"I still think that you are making a mistake..." Tej frustratedly kicked the ottoman. "Just kill him. Finish him off."
It had no effect on Veer. He sat there, gleefully watching the video of Shivaay screaming in pain again and again.
"Veer!" Tej hissed. "I am talking to you."
The smile remained a constant on Veer's face. He got up and went to his setup. He began to encrypt the message that he was going to send to the Oberois. Whilst that was happening, Veer kept seeing the video on loop.
Tej closed his eyes in anger. "Jhanvi had called me. She wants me to help them. I cannot keep denying to help a family member."
Veer finally kept his mobile away. Then he eyes Shivaay's now unconscious form and quipped, "I am a family member too. Isn't it surprising how no one has called me for help yet?"
"Veer..." Tej walked near him. "We both have reached the point of no return right now. If they find us, no one will be able to salvage anything. They will hang us. Shivaay is no common man. He is high profile. Bloody listen to me."
"Why should I listen to you my dearest Uncle?" laughed Veer. "You didn't do anything. I have done everything. And even if I don't remember it, I know for a fact that it was you who had forced Mom to throw me in an orphanage. I have no love for you either."
Veer turned his chair around. "I am only letting you come here because I will need your signatures on the property papers. After that, as we have decided, you will get to keep your life and the three companies you have chosen. Oh, also the family. Since you think that they will come to you after Shivaay dies."
Tej looked away. His eyes fell on Shivaay and a part of his heart that was still capable of feeling; quivered. Shivaay obviously didn't deserve this.
But the tragedy of being Tej Singh Oberoi was that he always felt more for money, for his status in society, his pride. Everything would always outweigh all other emotions Tej harboured in his heart. That's how he was wired, that's how he had grown up. It was no different now.
When Swetlana had so suddenly vanished, Tej's heart was broken. He had fallen for the woman. Despite everything. Had she run away? Had she cheated? Tej had no clue.
Then Jhanvi had also told him that she wanted a divorce from him. She had slyly vetoed a lot of things and taken away power from him. Even his dream project.
Tej had somehow retained his three mining companies from the clutches of Jhanvi. Neither Shivaay nor Jhanvi had stakes in them which obviously helped.
But then, Veer had come knocking on his door. He had threatened Tej that if he didn't let him use his and Swetlana's secret property; he would first leak Roop's secret to the world. Then he would tell everyone the exact details of his divorce from Jhanvi. Not just that, he would leak the information to the world that Tej and Mr Kapoor had actually started the Kalyani Mill fire.
It wasn't true. Tej had no idea who had done it but Veer had photographs and videographic evidence that Tej had visited the Mill on the night of the fire. It was a disaster waiting to happen. All his reputation, the one he had so carefully built over the years would shatter in a second. Tej knew that he was cornered.
But if Tej complied with Veer, he would get to keep his three companies. Veer had promised him that he wouldn't leak anything else. The rest anyway now remained with Jhanvi and Shivaay. So, Tej let Veer deal with that.
After everything settled, Tej would go after Veer. That was what Tej had planned in his head.
What Tej didn't anticipate was what Veer was doing to Shivaay. Even a person like him had to agree that it was too much. Tej had always assumed that Veer would financially break Shivaay. He hadn't seen this physical abuse coming.
And why? Tej didn't get it. Shivaay had nothing to do with the mess created at Veer's birth or Roop.
Without meaning to, Tej walked towards Shivaay and squatted near him. Keeping a hand on his hand, Tej sighed and whispered, "Let it go, Shivaay. Don't fight with Veer. Just die now. It will be easier for all of us."
*
Thank you for the kind comments. Let's see where this goes. Just a heads up, this isn't a regular story where humans become "khidkitod" (what the eff does that mean?) overnight and the underdog leaps to become the superhero. This is a normal story. I shall continue to treat it like that. Humans are grey. Let's keep them like that.
