Hi everyone 🙂 I have added a recap for the previous episode for those who haven’t been following my ff. Let’s begin without wasting time! 😀
RECAP: Shivaay and Anika find out that Swetlana was the master mind behind all the attacks. They discuss about her motives and Shivaay unintentionally confesses that he would be the onehurting if anything happened to Anika. They talk in a friendly way and go together to catch Swetlana and end that chapter once and for all. Continuing…
Episode 8: Precious
SHIVAAY’S POINT OF VIEW
“It’s no use hiding”, I called out. Holding Anika behind me with one hand, I was scanning the lavish living room of Swetlana’s house. The one word that came to my mind was extravagant. The woman sure liked her surroundings glitzy! I signaled my men to go ahead and search the entire place. Khanna stayed with us. After some time of waiting and searching, I was thinking of giving it up. She might have gone somewhere else. Just then I saw Anika move forward towards another door. “Where are you going?” I whispered to her. She gestured at me to wait, holding out both of her hands, palm facing downward. Then she pointed to the door’s foot. A small piece of cloth stuck out under the door. Most people would have missed it as the cloth was of the same colour as the polished marble, but not Anika! I followed her as she opened the door slightly to a dimly lit room and entered with hesitation. The sight that met us was far from what I had expected. Behind the door, huddled up in the corner, Swetlana sat shivering. Her eyes were wide with fear, and she seemed like an animal trapped in its own lair. She tried pushing Anika away, but she held her hand and pushed her back to the corner. Khanna had also come and he made Swetlana walk over to the chair at the gun’s point. Khanna cuffed her hands and then we began our interrogation.
“Why did you do it?” I asked bluntly.
At that moment, two of my men came accompanying another woman on wheelchair. “Sabrina!” Swetlana cried. The invalid was a beautiful woman, with striking features. Beautiful wide eyes set in a porcelain face with high cheekbones and soft pink lips completed the look of an angel as we knew from fairy tales. Although she seemed to be in her late thirties, her worried eyes seemed like a kid’s, lost in an unknown crowd. I noticed that she was looking at no one in particular. My eyes moved back to Swetlana who was crying silently. I turned towards Anika who was just as confused as I was. Some of my security men returned from their search and took up positions around us.
“Who are you?” Anika asked softly. Before anyone could answer, some men rushed in with guns pointed at us. It was like a scene from a movie where two gangs pointed guns at each other. The only catch was that the hero was never unarmed in the movie! The ACP strolled in leisurely and I protectively pulled Anika behind me. She seemed to be angry with me for doing that, but I could deal with it later. The ACP walked up to me and said, “So, you found us! That was quick.” I balled up my hands and said, “This won’t work for either of us. Just put down your guns and I’ll think of sparing you some pain.” I got that trademark smirk as a reply. I signaled one of my men to take Sabrina away. Just as they left, the ACP pointed his own gun at me and I dared him to shoot. The moment his finger pressed the trigger slightly, Anika pushed me and I fell on the ACP, resulting in the ceiling getting shot instead. The sound of gunfire prompted everyone into action and soon the room was filled with gunshots and smoke. My falling had caused the gun to be thrown away from the ACP’s hand. Before he could scramble to his feet, I landed a swift kick in his gut. Anika ran over and picked up the gun, but the way she held it her palms would have been funny, if not for the serious situation. I took it from her and pointed it at the ACP’s head. “Move”, I commanded. Luckily others had also surrendered and we could finally be on our way.
ANIKA’S POINT OF VIEW
What a day it had been! We had come to Oberoi Mansion, but I was unfamiliar with this place. It was underground but brightly lit and there was just one room with a glass on one wall and a door beside it. Inside the room I could see Swetlana sitting quietly and looking very tired. Her hair looked as if she hadn’t combed it in ten days! The expensive looking saree was draped carelessly over the shoulder, and minimal jewelry did not match with the Swetlana I had seen a few times. The fear in her eyes when I had seen her hiding in her own house was gone now. I guessed it was because of her sister. A scruffy looking Billuji was talking to Khanna ji. He ran his hands through his hair in his own tadibaaz way and moved towards the door to the other room. I followed him. He did not say much after returning, nor did I trouble him with my questions. Two chairs were placed, and we sat right in front of Swetlana. My throat feels parched already!
He repeated his question from before. “Why did you do it?”
SWETLANA’S STORY
“My sister, Sabrina, was working for the Oberois when she came to know about something wrong done by Tej. She confronted him about it, being the manager of an important division and they asked her to keep quiet about it. She asked them to rectify their mistakes or she would report it to the police, as she is an honest and righteous person. When she did not see any difference in the work by Tej and Shakti, she went directly to an ACP who said he would look into it.
When she was coming back from the police station, few men surrounded her and took her to a cliff. Somehow she managed to send me an emergency message with her location due to which I reached there with the police. At first we couldn’t find her anywhere, but later she was found at the bottom of the cliff, with twisted up legs and blood all over her head. We rushed her to the hospital and there we got to know that she had a bullet wound on her hand and her legs were damaged so badly that she could not walk again. She hit the back of her head when she fell, and that’s why she had lost her sight too. The trauma was so much for her to handle that she hasn’t spoken a word since then. But she still survived, and I’m so proud of her. That was the day I vowed to destroy the entire Oberoi family. As diamond cuts diamond, I became Tej’s shadow to trap him and throw him into darkness just like he did with my sister. Later I came to know that Tej had gotten that ACP terminated as well. So I hunted down his little brother who was posted in another city, I brought him here, got him promoted and waited for the right moment to strike.
Then one day something happened which could prove to be a golden opportunity for me. Ashok Sharma, who had been working with the Oberois for a long time, had turned traitor. One of our rivals had paid him highly to cause commotion during the Maha Arati and disrupt the reputation of your family. Already you guys were in limelight due to the ‘who would do the arati’ question. But negative publicity is also a kind of publicity! So, Tej asked me to let it be as it is. He cleared his name off it calling it a rival’s attempt to tarnish the Oberoi family name. So, after his death I met his wife. Gayathri seemed very angry about the whole matter. I just had to add fuel to fire and she did the rest on her own. That’s my story. But do you know what made everything so easy for me, Shivaay? You have enemies in your own family. Your bua, whom you let inside the Mansion on Raksha Bandhan, she was the one to help Gayathri know about the locker codes. And Tej, he still wants his own son to head the Oberoi Empire, regardless of how deserving you are or how incompetent your brothers are in business! When they don’t want to be protected, why are you wasting your energy? I’m glad I could get it off my chest at once, but be warned. No matter where I am, I’ll find a way to get back at you one day.”
Today’s post was longer than usual. So, can I expect more than usual comments as well? 😉
Also, I recently came to know that I have silent readers too 🙂 Thanks guys, for commenting and making my day!