Akshara pleaded.

Anya came back and matched Akshara's eye line. Akshara could see that Anya was willing to listen. 

"Boliye ma'am. I am all ears. But agar aap mujhe convince nahi karpayi toh main wapis mudke nahi dekhungi. Yeh jo aapka employee ya friend jo bhi hain, Mr.Vikram Chauhan, I am done with him and my deal with him." Anya declared. 

That startled Vikram and Akshara both. None saw that coming and that worried Akshara more. She was confident about Anya's fixation with Vikram, and she was counting on it to make her oblige. But now, with that off the table, she had to think quick and say something that might earn her Anya's support. She definitely wasn't willing to start the process from scratch. 

Akshara was a little too hurt and impatient for that. She glared Vikram down who just looked stunned. He didn't expect such rejection from Anya. He ignored her for just a couple of days and expected her to kind of like his playing hard to get attitude. But he was too wrong in his assumption, and he didn't know how to react. He was determined to talk it out with Anya and make her change the impression she has of him, but her next words told him that it wouldn't be a cake walk for sure. 

"Ma'am! Maine jaldbaazi mein ek galat decision le liya...ek first impression ke basis pe. I expected something from someone who has no value for the words given. 

Aise logon se mujhe sakt nafrat hain. I may have my flaws, but I am true to my words, and I don't believe in repeating my mistakes." Anya's voice was sarcastic and she looked at Vikram pointedly who was glaring her in return. 

He wasn't someone who appreciated such insults especially when done in front of an audience. His ego is too huge to stomach anything of that sort. Anya turned to Akshara and said, 

"Like I said, main phir se aapke saath wahi galti nahi repeat karna chahti. That's the only reason I am standing here listening to you. So, make the most of it." Anya was downright rude and Akshara had to fist her palms to control her anger. 

She knew that her anger will only derail the execution of her plan and hence she tried her best to control it. Abhinav was quick to reach out and hold her to help her calm down. He was worried for Anya because of the tone she took. 

Not many took that tone with his wife ever since she became a star. Even the ones who took that tone were either manipulated into biting back their words or were at the receiving end of trolling in case of a public figure. If it was just a nobody, Akshara did everything she could to ruin their prospects in life. She never took insults lightly and he, being her husband, never dared to insult her that way.

Akshara appreciated the gesture by passing a smile and blinking her eyes in assurance. Abhinav understood the intent and stepped back. Akshara looked Anya in her eye and spoke in the most vulnerable tone she ever took,