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Chapter 3:
Roop Oberoi
Present day:
Fortune always favors the bold was a saying her father had loved. Prithviraj Oberoi had built his entire empire from the ground up by being bold. The only difference between Prithviraj and his daughter was, Roop did not mind sacrificing values and ideals to get what she wanted while Prithviraj had refused to compromise on values and ideals in the pursuit of success. But she was her father's daughter after all. The same blood that had produced ruthless predatory men like Tej Singh Oberoi and Shivaay Singh Oberoi ran through her veins. Jethji and her bhatija had destroyed the lives of innocent people in their quest for power, money and fame and Roop almost found complete satisfaction in seeing them get their comeuppance through her machinations.
She leaned back in her chair watching the video that was being looped again and again as sensational news in every news channel. Shivaay Singh Oberoi forcibly marrying a clearly unwilling woman by threatening her little brother. She had to give it to her bhatija, he was definitely a cut above her jethji when it came to sheer cold bloodedness and ruthlessness.
She watched as the Oberoi industries stock started falling and then hit rock bottom with the news of the imminent arrest of its CEO and business face Shivaay Singh Oberoi. The most eligible bachelor and the darling of the news media was suddenly a pariah. People were burning his effigies on the street and political party candidates scenting a cause to help them win the upcoming civic elections congregated with their minions in front of multiple Oberoi offices in the city, waving black flags and chanting slogans like "Justice for women. Finally she allowed a small smile of victory to grace her lips before switching the TV off. Her revenge was almost complete. Time to play out the remaining portion.
Roop had been loitering around the wedding venue on that fateful day in the guise of a performer with the pallu draped over her head hoping to get into the mansion while everybody was busy attending to the wedding of the decade. She was sure this time she would be successful in getting into Jetji's locker and getting the crucial evidence that implicated Tej Jetji in the Kalyani mills fire incident. Sneaking into the house had been easy, all the security had been on the grounds of the mansion which was the wedding venue. As she had crept along the corridors, she had heard hushed sounds come from one of the rooms. Curiosity piqued, she had cracked the door open to see Tia Kapoor decked as bride being hugged by a man who was clearly not her bhatija. The man was begging her to run away with him and not marry Shivaay. This was interesting she thought, as she brought out her phone and started filming. The man was telling Tia to listen to her husband for once and not let her mother dictate her future. Tia with tears streaming down her perfectly made up face could only nod and hug the man while repeating "Dushyant, my Dushyant. She filmed as Tia quickly moved to the rest room to change out of her bridal dress, come out and scrawl a SORRY with her lipstick on the mirror face, presumably for Shivaay and climb out of the room via the open window with the man she now knew was Tia's actual husband. Chuckling to herself about the blow the Oberoi pride would be receive when the media would get the video of the much vaunted already married Tia Kapoor running away from her wedding to the Great Shivaay Singh Oberoi, Roop had quickly left the house and dodged into the garden.
Looking for a way out she decided to use the back gate of the gardens that let out to a side road that had very little traffic. Fooling the security guard standing at the back gate was easy, she pretended to be performer with a sick stomach and her moaning and groaning had convinced the stupid guard to let her through. Once she was out, she lifted the pallu of her saree from her head and was in the process of trying to find a rickshaw when a strange sight greeted her. The girl that had saved Shivaay from the Gayathri's murder case, Annika, was just lowering herself down from the garden wall dressed in the same clothes that Tia had been decked out as Shivaay's bride. As soon as her feet hit the ground she ran in the opposite direction to where Roop stood. Curious and mystified by the new turn of events, Roop was debating what do when she saw Shivaay stride out of the back gate and get inside a car that had just stopped after turning the corner. Convinced now that this was something she needed to see, Roop hailed a rickshaw and followed Shivaay's car.
The rest as they say was history. She had filmed everything from Shivaay tracking down Annika to their final confrontation. She could not film the wedding because that meant going back to the wedding and risking exposure but she had enough footage to finally bring down the Oberois. Gleefully she forwarded the clip with Shivaay and Annika to a gossip rag journalist through a temporary SIM brought under a false name. As her hand hovered over the clip of Tia and her husband, a new thought struck her. What if she could use the clip as a leverage against Mrs Kapoor? Since she had been forced to kill Gayathri she had not found another able accomplice to help her in her mission to destroy the Oberois. And any woman who was bent on getting her already married daughter to Shivaay was definitely cooking up something big. Making up her mind, she sent the clip to Mrs Kapoor and accompanied it with a message asking her to meet her the next day midnight in a godown near her current home with the warning that if she tried anything smart, the clip would be circulated to the media. Trashing the SIM, Roop had walked away from the carnage with a wide smile on her lips and a song in her heart.
Mallika Rana
Present day:
If anyone had told Mallika that this would turn out to be one of the worst days of her life when she had woken up in the morning, she would have insisted on going back to sleep. Siddarth had kissed her bye before leaving early morning for a flight to the US. He was negotiating a business deal and would be out the rest of the week. After a leisurely sleep in because she did not need to go to the office today, Mallika had showered and headed to the kitchen to fix herself a cup of coffee. Now that Siddarth and she had moved into this ultra-luxurious penthouse in the suburbs of Mumbai that she had designed herself, she found herself more relaxed and happy than when they had been living with his parents. There was nothing wrong with them, infact after the whole debacle of her running away from her wedding with Siddarth and the showdown at the Oberoi mansion they had been extra sweet and encouraging. But she was always uncomfortable imaging that they still had not forgiven her. Now both she and Siddarth stayed with them over the weekend or they came over to the penthouse to spend time with their son and daughter in law.
Sipping her coffee she switched on the TV and settled in to catch up on the latest news. The next moment, the coffee cup clattered to the floor and stained the white Persian rug but Mallika was too distressed to notice the damage. She was seeing a Shivaay that she had never seen before, manhandling a distraught Annika dressed as a bride. The news caster was droning on that Shivaay was on the verge of being arrested while Annika was reported as missing. Mallika grabbed her phone and attempted to ring Annika's mobile. An automated message informed her that the number was not reachable. She tried five more times before flinging the phone away in disgust.
Worried now for her friend, she quickly ran to her room, changed into a pair skinny jeans and colorful kurti and got into her car started driving towards Shivaji Nagar Chawl. She was sure that the only person who could help her locate Annika would be Chanda. From the little Annika had mentioned about her life in the chawl, she knew Chanda was her neighbor, true friend and close confidante. Getting into the chawl proved to be an even bigger challenge. It was crammed with reporters.
Stopping her car a little away from the chawl, Mallika slowly made her way to through the throng of people. She was glad that no one recognized her and she was able to able to get to the last door in the building just like Annika had described. Ringing the bell, she waited for the door to open but instead a muffled voice from inside said "We have nothing to say about Annika, please go away. "I am not the press, my name is Mallika Rana, I am a friend of Annika's. She and I met when I stayed in the Oberoi mansion. Slowly the door creaked open a little bit and the scared and nervous face of Chanda peeked out. She seemed to recognize Mallika because she quickly opened the door and rushed Mallika into the house before bolting the locks again.
Nervously pleating her dupatta with her hands, Chanda looked at Mallika and said "I know you, Annika showed me photographs of the both of you together. Why are you here? If you are here to ask about Annika I can't tell you anything.
Mallika clasped Chanda's hands in her own and said, "Chanda, please tell me where she is? I want to help her. I know Shivaay is my ex and very good friend but what he has done this time is so very wrong. I cannot remain quiet while she suffers. She helped me when no one else would and now it's time to return the favor.
Something in Mallika's tone must have convinced Chanda because tears pooled in her eyes and she sank down into the rickety chair behind her. "You don't understand, she was so broken. I have never been this scared before. Annika always smiled and bounced back no matter what life threw at her. But yesterday, the Annika I saw was someone who was so defeated she ran away in the middle of night! Annika never runs. That monster has made her life a living hell from the day she met him but she never ran before, but yesterday she did.
Mallika felt her own eyes smart. What must have Shivaay done to make that strong, beautiful, happy go lucky girl this broken? Her reverie was broken by a faint murmur from Chanda that she almost missed, "She has gone to Kasauli. Then she raised her eyes to Mallika and said in a strong voice and a determined face, "If you tell that monster where she is, I will get the chawl people to register a police complaint and get a restraining order against him. Annika has friends here who will do anything for her. And Mallika could only nod and clasp Chanda's hand in a silent promise that Shivaay would never be able to get to Annika through her.
Kalyani Singh Oberoi
Present day:
Kalyani Singh Oberoi had lived a life that had seen many ups and downs. She had been the rock solid support that her husband had leaned on while building the Oberoi empire and also the shoulder their children had cried on when they had lost their father while they were still young. She had seen the destruction her elder son Tej had brought on his family and quietly made sure that Jhanvi and her children had an overabundance of love and care from her which in no way compensated for the lack of a caring husband or father but she had tried. She had watched with pride as her Billu had taken her husband's business to new heights, but this come down from that high she had not forseen. Feeling her age creep up on her in a matter of minutes, she let out a small sigh and felt her shoulders sag for the first time in her life. A pair of arms wrapped around her shoulders and she looked into the warm, soft black eyes of her second grandson Omkara. He gave her a reassuring nod but it did nothing to stem the absolute despair she felt as they both watched Shivaay pace the hall shouting at his lawyer.
"What do you mean I cannot be granted anticipatory bail? I had nothing to do with her disappearance dammit! Shivaay paused in his pacing listening intently, "You are saying the arrest warrant was issued on the basis of the video and not Annika's disappearance so you can't get me bail until she testifies that the wedding happened with her consent? That is bullshit, why do I pay your fees if you cannot even get me out of this mess? What kind of a lawyer are you, do you realize she is MISSING...has not been heard or seen since last night. And you want me to conjure her from thin air and get her to testify before I get arrested?? Is this a joke? He cut the call and phone number 83 joined its siblings, smashed to smithereens on the floor.
"Khanna, give me your phone hollered Shivaay and once it was laid in his hand he dialed a number and waited for it to picked up with impatience. "Aman, I need your help. I want you to trace a girl and her brother. I will send you the girl's photo and her name. It's urgent, I want to know where they are in the next 30 minutes, pronto. I don't care how you do it, just bring me what I want.
Muttering under his breath he ran his hands through his hair. Warily skirting Shivaay, Khanna quietly walked up to Kalyani Singh Oberoi and handed her an envelope. It was large and heavy and Kalyani wondered who had sent it. Peeling it open she found a set of legal documents and bundles of 1000 rupee notes carefully packed in plastic. Her harsh exclamation had Shivaay whipping around in panic and walking rapidly to her. "What is it Dadi? Her hands were trembling as she gave him the stamp papers. At first he could understand nothing. They looked like some bank loan papers and he wondered why Dadi had reacted the way she had. Then a name printed in bold almost jumped out of the paper and hit him in the face. Annika had borrowed 15 lakhs from Oberoi bank and these were the legal documents certifying the loan and the payment terms. The date was from two days before the wedding. The papers slipped from his fingers and slid to the floor. Kalyani watched all the color leech away from Shivaay's face leaving it deathly pale.
"Shivaay what happened? "Dadi why did Annika take a loan from us? whispered Shivaay.
"She wanted to put her brother in a good boarding school. Since no bank would loan her the money without a collateral, I talked to our bank manager and put my name as the guarantor and when it was approved asked Daksh to give it to her. That was the last blow, the great Shivaay Singh Oberoi dropped down on his knees, head bent low and shoulders bowed in defeat.
Precap: "Mr Oberoi you are under arrest for the attempted murder of Sahil Chaturvedi and for blackmailing and coercing Ms Annika into marriage.
"I am doing this only because you asked me to, else I would never have set foot here again. You have to promise me that if something happens you will take care of Sahil.
Kumkum Bhagya
Anupamaa
