Hii guys, Shambhavi here.
Here goes the next part...

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The Next Day

Shivaay and Annika went to their respective offices .

Evening

Shivaay came back home after office and went straight to his room.

He entered and was shocked to see Annika.

"Annika, you are early today?"

"Yeah shivaay..the work load was less and the meeting was postponed. So, I am free today. If you want,I can come with you."

" No..you need to rest right. If you have time today then you take rest. Okay." He said kissing her forehead.

"Ok"She nodded.

Shivaay got ready and reached Olivia's house 5 minutes early.

She came exactly at the time he told her.

" Good evening sir." She said expecting a compliment.

"Evening Olivia! Sit fast...I don't want to be late." He said

" How rude! Don't know how Mrs. Oberoi tolerates him. Bechari Annika ma'am." She thought and sat down quickly.

Shivaay's POV

She sat in the car and I drove to the party venue. I saw Vivaan and smirking at him I tangled my arms with Olivia's. Vivaan's face was worth watching.

I saw him approaching me and sent Olivia to enjoy the party.

"Wow! The one who was spreading knowledge about his wife's features yesterday is roaming with other women today." He taunted me.

" Just shut up. Annika was busy so I asked Olivia and she agreed."

" Nice...I am impressed by your thought process but when tomorrow your not so beautiful  wife is only gonna come with you toh ek din ke liye iss zero figure wali model ko hire karne ki kya jarurat thi ?!"

" Look at your wife first. I am pretty sure you will praise my wife after seeing her. Atleast she doesn't makes my clients angry for her selfies. You better not say anything against her.  "

Vivaan left from there without saying a word.

Later that night,

"Alex , make sure you drop Olivia to her house safely. " He said on call before fixing his seat belt and driving off to his home.

Oberoi Mansion

Annika was working on her laptop sitting on the bed when shivaay entered.

They exchanged looks and he went to change. Finally he arrived and sat pulling some duvet towards himself.

" How was the evening? " She asked switching off her macbook.

" The same usual boring announcements , the same words, the same drinks. Nothing special. I am tired. I just wanna sleep now. You did all the work, right? "

" Yeah shivaay. Even I am tired. Kal bhi neend poori nahi ho payi aapki wajah se." She said while shivaay dimmed the lights lying down on the bed.

" Meri wajah se. Kal toh main tha hi nahi tumhare saath...toh kaise...haan bolo! bolo!" Shivaay teased her raising his eyebrows. 

" Shivaay...just stop it. Aur waise bhi aapne hi kaha tha kal farmhouse se jaane ko." She said frowning.

" Accha na sorry na...but can I steal my wife for some time?" He said opening his arms and Annika snuggling into his arms.

That night they both had a relaxing sleep after three busy hectic days.

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Days went by and shivaay started taking Olivia in place of Annika to business events.

There are some friends in the group who fight with you, insult you in front of others; still the ones who actually care for you. Same was the case with Ahaana and Annika. She was a little envious of Annika's grace and charm but she was her friend from college days and she treated her as her bestie only.

No matter how much their husbands do to each other as business rivals and competitors; she never lets this come between them.

It's been a month, she hadn't met Annika as she wasn't coming to these events and she was really worried if she's not well or what.

She decided to call her up.

" Morning Ahaana " Annika said sipping her coffee looking into a file.

" Morning Annika. Good to hear you."

"Dear, it's good to see you."

" Yeah but since you don't show up at events my ears have longed even to hear your voice. Kabhi hume bhi yaad kar liya kro yaar."

" Oh..come on it was just an event."

" Don't tell me that you didn't knew that you have missed 5 freakin' business events which shivaay attended ? "

Annika was shocked. Why did Shagun, her PA didn't tell her about the events? Leave Shagun, shivaay was attending the events. Couldn't he just remind her?

" Annika...Annie ?! Are you there?"

" Yeah...yeah I am. No I knew. It's just that I needed a little break from all these stuff. "

Ahaana was not really convinced with her answer. So, she decided to meet her face-to-face.

"That's great. I was really worried if you're unwell or what. Anyways, let's meet up!"

" Yaa...sure. In my office at..."

" Nope.  Not in your boring cabin. I wanna meet up in some cafe. Umm...my favourite Beans 'n Cream. What say ?"

" Ok . Be there at 5 ."

" Ok, then. Bye Annie. Have a good day!"

" Bye Ahana."

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5:10 pm

Beans 'n Creams Cafe

Ahaana was waiting for Annika getting bored. Finally she arrives donning a white anarkali suit, her handbag in one hand and her dupatta clad around her wrist in the other hand. She sat opposite to Ahaana.

" Mujhe pata nhi tha tumhari late aane ki aadat abhi tak nahi sudhri."

" Kuch bhi mat bolo haan . Mumbai ka traffic dekha hain?" Said Annika putting up a excuse.

"Excuse me ma'am. Your coffee." Interuppting them, the waiter served them coffee and left.

"Haan main toh London me reh rahi naa. How will I know Mumbai ka traffic? Anyways leave it. Is everything good between you and shivaay ?"

" Haan. Kyun? If you are saying this regarding me not attending events then I only wanted a break. And it's just a small thing. Me and shivaay we both are always occupied in our offices. Ho sakta h na ki shivaay mujhe rest dena chahte ho."

" Annika dekho I know it's a very small thing for both of you. Mai yeh bhi jaanti hun ki you trust shivaay a lot but please listen to me. Even though my mind's not accepting this but let's say I believe you that you wanted a break. Did shivaay also wanted a break from you?"

" What are you even speaking?"

" Yeah Annika. From last month, a girl also accompanies him in all of these events. Do you know her?" asked Ahaana showing Annika her selfie with Olivia in her phone.

" Of course, I know her. She is Olivia. I have only hired her as new model. Oh Ahaana you scared me. " Annika laughed .

" Oh..sorry Annika . I hope tum mujhe galat nahi samjhogi . I was just worried for you. "

" Oh come on Ahaana. Shivaay aur mein ab apne relationship mein bahut aage badh chuke hain. It's been 5 years to our marriage and we know each other from 10+ years. I trust him enough aur phir aise choti batein toh hoti hi rehti hain. Tomorrow if shivaay is busy in some meeting toh I will take my manager with me as representative. So, it's no big deal. Anyways, leave all this you tell, how's your life going?"

" Yes...yes I had to talk something urgent. You know right that I don't know anything about North Indian cuisine. Meri saas aa rahi hain toh kuch kuch mujhe bata de how to impress her. I don't know how she's pretty impressed by you. Kuch tips bata de yarr." She spoke worriedly moving her hands.

Annika chuckled at her antics. She knew Ahaana's Mother in law was a little strict when it comes to following customs and traditions but she wasn't totally orthodox .

" Ahaana are you sure you aren't jealous ? This was your urgent talk." Said Annika controlling her laughter.

" Annika yaar...how can you say this yaar? " She said annoyed.

"Ok but seriously I don't know how she is impressed. I don't do anything extra ordinary. Just talk her calmly. Love her like you love your mom. That's it. "

" Hmm...chlo then but next week get together hain of all of our college friends. And mujhe kuch nahi sunna, tu aa rahi hain. That's final."

" Accha. Thik hain. Main aaungi. Ok? Happy?"

"More than happy... baby. Ab chalein, Mrs oberoi? "Ahaana said teasing her.

" Sure Mrs. Malhotra." Annika replied back.

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Annika somehow tried to convince her mind along with Ahaana but failed. She wanted to ask Shivaay why would he not ask her before taking someone else to the events? She was sure Shivaay only would have stopped  Shagun to tell her. Shagun was not someone who would forget things like this or lie to her about such things unless of course her husband warned her about consequences. As much as she trusts Shivaay, she knows he could make anyone even a loyal employee like Shagun lie to her. But Why was he doing so? She knew only Shivaay himself could answer all her questions. She needed to talk to him. She knew they needed to have a proper conversation before her reaching on to a conclusion.

She called someone and said " I want the details of all the last month business parties and events which Shivaay attended. Each and every detail. "

" Sure ma'am. " replied the person.

" Ma'am, we reached Oberoi's  headquarters. " The driver informed her.

Annika got out of the car and moved towards her cabin.

She messaged Shivaay's PA to reschedule the meetings after 8pm to tomorrow and also rescheduled her meetings.

She was determined to have a conversation with him tonight and nothing could come in her way.

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Finally I am back. I know I am late as usual.😅

Does anyone remembers me? How are you friends?

I won't lie I had checked Wattpad multiple times from my Google in these 1-1.5 years but never downloaded the app to prevent myself from writing .

Only I know how I kept myself away from writing.

How the part?
Writing after so long , so you guys definitely need to help by commenting. Bahut dar dar ke likha hain and I read the previous chapters 3-4 times to maintain the flow of story phir bhi agar kahin kuch flow break ho gaya ho toh please batayega.

And do inline comments.

Do vote, comment and follow if you liked the story.

I will be waiting for your response.

Take care ❤️
Signing off
Shambhavi ❤️