LOVE, LIFE, SECRETS: Answers lie within – CHAPTER 22

CHAPTER 22: Working together

(Day after Tia’s last rites were done – the day Anika had taken leave)

Mishti and Abir were both listening to Ranveer as he had been explaining them that how Priyanka would be helping them in the investigation….

Mishti was confused not understanding why a civilian would be helping them in such an important case especially when her family was also under suspicion…. Was this also some plan of the Oberois…. She was not able to interpret…. Looking at Priyanka, she could not decipher weather she was really the way she was looking at the moment, genuine or was all this façade to manipulate the case…. But then she had heard all around the department, Ranveer was not a guy who would be convinced so easily, and if he had allowed Priyanka, then he must have thought well about it…. Mishti made her mind not to assume things and get to know Priyanka as they worked together…. Also, this would serve her as a distraction from Abir and she could concentrate more on the case….

Little did Mishti know how easy it was for Priyanka to convince her Veer…. DCP Randhawa could do what he willed to do but Priyanka’s Veer could never say a no to her requests, and definitely not where he knew she would need him by her side always and where having her by his side would give him the support and strength…. From strangers to lovers, Priyanka and Ranveer had come a long way and knew each other inside out…. Having each other by their side in this crucial time was indeed the much needed blessing….

Abir was looking at Ranveer with doubts growing in his mind…. One look at Ranveer and Abir knew there was much more to this than the investigation and the Oberoi family….
Ranveer never liked anyone’s interference in his work even if it is a police officer…. And here he was standing in front of him with Priyanka explaining them that she would work with them…. How can Ranveer even allow this…. Why only Priyanka…. Why not one of her brothers…. Why not someone from the Oberois security team….

Abir’s mind was filled with questions and Ranveer knew that he was going to have a hard time…. The investigation was now going to be way harder and way complicated than before….

Knowing someone for years makes you a good interpreter of even the slightest changes in that person, same was the case with Abir and Ranveer…. They need not always have to put it in words to know what was going in the mind of the other….

Priyanka was standing there at a distance looking at the trio…. She knew that the decision she had taken would not be easy at all…. But she was determined that she would be with Ranveer in all odds…. She very well knew the consequences of this decision and she was ready to face them all…. If it is for Ranveer and her family, it was worth doing, she thought…. She could not look back…. This was her time to show the world that she was much more than just an Oberoi princess….

Mishti walked towards Priyanka and forwarded her hand…. Priyanka looked at her…. Mishti smiled and Priyanka too smiled back…. They shook hands with each other….

Mishti: Welcome to the team.

Priyanka: Thank you for making me a part of it.

Ranveer: So, let us start with the work; we have a lot to cover. First, let us brief Ms. Oberoi about what all we know.

Ranveer was in his cop mode and Priyanka smiled a little at the reference he used for her…. Abir could see through Ranveer’s attempts to show his best cop mode….
Even Mishti could sense something different in the way Ranveer talked…. This was so different from the time he had welcomed her to the team…. That day he sounded so professional and today it seemed as if he was trying to be sound as much professional as he could but well he was not able to achieve it….

Priyanka: You all please call me Priyanka, Ms. Oberoi sounds different.

Abir: Even I feel that, it sounds weird and now that we are working together, we should call you by your name only.

Ranveer: Okay, so let us brief Priyanka about the investigation till date.

Mishti: We haven’t gathered much apart from the fact that Tia was stabbed a day before the wedding, also according to the postmortem reports, she was slow poisoned for over a month. That is all we have found till now.

Abir: We have checked her background history but nothing suspicious has been discovered.

Priyanka: Tia was slow poisoned?

Abir: Yes, reports reveal that she was being slow poisoned over a month.

Priyanka: So, all this was happening in our house and we did not know about it. And what about the man, I told you the other day?

Mishti: Which man are you talking about?

Ranveer: Priyanka was telling that she has seen Tia with a man several times, they both met in secret and whenever Tia was asked about him, she denied meeting anyone.

Priyanka: I am sure that man has something to do with all this.

Abir: So the first thing we do is to find that man.

Mishti: I think we should check Tia’s call records, if she met that man, that’s mean she must be in frequent contact with him.

Ranveer: Right, I’ll ask Sharma to get her call records.

Priyanka, Ranveer, Abir and Mishti were busy reading through the call records highlighting the numbers frequently contacted…. They were all surprised that Tia had been using two different numbers to contact few people….

Priyanka: She has only contacted her family, my family and some of her friends frequently over the past months, but all these from her first number.

Mishti: This number…. 9805390878…. She has talked a lot to this number in the past months from her other number.

Abir: Almost every day and that too for long hours.

Ranveer: Maybe this number belongs to the man about whom Priyanka was telling.

Abir: It can be true; I’ll ask Sharma to get details of the owner of this number.

Sharma came in with the details after sometime and handed the paper to Abir…. Abir read them and was surprised…. He looked at the others….

Ranveer: Who does it belong to?

Abir: This number has been registered under the name of Rana Group of Companies.

All others looked at him shocked….

*****

Shivaay saw Ranbir and Prachi entering the cabin…. He could easily understand from their faces that they both were worried about something…. They both looked at each other…. Prachi signed Ranbir to say it while he nodded signing her to relax…. Shivaay was seeing their little conversation confused not knowing what he was supposed to interpret….

Shivaay: What has happened to both of you, why are signing each other like this?

Ranbir: Bhai….

Shivaay immediately understood that something was wrong…. Ranbir would never say it in front of Prachi if it was not something really important and something really serious….

Prachi looked at them surprised hearing Ranbir’s reference to Shivaay….

Shivaay stood up from his place and walked towards Ranbir…. He placed his hands on Ranbir’s shoulder…. Prachi could see their brotherly bond getting reflected in their actions…. They did not seem like boss and employee anymore…. It looked like an elder brother talking to his younger brother with concern…. It was nothing different from the way Shivaay would have talked to Rudra….

Shivaay: What is it Ranbir?

Ranbir: Bhai, we searched through Tia ma’am’s call records and we found her talking to a particular number a lot over the past months. We also searched for the owner of the number and it is registered under the….

Shivaay: Under whom?

Seeing Ranbir not being able to say it…. Prachi completed the information for them….

Prachi: Rana Group of Companies.

Shivaay: What?

Shivaay took a few moments to understand and absorb the information that he had received…. Rana Group of Companies…. Of the billion people in this world, why did Tia have to contact someone from the Ranas…. He clenched his fists tight to calm down his anger…. Ranas…. The name was enough to set fire to Shivaay’s heart….

Shivaay: Are you sure, it is someone from the Ranas?

Ranbir: Yes Bhai and I searched more information to confirm it. Ranas had bought sim cards for all their employees under the company’s name to give them better communication services. We couldn’t find exactly who that specific number belongs to but it is clear that it was purchased by the Ranas only.

Shivaay’s mind was filled with questions as he remembered about his rivalry with Siddharth…. Why would Tia be in contact with someone from the Ranas Companies…. Was she plotting against his family with his rivals…. Was it also one of Mrs. Kapoor’s plans…. Was Tia using him all this while and he had no idea…. Was it Siddharth Rana’s plan or was it Mallika…. Would Mallika really stoop so low to get back at him….

Mallika….

The name that never failed to bring a smile on Shivaay’s face for years was now the same name that filled him with anger….

The name that had always filled him with hope and happiness was now the name that he never wished to hear….

Those eyes which he had found so innocent and truthful were the eyes that had betrayed him….

That smile on those beautiful lips was something he had always admired and now he hated seeing that smiling face….

Shivaay had never been in love with Mallika…. She had always been the best friend he needed in his life…. Arjun was always there for him but Mallika added another aspect to his life…. He was happy to have two such amazing friends in his life…. However his happiness was short lived as Siddharth Vikram Rana entered their lives and turned it upside down…. A few months and Mallika was Siddharth’s fiancé and Shivaay’s ex-girlfriend…. Shivaay was enraged by the fact that Siddharth could give Mallika the love she wanted and he could not….

Pushing away the thoughts he calmed himself down….

Shivaay: Anything else that you both found?

Ranbir: Nothing other than this, but we have to find about the person whom she talked to.

Prachi: And this can only be found if we meet someone from that company.

Shivaay: We have to talk to Siddharth Vikram Rana. Only he can lead us to that person.

Ranbir and Prachi were surprised and confused….

Ranbir: But why will he help us after all we are their business rivals?

Shivaay: I know but we have to try, Siddharth wouldn’t let anyone else access his company information. If we even try using our sources, we’ll end up wasting a lot of time. If Siddharth doesn’t agree then we’ll use some other way.

Prachi: I think you both should go and talk to them while I’ll see if I can find anything else.

Ranbir: It is already late now; we’ll have to meet him tomorrow.

Shivaay: Okay then, fix an appointment with him.

Prachi and Ranbir looked at him surprised….

Shivaay Singh Oberoi will meet Siddharth Vikram Rana with an appointment….

Shivaay looked at them and understood their shock….

Shivaay: Sometimes you have to play with your rivals’ mind to get your work done.

Shivaay gave his usual businessman smile while Ranbir nodded at him and Prachi just looked on with a smile….

*****

Hello everyone, I hope you all are doing well.

So, all ready for a Shivaay Singh Oberoi-Siddharth Vikram Rana meeting?
Does the number belong to Dushyant Rana or there is someone else involved? Will Siddharth help Shivaay, or pull this opportunity to give it back to his long time rival?
Will Ranveer and team find the clue first or Shivaay will grab the chance?

Also, an important question, choosing Tia as a victim was easy for me, but now I don’t know who will be the second victim (Someone else will also die, not anytime soon though), so please help me make a choice,

A. Gauri Mehra
B. Janhvi Singh Oberoi
C. Dushyant Rana
D. Someone else from your choice

Also, my final exams and submissions are starting soon, so I’ll update less frequently, but I’ll update once a week I guess, and not let the chain of the story break.

Keep reading and smiling!!!
Take care and stay safe!!!