Originally posted by: vivacious_gurl
Prinku when can v expect the next update?
Chapter 31: Going to where it all began
Early hours of the morning, at a nondescript chai shop:
"Did you review the initial material that I sent you?" Asked Param. "Yes, Sir." Said Anika. "Impressions." Demanded Param.
"Sir, there are two main points here 1)Svetlana is pregnant. Now I am sure real or fake at this point she will furnish an authentic pregnancy report. If we insist on a DNA test of the fetus at this point she will claim that it is an attempt to determine the gender of the baby and thereby shield herself through law. A DNA test at a later stage is possible, but by then she will start to show as she claims or rather it will be too later for Mr Oberoi. As to why it will be late for him brings us to the second point 2)Svetlana has evidence proving Mr Oberoi lobbied for government contracts and also committed murder. By her admission to Mr Oberoi's, Svetlana faked the murder tapes, however I am not aware of the contract deals.
Even if we can prove that the baby is not his and that he did not commit murder, it will be very hard to prove his innocence with regards to the contracts if he is indeed guilty." Finished Anika.
"Ok. So, it is obvious now that the plan is watertight. Svetlana planned well. What does that tell you?" Asked Param.
"That this was carefully, no very carefully planned. I suspect that this happened over years." Said Anika promptly.
"Yes! So what should we do about this?" Asked Param.
"I think we need to start at the beginning." Said Anika.
Param nodded. "Get started then. Work alone and work discreetly. You are to work in the Oberoi Mansion. Tej requested it." He said before Anika could question him.
Nodding, Anika rose and left.
Early hours of the morning, Oberoi Mansion:
"Shivay, I won't lie, the contracts are not all white. But.." Said Tej. Overnight, Tej Singh Oberoi had aged years. His once arrogant and strong face was now visibly disheveled. His always immaculately combed hair was now all over the place. Eyes bloodshot, for once, he truly looked helpless.
"Wow Mr Oberoi! You do us the honor of not lying!" Sneered Om as he came into Shivay's study.
Shivay and Tej looked up as Om entered. Years of practice let Tej school his features from pain to nonchalance. "If you have nothing to contribute, I suggest you stay out of this." Said Tej, looking away from Om.
How dare you Mr Oberoi!" Thundered Om. For once, it was the ever placid Om who was doing the thundering and the ever volatile Shivay that was the epitome of peace and quiet. "Om," began Shivay in his soothing tone (yes he did have one), "Please let us handle this." "Handle what Shivay?" Said Om, "This man left no stone unturned to disgrace my mother. He never deserved her. He is old enough to be a grand dad and yet, he is off making new babies." Spat Om.
Every word Om uttered was dipped in the deepest shades of hatred Om felt for his father. This was a fact not lost on Tej at whose heart each word drilled a new hole, a hole never to be filled.
"Thats enough Om!" Said Jahnvi. All three men turned to face Jahnvi, who somehow slipped quietly in during the entire exchange. "How can you mom?" Demanded Om with a mixture of frustration and anger. "He humiliated you by getting a woman as old as Shivay pregnant." Continued Om. "Om, I said that is enough. The kid is not his." Said Jahnvi. "And you know, how?" Demanded Om. "Is this the same blind faith you have for him always?" Asked Om. "You are foolishness is now annoying me. I expected better of you. Open your eyes mom. I will get you out of this. I will talk to a divorce lawyer today and you don't get to say No." Concluded Om and walked out with one last look at Jahnvi.
With a deep sigh, Jahnvi turned to Tej and said, "I will handle him. How can I help?"
Turning away from Jahnvi's eyes that made him want to burrow his head into the ground, Tej said, "I am not sure what exact contracts she is talking about Jahnvi. Some of them were really old. I fear this may be the one just about when Shivay was born.
"Bade papa, Sorry to interrupt, but what makes you say that?" Asked Shivay.
Just as Tej was about to answer, Shivay's private connection to Khanna signaled, answering it Shivay gritted his teeth and said, "Let her in."
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Anika only read about and saw Tej Singh Oberoi in the papers. Today for the first time, she got to meet the man. Pictures did little justice to describe the aura of power that surrounded him. When down and wounded, he was akin to a Lion. Wounded, yet not quite weak. But, the mighty Tej Singh Oberoi did not dominate the power equations in the room today. That would always be Shivay. Sighing mentally, Anika prepared herself for battle.
"Good Morning Mr Oberoi. I am sorry to have disturbed anything important. Khurrana Sir and I have been going through some notes and files that we requested from your office and we were having questions. Sir said it was best if I asked you directly about them." Said Anika, looking directly at Tej and Jahnvi.
Even before Tej could reply, Shivay said "Why are you here?, you are the assistant if I am not wrong. Why is Khurrana uncle not here to deal with this personally?"
"Shivay, let us not start another one now." Said Jahnvi. "Anika, please do ask whatever you have in mind."
Nodding in her head in thanks, and ignoring a silently fuming Shivay, Anika turned to Tej and said "Mr Oberoi, we were going through our notes and few points did not quite add up. First, there is the thing about the contracts. At this time, we do not seem to have any information about which contract is Svetlana referring to. Second, when we pulled out all information about her from the records you gave us access to, we noticed that though she joined the Oberoi industries 8 years ago, she was transferred to your office 6.5 years ago. Her file says Internal Transfer', but does not tell us where was she transferred from. Can you clarify this for us?"
Tej took a moment to survey Anika before he answered. Face devoid of any emotion he said, "Anika is it?I will echo Shivay to answer your first query. I will speak to Param directly about this." From the corner of his eye, Tej could see Shivay begin to smirk. "That being said," continued Tej, "I am very interested why you would make the observation about employee records and why did you ask about Svetlana's transfer. I am being honest here, I did not know of this. I often assumed she started out as my assistant's assistant. Will you explain why you think this is important?"
"Certainly Mr Oberoi. We wanted to see how is it that Svetlana got access to your contracts. Now, it would make sense if she, in her now capacity as your assistant and head of personal security was a part of the deal making process. However this is assuming that these contracts are recent. What struck me as odd, was how within your office she is among the few people to hold a dual appointment. Her qualifications are vague and do not seem to relate to the job. More importantly, I wanted to get a sense of here background and motivation for framing you. Since, she was an internal transfer, it makes me wonder if she intended to target you from the start or if the target changed with the transfer." Said Anika.
As Anika finished the room went dead silent and Anika could very well hear the wheels of the Oberois' minds spin. Minutes passed before anyone spoke, and then Tej said, "Thank you very much for looking at it this way. I did not check her records ever from before she became my assistant. I assumed she was hired by my then assistant. Usually we have a record of where within my offices were staffed transferred from. However,.." Paused Tej.
"She was hired by another branch of the Oberoi industries." Stated Shivay.
It was Anika's turn to look him in the eye now and say, "Was it your office that hired her first Mr Oberoi?When did you figure this out?"
"Why would I tell you?You are not my legal council." Replied Shivay, not breaking eye contact.
"Fair enough. As a note of caution to your legal council then, will you tell them that we suspect you may have been a target at some point?But you must have figured that already, isn't it?" Retorted Anika.
Jahnvi gasped, "Anika beta, what are you saying?."
Turning away from Shivay, Anika said "Khurrana sir and I believe with absolute certainty that Svetlana has been planning this for a very long time. I am sure you believe as well that she could not have done this all alone. This is not a regular case of honey trapping a rich business man. There is definitely more here. Possibly to do with the contracts?" Probed Anika gently.
"I agree Anika. I need to look into few notes before, I get back to Param. I like the angle you are taking with regards to Svetlana's background. I would like for you to pursue this further and as soon as possible." Said Tej.
"Definitely Mr Oberoi, however to do so, I will need access to her employee records from Mr Shivay Singh Oberoi's office." Said Anika.
"Now, its my game!" Thought Shivay. "Submit a written request to my legal team. Once they approve it, I will let you near the documents." Began Shivay. "Really Shivay?" Chided Jahnvi, "That will set us back some more on time."She said. "Don't worry Badi Ma. Anika here is a very efficient lawyer. I am sure she can type in a request within the next hour. My legal team is notified and is waiting for the request to come through to start workin. If Anika does her job well, everything get started in an hour." Said Shivay as he concealed his glee out of respect for Badi Ma. "Furthermore, this way I will make sure that she is not part of a bigger scheme herself. Once my legal team approves documents, she will have to personally verify them in my presence. No document leaves this house. I am sure Anika is blessed with an amazing memory, she will remember every single detail." Added Shivay.
Taking in what was happening, Jahnvi said, "Ok. Good idea, actually I think Anika should work from within Oberoi Mansion. Why don't we get her set up here?"
"That is a good idea Badi Ma, but I think I have a better office in mind for her." Smirked Shivay.
"Well Ok, Anika beta come have some tea and breakfast with us. Shivay get her office ready soon." Said Jahnvi taking Anika along with her.
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"I am very sorry again beta, Billu should not have done this. But don't you worry, I will ensure that you are very comfortable there." Apologized Kalyani.
Shivay found a small dark remote room, in a long forgotten wing in the Oberoi Mansion to set Anika's office up.
"It is Ok Dadi, I will manage." Smiled Anika.
"Beta, why don't you go along. We got the office cleaned up and some basic furniture put in. I will personally have some staff assigned to you and head over there in few minutes."
Smiling and hugging the old woman, Anika made her way to her office.
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Every one is vulnerable. The ever smiling Anika, who hid every pain from the world, from her brother whom she loved to bits could never mask her fear for darkness. The dark stripped bare from Anika every shield, every defense she put up to fight with the world.
As he watched her make her way to the small dark room, Shivay's mind was making several calculations. He did not think she would be attentive enough to catch the subtle notes in the employee records. Much as he hated to admit it, he was impressed. "I bet she will bungle the report" said his mind, "Oh she won't! You know that!." Said his heart. "We have bigger things to think about!" Reminded his brain again. "God! This woman would be a huge distraction he would have to get over!" Decided Shivay as he followed her, keeping enough distance and moving quietly lest, she detect him.
Anika stopped as she found the office door. The office really was in one remote dimly lit part of the Mansion. Shaking her head in exasperation she knew that Shivay would do everything he could to make this really hard on her. Sensing the light around her, her heart tripped, this would not be good. As she opened the door, her worst fears were confirmed. It was dark and unlit. It was possible that the cleaning staff forgot to turn on the lights as they left. Anika turned around, looking to signal for help, calling out even for someone to help her. Minutes passed before she shook her head and with trepidation she entered.
Shivay watched Anika as she looked around for some help. It was strange to see panic register in those golden brown eyes. "What is the deal with her?" He thought. He would follow her once she went in, he decided.
As he entered the room he could hear Anika's labored breath. He sensed her panic and made a move to reach out to her. As Anika took steps back towards the door, she walked back into Shivay. Instinctively Shivay's arms wrapped around her, to soothe, to protect. The dark so unwelcome to Anika, was welcoming to Shivay, for it let him mask his feelings. Feelings of concern and a need to protect that would be showcased evidently in the light, were concealed perfectly by the dark. Holding on to her, he whispered into her ear, "Anika, are you Ok?what happened?"
Try as much as she wanted to, Anika could never conquer her fear of the dark. Giving up, Anika took steps back to the door, to make an exit when she collided into a strong warm body. Rather than sense danger, her heart was beginning to relax. The warmth and the smell felt like a safety blanket. The arms that wound around her and held her in place were not menacing, but friendly and reassuring. Sensing Shivay, Anika relaxed a little and held on to his arms, as though they were the light beacons she sought for.
Concern over took every other emotion Shivay felt at that moment. Gently turning her in his arms, Shivay hooked his arm under her chin, lifting her face towards his. He wanted to see those golden brown eyes. Assure himself, that everything was fine. Just as Anika saw the light in those brilliant blue eyes, the room lit up.
It was thus that Kalyani found Anika and Shivay.
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"Billu! Anika! What happened?" Asked Kalyani as a very red faced Shivay sprang away from Anika as though she was a live hot wire.
"Nothing Dadi. Anika seemed to have lost her way in the dark. Really, I fear how she will handle this case when she can't move around fast enough to get to the light switch." Said Shivay.
"Uh-huh" said Kalyani. "Sorry Dadi, I really could not find the lights." Added Anika. "That is Ok beta, the staff was supposed to leave them on. I have assigned two of my personal staff members to be of assistance to you. They have gone to get you some office supplies, and will look into hooking up this room to our main intercom. That way you can easily stay connected to the main rooms of the mansion. This is really a very poor location." Finished Kalyani, now turning towards Shivay. "I expected better Shivay. She needs to be comfortable as she works."
"She needs to be efficient Dadi, not comfortable." Sneered Shivay as he recovered his composure. "I will have the request an hour from now isn't it?" He asked turning towards Anika. Gesturing towards his watch and tapping it he looked into Anika's eyes and said "Your time starts now." as he walked out.
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