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Anyways, Onwards!!!

"Words in double quotes" - Talking

'Words in single quotes' - Thoughts

Chapter 24 - The Road to Hell is Paved with Good Intentions

Pragya peeked at the faces of each individual in the room. Aliyah was fuming with rage while glaring at her father, who was looking at the chip. Abhi looked calm, but Pragya knew it was the calm before the storm. Karan and Vivek looked like they were waiting to catch a raging bull. Kriti was treating Shabbir's wound, who was yelping from pain in between.

'With the amount of dangers Shabbir is constantly in, I think it would be best if I learn some first aid as well. After all, I'm his girlfriend now.' She smiled to herself and blushed, while looking down.

She sneaked a glance at Shabbir. From the corner of her eyes, she saw Purab wave at her. She asked him what he wanted with her eyes.

He pointed towards her and then at Shabbir. He then joined his hands together, as if asking if she and Shabbir were now together. Pragya blushed but nodded.

At once Purab jumped up in his chair. "Aha! I knew it! I knew you and Shabbir will eventually end up as a couple. Heh, guess I won the bet with Bulbul. Now I can boast abo-" he abruptly stopped when he saw everyone, except Pragya, glaring at him and gulped.

However, he noticed that none of them seemed too surprised at the news, not even Abhi. It was as if they already suspected it would eventually happen. Although it would have been good if that had caught their attention, since they were now giving him all their glares.

'Easy now Purab. Just sit back down slowly like a little boy and they will move their attention back to what they were doing.' He looked at Aliyah's face and gulped. "I'll be quiet. You can go back to giving our Principal your evil eye Aliyah behen. Ehehe..." 😅 he gave a nervous laugh.

Aliyah could feel her eye twitching in irritation. In her rage, she picked up the chip and threw it at Purab.

Shabbir and the rest looked at her in shock.

"Are you crazy!? You don't just throw such a valuable thing like that! What the heck!?" Shabbir exclaimed, as he came to pick up the chip, despite his injury.

"That chip is the reason for everything you idiot! It's what separated us! Yet, you treasure it so much!?" she asked in disbelief.

"It even almost got you killed today. Look at your shoulder!" Aliyah shouted.

"It wasn't aimed at me. It was aimed at Pragya."

"What? But why would they target Pragya? It's you that they want." spoke Mr. Mehra, looking confused.

"Those men that I beat up. Were they after you or Pragya?" asked Abhi in between. It was the first time he had spoken since the truth came out.

"They had the same symbol on their uniforms that the ones after the chip have. I guess both the shooter and the men are together since they attacked at the same time." Shabbir concluded. "And as for them trying to kill Pragya, I think it was because she was with me last time. I guess they thought she was my associate."

Abhi abruptly stood up. "You mean to say that this happened before and yet, you didn't think of taking any precaution? You're putting her life in danger and God knows how many others because of that chip! Have you lost the little bit of brain cells that you have you idiotic jerk?!"

Shabbir cringed. "Ouch. That was harsh and mean. Shouldn't you respect your elder twin?" 😒

Abhi saw red and surged forward to hit Shabbir. But Karan and Vivek held him back. "You think this is a joke? Is this a joke to you?!"

Shabbir sighed. "Look Abhi. I'm sorry, alright? I'm just trying to lighten the mood. You all are acting like someone just died. We were handling the situation till now, no one has been killed and I'm sure we can continue well even now. Don't worry so much Abhi. Yes it's true that the sniper caught me by surprise, but ne-"

"Sniper? Wasn't the one who fired at Pragya standing with those men?" Vivek asked suddenly, making everyone turn to him.

"No. He had fired from a distance. But I'm sure they are together since the men came after us right after he missed."

"Did you see his face? His clothes? Anything?" Vivek questioned.

Shabbir narrowed his eyes at him. "No... But why are you so interested in it?"

Vivek shrugged. "Nothing much. Just got a lot of interest in detective movies." 😏

Shabbir nodded, but didn't look convinced. 'Could he be the sniper? Nah... He was with Karan and Kriti. It is something else, but there is something he is hiding for sure. Or it could also be me over thinking.'

Mr. Mehra stood up. "Aliyah, Abhi... I'm really sorry for hiding the truth from you both, but I just wanted to keep you safe. Please try to understand."

"We can understand you taking that step. But you Shabbir? How could you hide something so big from us? Dad and Mom always put their work before their children. So him lying to us doesn't effect us. But you... You are our brother. The one who practically raised us! Been there as our guardian, our support, our strength. I thought we had a deep bond. How could you do this to us Shabbir?" Aliyah spoke, wtih tears flowing from her eyes.

Shabbir came near her and rubbed away her tears. "Yes. I had looked after you like a guardian and taken care of you like you both were the most precious things in the world for me. And that's why... That's why I didn't tell you. You both are my blood, my siblings Aliyah. Do you think I could live if anything happens to you two?"

"You said we are your blood, yet you don't trust us? Do you know how broken I was when you left us? Do you think we would be able to live if something happens to you? Do you think we would be able to continue our lives peacefully if you aren't there? Do you-" she couldn't continue and broke down into tears.

Shabbir pulled her into a hug. "It's okay Princess. Big brother's here. Your Shab-bear is sorry for not telling you the truth and hurting you. I'm sorry for being the one who hurt you the most. I'm deeply sorry."

He felt Aliyah hit him on the chest. "Shut up you baboon. Only I can call you Shab-bear. Not even you can use that name."

Shabbir chuckled. "Crazy Princess."

"Pompous Pig."

"Witch."

"Ape."

"Ugly hag."

"Jerk!"

Mr. Mehra smiled at his kids. Although he felt hurt at Aliyah's accusation of him putting work before them, he couldn't deny that she was right. He and Binita had failed to be a good father and a mother. They gave more importance to work at a time when their children needed them. 'Well, at least it helped in making an unbreakable bond between the three of them. May my kids always remain like this.'

"Get out." They all looked towards Abhi who uttered those words.

"Except Shabbir, all of you get out." he looked dead serious.

Karan didn't like the looks of it. He was about to move forward to calm down Abhi, when Shabbir spoke.

"No Karan. Let it be. You all should leave. This is something we brothers need to sort it out by ourselves. Leave."

Karan hesitated but nodded. Slowly, each of them moved outside and Shabbir closed the door behind him.

#Arora House#

To anyone who saw, it looked like Prasanth, Samay and Sumit were the only ones who were coming to the Arora house. However, if one had good observation skills, they would see several cars lining up in the place from all directions.

"Sarla aunty? Sarla aunty!" Samay shouted, once they were inside the house. Bulbul came out from the kitchen.

"What happened? Why are you shouting?"

"Bulbul ther-"

"Bulbul, go inside. I want the clothes arranged nicely in a minute. Go now!" spoke Sarla, as she came near them.

Bulbul sighed in frustration, but did as told. Sarla came towards Samay and the other two as Bulbul left the room. "I haven't told her anything yet. I didn't want to worry her. She might even end up telling Pragya in her anxiousness."

"I see. Tell us more about what you saw Ma'am." spoke Prasanth politely.

She pointed at her window and then looked confused. "Where... Where did he go?" she moved towards the door and peeked outside. "Not here either? How could this happen?"

"What are you looking for Sarla aunty?" Sumit asked, confused.

She pointed to the window "One of those men was standing near the panipuri vendor there. And two were over there." she spoke, pointing outside the door to a shop.

Samay and Prasanth looked outside and they couldn't see any strange men there, but found no one. "Are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm absolutely sure. It's like they disappeared in mid air."

"Bhai, something's not right. I think they left seeing us. They might have known that we brought back-up with us."

"Sumit is right. They must have seen us." Samay turned to Sarla. "Did you notice anything particular about those men that may help us identify them?" he asked, hoping she saw something.

Sarla thought hard. "I...I think one thing they all had in common were blue collars in their suits and blue watches on their wrists. Each of them had it!"

"Hmm... Although its not much, that might help a little to catch them next time. I'll get to work and search for such gangs right away." saying that, Prasanth left.

Samay looked towards the worried face of Sarla. "Don't worry aunty. Soon we will catch the ones responsible and everything will be alright."

"I hope you are right Samay. I'm really worried about Pragya and Bulbul. Those men are now appearing near our house. What if they manage to harm them?"

Sumit came and stood beside his brother. "That's why me and Samay are here. To protect you all." he smiled at her. "Right now, I'm in a mood to eat parathas from your hands. Make them for me, please?"

Sarla gave him a playful glare. "Always hunting for food. Wait, let me make them."

Once she went inside, Sumit's smile disappeared and he turned to face Samay. "The situation's getting worse. They even dared to come near Pragya's house."

"Wait a minute. It may not be those men behind Pragya. How can we be so sure it was them?"

"Are you kidding me Samay? Who else would it be keeping an eye on the Arora household, if not them?" Sumit spoke out in disbelief.

"Hmm... I guess you do have a valid point. We should try to capture one of those men and make him answer our questions, one way or another."

Sumit nodded. "But right now. My parathas are calling for me."

"We need to go help Prasanth find clues, Sumit." 😑

Sumit gave him a quizzical look. "Come on bro! It's not like you don't like aunty's parathas. Do you really want to deny such tasty, delicious, mouth-watering parathas?"

"Fine! But only one." 😣

#Shabbir's Apartment#

"So? Are we just going to stand here all day?" asked an irritated Shabbir as Abhi kept standing in the room, glaring at him.

Abhi slowly moved forward. Shabbir was about to speak, but he felt a punch to the cheek. Before he could recover, he felt another punch, which knocked him to the floor.

"Alright alright. I guess I deserved it. I hope you're feeling better after this little bro."

Abbi picked him up and slammed him against the wall. He would have hit him if it wasn't for the painful grunt that escaped Shabbir. Shabbir's shoulder was starting to bleed again. Abhi's concern for his brother overrode his anger and he let go.

"You selfish, selfish jerk! How dare you decide for us? How dare you decide if we are to know the truth or not!? It's our life and we have the right to decide on our own! We are not children!"

"That's where you're wrong Abhi. For me, you and Aliyah will always be my little siblings for whom I've always looked out for. In my eyes, no matter how old you become, you'll still be the toddler that believed his big brother would protect him from everything."

"And what about us, huh? Don't we get the chance to do the same for you Shabbir? Do you always want to play hero, sacrificing your happiness for others? Don't I deserve to help you, save you? You say you care about us more than anything. Didn't you ever stop to think that you meant the same to us? Or is it that you didn't trust us enough?"

"I trust you and Aliyah more than my life! But this isn't about that. It's about keeping you both safe! Being with me, with this chip, it's like a curse. A curse that I didn't want you to be victim too! I would do it all over again if it means your safety!"

"Do it again? You just don't get it, do you? What happens to you effects us all! You-" Abhi shook his head and tried another approach. "The chip was built by Vivian Mehra and we are born as Mehras. We're already cursed! If not these men, there would eventually be someone who would hunt us down for it. It would have been better for us to know than not knowing so that we could at least take precautions."

"I would never let anything happen to you both. I would have taken the chip far away from the family."

"Why couldn't you just tell us the truth?"

"Because I didn't want you and Aliyah in this mess. This chip... We don't know when we will find Raj's sons. We don't even know if we will ever find them. It could take weeks, years or forever! Until then, this all dangers won't be over."

Shabbir looked at Abhi pointedly. "I don't want you or Aliyah anywhere near it. I want you both to have a happy life, to find your love, to have kids and...and a nice home. I want you to grow old and pass on to the next world living a normal, peaceful life!"

"You deserve the same!" Abhi grit out.

Shabbir chuckled. "Me? I'm too far down the muck to get out of it now. The only way I'm going down is by a gun shot or a knife."

Abbi balled his hands into fists. "I hate you for everything that you did, for all the lies that you told! Yet...." he gave a defeated sigh. "Yet my love for you as my brother surpasses my hate. Just once.... Just once couldn't you have asked me for help? Couldn't you have just said 'Abhi, let's fight this together!'? I trust you with my life. Even now if you say that you were the one who hung the moon on the sky to keep the shadows away, I would believe you. But you don't trust or care about us, do you? That's why you just left us without a care."

Shabbir looked into his eyes and could see how much he had hurt his brother. He thought he was protecting him, but he was the one hurting him the most. He thought by keeping the secret he was keeping them unharmed. But he was only proving how much he didn't trust them, how much he didn't value their love and care. "I'm sorry."

Abhi looked up at him in shock. "Sorry?" 😨

"Yes. I.... I finally understand how wrong it was to keep it from the both of you. I was a fool to think that I was keeping you safe, when it was me who hurt you the most. I'm... I'm sorry for that. I did it thinking I was doing the right thing, but like someone once said, 'The road to hell is paved the way with good intentions'. I'm sorry bro. Forgive your idiotic twin?" he asked playfully. 🙂

Abhi sighed and let out a chuckle. "If I had known it only took two punches to bring you back on track, I would have done it years ago." 😏

"Oi! Didn't Maa teach you to respect your elders." 😒

"She did. But my idiotic twin brother always said to punch someone if he deserves it. I guess I decided to follow my big brother's advice." he said with a smile.

"Hmm... Your twin must have been a handsome idiot then." 😁

"Shabbir?"

"Yea?"

"Just shut up before I punch you again." 😑

"Zipppppppp."

Outside...

"Kriti, do you see something?"

Kriti had been trying to see what was going on inside by peeping through the glass panes. She dropped her hands from the window in frustration and sighed.

"No Vivek. I can't see anything inside and neither can I hear them!"

"You both. Stop acting like kids and come stand here. How old are you? Five?" Karan said, glaring at them.

"At least kids tend to listen when you give them candies. These two are simply obnoxious. I still find it hard to believe that they are computer specialists." 😣

"My thoughts exactly Pragya, my thoughts exactly. Only I know how I'm keeping myself from hitting both of them." Aliyah spoke, massaging her head.

Pragya smiled at Aliyah. She looked to the side to see Purab and Mr. Mehra talking at a distance. 'I wonder what they are talking about so discreetly.'

Purab, on the other hand, was waiting for Mr. Mehra to end his call. Mr. Mehra ended the call and looked at him. "Bulbul's fine."

"Thank goodness. Thank you Sir."

"It's okay Purab. In fact, it's you who I should thank for telling me about Bulbul's life being in danger. It could have some link to the ones who are after the chip since I can't think of anyone other than that. It might help us find clues about them."

"Do you think she could be the lost baby of your best friend?" Purab asked, making a wild guess.

Mr. Mehra shook his head. "No. If it was their baby, then she would be 20 right now, not 18."

"I see."

"The enemy won't attack Bulbul at her home when there are too many people." Mr. Mehra took out some photos on his phone and showed it to Purab. "These are the men that will keep guard over Bulbul's house when she is alone or with her mother or Pragya."

Purab looked at the pictures and snickered. "What's with the blue collars and blue watches? They look tacky."

"These tacky people are the ones who are keeping your girlfriend safe. Don't forget that." 😒

"Ehehe... Sorry." 😅

They all looked towards the door as it opened and both the twins strolled out. It looked like they had sorted out their differences. They could say it was settled somewhat violently, if Shabbir's face was anything to go by.

Abhi straightaway got down to business. "Dad, you said whoever is searching for the chip knows about you making it. So he would probably know about the other two makers as well, won't he?" Mr. Mehra nodded. "This means that they may have some information about the Prataps in their databases as well."

Mr. Mehra gave Abhi a look of realization. "And if we can somehow hack into their databases, then through them we can find the Prataps! Brilliant Abhi!"

Shabbir looked at his father. "I'm not good with all this tech things. But you, dad? Why didn't you think of it before?" 😑

"Guess I never thought of it that way beta." 😥

Abhi rolled his eyes. 'Now I'm sure Shabbir definitely got his brains from father.' He clapped his hands together to get their attention. "Alright. Change of plans. The chip won't be staying with Shabbir anymore. Me and Karan know a good place to keep it safe."

"But that wouldn't stop them from coming after Shabbir like today." Pragya pointed out, worry evident in her voice.

"No, that won't. He has already made himself polpular among them as the keeper of the chip and it can't be changed." Abhi glared at Shabbir while speaking.

Shabbir simply smiled proudly and bowed in a grand way, as if Abhi was praising him. However, straightened up when Aliyah pulled him by the ear.

Aliyah turned to Abhi. "Then what do we do?"

"We'll confuse them."

"How bhai?"

"It's time to give you a haircut, dear big brother." Abhi looked at Shabbir with an evil smirk, while Shabbir looked on in horror.

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To be continued...

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~ 🌹 Mona 🌹