Durgaprasad, Ramprasad and Adarsh were sequestered to the study as they worked out a solution.

Adarsh looked at Durgaprasad. "I cannot get through to Ranveer. He is not picking up the phone."

"We need to inform Deendayal ji in that case," Ramprasad said grimly.

"Deendayal ji?" Adardh asked concerned. "But wont that cause more panic. How will they react?" he asked.

"They are family now and it is a matter for them to know about as much as us. Ragini is their daughter and Sanskar their son-in-law," Ramprasad explained, looking at his elder brother Durgaprasad for approval. 

Durgaprasad nodded.

"Okay," Adarsh said looking between them. "I will call Deendayal ji."

"No," Durgaprasad told him, "I will call him and inform him. It will be more appropriate for me to make this call. You focus on getting them back safe."

"There is no one at Raheja farmhouse. They aren't be there for sure," Adarsh told him.

"The trace on Sanskar and Laksh's phone ended at that farmhouse though," Ramprasad said, "So they must have been kept somewhere close to that place even if not there. I don't think Aditya would call them there, and make them travel too far to get to where he is."

"But we have no idea where that place could be. It could be any farmhouse close by. It could be the farmhouse of his friends. It could be some of those abandoned houses or even those vacation homes of NRIs, which are empty more of the year," Adarsh reminded them, "Where do we start? We don't have much time. Ragini and Chachi have left sometime back."

"We need to find a way to get to them before they reach the farmhouse," Durgaprasad told him. 

"Get the bodyguards to drive over there in full speed if needed. Are there any guards at our farmhouse? They could get to the place sooner," Durgaprasad said

"None of them are at the farmhouse right now. I had them all called back home–after the threat–to protect the family since we found out Aditya's plans to hurt Uttara," Adarsh said apologetically.

"Bhaisa, may be Deendayal ji has some guards out there," Ramprasad suggested, "Their house is closer to the farmhouse area as well; if nothing else, they can send the guards over to intercept Ragini and Sujata much faster than our guards can get to them."

Durgaprasad nodded. "I will call him now. You get our guards to go after them and keep trying to see if you can get through to Ranveer. He is a sensible guy. We need him working with us right now. More the hands the better," he instructed Ramprasad and Adarsh. 

They nodded and got to work.

***

Sanskar took a few deep breaths, working out what he wanted to do next and how he wanted to proceed. He needed to rush, but equally he knew that he had no room for error.

Aditya had ordered one of the guards to make a drink for him and was busy enjoying it.

Sanskar eyed him for a minute before casually saying, "You have been building a small army of guards."

Aditya looked at him but didn't answer.

Sanskar tried again. "It must have taken a lot of effort to build this, away from the eyes of Maheshwaris and Gadodias."

"I don't need to do anything away from their eyes," Aditya shot at him, before adding, "You are forgetting that we, Rahejas, are a big name in the construction world too."

"By big, you mean a distance fifth, isn't it?" Sanskar said sarcastically.

Aditya's jaw clenched. "Shut your mouth! You have no knowledge of the business. Don't poke your nose in it."

"Truth hurts, doesn't it?" Sanskar said ignoring the warning

"I said shut up," Aditya warned him again.

Sanskar shrugged his shoulders casually–as casually as he could–despite the pain shooting through his chest and ribs. "You–through your Shekhar uncle–should know that the reason for Maheshwari and Gadodia armies has very little to do with the construction business," he said calmly.

Aditya watched him closely but didn't react.

"Building a tiny army under their nose is easy," Sanskar said firmly, "But there is no way you Rahejas can improve your ranking in the construction business."

"I don't need your inputs on what we, Rahejas, can and cannot do," Aditya told him firmly

"I am sure you don't," Sanskar told him calmly, "After all everyone knows how strong the nexus is. And you cannot improve the ranks without getting an in-road into the nexus contacts."

Aditya glared at him

Sanskar continued speaking–all the while keeping an eye on Aditya. "But then you know that already don't you? If anyone outside the nexus tries to convert a nexus contact into their man, the rest of the people in the nexus will act quickly and destroy both that threat as well that the person who has changed sides. Why just the nexus, Maheshwaris and Gadodias themselves will take care of any threat even before it has the chance of becoming a threat."

"Why are you telling me this?" Aditya asked

"Why not?" Sanskar asked calmly, "It is not as though Rahejas or any of the other 'big' construction houses, aren't aware of this. It is almost an unstated fact. Maheshwaris, at least, would destroy anyone trying to pose even the smallest challenge."

"You are thinking too highly of Maheshwaris," Aditya commented with a smirk

"Why wouldn't I? We are the biggest out there along with Gadodias. The mighty ones," Sanskar told him putting on a mask of pride.

Aditya snorted. "Mighty! Now that is funny!"

"Not as funny as dangerous," Sanskar commented

"Ohh! I am scared!" Aditya said pretending to be scared. "Your mighty ones couldn't even protect you from my trap."

"Oh! But you are forgetting something," Sanskar told him, "They will destroy you if something happens to me."

"Destroy me!" he said with a laugh, "They won't even be able to track it back to me!"

"You are underestimating the Maheshwaris and the Gadodias," Sanskar said with a smile. "You are going to pay for it."

"The only one who is going to pay here is you," Aditya said firmly, "And the mighty Maheshwaris and Gadodias are not as mighty as you think. Your brother Adarsh and Ranveer are making sure of that as they eat their own empire inside out."

Though the comment came a surprise to Sanskar. He quickly covered his expression. "And despite that Rahejas are nowhere in the scene when it comes to Maheshwaris and Gadodias."

"Not for long," Aditya told him firmly.

"Actually now more so than ever," Sanskar told him with a smile, "After all, now Maheshwaris and Gadodias are together in the game."

"You have a lot of delusions in your head," Aditya told him mockingly, "Don't worry, I will take great pleasure in curing you of them!"

"They aren't as bad as the delusion of Rahejas being anybody in this business," Sanskar threw at him.

"Keep the Rahejas out of this," Aditya warned him.

"Why? Worried that the truth will shatter your delusions," Sanskar said with a smirk.

Aditya threw his glass towards where Sanskar sat. The glass shattered against the wall, next to Sanskar, breaking into pieces. 

Sanskar blinked for a second startled by the sudden action, but calmed himself down immediately

"Watch your mouth," Aditya told him with a menacing look on this face. "Don't make this harder for yourself, than it is already going to me."

"I don't think you are going to make it easy for me anyway," Sanskar told him calmly, "Besides, it is not as though I am saying anything new here."

"I am warning you. Keep away from my family," Aditya told him. "It would be better if you look into your own family first. They are a dying clan."

"And yet your sister wanted to be part of my family–part of that dying clan. She wanted to marry me," Sanskar told him.

Aditya snorted. "You really are delusional, aren't you?"

"I guess your aunt and mother are delusional as well then," Sanskar said.

"You bastard!" Aditya made to walk towards him, jumping off the side table he was sitting on.

"They were the ones who told me that Swara wanted to marry me and they couldn't have waited for the alliance to happen." Sanskar said, looking critically in Aditya's eyes.

Aditya stopped midway and laughed. "And you believed them?" he asked mockingly.

"Why?" Sanskar asked putting on an innocent expression

"There was no way in hell that Swara would have married a Maheshwar. Even more so one who had renounced the money of his family and was trying to make a living on his own," Aditya told him in a tone that one would use to explain things to a misguided and mistaken child.

"Your aunt and mother thought otherwise," Sanskar said calmly.

"They lied," Aditya said with a sneer, "They knew Swara would never marry a ordinary working man."

"I guess your uncle was unaware of his own daughter's thoughts in that case," Sanskar told him, "because he sure as hell thought that his daughter wanted to marry me."

"There is a lot that Shekhar uncle doesn't know," Aditya clarified.

"I don't believe you. I think Swara really wanted to marry me," Sanskar said confidently.

"You are an idiot and she thought so as well," Aditya said, "Why would she ever agree to marry the enemy's son?"

"For love," Sanskar told him.

Aditya burst out into laughter. "You really are not meant for this world. I didn't believe it when Swara told me this. Now I do," he said, before leaning forward and conspiringly adding, "The only things my sister loved were lots of money and power."

"The same things as you then," Sanskar said titling his head.

"Of course! I am not ashamed of admitting it," Aditya told him with a laugh.

"Except you don't have either," Sanskar commented.

Aditya lost his smile. "Watch your tongue!" he shot at Sanskar.

"I thought you were all for clearing delusions," Sanskar told him with a raised eyebrow. "The truth is you are nothing more than an executioner or sorts."

Aditya clenched his jaw. "Don't make me get rid of you before the fun begins."

"Scared of facing the truth?" Sanskar asked, "You are just the executioner of plans, aren't you? And damn pathetic one at that."

Aditya walked over to him and swiftly kicked him on the side. 

Sanskar kneeled forward a bit. Despite knowing and expecting it would happen at some point, the pain and thrashing that he had already borne had made him weak. 

It took him a while to regain his breath again.

"Keep your opinion to yourself if you want to live," Aditya told him.

Sanskar smiled at him through the tears in his eyes. "But you are planning to kill me anyway, aren't you?"

Aditya sneered. "I was wrong. You are not that dumb after all," he said.

"But I was right about you. You are bad at execution. Really bad at it," Sanskar said.

Aditya's jaw clenched. He made to move towards Sanskar again but paused for a second. 

"I don't want to hurt you so soon. I will watch your face when Ragini gets here and I have my way with her. Then we will talk about execution"

"You will fail even then," Sanskar threw at him, blanking out the comment about Ragini. He needed to stay in control–for her sake. "Just like all your plans do. You failed last time as well, didn't you?" he shot at Aditya with a smirk.

"What do you mean?" Aditya asked, narrowing his eyes.

"Don't you know what I mean?" Sanskar asked with a raised eyebrow

Aditya's first clenched again

"You wanted to create an opening for Rahejas, and you ended up destroying any chance for them–forever," Sanskar said, letting out a laugh, coughing a bit as his ribs hurt badly from the attempt to laugh.

"You single handedly destroyed any chance for Rahejas. What is worse, you strengthened Maheshwaris and Gadodias," Sanskar said shaking his head with a smile. "You couldn't have been any worse at execution than that!" Sanskar continued, poking him even more with his words, "Nopes! You couldn't even handle a simple task as that and you expect to pull this one off?"

"Shut up!" Aditya warned at him

"You wanted to make Maheshwaris and Gadodies fight each other over the attacks and you made them come together and become one big happy family," Sanskar told him, smiling, shaking his head.

"Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!" Aditya yelled at him, before kicking him a couple of times

Sanskar doubled over in pain. 

Aditya pulled after a while– angry, tired and frustrated. 

Sanskar caught his breath–at least pretended– and tried to laugh despite the motions killing him because of the pain.

"I am going to kill you the slow and painful way," Aditya said with gritted teeth.

"You must have been really pissed off at her," Sanskar told him, "All that effort down the drain. Of course, it was you who failed in the end! Couldn't even manage your own sister!"

"Shut up! Shut up!" Aditya screamed at him, "She was a bloody idiot. Couldn't keep things simple! Had to get into her stupid theatrics and mess it all up!"

Sanskar rested his head against the wall trying to recover from the kicks. 

Every intake of breath brought with it a sharp pain; almost as though a million pins were pricking him in the chest. He was sweating a bit from the exertion his body had been put through.

"Oh! but Swara was not the only one, was she?" Sanskar said with a smile, "Both the people you choose, let you down, didn't they?" Sanskar said sarcastically, "You wanted to create connection back to him, but they had two-way communication between them throwing you right in the middle of it all. You couldn't even get that right!"

Aditya was fuming;  angry beyond measure. He threw one of the glasses next to him, at Sanskar. 

Sanskar catch it mid-air just before it would have it him.

"You bastard! Shut up! I have heard enough of this! It wasn't my fucking fault! I handled the professional hit perfectly! They messed up!" he yelled, his body almost shaking with his anger.

"Is that what it was?" a startled voice asked.

Sanskar rested his head against the wall behind him, small smile playing on his lips as he looked over at the source of the voice.

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