If Rishabh was going to work, he would have dropped Prerna home himself. He wasn't going to work; he had a lunch meeting. If he had told his guest who was meeting him, he would never have come, which is why Shekhar was surprised out of his seat when he saw Mr. Bajaj coming to his table.

"Aap yahaan?" Shekhar asked, not sure what was going on.

"Lunch ke liye aya hoon. Mind if I join you?" Rishabh asked only to be polite, and took the other seat.

Shekhar was agitated and sat back in his seat. "Bus yahi hai na aap ka kaam? Bina puchhe chizein le lena? Chizein kya, aap to insaan bhi le lete hain."

Rishabh looked up through his brows, not sure if Mr. Sharma was talking about his own sister. He had offered Ms. Sharma a deal, and she had taken it. He didn't force her, well, so to say.

Shekhar got up to leave, but Rishabh blocked his way by holding a file up. "Yeh mere last six months ke business transactions hain."

"Main kya karun iska?" Shekhar asked.

"Get the answers to your questions. Aap ke attitude se lagta hai aap sirf meri baaton pe yaqeen nahi karne waale."

Shekhar took the file and sat back in his seat. Rishabh ordered himself a meal as if he was just here for a simple lunch. Shekhar, who's work allowed him to understand the business reports, read through each page. There was no mention of BG buying out the company where he worked.

"Toh aap ne Rx nahi khareedi?" Shekhar asked, now a bit calmed.

"Rx kisi ne bhi nahi buy ki, Mr. Sharma. The company's not in the market."

"Shekhar," Mr. Sharma allowed him to say.

Rishabh smiled in acknowledgment and continued. "Aap ki company nahi biki, lekin aap ki company mein se koi office holder bikka hai."

"Meaning, jisne mujhe lay off kiya, usne sirf mujhe hi lay off kiya," Shekhar was trying to put the pieces together. "Lekin unhon ne aapki company kyun use ki? Aur mujhe target kyun kiya?"

"Jis ne bhi yeh kiya hai, they know hamara kya relationship hai. Aapke aur mere beech mein discord create karna chah rahe hain."

Shekhar scoffed. "Mera aapse khafa hona aapko kyun affect kare ga? Aap toh..."

"I'm your brother in law," Rishabh didn't let him finish. "Marriage ki reason jo bhi ho, lekin main nahi chahta ke mere is decision se kisi aur ko problems hon."

"Yeh shaadi aap ke liye aik business deal hai," Shekhar said aloud.

"Prerna ka meri beti ke life mein hona, uske liye beneficial hai. There's no more or less reason for Ms. Sharma to be in my house. Woh Kukki ke liye ayi hain, aur jabh Kukki theek ho jaye gi..."

"Toh aap ki business deal complete ho jaye gi," Shekhar finished.

Both of them were sitting quietly, contemplating what the end of this business deal looked like. That's when other diners walked by their table, but stopped.

"Mr. Bajaj!" The man recognized, and Mr. Bajaj got up to greet him.

"Mr. Roy. Kaise hain aap?"

"Good, all good. Aap toh kabhi nazar hi nahi aate aaj kal. Aaj lunch pe kaise?"

Rishabh smiled, and turned to Shekhar. "Mr. Sharma, this is..."

"Kamal Roy, president of Rx," Shekhar stood up to shake hands with the president of his company.

Mr. Roy politely shook hands, but had a confused look on his face. "Mr. Roy, this is my brother in law, Shekhar Sharma," Rishabh introduced.

Mr. Roy's eyes lit up. "Oh! Aap, mere hi kisi offices mein kaam karte hain na? I've seen you before."

"Ji, sir. Bally branch," Shekhar specified.

"Nice. Nice. I didn't know aap Mr. Bajaj ke relative hain. We should talk sometime."

Shekhar stuttered, not sure how to explain that he didn't work there any more.

"Actually, main parson Bally branch aa raha hoon. Tabh milte hain," Mr. Roy said, and excused himself.

"Yeh, aap ne purposely kiya na?" Shekhar expressed as they sat down.

"What do you mean?" Rishabh smirked. "Main ne toh bus time and place select kiya tha. I can't control if someone else is here or not."

"But you can control when you are there."

"As you can see, Mr. Sharma, I didn't tell Mr. Roy to hire you, I didn't bribe him. Lekin iss chance meeting ke baad woh jo decision lein ge uss mein mera koi influence nahi hai."

"Aap yeh sabh kyun kar rahe hain? Hamara aisa koi relationship bhi nahi hai," Shekhar asked, knowing that Mr. Bajaj didn't see his sister as a wife.

"You're someone caught in the crossfire. Aapko push kiya, aur main ne bus haath diya. Abh reh gaya yeh find out karna ke kisne attack kiya hai."

Rishabh knew who his opponent was. There were only so many people who could try to get to him through the Sharmas.

Rishabh couldn't tell Mr. Basu that he didn't take his fiancée as a reason to hurt him, that he took Ms. Sharma for Kukki. But he also didn't mind that taking Prerna hurt him.

Rishabh had promised Prerna that he wouldn't bother the Basus as long as she was with him, but after they would separate, Rishabh planned to pick up the hatchet again.

Rishabh had promised not to make the Basus pay for their past mistakes, but Anurag was challenging him in the present, and Rishabh wasn't going to sit back and take the hits. Especially not when other people got involved.

The lunch ended and the brothers in law went their separate ways. Rishabh had to go to the office, but not his own. Employees stood up and the front desk made phone calls as Mr. Bajaj walked through the floors, heading to the owner's office. As he got there, some other people were leaving, obviously leaving the room empty for him.

"Mr. Basu aap kya kar rahe hain?" Rishabh said as he entered.

"Mr. Bajaj," Anurag welcomed him with a smile, "Have I got your attention now?"

"Nahi. I've always had my eye on you, Mr. Basu. You know this. Lekin abh aap aur innocent logon ko hamaare beech men laa rahe hain."

"Yeh game aapne start ki hai, Mr. Bajaj. Personal pehle aap hue hain, Prerna ko mujhse le kar. Agar aap usse benefits dikha ke khareed sakte hain..."

Rishabh grimaced at Anurag's words.

"then I can make her regret her decision. Main usko dikhaunga, ke aap ke saath reh kar usko kitni problems hongi. And I'll make her leave you, and come back to me."

"Prerna ki life main problems create karke aap unhe waapis nahi le sakenge, Mr. Basu. And if you keep at it, phir main Prerna ko bata doon ga ke iss sabh ke piche aap hain. I don't think then she'll come back to you."

"Prerna mere paas waapis aaye na aaye, I won't let her stay with you," Anurag walked up to face his opponent.

"Main ne Prerna se promise kiya hai ke main aapse koi puraani fight nahi fight karunga. Lekin agar aap meri family ko attack kareinge to main piche baith ke tamaasha nahi dekhunga. So back off, Anurag. Or else, you haven't seen the worst of me," Rishabh warned and left.

Anurag picked up a weight off his desk and threw it against the wall. What was Bajaj's problem with him? Why did he come into their lives? They didn't have an old fight, but they had one now. Bajaj had taken his girlfriend, and Anurag would get her back at any cost. What had Prerna said? She was with Bajaj for his daughter. Well, no daughter, then no reason.

"Dekh, Prerna Bajaj ke saath uski beti ke liye hai. Agar beti hi..."

"Anu, bas!" Anupam yelled. "Tu paagal ho gaya hai sach main! Aap log isse kuch kehte kyun nahi hain?"

"Anupam uski puri baat toh suno," Nivi argued.

"Yahi. lssi attitude se support le kar yeh paagal ho chuka hai. Bajaj se larrai mein yeh khud ko, tum sabh ko, bhool gaya hai. He doesn't care about you, aur Nivi tum yeh bhi nahi dekh sakti ke woh tumhe mistreat kar raha hai," Anupam stood up and waved his arms in a cross.

"Abh l can't take this anymore. Main iske saath nahi reh sakta," he moved to leave but Nivi got in his way.

"Anupam, tum kya keh rahe ho? Dekho abhi tum gusse mein ho. Hum, hum baad mein..."

"No, Nividita. Abh koi baad nahi. Main tumhe aur hurt hote nahi dekh sakta. Main jaa raha hoon," he offered his hand, "tum bhi aajao mere saath."

"Anupam main aise," she looked back at her family, "abhi.."

Anupam chuckled. "Sorry. I understand bohot last minute hai," he took out his phone and texted her. "Main kuch der iss address peh stay kar raha hoon. I'll wait for you, Nivi," he kissed her cheek and left.

Nivi stood in the middle, hand reaching out to her husband. She said his name softly but he didn't stay. Nividita turned to her family with teary eyes, glaring at Anurag accusingly.

"Nivi..." Mohini called her name, but Nivi started crying and ran up to her room.