Destiny's play-Last Part, Epilogue-Pg 74,81 (2/4) - Page 15

Originally posted by: aarthirajendran

awesome part di...so i think the story of Sam's parents is coming to a end here me waiting for Dev sam telling Maaneet abt the proposal and wud luv a ear turning for both by Maaneet...

Originally posted by: Ilovemsk

Awesome
But again no maneet :(

Originally posted by: simi91

wow sam so lucky to found adorable & gem life partner super brilliant update pls cont soonnnnnnnnn

Originally posted by: vj2102

wow... cnt wait 4 dnxt part

Originally posted by: ajenn

Sad to hear wat Mr.Mittal went thru.
Glad tat Mr.Mittal was still sincere to his luv
I was thinking if he got married to some other Lady n got kids.
But he is Gem of A person.
This is a great fmaily reunion update.

Part XCIII

Note: This section is again a figment of my imagination, not supported by any legal backing. Take it with a can of salt as usual.

Yash knocked on Arjun's cabin door and entered. Arjun was just off the phone after a long conversation with his girlfriend. Seeing Yash's grave expression, Arjun asked him what the matter was.

"I have some very bad news for you Arjun. Our Alibaug hotel is not doing good business. As if that is not enough, the Hollywood company which was to shoot their movie in Alibaug have cancelled their plans, citing the heightened fear of terrorist activities in our country. So we will not have the opportunity to make good money by renting our rooms in the hotel to them."

Before Arjun could recover from the shock of this news, Yash continued, "There is more bad news in store. Vinay, who lent us the money for your Alibaug hotel lease and the various land deals you had concluded in the last several weeks, wants his money back in a week's time."

"What???" shrieked Arjun. "How can we pay up the money at such short notice?"

"I am afraid, we have no choice. The agreement says that the lender can call back the money at short notice which can be anything from one day to one month. Vinay says that he has suffered huge losses in his investments, so he needs his money back to mitigate his losses. None of us anticipated that things will go so wrong."

"But from where will I get so much money?"

"If you don't mind, I have a suggestion. Why don't you sell the assets you bought from the loan and pay him off? In any case I think that the Alibaug hotel is a dead weight loss. We may not be able to break-even for months on end. I thought that the presence of the Hollywood stars would give it the boost it needed but now that is ruled out. The lease agreement allows you to sell the lease. So I think you should sell the lease of the hotel. As we do not have time in our hands, the best option would be to sell it to the person who was the next higher bidder in the auction we acquired the lease from."

"You mean, Maan?" asked Arjun in a small voice, his heart sinking.

"Yes. Don't worry. You don't have to deal with him. I'll take care of it."

Arjun was numbed by all the bad news hitting him on the same day that he merely nodded.

That afternoon Yash got back to him.

"Arjun, I feel awful being the harbinger of all bad news today. I spoke to Maan. He is willing to offer what he quoted in his tender to MTDC, which is Rs.5 crore."

"What? Rs.5 crore? The lying rat! He's taking advantage of my situation to get the lease dirt cheap. Did that scoundrel not quote Rs.50 crore for the deal earlier?"

"Apparently not, Arjun. After talking to him I checked with my sources in MTDC. They confirmed that he was the next highest bidder and his tender was only for Rs.5 crore. In fact here is a copy of his tender that my source faxed to me this afternoon."

Arjun stared at the document, shocked to the core. He has ended up paying more than ten times the value of the lease! As the implication of his folly hit him, Arjun sank into his chair, and held his head in his hands.

"What do I do now?" he asked, whining like a cornered animal.

"Well, we do not have much of a choice but to sell the lease to him and get whatever we can from it. In fact I think the guy is quite reasonable. He is still willing to pay the amount he quoted earlier even though the hotel is in a worse off condition now than before."

Having no other alternative, he asked him to sell the lease to Maan, as the hotel was running huge losses which will only mount if he holds on and as it is he was in desperate need for money.

"What will I do for the remaining money?" wailed Arjun.

"I'll try finding out if there are interested parties for the lands you have bought in various places."

Three days later, he returned to him, throwing up his hands.

"I am sorry. Nobody is interested in the land deals. Although Maan has been prompt in settling the money for the Alibaug hotel lease, we only have Rs.5 crore and we need another Rs.205 crore to pay up the loan we had taken from Vinay, along with the interest."

"What if I default in the payment?" asked Arjun hopefully, his crooked mind trying to take the easy way out.

"I don't think that is a wise decision, Arjun. Vinay is well connected politically. He can get you locked up in some false case. He also has friends amongst the underworld people. It is better that you do not rub him on the wrong side."

"Why did you make me borrow from such a man, then?" asked Arjun angrily.

"There is no point getting angry with me, Arjun," Yash defended himself. "I myself came to know about his political and underworld connections only recently. You were desperate for money and I thought this guy was the best source as he asked no questions and gave such large sums of money almost immediately. He was quite a different person during our Harvard days but I guess some people change with time."

As they were speaking, a gang of goondas barged into his office and threatened that if he does not pay up the loan within the stipulated time there is no guarantee for his life. Arjun trembled at the prospect of being done to death. Out of sheer desperation and fear for his skin, Arjun asked Yash to dispose off part of his stake in the Handa Group of Hotels to pay off the loan.

Yash was waiting for this moment. He and his associates in the company had been preparing for months to get Arjun to voluntarily relinquish his stake in the company. As a first step to their master plan, letters had already been sent to the remaining stake holders in the company, asking them to hold on to their stocks irrespective of any adverse news they may hear about the company or any slump in the prices of the company's shares in next few days. They were assured that their patience will amply be rewarded as the company is going through massive revamping at the end of which it will emerge much stronger than it is now. They just have to keep their faith in the company. This way they ensured that the small investors do not get hit by their machinations to drag Arjun down. They then instigated the workers to create problems by threatening to disrupt activity if they are not given a huge wage hike. The accounts department then leaked false information to the press that the financials of the company were very bad.

In the meantime, through Vikram they let Maan know that Arjun was planning to sell his shares the next day because he was in deep financial trouble and the Handa Group of Hotels was on the verge of sinking. Maan was taken aback by the unexpected developments. As he did not want his father-in-law's company to be run to the dust, he decided to buy the shares himself and made arrangements for the necessary finance. When the stock market opened the next morning, the scrips of Handa Group of Hotels were already down, affected by all the adverse publicity in the media. With rumours that Arjun was trying to sell off his stake, things got only worse as market presumed that he was doing so to get out of a sinking ship. So the share prices started plummeting further. Arjun was forced to privately place his entire stake with an unknown bidder who was willing to bail him out. Unbeknown to him this bidder was none other than Maan, who did not know that Arjun's predicament was all part of a master plan drawn up by his sister and her friend.

Arjun's wealth was wiped out completely but he managed to get just enough money to pay off the loan. Over the next three days he settled the loan and heaved a sigh of relief. At least now he will not get killed or be locked up in prison, he thought. But then it sunk in that he had nothing to fall back on. He tried getting some solace and support from his girl friend, the small-time model, but the minute the woman came to know he has lost everything, she ditched him. She refused to part with any of the gifts she had got from him till then which included several pieces of jewellery, a car and a flat.

With no job, no money and no girlfriend, he thought that his wife and mother will support him no matter what. So he trudged home that day, hopeful that the women he treated abominably will forgive and accept him. After all Anwesha was a faithful Indian housewife and his mother is a typical Indian mother who will be all forgiving, he thought. Little did he know that neither of the women was in any mood to forgive his grave sins. Anwesha had already briefed her mother-in-law of the master plan to ruin Arjun. She told her about his affair with the model and how he had spent time with her in Shimla, unmindful of his son's funeral. Rano was infuriated hearing this and supported her fully in her endeavour to punish him. Rano threw Arjun out of the house and asked him not to ever return again. Just then police entered their house.

The police apprehended Arjun under the charge of embezzlement of company money. Even as Arjun looked at them in confusion, he was told that they had proof that he had signed cheques in favour of various 'vendors' and the money from this was traced back to him as it had gone to finance his deals. Arjun tried to reason saying that he had borrowed money from an NRI by the name Vinay. However, the police said that they had documentary evidence to show that there was no one by the name Vinay and Arjun had used the name as a front to swindle money from the company. Arjun was unaware that Yash and Pradeep had a hand in fabricating these 'evidences' against him. Arjun tried desperately to call Yash's cell but anticipating his call, Yash had switched off his mobile. Arjun's lawyer too refused to help him realising that the guy had no money to pay him. Arjun was locked up in prison with no one to bail him out. Given the snail speed at which cases, especially a civil one, moved in the Indian courts, it was anybody's guess how long Arjun would stay locked up in the prison for the under-trials.

Part XCLIV

Maan took over the reigns of Handa Group of Hotels and the news was received with jubilation by the market, with the stock price of the company recovering and soaring high to unseen levels. The small investors who had their faith in the company during the turbulent times when Arjun was being done in, were happy that they stayed put and did not indulge in panic selling. The employees of the hotel group were also happy to have Maan as their master as he was known to be benevolent and able. Maan merged his hotel, which he owned at present (having bought out Mr.Garodia's stake for a fair price) with the Handa Group and renamed the group of hotels as Harana Group of Hotels (combining the names of Handa and Khurana). Immediately after the takeover, he went about setting right all the problems of the Group. He retained all the old staff of the hotel chain, including Yash, although he was unaware of Yash's master plan which was responsible for Arjun's downfall. Knowing her brother's temperament Anwesha prevented both Yash and Geet from telling anything to Maan. All Maan knew was that Anwesha and Rano did not regret Arjun's imprisonment, given his abominable behaviour. Anwesha also filed for a divorce from her husband with the full backing of her mother-in-law and brother.

When Maan and Geet came to know about the recent developments in Sameera's life including her engagement to Dev, they were both surprised and excited. They were happy to note that their best friends were going to be soon united in marriage. Mrs. and Mr. Mittal stayed at Maan's hotel for a couple of days till Dev literally dragged them away to stay with him in the Singh Residence.

Although Mr.Mittal had several bungalows in India, he had never purchased a house in Mumbai, preferring to stay in hotels whenever he visited the city. Now that he has reunited with his family, he wanted to settle down here. Dev insisted that his future father-in-law and mother-in-law stay with him till they bought their own place in Mumbai. Although they were reluctant in the beginning to stay at the house of their future son-in-law, they were coaxed into staying back as guests of his house-mate Sameera. They understood then that Dev was reluctant let go of Sameera and was trying his best to keep her with him as long as he can till she finally returns home for good as his bride. So they agreed and stayed with him, especially after Dev's mother, Niharika too insisted that they stay with them till they bought their own house.

Niharika had earlier returned in India, taking the earliest available flight from the U.S. as soon as she heard from Dev that he was engaged to the well known business magnet, Mr.Mittal's daughter. When Dev informed his father, Vinod Singh about his engagement, he wished him well but expressed his unwillingness to leave the ashram. He promised to attend his son's wedding, though.

Mr.Mittal made Sameera the CEO of his gems company, Mittal Gems and Jewellery Exports, Pvt Ltd. Mrs.and Mr.Mittal then went on a week-long pilgrimage to Hrishikesh, Haridwar and Kashi to give thanksgiving for uniting their family. Niharika tagged along with them, saying she had been dying to visit these places for a long time but never found the time to do so. The real reason was that she was enamoured by their wealth and was keen to impress them and get close to them. At Kashi, all three of them met Vinod Singh at his ashram. Although Vinod Singh was cordial to them he insisted that he loved his ascetic life in which he found immense peace and was unwilling to forego it.

Back in Mumbai, Sameera was a little apprehensive about staying alone with Dev after both their families left for the pilgrimage. Although she had lived with him in his house before, their equation was different then. Now that they were engaged she wondered whether he will ask her to move into his room. While she loved him very much she was not prepared to share a physical relationship with him before marriage. She feared that Dev may not to have any such reservations as he himself had admitted to having had a live-in relationship with Annabel before his marriage to her. Surprisingly though, Dev was at his courteous best and never showed any inclination of taking advantage of their time alone although they both enjoyed each other's company and continued to have their long conversations. Dev was of great help advising her on administrative matters relating to her company.