Rakesh Sharma walked into the private meeting room of Vihaan Malhotra with his men and clashed eyes with the perpetrator of the whole charade. Shukla Gupta, he saw red and charged like an angry bull.

"You motherf*****!" His fist slammed against the face of his ex-colleague with raw anger and the pretend victim barely gained his footing, when Rakesh Sharma held him by his collar. "What the f*ck were you trying to do to my Arshu? Answer me, you assh*le! Were you f*king try to destroy my daughter?"

"So what if I was? So what if I am?" Rakesh Sharma stared in disbelief at the man whom he had called his friend and Shukla smirked. "All the proofs are against your darling daughter, who will be going to jail for breaching the boundaries of the contract. It'd be better if you turned yourself to the police instead. Save your darling daughter before you destroy her. " Shukla pushed against the man and freed himself.

Rakesh Sharma stared at his hands in defeat. Did I ruin my own daughter? His heart burned at the thought and he would have crumbled to the ground if not for the firm hands that held him.

"Arnav!"

His shadow was quick on his feet and helped him sat Rakesh Sharma down comfortably on one of the chairs on the either side of the table, thankfully away from the shameless bastard.

"Mr Sharma, are you alright?" Vihaan stared at him with worry.

He nodded. "I am fine. I just lost my footing for a minute."

"Are you sure? You look quite pale-Arnav, go bring a doctor."

"No! I am fine! I would j-just like to have some water." Rakesh interjected politely.

"Please let me know if you feel unwell."

"Thank you."

Vihaan nodded and walked over to his designated chair at the head of the table. He had barely sat down when Shukla opened his trap.

"Sir, I have already handed you the file and the culprit so-"

Vihaan's eyes turned a hard grey. "Why is he still here?"

"We apologize. We thought you still have sco-"

"None of that here." Vihaan waved nonchalantly and stared at the traitor emotionlessly. "You may leave."

Shukla smiled widely, unaware of his dark fate. "Thank you for your mercy."

"Dhruv. Rishi."

Rakesh Sharma watched everything unfold with unease. It was like with each sentence, her daughter's thread of fate was burning into nothingness. He can't-won't let that happen.

"I am willing to take my daughter's place." Rakesh Sharma looked at the man who wielded the strings of her fate. "Where do I sign?"

"Arnav."

The confidant of Vihaan Malhotra opened a file and placed it in front of Arshiya's father. It was a contract that stated that the file that was in the possession of his daughter Arshiya Sharma was assigned to him, the co-owner of R & R Counsels by VM Towers and held a term of five years.

He stared at his daughter's name with a sad smile but signed his consent above his name.

"Arnav." He accepted what was coming when a hand was placed was on his shoulder. He was about to stand up from the chair when the said man placed another contract in front of Arshiya's father.

Was this the final death warrant, Rakesh Sharma read the contract and looked up at Vihaan Malhotra in disbelief. The contract stated that VM Towers and R & R Counsels were to be bound in 95-5 profit bond respectively for five years.

What-"Why?"

Why was Vihaan Malhotra willing to relent?

"So, you prefer bars of the jail. I guess this shall be the part where I blackmail you." A phone skidded towards him opened to a photo zoomed on her daughter's face entering safely inside their home with her mother and his eyes burned with unshed tears. "Sign it, Mr Sharma."

He didn't know what to say.

"You are rather manipulating, Mr Malhotra." He said but tears of relief dripped down his face.

Vihaan smirked. "I'll take that as a compliment."

Rakesh Sharma didn't even hesitate above the dotted line for a second and sealed the deal with the devil.

It was finally peac-his phone rang.

Anita? He cut the call and decided to call back his wife later.

Rakesh Sharma looked at Vihaan apologetically but paused as the phone rang again.

"I am sorry, it's just my wife and-"

"You can take it, Mr Sharma." Vihaan shrugged good naturedly. "It could be important,"

"Thank you. I'll be back in a minute." Rakesh Sharma nodded gratefully and walked out of the meeting room.

"Anita! I-"

"Rakesh ji." His wife sobbed in relief. "You finally picked up my call."

"Anita? Are you crying?"

"She is- we take-hospital."

"Anita! Calm down and speak slowly."

"Vani vomited blood and fainted in her bathroom." Anita cried out mournfully and Rakesh stilled in shock.

"WHAT?! Is she alright?"

"We don't know! Her nanny took her to the hospital. We are going there too. You too come fast." His wife said pleadingly and he nodded.

"I'll be there soon." Rakesh paused. "Is Arshu alright?"

There was a pause on the other side.

"Not good. I don't know what to say to her."

"I'll meet you at the hospital. Take care."

He cut the call and turned and paused.

"Is everything alright, Mr Sharma?"

"Mr Malhotra, I-I fear we'd have to postpone this to later." Rakesh spoke embarrassingly. "I have some urgent family matters to attend to."

"I would not hold you then." Vihaan nodded in farewell.

"Thank you so much."

Vihaan watched him till the elevator doors shut and turned towards his shadow.

"Arnav."

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Rakesh Sharma rushed inside Vani's assigned ward and paused as three pair of eyes turned to him but none of it was of his darling daughter.

She just sat beside Vani in visitor's chair, as still as her best friend, just breathing. The only difference is that with a drip attached to her hand, Vani looked at peace while her daughter's sanity seemed to be in shreds.

"What did the doctors say?" He broke the stifling silence in room.

"Nothing was clear." Anu swallowed painfully. "They wanted to do some tests before drawing conclusions."

"Did you inform Chaitanya ji?"

"His phone was off when we called." Srishti was the one to answer this time. "I'll try again in a while."

"Did you girls have lunch?"

They both looked at each other and shook their head hesitatingly.

"Anita?"

"I was so worr-"

"This won't do." Rakesh interjected sternly. "We need to go home first, Anita. The children cannot go on with an empty stomach. As for Vani, we need to know what shall be easy for her to digest- let us go talk to the doctor."

Anita nodded and followed her husband out of the ward.

Srishti looked at Anu and gestured towards the translucent door of the ward. "I am going to call Chaitanya uncle."

Anu nodded in silent understanding. "I'll go with you. We can browse the cafeteria too."

Arshiya didn't look up but the opening and closing of the ward was her cue and she broke down in tears. She didn't know how long she cried. It was like a dam was overwhelmed with water and it burst until a voice complained in irritation.

"Why are you crying so loudly?!" Arshiya froze in disbelief at the very familiar voice. "Can't I even sleep in peace?"

She rubbed her eyes to clear it off her tears and looked at her best friend. Her eyes were still closed-did she have a hallucination?

"Vani?"

She called out sadly and Vani's left eye cracked open.

"Yeah! Yeah! I am still alive."

Arshiya stilled and screamed.

"Doctor! Doctor!"

"My ears, damn it!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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PS: Dearest old readers, no spoilers asking about Srishti's fiancee! You may not see him in this book! The plot has changed a lot! Hope you enjoyed this update!

PPS: Happy New Year Everyone. We have seen a lot of ups and downs in this year. Hope this new beginning brought happiness to everyone.