LOVE, LIFE, SECRETS: Answers lie within – CHAPTER 40

CHAPTER 40: Plans and planning

(Day after Arjun-Pankhuri’s engagement)

Gauri was working on her laptop going through the designs…. She was working harder this time…. She didn’t want to let go of this opportunity she had found after many dark nights…. She wished to make everything perfect…. The big Oberois wedding, her dream project had turned out to be a nightmare and for the first time in life, she was scared, scared of losing everything she had….

She took a deep breath as the memories of that night when she had found Tia’s body flashed in front of her eyes…. She held her head as she tried to stop the images from resurfacing…. Whatever she tried, those haunting images would come back to her mind again and again…. She was tired of those futile efforts…. Those sleepless nights…. Those accusing looks people gave her…. She had noticed the way some of her employees looked at her…. They were always a little afraid of her due to her anger but this, this new fear she had noticed in the last few days was different…. It was as if they were afraid of her, did they think that she was…. No…. The thought also was piercing her heart…. Her own people doubted her….

“Di, are you fine”

Gauri looked up as she heard Soumya’s voice…. Soumya was quiet worried seeing Gauri’s state….

Soumya: Di, what has happened? You look so tired.

Gauri: Nothing Soumya, just thinking about the wedding.

Soumya: Don’t worry about that Di, we’ll work harder and make it successful.

Gauri smiled as Soumya assured her…. They were talking when Rudra entered the cabin…. His face was showing his happiness…. The girls looked at him surprised….

Rudra: Soumya, come with me, we have to go somewhere and it is important. And Di, I’ll see you later, got to go now.

Not giving any reaction time to the two, Rudra held Soumya’s hand and walked out of the cabin…. Gauri sat still processing what had happened in the last few minutes…. She shook her head at Rudra’s antics…. Since the time Gauri had started working on Shivaay’s wedding, she had bonded well with Rudra…. He was always cracking jokes around and cheering the people around…. It was only because of Rudra and his antics that it felt like an Indian wedding, otherwise the other people were all lost in their own works….

*****

“So you mean to someone powerful is involved in all this”

Siddharth said after hearing the information his friend had found for him and his friend nodded…. He was well determined to find out the person who had hired Karan and the fake employee to raise doubts against the Ranas…. He knew it was his plan to plant a fake employee and divert the attention of the police from the Ranas…. But things had not turned out exactly as planned…. First the police had found out about Tia and Dushyant…. Then about the employee being fake…. All this while he was thinking that the employee he met was being hired by his friend…. But when Ranveer and Mishti met him and revealed about Karan and the bank statements…. Siddharth was enraged…. Someone was trying to trap his family into the mess and he wasn’t going to let that happen….

Siddharth: Daksh, couldn’t you find the name of the person?

Daksh looked at him and shook his head negatively….

Daksh: But yeah, I checked through the Oberois and it is not them. Shivaay still believes your fake employee story.

Siddharth: If not Shivaay, who else has so much guts that he or she is planning against me?

Daksh: I couldn’t find the name, even after using all our sources, not even our well trained hackers could find the person who messed up with the bank records or company records.

Siddharth was lost in thoughts…. If not for Shivaay, then who could it be…. Apart from Shivaay, he had no other rival who could do this…. Who was this new enemy Siddharth was unaware of….

Siddharth: Whoever it is, we have to be more careful now.

Daksh: What do we do then?

Siddharth: My first priority is to keep Dushyant safe, so we have to make sure the outside world doesn’t know about Tia and him.

Daksh: That is an easy task, I’ll make sure no one gets even the slightest idea of this. Well, apart from us, only the police know the truth….

Siddharth: No, someone else also knows the truth.

Daksh was surprised and looked at Siddharth….

Daksh: Who?

Siddharth: Omkara Singh Oberoi….

Daksh looked at Siddharth surprised…. Who told Om the truth about Tia and Dushyant…. And if Om knows the truth, do all other Oberois know it too….

Daksh: How did Om find the truth?

Siddharth: From what I know, Om and Dushyant met, and then in the flow of emotions, Dushyant told him everything.

Daksh: If Om knows it, then it won’t be long before Shivaay finds out.

Siddharth: That is what I don’t want to happen, if Shivaay finds out, he’ll make the Ranas also look as the suspects. And we don’t want that attention.

Daksh: We have to be careful then.

*****

Soumya looked at the people in front of her and then at Rudra…. She gave him an angry glare to which he moved back a step…. Why had he brought her here in his Bhaiya’s office, that also without informing her…. If she had known, she would have at least mentally prepared herself to meet Shivaay Singh Oberoi….

Shivaay: Soumya, I am sure Rudra must have informed you why we are meeting here?

Soumya looked at Rudra with an annoyed expressions…. Why could Rudra not do things in the right order…. Rudra gave her an apologetic look….

Rudra: No Bhaiya, actually I didn’t get time to tell her….

Omkara: What, Rudra, so you just brought her here just like that?

Shivaay and Om both shook their head at their little brother’s acts….

Rudra: Are, why are you both giving such looks. Last night, it was too late to tell her and then in the morning, I got late so I had to rush her here.

Anika: Okay guys, there is nothing to worry about. Soumya, Rudra told us how you helped him in investigating the case till now, so we thought why not work together, and that is why you are here.

Anika took charge of the situation…. She knew waiting for the Oberoi brothers to do things at the right pace was a waste of time….

Prachi: Yes, the more the people to work, the faster we can solve the case.

Prachi and Anika smiled at her and Soumya too smiled back at them….

Within less time Soumya became comfortable around them, thanks to Rudra’s stupid acts and jokes….

*****

Riddhima entered the cabin…. She looked around the lavish cabin and her eyes sparkled…. Everything around the cabin screamed luxury, money and power…. Everything she had dreamt of, she could see it there…. She was brought of her thoughts by a voice from behind…. She turned and smiled seeing Tej Singh Oberoi….

Riddhima: Good morning uncle.

Tej: Good morning, I am glad seeing your punctuality. Time is money after all.

Tej signed her to take a seat as he walked and took his seat….

Tej: Riddhima, I have called you here for something really important.

Riddhima: What is it uncle, you seem a little worried.

Tej: I am worried, worried for Om.

Riddhima looked at him confused….

Riddhima: Om, but Om is fine, what it is there to worry about?

Tej: You very well know about Tia and her murder case, Shivaay is too worked up because of the case, so he isn’t able to give much time to office works and instead of taking advantage of this, Om is busy solving Shivaay’s problem.

Riddhima: But uncle, isn’t it good that Om is helping Shivaay Bhaiya, it is good for the family.

Tej: Of course, I want the family name cleared but I also want Om to take up this opportunity and replace Shivaay.

Riddhima looked at him shocked…. But then her lips curved into a smile…. Tej looked at her confused by this sudden change….

Riddhima: So you want Om to take Shivaay Bhaiya’s place?

Tej: Yes….

Riddhima: Then how can I help you uncle, I suppose you called me for that only.

Riddhima smiled raising her eye-brow and Tej relaxed and let out a smile…. He felt relieved of choosing the right person for the job…. He took out a file from his desk drawer and forwarded it to her…. She took the file looking confused….

Tej: You just have to get these papers signed and I’ll take care of the rest.

Riddhima: But what are these?

Tej: You run a business, read it and you’ll know.

Riddhima nodded at him…. He asked her to get the papers signed as soon as possible…. She assured him and walked out of the cabin….

Once Riddhima was gone, Svetlana entered the cabin and looked at Tej….

Svetlana: Looking at you I am guessing, it turned out the way we wanted.

Tej: Of course, it had to. I have known her for years, she couldn’t let go of this opportunity.

Svetlana: But will she be able to do it?

Tej: Yeah, Om is an emotional fool, she’ll definitely convince him with her emotional talks and he’ll do it without even knowing what he is doing?

Svetlana and Tej looked at each other and smiled…. Finally Tej could get rid of Shivaay….

*****

Arjun was working in his cabin when his phone rang…. He looked at the caller id and immediately picked up the call….

Arjun: Is it done?

POC: Yes sir, it all happened according to your plan.

Arjun: Did Siddharth Rana find out it was us?

POC: No Sir, he did not find out and there are no chances he’ll find it. He’ll never know we replaced his fake employee with ours.

Arjun: Good, that is what I want.

The call disconnected and Arjun looked out of the window…. Shivaay had been his friend for years and he had to make sure nothing wrong was plotted against him…. Siddharth Rana had tried to cover up for his brother and fool the police and Shivaay, but Arjun could not let him succeed…. Shivaay had many people plotting against him and Arjun had to tackle them all, it was not only important for Shivaay but for him also….

Arjun: Nothing wrong should happen to Shivaay, I have to make sure he is free from all of this. I cannot afford Shivaay being in any problems.

No matter what had happened with Tia, Shivaay’s name had to be cleared from all of this…. If Shivaay stayed in the mess for a longer time, it would become a problem for everyone….

*****

The entire room was filled with darkness…. The only light that entered was through the little gap between the curtains…. The darkness filled room felt like a place out of time…. A place to find solitude…. A place to find the lost calmness…. It was place away from the noise of the outside world….

Calm….

Silent….

Lonely….

Dushyant sat there on the cold floor looking at Tia’s photo…. Tears had dried long back and there were no more to shed…. Pain had been long forgotten as his body became numb…. The cold floor did not send any shivers through his body…. His eyes were focused on her beautiful face…. And the next moment, the fire was ignited and the photo was turning into ashes…. He smiled as he saw her beautiful face burning into ashes….

Dushyant: Dekha Tia, kaha tha maine mat shaadi karo Shivaay se, dekh liya kya ho gaya…. Jo tum uski ho rahi thi, ab kisiki nahi ho.

*****

Hello my dear readers, I hope you all are doing well.
Here is the next chapter of the story, do read and share your views.

As the name of the chapter says, a lot of planning and plotting is going on, everyone is working for their own benefits and to put others down.

So Siddharth and Daksh are together against the Oberois, what is their real motive? Tej has asked Riddhima to betray Om, will she succeed in doing so? Is Arjun’s intention to save Shivaay, only because they are friends, or do the Raichands have their own reasons to help the Oberois?

Who can be the person to kill Tia, and why? How is Tia related to any of these motives and reasons? Was Tia the actual victim, or did she become a victim because of these people planning to win against each other?

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