SS || What Happens In Switzerland [Pt.IV Updated] - Page 4

Originally posted by: NYCForever

PM me as well sweety

Originally posted by: Innika

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Thank you! Will try my best😊</font>

Originally posted by: Innika

Haha, thank you so much!

I promise to try to live up to your expectations, lovely! And yes, I'll definitely try to update ASAP, hopefully the prologue should be up today 😃

ps. Is there any chance you're going to post some more writing soon?

Originally posted by: jarir2010

superb plot.interesting,plz continue soon.

Originally posted by: richa1792

Innika, where's my prologue? 😭

You know, my new year resolution is to write 52 stories this year. One for each week. So I am hoping that I'd get a chance to post more on here. I'm really feeling PriVeer at the moment, so hopefully I'll write something and put it up by this weekend. 😊

Originally posted by: twerping

Superb premise! Can't wait for the story! Please post update soon!

Happy new year btw. 🤗

Prologue | A Good Spectator

Oberoi Mansion, as opulent and grandiose as it was, had never been used for business.

They had the towering buildings of Oberoi Industries looking over India for that - not to mention the thirty other countries that the business held offices in. Even parties and gatherings held for the sole intention of furthering business relations were strictly not to be entertained in the house.

It was an unspoken rule now.

In all of the years that the Oberoi empire had stood; Kalyani had drew a firm line between the family and the company.

Over a warm dinner with her husband, in the first few years of their marriage, she had explained it to him reluctantly. As a child, her father had been a gold merchant, and she had observed the repercussions that his family had faced in the wake of the corporate world.

To this day, only her eldest son, Tej had questioned his mother once, and when he had been on the receiving end of her vehement anger, such that he had never previously witnessed, nor experienced, the idea had been completely dismissed.

Now, as she looked around the room; at her ashen-faced sons and their equally distressed wives, she sighed. If not a business meeting, a family meeting urgently needed to be held.

These four, whatever they may be, were not the ideal parents. Tej was a business-obsessed manic, to the point where he had decided to forgo the love of his life in his relentless toil at Oberoi Industries. Said love of his life, Jhanvi, had been a fantastic businesswoman in her day, but under the repression of her husband, had taken to alcoholism for a large part of her married life. Her younger son, Shakti, did not possess the drive that his brother did, and devoted more of his time in following his orders, rather than pursuing any self-motivated endeavours. His wife, Pinky, with a bloodthirst for social acceptance, harbored suppressed resentment for her husband, and envy towards her sister-in-law, for what she, herself could never be.

In the face of all of their own problems, their children had suffered. Her beloved grandchildren were the light of her life, and she had always prided herself on what she had taught them. She had taught them to value love, first and foremost, and they had all taken their time to learn that, in different ways. It didn't really concern her then, sometimes the end mattered more than the means.

But now, as she reflected on the events of the last few months, she wondered whether her own principles had fallen short somewhere.

The tension in the air was thick, and aching - years of knowledge told her that all four of her children wanted to talk desperately, but didn't know where to start. She didn't blame them; the situation did strive to elicit more than that.

"Oh my mata, I can't deal with this anymore!" Pinky finally broke out, as she slapped the marble ottoman in frustration, making the tea and saucer on its precipice clatter, and meet its death on the tiled floor.

Almost instantly, her husband and sister-in-law chimed in, their words igniting the previously still air of the living room.

"Did you see the way Shivaay looks at Annika? All he needs is for her to forgive him." Shakti rubbed his aching forehead, looking at his mother almost pleadingly, as if she could help the situation. She, in turn, just nodded and then fixed her silent gaze on her two daughter-in-laws, who suddenly had identical looks of indignance on their faces.

"Why should Annika forgive him so fast? God knows he deserves it!"

"Oh My Mata, Shakti Ji! Shivaay forced the girl to marry him for god's sakes. And then believed that wretched London-born witch, Tia, when he should have been supporting his wife!"

Pinky's last words made everyone's eyebrows shoot up, but unlike the others, this time, her mother-in-law decided to speak up, glaring at her almost accusatorily.

"If I'm not mistaken, Pinky beta, weren't you the diehard Tia advocate?"

"The situation's getting from bad to worse. Annika's moved out of their bedroom as well. She's been sleeping with Saumya for quite a while now." Jhanvi cut in, before Pinky could register the quip properly.

When Tia's truth had finally come out, Pinky (Tia's ex-diehard advocate) had been the most livid. She had slapped the idiotic woman until her cheeks were ablaze, and without waiting for Annika or Shivaay to do the honors, had wrenched her wrist and all but thrown her out of the mansion. The following two weeks had routinely seen Pinky grabbing Annika, and sobbing, apologizing profusely. She still got emotional about the situation sometimes, even though her daughter-in-law, time and time again, assured her that she had forgiven and forgotten.

"Speaking of Saumya, why is she ignoring Rudra?" Shakti asked hastily, to diffuse the growing emotional upheaval in the room, and was surprisingly aided by someone unexpected.

"You've noticed it too? I can't believe it; no one ignores an Oberoi." Tej looked up from his newspaper, his eyes alight with a childlike wonder that no one remembered he had once had.

It was quite a personal issue for him because of his satisfaction with the family name. The power that his last name held never failed to be his saving grace in any situation. It was even more pressing of a matter, because his youngest son was a serial womanizer (something that he secretly thought was a huge feat) and so even the thought of a girl rejecting him, made Tej almost choke on his Americano.

"Since when do you two pay attention to anything that happens in the family?" Pinky and Jhanvi questioned in sync, looking at both of them in genuine astonishment - as far as they were concerned, their husbands knew nothing about the family, aside from their bank details.

"Excuse me, we're businessmen, and it's our job to read the fine print." Tej smirked at his wife, while Shakti addressed his own, calmly patting her hand, almost as if to soothe her.

"Sometimes we just choose not to comment."

"Well for the record, Rudra's been avoiding her too." Jhanvi sighed, and she almost rolled her eyes when she saw a glimmer of relief in Tej's eyes. She knew the thought of an Oberoi being ignored was eating away at him, and if not to completely heal the blow, it would definitely mollify him to know that the cold war was being played from both parties.

"You know, I'm just glad that Om isn't here to see this. God knows how he would react." Kalyani sighed, as the truth of her words sunk into her fellow meeting attendees.

Her peace-loving artist of a grandson, had been caught up with work in Barcelona for the past month, so he had missed almost all of the drama that had unfolded. His brothers called him almost every day though, and filled him in with romanticized versions of the day to day happenings of Oberoi Mansion.

She knew that Om would react terribly; all her grandsons seemed to be emotionally connected on a different wavelength, so when one was upset, the other two would respond accordingly. However, she missed his unwaged knowledge of the world, and its people, and how he always knew what to do.

She, on the other hand, was out of ideas. And as it seemed, the others didn't have many themselves.

"Are we going to do anything about it? Or do I have to sit and watch as all of our children get Oh My Mata-ed?!"

"There's nothing we can do." Kalyani replied quietly, which almost broke the resolve of her children, who were used to her being the most determined of them all, especially when it came to love.

"I agree, it's their issue, and its best if they solve it between themselves." Shakti nodded, his eyes not meeting his wife's.

"As much as I hate to say it, it's their personal life and we should give them space." Jhanvi added after a while, playing with her wedding band anxiously.

"What are you saying, Jethani Ji! We're their parents, and they our children, and I don't know about you, but I have all the right to involve myself in their problems if it means that they stop acting like what they are right now!" Pinky's voice rang out, echoing through the otherwise empty Oberoi mansion. The objects of their vexation were all out; Annika was at an event that she had organised, Saumya was at the library, Shivaay was working, and Rudra was at the gym.

Pinky looked imploringly at all of the people in her room - it always shocked her how detached the upper class could be at times.

In the close family that she had grown up in, there was nothing such as personal space, and really, no secrets were held from each other. While the glamour of being an Oberoi bride never failed to excite her, these days, she found herself resenting the ways of the socialite crowd more and more. Her husband and sister-in-law were great upholders of social niceties, and sometimes, she felt like the only person that understood her own nature, was Tej, who didn't care much for what society thought either.

Her brother-in-law hadn't spoken much through the exchange, and while they all thought that it was due to a lack of interest, the truth was, he had been listening to the whole conversation intently. As he met Pinky's eyes across the room, he nodded so slightly that only she caught it. She immediately quietened, waiting for the blow that Tej was about to deliver.

A maddeningly bright glint in his eyes that didn't look quite different to one of a predator on the prowl, Tej Singh Oberoi grinned at his family before adding in a voice so ruthless, that it broke out goosebumps.

"Pinky's right. It's time for an intervention."

***

A week later, the participants of the last meeting met in the living room again. It would have almost been dj vu, if not for the drastic change of emotions that charged through the air.

As they recollected all that they had managed to pull off in seven days, the colossal mansion was full of mirth, that fulfilled the ache that her fighting grandchildren had left behind.

All four of them had worked tirelessly to set the plan into motion; and as the mother observed her elated sons, and their giggling wives, she felt her heart swell with satisfaction, a feeling that she had not experienced in a long while.

Said plan, itself, was one that was immensely satisfying.

They had decided that night, that they were going to send their children on a holiday. To get away from the imprisoning walls of Oberoi Mansion, without the influence of their families, to spend time with each other, and each other, only.

One of the first problems they had encountered was where to send them; and with what reason. Pinky had already attempted to send Shivaay and Annika together to multiple places before; the temple, the airport, heck, she had even tried to convince them to go grocery shopping together. All of these insinuations were coolly cut through by Annika, who always seemed to have some sort of catering event coming up. Pinky almost resented that she had been granted a daughter-in-law that was seemingly as work-obsessed as her own son.

Thus, exquisite names (including the lush city of Haridwar) were thrown around, until Kalyani, herself, plucked out Switzerland out of the mix. She didn't tell them why, but Jhanvi could almost swear that her mother-in-law had muttered dream honeymoon' under her breath. The other issue, then, had been to convince them to go - but as it appeared, once the Oberoi's were on a roll, there was no stopping them.

Casually dipping a wafer into his coffee, Tej grinned as he recounted his audacious feat in the Oberoi office earlier that week. He had marched into Shivaay's cabin during an intimate meeting with the Italian investors, and promptly told (with subtlety that only an Oberoi could achieve) them to get out. Tej let out a guffaw as he described his nephew's horrified face, and didn't forget to mention the fact that Shivaay had broken his umpteenth phone in front of his very eyes.

"Bade Papa, please tell me that you did not just interrupt an 80,000 crore deal?" Shivaay fixed his uncle with a glare so potent that, if Tej, himself, had not taught his nephew how to do it, would have him shaking.

It was a pity that it was this meeting that he had interrupted, because it was quite a deal. It was all the more appealing because Shivaay had all but plucked it right out of Sidhaarth Vikram Rana's hands, and thus, further proved, that the Oberoi's were always five steps ahead of the Rana's.

However, right now, he had his own deal to fix. Tej Singh Oberoi had always fancied being an actor, and if his love for the corporate industry had not run so deep, he would have almost considered going into Bollywood. He liked to think he had the looks for it, at least. Anyhow, this streak for drama came quite in handy, as he looked back at his nephew, with ruthlessness unrivalled.

"You're going to Zurich on Wednesday." He all but announced, biting back a smile as the dumbfounded man stared back at him, grey eyes wide with confusion.

"But why, Bade Papa? As far as I am aware, Swiss revenue is coming in great, and the investors are pleased. In fact, Mr Wyatt - "

"There's nothing wrong with the business, my boy! I want you to take Rudra with you, and show him how the banks work and all. Teach him the ways of our world, let's say."

"Isn't this a bit, err...random, Bade Papa? Rudra doesn't seem to have any interest in the business right now, and even if he did, he hasn't attended business school yet. What am I supposed to teach him?"

"Give him the Swiss codes. Let him talk to some of the clients - he's an Oberoi, for god's sake. Business runs in our blood. Don't you remember how fantastic you were in your first meeting?"

The story was entertaining at the very least, and as the room applauded him with chuckles, Tej explained that in the end, he did manage to pull his bit off the ploy off. Getting them to leave without Annika and Saumya noticing had required some effort, but with some threats to Shivaay's PA, Mishra, he had achieved that as well. Essentially, Mishra had picked up Rudra from the mansion and had taken him to the Oberoi office, and had guiltily told Shivaay that the due to scheduling of the meetings in Switzerland, they had to leave that very instant. Shivaay had broken another phone then, while Mishra had chattered nervously about how he had gotten the servants to pack his clothes and amenities, and how a call had been made to the Swiss caretaker to start tidying their beauteous villa in mainland Zurich.

Later, Mishra had made a call to Tej, filling him in on all that he had achieved, and when the man mentioned a pay raise, he just rolled his eyes.

As Tej had basked in the limelight for a few minutes, his wife decided to steal his glory. She, with regular interruptions from Pinky, excitedly told the group about how they had gotten the ladies to agree.

Their excuse to send the two away had been quite simple; they had insisted that Annika and Saumya go celebrate. Saumya had graduated with a Bachelor. of Neuroscience from her university, and to say the family had been proud was an understatement. Even though she wasn't a blood relation, the girl had made her way into each of their hearts, and Shivaay and Omkara, for one treated her like their own sister. Rudra, on the other hand, seemed to share a more complex relationship with her; he called her his best friend, and yet, had refused to go to her graduation ceremony. The only reason that Rudra and Saumya's relationship intrigued his mother was because, she, unlike the others, had actually seen her youngest son sneak a box of chocolates into her room when she wasn't in there. So while Pinky was hellbent on reuniting Shivaay and Annika, Jhanvi was determined to see to it that Rudra and Saumya picked up their friendship again, and something more, if her intuition served her correctly.

Annika had seemed reluctant at first, and Pinky knew exactly why. She had seen her daughter-in-law's eyes frantically search the house for a certain someone, and then when she had not caught sight of him, had insisted on going for a detailed walk around the Oberoi grounds. To put the more girl out of her misery, Pinky had loudly complained to her sister-in-law about how Shivaay and Rudra had randomly decided to go to Nasik to watch a cricket match, but also that she was very glad, because they would be back tomorrow night. The sheer relief that she had seen in Annika's watery eyes had made her tear up a bit too, you do still love him Annika.

Saumya, on the other hand, had jumped to the chance. Again, this didn't come as a surprise to Jhanvi, because she had seen how frantically Saumya moved away when Rudra was even in the same room as her. She was avoiding him, and two weeks in Switzerland had sounded like a fantastic plan.

With a bit of persuasion, and their insistence that the Oberoi jet would be flying them out to Geneva, Annika and Saumya had agreed. They had been surprised, sure, at the random act of kindness that the older women had extended, but had put it off to the higher society desire to constantly spend money. Annika had been even more wary when her mother-in-law had asserted that she packs their bags for them, justifying it by saying that they were giving the girls a true holiday experience'. What her innocent daughter-in-law didn't know was that she was sneaking some sheer sari's (Oberoi men seemed to love that kind of stuff) in her bag, along with some expensive lingerie (in case the situation turned as fast as she hoped it did) that she had gotten custom-made for Annika.

The two girls had been almost flustered at all the sudden attention that the family was showering on them, and both had left the next morning with bright smiles lighting up their faces.

While Tej, Jhanvi and Pinky retold the stories of their massive efforts, Shakti, decided to give them a run for their money, and told them what he had done.

Shakti Singh Oberoi had flown to Switzerland at the dead of the night, on an eight-hour flight, to personally go inspect the place that he had bought specifically for his sons, and their respective women. They had lied to the children when they had told them that they would be living in Zurich and Geneva, because while the Oberoi group owned multiple properties in both cities, they had wanted to go for a more personal touch.

Thus, he had purchased a Grecian villa on the edge of Morcote, directly on the shore of Lake Lugano. Even that would be an understatement, because when he had toured the place, he was astonished to see that one edge of the house was afloat on said expanse of water. It was a beautiful acquisition, with a mischievous out-of-world charm about it, with climbing ivy wreathing its terraces and wrought iron embellishments decorating its premise. He had gotten Rajeev, his PA, to order interior designers in to add furniture, all in cream leather to heighten the homeliness of the place. Fridges had been stocked, paintings had been hung up, televisions inserted, and a note had been left on the kitchen counter.

He had gone to the ends of the earth to make sure the four had everything that they needed, because with all of what he had achieved, Shakti had one more thing. He had made sure that this home was as far away from any other property in the whole island, and in doing so, had used the Oberoi power and influence to re-open a deserted part of the municipality. The Swiss authorities hadn't told him the reason behind this (and to be honest, he hadn't really cared for an answer) but reluctantly had taken down the boundaries that they had kept on the lake-side of Morcote. Thus, as Shakti admired his accomplishments, he realised that his children would be secluded from the rest of society for the two weeks that they would be here. That they, in the midst of bush and sea, would only have each other, and their differences would sort themselves out.

As the mother and her four children sat in the main living room of Oberoi Mansion, they all breathed a sigh of relief at what they had managed to attain, in the short time that they had had. All they needed now was for their own children to come back home, forever reunited. It was blatantly easy for them now, because with no one but each other, the beloved youngsters of their family would simply have to return to what they once were, and what they once had.

Or so they hoped.