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Ab aapko aur pratiksha na karwate hue , aapke liye haazir hain, iss kahani ka agla adhyay.....
IMPORTANT : This chapter is going to be LONGGGGG
Ayansh's POV
"Sir"
I look up at the voice and see Kaushik enter my cabin. I close the file I was reading and look at him expectantly. He comes to the desk and hands me a folder. "That's all we found" he says "our team is still looking in it but" he pauses. Noticing my gaze he speaks "Laksh sir will be better suited for this job. None of our members are as skilled as-" I hold up my hand and he shuts up.
"Laksh doesn't know about this and it should stay that way" I look at him sharply and he nods. I scan the papers he gave me. It has details about Kailash Agnihotri's project from 8 years ago.
"As per your information they plan to build a multispeciality hospital right now but there is no mention of it 8 years ago" Kaushik says. That's weird. If he is restarting the project he must've had the old documents and his old plans. Then why isn't there a mention of a hospital, I wonder. Something is really very wrong.
"Also the land that they bought for this, there is no legal documentation of it. No details of who they bought it from and for how much". So an illegal deal.
I turn the page and there is a list of investors who had invested in this back then. Some of the names are not that popular right now, some of the businesses already closed. I stiffen as I spot my father's and our company's name.
Wait. Our company's name. There must be something , some record of this in our archives. I made a mental note to search for it.
I scan the page again and my eyes stop at a name.
Khurana Enterprises. Lokesh khurana
"After the project was closed the money was returned to all the investors. Surprisingly there was no uproar or no scandal and no mention of the entire thing anywhere at all." Kaushik says.
" Kailash Agnihotri still holds the ownership over that land. There is no record of any deal being struck over it after he bought it. He never tried to sell it. Its as if-"
"As if he was waiting for the right time to begin his work again" I completed the sentence. My mind runs at the speed of light as I think over all the information.
I lean back in my chair. " I want a detailed file on every deal Kailash Agnihotri has ever struck, every land he has ever bought and every place he has ever visited. The events he attended, the people he met. Everything. Who are his allies and who are his enemies. I want to know everything there is to know about Kailash Agnihotri." I say , my gaze sharp.
I lean forward and place my elbows on the desk. " Also find out all you can about Lokesh Khurana and his involvement in this deal" I say and Kaushik nods.
After he leaves, my mind is still ablaze with various possibilities of the reality of this case. No one in my family , except dadu, knows about this. I know that having Laksh's skill set will help us move faster but, I sigh, he has been so happy lately. Ever since the news of the wedding, its like he has been on a different planet. If he knows about this, this deal and the actual reason behind this marriage, he will be so disappointed. In me. He will hate me, for sure. And call me selfish, but his hate and disappointment are something I can't handle. He has always looked up to me and if he knew that I am marrying Her for this, he will never talk to me again.
Keeping Laksh far away from this is for the best. He will help me for sure, but it will cause him more pain to hide this from Her. He likes her a lot. I know he meant it when he said that she is like his sister. She adores him too.
I can still recall how she defended him at dadu's party. She is fiercely protective of him and all my siblings, I think as I remember her subtly protecting Yuvika from her father's judgement.
I don't care what she will think about me when she finds out about this. Even if she doesn't figure it out herself, I will tell her the truth after I get my father out of this deal. But if she finds out that Laksh hid this from her too, both of them will be miserable. For my brother's sake , I cannot let either of them get wind of this.
6 pm
I crack my neck to relieve the stress, because I have been sitting in the same posture for too long. The workload has been so much that the only thing I have had today is breakfast in the morning. I rarely skip meals. I am very particular about my health, but ever since this wedding, my mind has been unusually occupied. Sometimes it's filled with thought about the hospital project, sometimes with whatever the hell that has been happening with the company, this thought is usually followed by flashes of Dev fucking Mittal. But mostly my mind is consumed with thoughts of Her.
My hand instinctively goes towards my phone and I open our chat. A small smile grazes my lips as I see the photo she had sent me. A fucking Tiramisu. I don't know why but a weird sort of contentment filled me when I saw that image. I had kept staring at it that night for longer than I would ever accept.
My staring session with the Tiramisu was grandly interrupted by my mother's call. An irritated sigh leaves my lips and I pick up the call.
"Hello Maa"
"Hello. Are you done with your work?" she asks.
"Uh not exactly..." I say as I stare at the pile of reports on my desk.
"Ayansh" she sighs "I had told you yesterday that we will pick your engagement rings today" she says exasperatedly. Shit . I completely forgot.
"Maa sorry I forgot-" I begin but she cuts me off.
"Sorry nahi chalega. I even spoke to Ishani and told her to come home at 6:30. I told her that you will pick her up. So drop your work and go to her. It's 6 already!!" she exclaims.
Pick her up? Will she be okay with that? I mean maybe she wouldn't have been able to say no to Maa.
"Maa she can come by herself. She has a car, a driver and I have work-"I say, preparing myself for her disappointing tone.
"No. I don't care. You are going to pick her up and bring her home. That's final" she says in her 'no more discussion' tone and ends the call. I sigh.
10 minutes later I am sitting in my car and driving it out of the parking lot. I should let her know I am coming. I shoot her a quick text and drive out.
I reached her office in more time than I anticipated but this is rush hour, so traffic was bound to happen. I sit there thinking whether I should go in or call her down, when I see her come out of the building. I get out of the car with the door still open and press the horn. She looks in my direction at the sound and her eyes widen a little as she spots me.
With quick, precise steps she comes to my car. She is wearing the same outfit she wore when I saw her the first time. A white shirt and beige trousers. Her bracelet and a silver chain adorn her body. Her open hair blows due to the wind as She tries to tame the wild curls. I go over to her side to open the door for her.
As I near her I take in her appearance. Her eyes look a bit tired with bags under them and her face looks a bit pale. She seems exhausted. She avoids my eyes as I open the door and she gets in.
I start the car and the ride is silent. I notice that she does not play the radio this time. We stop at a traffic signal and I turn to look at her. Her hands hug her body and her head rests on the window as she looks out. She sighs heavily and continues watching gods know what. I see her shiver a little. My eyebrows furrowed in confusion. It's very hot today, then how is she cold?
The AC you idiot, my inner voice mocks me. Look at how thin her shirt is, of course she is cold.
A shiver goes down her body again and I lean over and close the flap of the AC on her side. She looks at my hand and then at me as I lower the AC. Our eyes meet and her lips part. "Thanks" she whispers and resumes looking out of the window.
What's wrong with her? No complaining about the radio or no remarks about , well , me.
Vo kuch kehti hain toh tu use rude bolta hai aur ab kuch keh nahi rahi toh usme bhi tujhe problem hain, my subconscious says.
( translation - if she remarks then you call her rude and now that she is quiet you still have a problem )
Maybe she just wants some quiet, I think and resume driving.
We reach home and she gets out of the car with her bag. We enter and the sound of my family reaches my ears. I turn to my side to find Her not beside me. I look back and see her standing with the support of one of the chairs in the open sitting room. She stands there with her head down and eyes closed and a hand on her waist.
What the fuck?!
I rush back to her and hold her clothed arm gently. Concern fills my mind as she straightens and looks at me. "I'm fine," she says, her voice cracking a little. I look at her still not convinced that she is fine. "I am fine. Just tired" she shrugs and pulls her arm out of my grasp. I reluctantly nod and we walk towards the living room.
The attention turns to us as we enter the room. Maa calls Her and asks both of us to sit. We look at each other once before sitting. Beside each other. Contrary to the usual, her eyes look dead today. Depthless. The shine was lost.
"This is the jeweller I told you about" Maa says to Her and she smiles and greets him with a namaste. "I gathered that you would be getting late" Maa says while looking pointedly at me "so I chose some designs for you. So all you have to do is go through them" she says while pointing at the boxes on the table " and choose".
I see Her hand go to a box and Maa stops her. She looks up in confusion. "You have to choose for Ayansh, beta. He will choose for you" Maa says with a glint in her eyes.
My eyes stray over the boxes. I don't know a thing about jewellery and she is the queen of fashion. How the fuck am I supposed to choose?!
I look over the rings and my eyes land on a particular one. It's a beautiful floral like design embedded in diamonds on a base ring of gold. I admire the design and my gaze goes to Her hands as I imagine how it would look on her. Yes! This is it. This is the ring!!
My ring. She will be wearing my ring. Soon. My mark on her. A strange feeling blossoms in my chest. Unknown but good.
"This one" I say and everyone looks at the ring I am pointing to. I look at her to see her reaction and so does everyone. She picks up the box and her lips part slightly as her eyes rake over it. The nerves I felt die down as I see a small smile graze her lips and a flicker of the lost light in her eyes. "It's beautiful" she says and she looks at me. This time the smile stays on her face and I feel joy like never before. I am tranced by her beauty and the rare occurrence of her smile as she allows me the privilege to be the cause of it.
Someone clears their throat and we both blink and look away.
"Nice choice bhai '' Yuvika says from behind us and I turn to see all three of my siblings standing behind the sofa we sit on. Laksh folds his hands as he looks at me somewhat angrily. Shit. I never told him I was leaving.
"Aapko aisa laga nahi ki ek text karke apne bhai ko bata du ki main jaa raha hoon" he says sternly. Before I could reply, Avyaan intervened.
( translation - didn't you feel like you should text your brother and let him know that yo are leaving? )
( translation ⬇- what are you saying Laksh bhai ( brother ). Ayansh bhai wanted to come alone with bhabhi ( sisterin-law ). that's why he didn't tell you. am i right brother? sister-in-law? )
"Are kya baat kar rahe ho Laksh bhai. Ayansh bhai ko bhabhi ke saath akele aana tha na. Isliye aapko nahi bataya. Sahi kaha na bhai? Bhabhi?" he says and winks at Her who bites her lip to hide the smile on her face. Her cheeks turn red and holy gods kill me already.
She is blushing. My heart flutters on seeing her reddened cheeks but what catches my eyes is her lips. She is biting her lip.
Maa scolds the three since I am too busy admiring my fiance. Yes, MY fiance. I gulp as my body heats up at the sight.
"Beta what did you choose for Ayansh?" Maa asks and she licks her lips nervously. She leans forward and picks up a box and passes it to me. The ring steals my breath away. It was a beautiful golden ring embedded with small diamonds and at the centre of it, a deep, dark, blue sapphire.
Exquisite. Royal.
Are the two words that come to my mind. A genuine smile plays over my lips and I look up to find Her looking at me, at my smile. But her gaze catches on my cheek and I know what she sees.
Dimples
We give the boxes of the finalised ring to the jeweller. I pay for her ring while she pays for mine, even after Maa's constant request to let us pay for that. But I know that she is too independent, proud and most importantly stubborn, to let us.
Soon the rest of the family comes home and Dadu comes downstairs. They ask Her to stay for dinner and after much convincing she gives in. We sit at the dining table and like the last time I go to pull the chair at the right of mine for her to sit, and take my seat after she does.
The maids begin to serve dinner while my siblings talk to her. She listens attentively as Yuvika asks her questions related to her course.
"Beta are you feeling better now?" Maa asks Her and I feel confused. So does everyone apparently and Maa clarifies. "When I called her in the afternoon to talk about the rings I found out that she had cold. So I sent her my special kaadha. I hope you feel better now" Maa says and She nods. "Yes aunty. Thank you for doing that" gratitude drips from her voice, "I do feel better" she says. More like lies.
"You feel better?" I question her and she looks at me sharply. "You didn't look better outside when you were using the support of the chair to stand, were you?" I snap, feeling angry that she didn't mention this. This explains everything. Why she was so quiet in the car?! Her appearance. Her eyes.
"I am fine" she grits out glaring at me as others look at her in concern. Her voice cracks as she speaks. Yupp, definitely not fine.
My family looks at me shocked and so does She as I place my hand on her bare arm that is exposed due to her sleeves being rolled back.
Hot.
I place the back of my palm on her forehead and her neck. Frustration and anger fill me.
This woman is fucking burning and has the audacity to say she is fine.
"If you are fine then why does your body feel like hot fucking lava?" I ask angrily and Avyaan, who was sitting beside her and Laksh, who is sitting opposite her both touch her hands and look at her shocked.
"Bhabhi" Avyaan says concerned and she pulls her hand away.
"I am fine" she reassures everyone. I open my mouth to speak and she beats me to it. "My body feels hot because I haven't had much water today. Its dehydration." she says.
"When was the last time you ate?" Laksh asks with a quirk of his bro and I smirk. That's my brother!!
She opens her mouth and closes it, as if trying to recollect. I look at her horrified. She is actually trying to remember!! Damn this girl.
"You are trying to remember ?" Yuvika screeches in shock. Thank you Yuvika, I say in my mind as I look at Her.
"I-woh" she pauses as she looks down flustered. She closes her eyes, "Yesterday evening I did have some snacks" she says slowly and cracks an eye open.
So dehydration AND starvation.
Maa and Chachi look at her in shock. "Yesterday?" Maa says while chachi speaks at the same time "Some snacks?!!" "Thats its" Chachi says and both her and Maa get up. They help the maids get food from the kitchen to hasten the process while I start serving her whatever has arrived. Laksh and Avyaan join me while Yuvika goes to help the ladies.
"Beta you should look after your health" Chachu says and she looks down ashamed. "I am sorry" she whispers. She looks like a child being scolded. "Ok that's enough" Papa says "No one will say anything to her. And Ishani beta" she looks at him nervously "I know work is important but health comes first ok?" he says gently and she nods, her lips pursed.
After the food is brought everyone gets busy in serving themselves. I make sure that Her plate is filled with everything and then serve mine. I keep the spatula back as I see a hand gently place a bowl of curry in my plate. I look at Her and she shrugs.
"Avresti dovuto dirmi che eri malato. Lo avrei rimandato." I say gently.
( translation - you should have told me that you were sick. I would've postponed this )
She shakes her head. "Ho detto che sto bene. Inoltre, tua madre sembrava entusiasta per questo. Ha detto che il gioielliere non era disponibile dopo oggi." she says.
( translation - I said I am fine. Also, your mother seemed excited for this. She said the jeweller wasn't available after today. )
I curse. "Avrei chiamato qualche altro gioielliere o avremmo potuto comprare qualcosa di più economico. Il costo o il design dell'anello non mi interessa. Fate." I say desperately.
( translation - I would've called some other jeweller or we could've bought something cheaper. The cost or the design of the ring doesn't matter to me. You do. )
We both freeze. She looks at her plate. Fuck. The words had come out too quickly for me to retract them. But that did not mean that I didn't mean it. I don't care about the ring, when she was on the verge of fucking collapsing in the sitting room.
I go to speak but she does before I could, "Quel che è fatto è fatto. Non c'è bisogno di agitarsi su questo adesso." she says curtly.
( translation - What's done is done. There is no need to fuss over it now. )
I scoff. "Testarda" I mumble. ( translation - stubborn )
She looks at me and scowls, "Scontroso" she replies.
This infuriating girl!! I bang the table with my fist and everyone, who were pretending that they weren't overhearing, now look at us. "Did you just call me-?" I exclaim, annoyed.
"Grumpy? Yes. Ab tum ho hi akhdu usme main kya karu" she says bitterly and looks away. "If I am akhdu, then you are stubborn" I spat. She looks up with a scoff and then turns to me slowly with an eyebrow raised. "Fine" she clicks her tongue. She fishes out her phone from her pocket and my eyes widen as I see her change my contact name from Ayansh Ranawat to Mr.Akhdu.
Oh two can play the game. I scoff and change her contact name on my phone from Ishani Agnihotri to Ms.stubborn.
I control my laugh as I can practically see the angry fumes coming out of her ears. "Akhdu kahika" she says lowly and starts eating. I just smirk victoriously and look away from her to find everyone smiling at us.
"Toh akhdu ji" Avyaan says and She snickers along with Yuvika, while Laksh chokes on his water while trying to hide his smile. "Aapka vivaad hogaya ho toh mujhe dal pass karenge?" Avyaan says and then bursts out laughing. She looks at him and winks. Fucking winks. Damn it. Even my siblings are on her side.
I grab the curry bowl at the same time She does and we both glare at each other. She turns to Avyaan. "Avyaan, tumhe daal kisse chahiye?" she asks sweetly while Laksh covers his laugh with a cough. I glare at him, "Itni khaasi aa rahi ho toh cough syrup lau?" I snap and he tries to sober up. The key word being tries.
"Aap hi dedo bhabhi" Avyaan says "Kahi bhai ke haanto se ye kadwa na hojaye" he says and everyone bursts out laughing. She passes him the bowl and then goes on to serve him.
The irritation I feel at the whole situation dies down as I see her laugh with my family. I chuckle to myself and the rest of the dinner goes nicely.
Its almost 9 when she gets up to leave and I offer to drop her. And my family being the over dramatic people that they are, look at me as if I have grown horns on my head. She surprisingly, does not oppose and we leave the house.
I see her inhale and exhale deeply as we come out. A small smile blooms on her lips. "Feeling better?" I ask. "Yeah. Yeah I really do" she answers.
We get in the car and hit the road. A comfortable silence remains between us. From the corner of my eye I see her roll down the window and look out. The smile on her lips brings one to mine as I see her close her eyes and feel the cool night air. I switch on the radio this time, keeping it on low volume. Her smile widens while her eyes remain closed.
A compromise.
She opens her eyes and mine widen as we hear over the news on the radio that a tree has fallen on Xyz road. Fuck. That's on our way. I take a detour to avoid the traffic and take the longer route. We fall back into silence while some song plays on the radio at a low volume.
The distance between her house and mine is not exactly less and the detour is going to take a long time now.
After 10 minutes I stop at a signal. I look beside me to find her fast asleep. Her hands embrace herself and her chest rises and falls slowly. I roll up her window a bit.
She looks so peaceful as she sleeps. No stiffness in her body and no lines on her forehead.
Instinct guides me as I push a strand of hair out of her face and behind her ear. She sighs softly. I find myself unable to look away from her. Even while being tired and asleep she looks beautiful. The moonlight falling over her face makes her look ethereal.
She hugs herself tighter and I find myself removing my suit overcoat and draping it around her. She snuggles into it in her sleep like a child. I laugh softly.
The rest of the drive that stupid smile stays over my face.
We reach her apartment complex. She looks so comfortable I almost don't want to wake her up. But I have to, I sigh.
I shake her shoulder a little. Nothing. I take a deep breath. "Ishani" I whisper, the name falling out of my lips carefully, as if being a forbidden pleasure. I shake her again. She whines a little and I cannot help but chuckle. "Ishani" I say a little louder as I tap her shoulder.
Her head turns and she opens her eyes groggily. Her eyes widen as she looks at me and sits straight. She looks down to see my coat on her and then looks at me, finally realising that its mine. She hastily removes it. "Sorry" she whispers and rubs her eyes. I just nod as she gets out of the car and disappears into her building. I stayed in the same spot after she was gone for a long time. It was then tha it struck me, I have never been so much at peace and relaxed in many years as I was in this car ride. With Her.
I look at my discarded coat and pick it up. I don't know why but I bring it closer to my face and inhale. That stupid smile returns.
Fuck. It smells like her.
I hope you liked this chapter.
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