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Hello, my lovelies! <3
How's Life?

I hope you're doing great!

The chapter name is a bit funny and fourth-wall breaker-ish lol

Warning: This chapter is 18+ Lmao just kidding but there are some scenes so you know, 🌚

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Author's POV

Noon, Malhotra Enterprise, Ekansh's Office

Ekansh called Vikas in, "You called sir?" he asked, coming inside. "Yes, we're heading to Akshita's office to discuss the case, and as mentioned last time you're coming with me," Ekansh said, taking his suit in his forearm, his phone in his pocket ready to leave. 

"What?" Vikas asked, "But I didn't wash my hair today." he said ruffling his hair in distress. Ekansh chuckled at him, "Thik hi to lag rahe ho," (You look alright,) he said, walking to the door. "You know what they say? Love is blind." Eknash teased him, pulling him out of the office. 

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With Vikas driving steadily, they reached Akshita's office in about 10 minutes. Vikas stepped out and opened Ekansh's door for him. They walked in to see both the ladies slouching on the reception table, chin on the desk, and the packet of food in front of their eyes. 

"Oh, you're here!" Akshita was the first to sense their presence. She quickly took 2 packets and paper plates out and closed the main door. She took Ekansh's hand and dragged him into her office while Vikas and Tejaswini snickered at them. 

"We're giving you your privacy guys. Enjoy!" Akshita said, closing the door to her office. "We-we should start eating..." Vikas said, fidgeting. "Yeah, let me take the food out..." Tejaswini said, taking the food to and arranging it on the paper plates.

They sat on the sofa, with a plate of biryani and chicken starters. "So... what do you usually eat for dinner?" Tejaswini asked, starting the conversation.

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Akshita's POV

I closed the door with a silly smile and turned around to find Ekansh pinning me to the door. He kept both his hands beside my head, leaning in, his face right in front of me. I gulped, "Wh-what are you doing?" I ask, maintaining the intense eye contact. "Just staring at my beautiful soon-to-be-biwi..." (biwi-wife) he said his eyes refusing to look away. 

I felt my cheeks heat up at his words. I cover my face with my hands feeling shy. He gently took my hand and removed it from my face, "Ale-le-le-le, Hone wali biwi ji itnese hi shrama gayi?" (Ale-le-le-le, Soon-to-be wife is feeling shy for such small things?) he teased. 

I looked up at him with narrow eyes and a fake angry pout. I freed my hand from his grip and gently pushed his face sideways holding his jaw, "Gadhe kahn ike," (Donkey) I muttered under my breath with a smile and walked to my table where the food was kept. "Mai gadha hu, to app gadhe see shadi ke liye main kese gayi?" (I am a donkey, then how did you agree to marry a donkey?) 

Ekansh's POV

"So you agree- That you're a donkey!" She said with a silly smile on her face. "No, I-" "Yes! You just said, "Mai ghadu hu"! You accepted it!" She laughed with a proud smile that would light up on her face whenever she would win a banter.

 I narrow my eyes at her, "Bahut chalak ho gayi ho..." (You have become clever...) I say, sliding my hand on her waist. "Mai chalak nahi, app buddhu ho rahe hai," (I am not becoming clever, you're starting to get dumb.) she said, taking the biryani out of the packet. "Can I hug you?" I asked lowly and she nodded with a smile. 

I tightened my grip around her waist and kept my chin on her shoulder. "Do you eat chicken?" she asked, serving the biryani and kababas on my plate. "Yeah, four or five pieces are enough..." I state. "Only five?" She asked turning her head to face me. 

Author's POV

"Ha... Kyu? Appne kya socha appka boyfriend bakasur hai?" (Yes... Why? Were you under the impression that you're boyfriend is bakasur?- {a demon in Hindu mythology that is known for his monstrous form and insatiable appetite.}) He replied sarcastically. 

"Aree nahi toh..." (No, it's not that...) she laughed at his reply. "Panch pieces tode kam nahi hue kya? Itne lamba ho, itni body hai-" (Aren't five pieces a little too less? You are tall, you are muscular.) She went on blabbering, her focus on serving the food not realizing what she just uttered.

"Thoda bahut khana nahi padta-" (Don't you need to eat more-) she stopped after realizing what she just uttered. "I did not say anything!" she said, her whole face red, "Just forget I said that-" she said turning around to face him while Ekansh was enjoying the opportunity to tease her. 

"Sooo, my girlfriend thinks I have a nice body..." he teased, tightening his grip on her waist and leaning closer.

"Nahi- matble ha, par-" (No- I mean yes but-) she sighed, hiding her red face in his chest, punching him lightly with her fists. "Bahut bure ho app... Bahut satate ho..." (You are very bad... You mess a lot with me..) she said with a fake pout, glaring at him. 

"Aree, marine kya kiya?" (Aree, what did I do?) He asked genuinely but a teasing smile appeared on his face seeing her blush. "App hi ne to bola ki appka-" (You were the one who said that your-) he continued in a teasing tone. 

"Haan haan, mene hi kaha. Ab bas karde." (Yes yes, I said it. Now stop it.) she said and removed his hands from her waist. 

"Akshittaaa," he whinned at her action, "Ekaannshh," she said in the same tone. 

"Don't touch me now," she said like an angry mother and Ekansh gave her a fake pout, moving aside. He placed his folded arms on the table, Giving her a fake glare, he teased "Bahut buri ho app-" (You are very bad-) "Kabardaar ek shabd aage bola toh," she warned him pointing a plastic spoon at him

 "Kya karogi?" (What will you do?) he asked with his eyebrows raised, "Khana nahi milega..." (You won't get your food...) she warned arranging the plates. He cleared fell silent and stood watching her serve.

"Khane ki baat ayi to bolti band..." (When food is at risk, you stop talking...) she said, looking at him like a disappointed mother. 

"He bhagwan, Nivu nanna jivanadallli yava ritiya huccha tandiddiri?" (Oh lord, which type of a crazy man have you brought into my life?) she asked, looking at the ceiling. "What did you say?" he asked, not understanding. 

"Do you want to know what I said or do you want to eat this?" she asked. Ekansh thought about it for a while seriously. "Food," he said. "Good. Now sit and don't tease me again," she said, opening two foldable stools for them to sit. 

They sat on the stools with their respective plates. "Hm, this biryani is good." Ekansh said after taking a bite. "My food choices never disappoint," she said, with a proud look and he shook his head with a smile.

"Vo sab chodo, you said you wanted to talk about something important?" (Leave all this,) Akshita asked, remembering the reason she called him over. "About that..." Ekansh sighed, keeping his spoon down. "There was another murder in the office," he said looking at her. "What?" she asked shocked. 

"It was our Head Executive, Pankaj Ditra. He was shot with a handmade model of a famous brand of arrows. Ashwin said there was no item number or any information on the arrow which means it is not traceable-" Ekansh was cut off, "An arrow? Do you mean... Gold Tip's Series 22?" she asked. "Yeah, I think that's the one, how did you know?" Ekansh asked, his eyebrows knitting together.

"Amarpal just received the body today," Akshita said as Ekansh was totally confused, "What?" "Amarpal is a forensic scientist. His team performed the body's post-mortem, he was telling me about it just before I called you." Akshita said, surprised by the coincidence. "Really? I wasn't aware of that... No wonder he's so grumpy all the time." Ekansh muttered. Akshita snickered at his comment, "Grumpy?" she asked, raising her eyebrows. 

Ekansh shrugged, "Anyway, it was shot from the land beside our compound. There is no CCTV surveillance there. We did find some footage from our side..." he explained to her all the evidence and information they had till now.

She chewed down the food in her mouth. "Did Ashwin find any leads?" she asked, looking at him with concern. Well, we could not find any similarities between the two cases except for the fact that both Prashant and Pankaj had access to the intel that was tampered with, and presently, they don't. " He went on to explain the theory he put forward as Akshita nodded.

"So... Nidhima is out of the suspects list?" she asked, taking a bite. "Ashwin said if we don't find anything from the interviews, then we will come back to Nidhima, " he said and took a bite. "Hmm..." Akshita hummed.

A comfortable silence reigned the room. Ekansh busy eating while Akshita's mind raced thinking about possibilities. "Oh! I almost forgot!" Ekansh said, all of sudden bringing Akshita out of her thought. "What?" she asked taking a bite, "It's Mridhula's birthday this weekend, Saturday... Our family will celebrate it on Friday at midnight. It's a tradition we follow... We party the whole night to sun-rise, then we sleep the whole day like Kumbhakarnas and wake up in the afternoon and hang out at her penthouse." 

Akshita chuckled hearing his words. "You guys are very... unique, I must say..." She said shaking her head at the thought. Ekansh shrugged his shoulders, "Well, You're invited over in the afternoon at Dyuloka..." Akshita raised an eyebrow, "Dyuloka, her penthouse..." He said and took a bite. "Oh, make sure to send me the location..." she said, "I am looking forward to a masti-bhari evening..." she said with a gracious smile.

"You don't need the location, I'll come to pick you up..." He said, "Aree, don't bother, my appointments end at 5, I'll just come-" she tried to reason with him, "Nahi, main app ko lene aunga aur app mere sath ayengi... Koi kintu-parantu nahi sun raha hu mai." (No, I am coming to pick you up and you are going to come with me... I don't want to hear any 'But's) 

Emphasis on 'tried'.

Akshita sighed with a smile, "Thik hai," she said passing him a fake glare. 

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"Are you on Instagram?" Tejaswini dared, "Haan, kyu?" Vikas asked, his eyes curious. 

'Was this an updated version of asking for someone's number?' He didn't know. 

Tejaswini quickly took her phone out, "Apka username?" she said, politely, making Vikas nervous. She opened her passlock and opened Instagram waiting for a response. 

Vikas's mind blanked out. "Mera username... Mai actually bhul gaya, ek minute..." he said passing a small smile which Tejaswini found cute. 

He opened his Instagram and she sent him a follow request and he accepted it. "Chalo, ab hum jab chahe baat kar sakte hai, hamare maalikon see chutkara mila..." she said, raising her eyebrows, and closing her phone. 

He chuckled at her words, "Maalikon see chutkara?" he asked, "Well, you must know... You're the CEO's PA..." she said, emphasizing the last two words. "Well, Boss doesn't give me a hard time..." he stated, "And I expect the same from Akshita Bhabhi as well..." Vikas said, curious to know why she'd say such a phrase.

Now that he thought about it, a sudden sense of protectiveness of his boss was raised in him. Knowing what he's been through, he didn't want his boss to go through anything of the sort again.

"Well, she's always kind and lets me go before work hour ends, but her personal life is a bit... weird," she said. Her eyes widened and her hand stopped mid-air realising what she just said. 

"What exactly do you mean by weird?" Vikas asked and Tejaswini cursed herself. She sighed, "Well, it's just that she always seems to find Kannada people here in Bhopal. I don't know how she does it but she does... I just find it weird. And her family... there's something off about her and her brother. And he is a forensic scientist for god's sake..." she said, hoping that the lie would satisfy him.

"Forensic scientist and a clinical psychologist... Quiet the duo, I must admit..." Vikas whispered the last words to himself. 

'Could... Could Akshita Hegade be the one behind the murders at Malhotra Enterprise?' he thought to himself, biting the delicious piece of chicken.

'I'll make sure to have a word with Boss later...' he made a mental note. "Anyways, leave that. I wanted to know... You said you had the copy of the first Harry Potter book signed by Maggie Smith and that you met her. Where and when did that exactly happen?" She asked with curiosity glistening in her eyes.

Vikas chuckled at her, "Well... Boss has a business meeting in London and I could not miss the opportunity..."

~2,137 words.

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Phew, this was a long chapter...

This chapter had eaten my head off not because of the romance. This chapter. I wrote a draft from scratch the first time on Wattpad and trusted this orange buddy to keep it safe. I don't know how it showed as 'Saved' but the next day. Poof! Gone!

Then I wrote the whole chapter again on Google Docs and I swear Idk which chudail's aatma went inside my mouse and it just selected everything and somehow deleted it and the words count showed: 1. 

A fucking 'Hello' 

Mr. Ctrl + Z saved me however this event, is one I won't forget. I guess my laptop was jealous of Akshita. Lmfao

Anyways, hope you enjoyed the chapter... 🌚

What do you think of Tejaswini's confession about Akshita?

Excited about the party at Dyuloka?

Any ideas of what will happen there? 🌝🙈✨

Hope you have a great day/night!
Don't forget to Vote and add this book to your reading lists so you don't miss any updates! <3

Until next time
Lots of love <33333

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~ 2,339 words.