The Masquerade (AnShi/ShivIka FF)- Epilogue UPDATED (Pg 130){COMPLETE} - Page 35

Originally posted by: itzanya32

very nice update...

shivaay is confusing me wid his actions...😕

plzzz update it soon...

waiting for the update...

Originally posted by: twerping

Thank you so much Ayesha for this amazing response! I mean, your comment itself shows the level of insight you have regarding these characters! I'm trying to explore the many masks that these two might choose to wear before the final unmasking in their haltingly slow journey to love. 😉

Thank you for the encouragement, really! I was in need of it!

And yes, I suppose we are going to feed off that incredible high the show gifted us for sometime now! I wish I could give you a Rudra-wala hug but in its absence this must suffice!

🤗

Originally posted by: -happilyunknown

ohkay i will say this. This is amazing jaan

I usualy don't comment on stories but i couldn't resist this time. I read the last 4 chaps in one go through my phone which has a shitty net connection and i couldn't post my comment So i actually turned on my laptop so i could leave you one. Loved Anika's slap. That is what i love about her. Her fire☺️

You have kept true to the characters too. All in all an amazing read<3

Update soon twerps. I is waiting <3 And congo on becoming a dazzler <3

Originally posted by: Imashkara

Slap 😲

I thought anika also reciprocate him...well but he is engaged to other girl...so this reaction quite fair...And they two stubborn kids ignore inch other...I thought shivaay do this purposely...anyways I loved your story and I'm enjoying every update...Thank you

Originally posted by: Rozy77

Awesome and again unexpected👍🏼

Although i dont encourage slapping😆, am glad she didnt give in and stopped him somehow... fiesty, no nonsense anika was back in that scene

Am a little scared to think about shivaay's pov and what he might do... still eagerly waiting for his part though😃

Oh and please huh, the story is fantastic and ur writing is amazing⭐️. Dont over think and just let ur thoughts flow😉

Originally posted by: swaram

I am glad I came across your FF. I have read your Os The ride before and enjoyed it immensely. I have the read the story in one go till here , now pls update soon!

Originally posted by: angel_writer

wow

loved it

so anika slapped him

and ignore game started

very much curious to know the nxt

plzz update soon

and thnx fr the pm dear

Originally posted by: ...Angels...

🤗🤗

Rikhiya, this is brilliant!

It is much better than anything I could write😃

You have described everything so beautifully, every little detail adds to the mood of the chapter👏 Anika trying to get rid of the feeling of his lips on hers was so cute! I don't understand what Shivaay is up to😕 I bet this is part of his plan😉 So now that the marriage date is set what's going to happen? What will Shivaay do? These questions are buzzing in my mind making me even more impatient for the next part😳

Update whenever you can dear🤗

Thank you so much for the pm dear🤗

Originally posted by: SRKian

Another grt update!luved hw u made her slap him 😆 nd dat was a total sso th,ignoring her when she slapped him 😆 waiting 2 read shivz side of story nw 😉

10 (b)

Shivay's eyes strayed from the laptop screen to the green folder that lay on the coffee table. It was past midnight. The house lay silent. He should have been asleep as well but every time he closed his eyes, he was gripped by a sense of regret.This unease was unfamiliar to him. He was someone who was always in control of his life, who never regretted anything he ever did and yet his conscience wouldn't let him sleep.

He had been the stable one. He had been the one who always knew what he was doing. The one who was careful, who never made mistakes. But he had slipped. And how! He cursed the moment he had thought of playing this dangerous game with her. One that he had assumed she was trying to play with his brother! Yes, assumed! It was something he had made up in his mind, he knew now. Om was in a relationship of sorts, for heaven's sake! And Anika? The less said about her was the better! He had known her foul-mouthed, chappal carrying ways from the day he had met her. If someone had asked him, he wouldn't have hesitated before saying that she was the last woman on the planet who could be called attractive. And yet he had kissed her.

Shivay tried to refocus on the quotations but that ridiculous woman's face rose before him. It must have been a moment of madness that had made him go up and dance with her. The feel of her through her clothes, that look of surprise in her eyes as he had guided her through the dance, the blush that had spread across her cheeks as he held her to himself--all haunted him. He clenched his fists as he tried in vain to bury those memories.

And what had followed thereafter? He had tried telling himself it was concern. He had merely been concerned on seeing her leave the dance floor in such a rush which is why he had followed her. Shivay's thoughts returned to that one thing he had been trying to bury in the darkest recesses of his mind since that fateful night. The kiss...He had kissed her. How drunk had he been? And she?! Slapping him like he was some random roadside romeo! But try as he might Shivay could not muster the furious rage that had made him see red immediately after the slap. Instead, now he rued his actions. He could not forgive himself for his behaviour or justify it. His mind insisted on replaying that moment over and over again and just as much the slap angered him, the fact that he had somehow deserved it was what drove away his sleep and sanity.

Shivay turned back to the spreadsheet with the hopes of calming himself down through studying the numbers. But tonight even the promise of future profits and new undertakings could not bring him peace. He had been angry at her at first before the gravity of his actions dawned on him. He had tried to kiss her, a woman he barely knew, in a public place where anyone might have seen them and he had done so without taking into consideration what she might have been feeling. He, a man engaged to someone else, soon to be tied to someone else! If this came out, it would be a terrible scandal! He was used to scolding Rudra for less and now what punishment should he mete out to himself!

His initial anger had cooled down as soon as he had returned to the house that night. The consequence of the events of the night coming out had drowned out every other thought. And that had been followed by this restlessness. He had avoided her, thinking that by doing so he would be able to put that night behind him. He had even sped up the wedding preparations, made sure that a date would soon be fixed. But everything he did only seemed to bring him face to face with that memory. When Tia kissed him, all he could think of was an empty corridor, soft lights and the feel of a different pair of lips on his. And despite all his efforts to act as if she wasn't there, his eyes had then unerringly found hers. Her wide eyed stare had been like a knife twisting inside him. All his attempts to charm her away from Om had presented itself as a disgusting game that he had unthinkingly begun without realising the consequences it could have.

He turned once more to that folder. Yes! That folder held a possibility of making things right, of restoring order to his life. He had got it drawn up that very morning. Shivay Singh Oberoi was going to make an offer she couldn't refuse, a deal that would win him his sanity and control over his world. This was familiar ground for him. He picked up the folder and flipping it open, glanced through the legal small print. He needed to move on from this. There cannot be any scandal. He couldn't afford one at this stage. Daadi's advice came to him. Hadn't he heard that a good deed could erase a hundred bad ones? So he would try that. He would help her. And she needed help. A niggling whisper within him said that it was he who had made sure of that, but he silenced the thought. He would help her and then he would forget her. But until then he was destined to this distress. Well, he could do something about that as well. He never did rest until a deal was struck.

Shivay looked at the time. It was a little past midnight. Would she be asleep? Probably. But did he care? He needed to have her out of his mind and life and the sooner that was done, the better it would be. He got up and walked towards the wardrobe. He was going out.

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Omkara was working in his studio when the sound of shuffling feet made him look up. Rudra stood at the door, with sleep tousled hair.

"O, did you see my phone anywhere?"

"Don't tell me you woke up in the middle of the night and the first thing you thought of was your phone?"

"Of course not! I woke up and thought of texting Sara, you know the girl I'm seeing."

"Texting?" O looked at his brother with suspicion. Rudra gave a sheepish grin.

"Ok. Wait. I don't want you to explain any further." said Om with a mock shudder and pointed at the phone his brother had left in his room earlier.

"So, what you working on?" Rudra said as he went through his phone.

"Like you care." Om replied with a snort.

"Ladybaba has put up a selfie with Bhaiya. 'Wedding preparations in full swing #desiweddings #funtimes'," Rudra read from the phone.

"Yes, Choti Ma was saying that the panditji will come to suggest a few possible dates."

"Ladybaba wouldn't be quite as happy if she saw the photos we took of Bhaiya and Anikadi on the dancefloor."

"Rudra, I hope you aren't thinking of uploading them."

"O! I'm not as stupid as you may think I am" Rudra huffed.

Tapping his brush against the palette, Om asked ,"Have you shown the photos to Shivay?"

"Nope" said Rudra, "Didn't get around to it."

Om got up from his seat. "Let's go then. I'd like to see his reaction when he sees those photos!" he said with a grin.

However, they were interrupted by the sound of a car starting. Rudra ran to the window.

"Hey! That's Bhaiya's car!"

"Shivay's going out?!" Om asked in surprise.

They rushed out to the entrance but none of the guards could tell them much,

Yes, Sahab had gone out. No, they didn't know where he'd gone. He'd said he'd be back soon.

Omkara looked up as a sudden streak of lightning flashed across the sky followed by the low rumbling roll of thunder. He wondered what storm was raging in his brother's life that had forced him out on a night like this.

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NEXT

Note: Overwhelmed, doesn't begin to describe what I feel on reading those responses that you all have so generously left! I can't think of a better way to thank you all than speeding up on the updating! Thank you so much for the encouragement and the love!