Thank you Vidyathri, for this lovely cover page:)

Nivin.

"What do you want," I asked as soon as I attended his call.

"You are drunk." It was a statement from Grandpa.

"Why...why did you use her to get to me?" I asked again.

"Are you disappointed that much?" he asked me in that calm voice. "You were too busy trying to get into the company."

"Do you think I am going to stop now? I have never told you this before, your judgement went wrong here, It's the worst mistake you have ever done, I am very determined now, you can't win." I said deadly.

"Do you know why marriage is one of the rules in the company? It's responsibility, the person who can't even take care of his married life can't manage a company."

"We will see it, mark my words, Grandpa, I am going to take control of it and when I am done, I am going to ruin it to destruction," I said before disconnecting.

I threw the phone away, It hit the headboard and landed on the bed.

I cant believe Riya went along the plan!

Neev, you know it's not right, she's not that kind of a person, she's the most genuine person I have ever known, Grandpa must have used her.

But she's still his daughter and don't forget the fact that she knew it before the marriage!

I was still a mess, I am drunk out of my mind, It is after two days that I am coming to my senses. My phone started to ring again.

"What is it, Sachin?" I was not in a good mood.

"What did you think leaving her alone there you asshole! Do you think you are the only one with feelings?"

"Butt out Sachin, you don't know anything-"

"I clearly warned you before the marriage, you can't treat her like this!so what if she's Ragunad's daughter, you married her for her, you had feelings for her-"

"Not anymore, If I had known she's the daughter of him, I wouldn't have even looked at her!"

"That's why you are the biggest loser in this world Nivin, nobody can help you if you keep doing this to yourself."

"She planned it along with Grandpa!"

"If you think she will willingly do something Grandpa would ask, I don't have anything to talk to you, Nivin."

"Don't talk like you know everything, Sachin, she knew it before the marriage, she hid it from me!"

"And why did she do it? Did you even give her a chance to explain?" Sachin was furious. "I saw the CCTV footage Nivin, It was you who tried to hit her in the parking lot, I can recognise you even if it was blurred, she was following you, trying to explain-"

"Shut up, Sachin, shut the hell u-"

"Hear me out you heartless jerk, she waited for you in that apartment for nearly 48 hours, not even taking a drop of water, In that same chair, waiting for you, Nivin Aldrick, she's now unconscious, still in the emergency recovery room, I hope you are happy"

I froze then, my mind going blank.

"I didn't call you to tell you this, as much as I want to take her with me, I can't, I am taking her to your house and if you messed up again, Nivin, I promise you I don't care she's married to you, I will take her away-"

"Stay away sachi-"

"Don't think I am joking, Nivin, If something like this happens again, I am going to protect her, I will take her away from that cursed Aldrick mansion." Sachin disconnected the call.

The fire inside me started to burn red hot.

How dare he threaten me!

My feelings started to get fluctuating and confusing and that made me lose it again.

"She waited for you in that apartment for nearly 48 hours, not even taking a drop of water, In that same chair, waiting for you, Nivin Aldrick, she's now unconscious, still in the emergency recovery room."

The words affected me more than it should and part of me can feel that pain.

Jeez! she betrayed me and I am still worried about her!

Grandpa planned all this, whatever it was that he is done to Riya, I cannot simply ignore the fact that she has still betrayed me.

Joseph Aldrick, this is the most stupidest mistake you have ever done and I will make sure you are going to pay for this.

Sebastian.

"Sebastian,"

The door opened and an angry looking Joseph was there. I raised out of my seat.

"Why did you expose her identity now? I clearly told you to wait!" he said.

He's talking about that gift I sent them to their hotel!

"There's no point in waiting, we shouldn't drag this anymore, I think it's time for Anil's daughter to stay away from us," I said.

"You decided it yourself? I told you to wait until Nivin hand over his project, but you exposed it now." he said dangerously.

"I am sorry, but I think that girl seemed too nosy, she was investigating about Anil's death."

Yes, Riya has visited the orphanage to get something that her guardian left for her and I am uneasy about it.

It's Anil Ragunad, even if he's dead, I am still wary of him, he was the only person I was worried about.

That's why I have to expose it this way, the sooner Riya is away from Aldricks, the better.

"You are worried because of her? you think she's going to find out what you did to her father?"

"It was an accident, I didn't mean to kill him." I repeated.

Joseph stared at me for a moment.

"And that girl falling down the stairs was also an 'accident'." Joseph said, referring to Naina. "ls there something you want to hide Sebastian? you sure seemed to be involved in a lot of accidents." he said, his eyes narrowed.

I fisted my hands. "I told you everything that happened, you know it too," I said.

"Don't ever do anything without discussing with me first, Sebastian, I am not happy with the way you are doing things now a days." he said before walking out.

I know it is clearly a warning. Joseph Aldrick is no fool and I know I have to be very careful while dealing with him.

Dev Dixit.

I disconnected the call from Sachin and leaned to my chair, trying to control it.

"Uncle Ananth was her guardian, Dad, but it was Anil Ragunad, her biological father, he died in a car crash, can you please look into it?"

The anger seemed to be too much, sizzling inside me, out of my control.

I closed my eyes, my mind travelling back in time.

...........

"Cheers!" All of us cheered, we all were pretty much drunk.

James raised to his feet.

"I... I want to tell you guys something while I am still drunk," he said, turning to us.

"Anil...Dev...you are the BEST friends in this whole world, I am lucky to get you beside me." he said.

"Now you know." Anil laughed.

"You are being so much emotional now," I said. "come on, let's have another shot." I added, But James shook his head.

"I want to speak today, " he said. "Thank you so much for helping me keep my position, thank you for fighting beside me, If it was not for you, the company and the people depended on it would be all gone today." he said.

I know he's talking from heart. We were only out of college and still not sure about what to do when it happened, the Aldick's corporation collapsed, the shares were going down and the debts increased, It was a close call but we were actually lucky to get the company back, even though it had taken months of efforts and legal battle.

"Okay, we got it, you can stop being emotional now and sit." Anil nodded while taking his drink.

"No, I have another request, Anil is already my partner now, Dev, I want you to be the legal advisor of the company," he said. "I want your law firm to represent my company too."

"I am very expensive, Are you sure you can afford me?" I laughed, but James was not in the mood for jokes, he seemed serious.

"I...I want you to stay with me, nobody can beat the three of us, " James said, he turned to Anil.

"You cleared the debts and you risked your whole inheritance to save me." James said.

"It's not risk, James, I am a clever businessman, It's called "investing", I know how capable you are" Anil said.

"You trusted me without any surety, Anil, " James whispered, then turned to me. "Dev...you legally fought through all of these, not expecting anything back, It was a long battle and you beat the most famous law firm," he said.

"You see James, I am the number one lawyer in the country because of that, so you don't have to put it that way." I said again.

"Thank you." James whispered. "We are starting again tomorrow and I want both of you with me." he said determinedly.

"We got it, just stop it now, you are giving us goosebumps, man!" Anil pulled him down.

James poured the drink for us.

"Don't drink too much or Julia is going to kill us next time we meet" I said.

"She said I can spend the day with you," James grinned and raised the glass.

"For Friendship!" he raise a toast and we raised our glasses.

"I will be in trouble if I stay here, Sneha is home," Anil said, getting up. "She's an emotional bomb now a days." he smiled.

"Pregnant ladies are dangerous to be around, hurry then." James said.

Anil walkes out, waving and nodding.

James turned to me.

"Nandini is with her mother, she told me to get married to the company" I laughed. "I forgot her birthday" I said.

"That's good then, you are stuck with me today." James said. "Dev, we need to bring Sebastian back." he said.

I narrowed my eyes. "He left when it was too difficult,  you want to bring him back now that everything is back in place? I don't think so," I said.

"Let it go, Dev, you know his situation, he has to take care of his family too, I can't force anyone to be with me when it was a dangerous time."

"Anil wouldn't want that too, he was very angry."

"That's why I told you now, Dev, help me cool him down, Sebastian is smart too, let us just look past it and get back together." James said and I sighed.

.............

I opened my eyes. It was more than two decades ago, but it was the first ever mistake we have done.

"Uncle Ananth was her guardian, Dad, but it was Anil Ragunad, her biological father, he died in a car crash, can you please look into it?"

Sachin's words were still echoing around me.

I raised out of my chair and walked to his room.

His secretary look surprised to see me all of a sudden, but I just barged into his room.

Sebastian looked up in surprise.

"Dev?" he called me from James's chair.

I couldn't seem to control it anymore. I have always wanted to protect what James built up, I had kept my silence and I tried to do my work silently, but I can no longer remain silent.

"Anil died in a car crash about a year ago." I said slowly.

Sebastian looked at me. "That's bad news," he said. "You look shaken, Are you alright?"

I fisted my hands tightly.

"I didn't know what exactly happened all those years ago, I didn't believe all those rubbish about him running away with Julia too, I was expecting him to turn up someday, so yes, I was shocked to know about his 'accident' " I said.

I know I am practically telling him that I don't trust him, but I couldn't keep calm anymore.

"I can understand, I am sad too, It must be more hard on you because you three were more close, you knew each other even before college" the bastard said.

"I always wondered what it is about Riya Mehra that you and Joseph sir is so concerned about," I said again. "now I think I know the answer," I looked straight into his eyes. "Both of you knew her identity."

"You know how Joseph Aldrick is, he wanted to keep it a secre-"

"I am not asking you any explanations, Sebastian, I just want to let you know that I am going to protect them, Nivin and Riya, they are James's and Anil's kids, they are as good as mine, nobody can touch them."

"You look very emotional today."

"And when we started the company with James, Anil and James were equal partners, when I heard Anil gave up his shares to a foreign investor, I thought he was trying to stay away from Grandpa," I said. "but I am not sure anymore, I am going to find out what happened to his shares, you know I am a master in this work, Sebastian, I will find it soon enough." I said.

Sebastian seemed to loss his cool for the first time, he looked angry now.

"I was hoping for things to settle down all these time, I hoped it was a misunderstanding, but both of them are already gone and I can see everything clearly now, I don't need any evidence now, I can guess what happened those years back."

"You seems to have a lot of theories, Dev," he said.

"I am not going to stop now, just wait there, Sebastian" I turned back to the door.

"You have so much to lose, Dev," Sebastian's words stopped me. "you will regret it."

"Do you know what I regret the most now? I turned to him, "I could not stop James when he wanted to take you back, I even convinced Anil to take you back to the company, If it was not for James's kindness, you would've been in the streets, but you backstabbed them," I said deadly. "Sebastian, we will see soon enough"

Sebastian.

Dev is openly challenging me, If he ever expose it in front of Joseph Aldrick, all of my hard work is going to collapse.

He still doesn't have any evidence.

I should stop him at any cost, at the same time, Joseph shouldn't get suspicious about it.

I know it's high time I take care of Joseph too.

Just a little more, I need his support in the coming board meeting.

Once it is over, I am going to take care of him myself.

* * *

Riya.

"Are you sure you want to go there?" Sachin asked me again, we were in front of the Aldrick's mansion.

No, I am worried...I don't know what to do, I am trapped and I can't tell anyone about it.

I nodded. "I want to meet Neev." I repeated. Sachin sighed.

He was really angry first when I rejected his offer to stay in his house or working women's hostel.

I had told him I am a married woman and my place is here, he had to accept it.

"You ready?" he asked as he drove through the gate and I nodded.

As soon as we reached there, I looked at him.

"Thank you so much, Sachin" I said. I know it was him who took me to the hospital and who take care of me, but I have to draw a clear line now.

"Please don't be concerned about someone like me, I am not worthy of your worries, find someone nice," I said, meaning it. "I have a lot of things to thank you for, from the moment we first met up until now, I am indebted to you, Sachin."

He looked up at me surprised.

"Yes, I know, It was you who helped me from Vivek that night." I said again.

I overheard him talking to Nivin in the Nurse's room from college, when he was explaining how he got hold of my bracelet.

"Thank you Sachin, I didn't get a chance to tell you how grateful I am really."

"All I want is you to be safe, Riya, I am not asking for anything else," Sachin said.

"I promise I will take car-"

"I saw that today! Nivin has gone too far this tim-"

"He had his reasons, Sachin, I can't blame him, he's my husband, I will explain him everything."

"I can't believe you are sticking for him!"

"I love him, Sachin, It's not going to change, what happened was entirely my fault." I said firmly.

Sachin sighed, It looks like he has decided to keep quiet.

Good, I am not in a mood to discuss things with him.

"Riyechi!"

Danny was already coming down the steps. "You are home? aren't you supposed to be away for the week?" he asked me. "uh...Brother Sachin!...where's Brother Neev?"

"Hey Danny, help me to unload her luggage," Sachin said and both of them walked to the back of the car.

"Riya, you are here!" Auntie Alice looked happy to see me.

"Hello Auntie" I said, happy too.

"God! what happened to your forehead?" she came near and rubbed the little scar there.

"It's nothing." I smiled.

"Sachin? I thought you came with Neev?" she looked at me confused. It was hard for me to keep a normal face.

"Hi Auntie" Sachin greeted. "Neev had a last minute urgent work at office, he had to cut down the vacation, he asked me to take her home," Sachin said easily.

"That boy! what is more important for him?" Auntie Alice said, then took my hand. "Come on, molu" she took me inside.

"Hey Riya," Rohan was in the settee, still in his suit, I think he came back just now. "what happened? I thought you guys will take another week?" he asked.

"That boy had something urgent in his office and he cut down the honeymoon, can you believe that!? that boy is unbelievable!" Auntie Alice said.

Rohan's eyes snapped up to me and I avoided his eyes, I know that Rohan know it's a lie.

"I see..." he said, I could still feel his eyes on my face.

"Then I will go back," I heard Sachin's voice behind me. "please take care of her." he added and I felt Rohan and Sachin having some sort of eye contact.

"Sure, bye Sachin." Rohan said.

"I am a bit tired, I will go freshen up and come,"

"Take rest, Riya, I will wake you up later" Auntie Alice said.

And when I went upstairs, I had a surprise waiting for me.

My room was vacant. I walked to the other one and stood frozen in the doorway of Neev's room.

All of my things were there, neatly arranged. the room was fully designed to suit the newlywed couple's style.

I am sharing the room with Neev!

I hadn't thought about that earlier.

Sachin.

I climbed up the steep mountain slope, Jason had called me to ask if anything happened to Neev and I was able to know where he is.

I was sweating and panting when I climbed up the hill, But I was really mad at him and needed to see him.

Nivin Rosh Aldrick.

The rascal didn't come to the company nor did he go to his house after doing that to Riya, so I intend to have a very nice talk with him, he can't just create a mess and disappear!

I stopped when I heard the roar of the engine before seeing them.

There he is! the rascal! I am going to teach him a lesson today!

I looked at them from my spot, Neev was on his bike while the gang were on their feet, shouting at him.

I really don't have any idea how he managed to bring it up here, It's too dangerous here.

I started to walk towards them, but stopped dead in my track as Neev slipped and lost control of his bike for a moment before he regained it.

What the hell! Is he trying to kill himself? not even wearing a helmet!

The gang was already walking to him.

"That's enough Neev, stop this now!" Jason blocked his way.

"Move back," he growled dangerously, not stopping the bike.

The others just followed Jason and stopped in front of him, blocking Nivin's path.

"That's enough, Nivin." Rick said as Nivin stopped his bike just near them, nearly knocking them.

Neev tried to take another direction and Sid snatched his shirt.

"Stop now or you are going to break your neck!"

"What are you thinking, Neev! not even using safety measures!" Amy said.

"You know this is a dangerous area, you can't do this here!" Rick said.

"F**k off," he warned and started to take the bike the other way.

"He is not going to listen." Jason shook his head.

"I have a better way then," Sid said and the next thing I know, Neev was flying while Rick balanced his bike, Sid is a kickboxing champion and knows how to use his fist.

Nivin clutched his shoulder from the ground, looking mad now.

"Get out of my way!" he shouted.

"You have to tell us what happened!" Amy said.

He started to get up and Sid not-too-gently kicked him back to the ground again.

"I am trying my maximum not to hurt that pretty little face of your's Nivin, but you keep this up and I am going to beat you to pulp!" Sid warned.

"Stay back," Neev growled, I could see that he's trying his maximum to control it.

"You listen here, Nivin, we have rules to follow even in this, you understand," Rick said

"Is everything alright with Riya? Is she ok-" Amy started.

"DON'T MENTION HER NAME IN FRONT OF ME!" Neev shouted and his gang stilled.

I just moved to the side and took cover behind a tree.

I was so pissed off when I came here in search of him, but I think I don't want to see this Neev.

I sighed.

The last time I saw him this hurt was when his father died all those years back, he was only seven then, he had stopped talking and kept inside his room, refusing to even come out of there.

And when he finally returned back, It was not the same person, but a deeply scarred and emotionally hurt one, All of his hopes to find his mother was vanished along with his father.

It's wrong of me to accuse him, at least I should understand him of all the people, I know how deep he is scarred, the only thing he can't look past is his parents.

I closed my eyes for a moment. Riya's pale face flashed through me.

I really don't know who's hurt more, Neev or Riya.

-------------------------