Hlo darlings

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Sounds old fashioned and typical, but indeed, after the darkest hour of the night arrives the dawn of a new, bright and happy day.

The people travelling the paths to their destination in darkness finally see the light and realise that this light, these rays of hopes will never abandon them even if they seem to be disappeared for sometime.

Two days to the happy news of Tej's death and them being back to Oberoi Mansion and it all seems like a dream now. The fake property transfer to Tej's name, bribing the security men hired by Tej, the drama of a soul full of vengeance, all seemed to be a part of a distant dream now.

The fact that all their efforts could've gone down the drain the day Anika decided to 'solve' everything herself was scary. The day would have noted the death of Tej from Shivaay's hands and the failure of their plan to give justice to Prithviraj Singh Oberoi and someone else who suffered too, probably more than anyone else.

Shivaay and Om stood in the living hall of the mansion as Rudra sat beside Anika, side hugging her and 'fake' crying his heart, eyes, and lungs out. Anika was probably the only one paying attention to his drama, rest of the family members cared tuppence for his cries because they knew him too well. Well, Anika knew him well too, but she was just too soft hearted a person to ignore her baby's cries.

The initial plan was to explain to the whole family how Om and Shivaay had executed  their plan but Rudra took the conversation to a different tangent, singing his usual 'mere donon bhai paraya dhan ho gaye' chorus.

"Rudra, we did tell you about the plan, then why are you crying like a five year old, abandoned 'outside' the Disney land?" Om asked, irritated more than Gauri could irritate him, and that, was a lot.

"Told about the plan? When? When I found this phone todu man breaking his phone and ready to burn the world knowing about bhabi going to-" Rudra stopped, suddenly aware that he reminded his brother and his to-be sister in law of the dreadful day.

Shivaay's face, when Anika looked at him was devoid of any emotions. But she could see his jaws tightened and lips pursed in a thin line to avoid saying something, anything.

Face devoid of emotions, but heart was not. Shivaay himself was the only victim of that pain her actions caused. Her love for him might have been the cause of those actions but the outcomes were like a thousand slow deaths for him.

Had the security men not informed him on time, he would've been late. It was then that Rudra saw him in that uncontrollable fit of rage and somewhere he was glad that he did. Had not Rudra informed Om of his anger whose reason was unknown to him just yet, shuvaay would've barged into Oberoi mansion and chopped Tej to pieces without the fear of its consequences.

They were glad that the avenging soul was right there, in the same mansion to control the situation until they could reach there and save Anika.

It was when Anika fell unconscious that Tej's eyes noticed the same, white fog engulfing him. He couldn't think straight. He no longer had the power or even urge to hold Anika’s limp body, his entire focus was on the footsteps approaching him slowly and in a deathly scary way.

He shouted at his security men to do something to catch him. But all he gained in response was, what to do and why and whom to catch for there was no one other than him (Tej), the security men and an unconscious Anika.

The footsteps came closer and he had no other way than backing away from him. There was nothing he could see but fog all around him and he stumbled as he reached the first step of the staircase. His back hit the third step and a mind numbing pain shot through his spine as if it was broken already. What with the exhaustion, fear and pain, he let sleep of tiredness engulf him.

As soon as Tej's mind was diverted, the two security men stepped towards Anika and locked her up to get her to the awaiting arms of Shivaay who glared the man holding Anika in his arms and took her in his own embrace as soon and swiftly as he could. Anyone else touching her even if it was to save her was shooting a burning sensation all over his being.

It was when they came back home that Rudra forced them to spill everything out as soon as they could and they had to and since then the plan was known to Shivaay, Om, Rudra and Khanna, and their team of property and criminal lawyers, of course.

"Whatever! You both hid it from me at first, did you not? So I'm not crying without a valid reason, okay?" Rudra changed the topic sending the heavy and unbearable silence in the room.

"Rudy, they wanted you to take care of these beautiful women of the family. So your responsibility was more than these two non-body builders could manage." Anika said as she pointed herself, Janvi, Dadi, Gauri, and Priyanka.

Om was sensible enough to just shrug it off but Shivaay, was not. No. He was sensible but how could Anika of all the people say that about him? He glanced her way and pointed his two fingers towards his etes and then at her, as if saying 'I'll show you that, for sure' and she gulped her nervousness away. Not that he would punch her or something but his way of showing her would probably make her blush.

"Is that true?" Rudra looked suspiciously at Shivaay and Om, but Anika found it hard to control her laughter, for Rudra already looked as if supporting an inflated ego within.

"Yes, your highness. Now happy? So shall we speak?"

Shivaay agreed with a sickeningly sweet smile on his face. Anika looked at Shivaay and shook her head at his sarcasm. Only she could see why he didn't involve Rudra in that mess. Simply because his fatherly instincts rise to their peaks when it's about Rudra or Priyanka.

"I'm not convinced at all, but I'll let you both slip away with it because I'm very happy to be back home."

Rudra gave up as if performing a great charity and then, Om continued narrating their deeds, skipping the part in which they saved Anika, Shivaay is too sensitive to relive that dreadful moment.

"Our plan was to scare him and get the truth out of him. We just wanted him to believe that his previous sins are following him. We had thought it might be difficult but that was the easiest part. He believed everything fairly quickly."

"What sins? And how did you mean by 'everything'?" Janvi asked, and the three brothers' faces became pale. How were they going to tell this to everyone, especially to Dadi?

But there was no hiding the facts. They would have to tell everything, it was Dadi's right to know how her husband, her first and her last best friend died.

"He- he killed- he killed Dadu."

Om's voice shot in their ears like a bullet and Anika immidiately clutched Dadi's hand as she was sitting beside her. She felt the old, wrinkled hand going cold and the face, pale.

But surprisingly Dadi didn't cry, just her eyes that always illuminate pride, were dull because of disappointment.

"No, Dadi. It was not your fault. It was not your or Dadu's fault that he couldn't become a good person. Please don't loose your pride just because of one person who doesn't deserve it too. We're all your children and look what a good upbringing you gave us."

Dadi just smiled weakly and caressed Shivaay's cheeks lovingly as he sat kneeling on the floor infront of her.

"He didn't only kill Dadu, but someone else too. May be he bore more pain than we all did. His whole life was destroyed, the beautiful life that he could have with his family."

"Who are you talking about?"   /

"Who was he?"

Anika and Dadi asked at the same time. And Om looked at Shivaay, asking him silently as what to answer.

"I'm talking about the man who was like your second son for you after chhote papa (Om's father). He would be the second person to wish you a happy birthday, happy anniversary, and happy mother's day after Dadu."

"No. Are you- are you talking about him?"

Shivaay's words baffled her.

"Yes."

"How?"

"It's not my place to tell you about his side of the story, he'll tell you that himself. For now I'll just tell you what we did."

Shivaay stopped and Om continued further.

"According to Tej he was dead. So we brought him as a- a ghost. He was not ghost, ofcourse, but Tej believed him to be one because he had got him killed."

"It was just a risk that we had to take. It was a dramatic, and simply stupid plan but it worked, may be by God's grace. Tej believed that the so called ghost actually wanted to kill him and he was so scared that he blurted out the truth, finally."

Om said, not mincing his words. Calling that monster with his name was more than the respect he was giving him and much more than he deserved.

"Hey, you missed that old man's prophecy part. That was my plan. And that scared him more and then he said everything."

Rudra chirped in, not wanting to miss his credit at all. All he received in turn was a shrug from both his brothers.

"My intelligence apart, but how were those papers changed that he was so scared during the conference? You both didn't tell me as I was busy submitting my assignment that day."

Rudra asked, still baffled at the way Tej noticed something unusual written in the papers and the second time there was nothing wrong in those same papers?

"The assignment Priyanka and Gauri helped you in preparing?"

Om asked sarcastically but Rudra was my letting it go.

"So? I gave them a proper price."

"Oh hello, that credit card belongs to me, that you stole and these two emptied."

Poor Om said. He looked as if he would burst into tears anytime now.

"Kanjoos langoor!"

Om heard Gauri's murmur but Shivaay stopped them both by joining his hands in front of the both. There would be no revealing the facts of the two started.

"Now, the papers. When Mr. Dinakar picked those papers, the ink had disappeared. Actually those 'deadly' threats were written almost 47 hours and 55 minutes before the conference. So the ink disappeared in five minutes after Tej saw the papers as it takes 48 hours for the ink to disappear."

"Haww! Isn't it the same way you both used to scare me and Prinku?"

Rudra narrowed his eyes at both his elder brother who looked away with a sheepish grin plastered on their faces.

"After that we just had to give him one last blow to get him to confess. Ofcourse, we were not hundered percent sure that he would confess so soon. But he did and we're glad."

Om finished, at last, and sighed as if a huge burden was lifted off of not only him but of all of them.

"And Tej Singh Oberoi was killed when he tried to trick the policemen and tried to run from the police station. There was some electricity problem in the station and the repair was bring done when he tried to run and fortunately he stepped on the electric wires with flowing current and he died on the spot."

Shivaay informed everyone, and they all gasped. No. They were not sad, just shocked that he died like that and without getting a legal punishment.

This was something not even his brothers knew. Actually, one brother if his knew about this, Khanna. Without him, he wouldn't have been able to satisfy his inner demons that wanted to punish that monster with his own hands.

No, he didn't kill him. Just bribed the policemen to bring Tej to the place he asked them to, and he just tortured him a bit. A few shocks of high voltage electricity that caused a simple paralyses in the breathing center of his brain.

Anika looked at Shivaay, an uncertainty settling in her heart, and discomforting her brain. There was something other than the peacefulness that she saw on his face, something he was hiding from her and his entire family. But she trusted him enough by now to know that if he wants it to be hidden and is holding it to himself, it's better for them all that way.

Seeing his Dadi's face Shivaay shut his eyes in pain. She was not sad because another son of hers had died. She was ashamed of his deeds that destroyed so many things. Janvi's life, her grandchildren's childhood and especially Shivaay's, her husband's life, and one more son of hers whom she might not have given birth but who was her son by all means.

Shivaay, Om, Rudra and Priyanka settled themselves in front of her on the floor as Janvi and Anika sat either side of her. She smiled. It's all a dreadful past better left behind. What matters is that they're together after all the hardships.

Her family had endured more than their share of hardships but in all of this God had never abandoned them. He had been there for them, always.

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So? How was this new twist?

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