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Annika looked at her phone, her eyebrows furrowed in confusion. She looked at the date and her eyes widened, she was to be at VOID's to check the decoration. One glance at her watch and she knew, she was in deep trouble. She missed it by an hour.

<>

Shivaay looked around the hall with a frown, it was empty except for the decorations that hung from the walls or around the hall. He glanced at his watch, she was supposed to be here two hours ago. To say the truth, he wasn't entirely keen, as much as he wanted his progress he also didn't want to deal with any of the public at the moment. But he has too. The invites have been out and that too on his name. And at this point, he couldn't back out.

"Sir?" He turned to look at Khanna, he was glancing at his phone. Rushed footsteps caught his attention and he turned to the face the person who arrived in such a hurry. His eyes widened slightly.

Annika passed him a smile.

"Mr. Oberoi, I apologise for the delay, got held up at some work." Her lips stretched into a smile, and Shivaay's eyes narrowed in suspicion. She is up to something. He could see that.

"And I know, since you are so considerate, I know you will not hold it against me."

Shivaay blinked at the statement. Okay, something is definitely up. He glanced at her. She was smiling brightly, as if nothing happened between them a few days before. How the sudden change? Whatever the reason be, he was grateful for it, he was not ready for any kind of confrontation at the moment.

Annika looked at his reaction, it was calculative like she had been expecting but——there was something more to his eyes. She just couldn't figure out what it was.

<>

Bhavya looked at her phone in shock and disbelief.

"ACP Bhavya Pratap Rathore, I know you have come to Goa to investigate Mr. Oberoi's case without any consent of your seniors. You used your powers for your personal use, didn't you?"

"Who is this?" Bhavya asked as she shuffled around for her laptop.

"Don't try to put up the trace, ACP Rathore, you have to be smarter than that. The question is why did you drop it in the middle?"

Bhavya clenched her hands. Who was this person and how did they know?

"I am asking you again who you are and how you fin—" but before she could complete her own sentence she was interrupted by him.

"If you care about your job, you will co-operate with me." Neeraj kept his voice firm.

And she had no choice but to comply, she was trapped.

She pushed her hair back as she stared ahead blankly, she had dropped the case because there wasn't anything that she could have found.

There was no clue, the last check in was in the hotel and after that he had vanished, she had even looked through the person who he was supposed to meet in the Goa after he had said that he had been going for the meeting. But Shivaay reached the venue. These were all aspects pointed at the direction she didn't want to look.

She thought she had done her part in this, but apparently she has been wrong all this time? Or was she? There was only one way to find out.

To finish what she backed out in the middle. And this time she had no choice, she wondered who the man was and how did he find out that she was there to find out the same as he had mentioned. But this time she might be able to take legal action as she was no longer tied to the family as before.

<>

Rudra looked outside the window silently. His hands resting on the window panes. "I have some advice." He turned around to see Mr. Kalra, he was a loyal employee to the company, he was in his late forties and one of the only ones who had decided that they'd stick to the company no matter what.

He arched an eyebrow, "Yes, Mr. Kalra." He turned his full attention to the man. "I know, Mr. Omkara won't agree with this, but there is a way you can get the authority back to the company. Rudra blinked at that.

"How?" He asked impatiently, desperation clear in his voice.

"Have someone to buy the company shares. Someone from your family." Mr. Kalra urged. Rudra frowned, he opened his mouth to argue that if they could they wouldn't have promised the shares to clients in the first place, it was then when it struck. What the man was implying.

He was indirectly asking him to turn to Shivaay for help. And what struck him even more was that when Mr. Kalra referred to his family, Shivaay's name didn't even cross his mind like before. Earlier it used to be the first name that would come across his mind.

And that scared him to end. There was no way they could be parted so much that he couldn't recognise him as his family anymore. And Rudra knew he was at fault for that.

He didn't agree with Mr. Kalra's notion, he can't just call him after all these years of no contact only to use him up as his own benifit again. And why would Shivaay help them in the first place as well? They had ousted him, and they had no rights to expect any empathy from his side.

<>

"Take it, Ms. Annika, this is a token of appreciation for the brilliance that you have graced us." Annika stared at the huge red box in the lady's hands dubiously. She was about to decline when she caught him standing not too far away from them. He pretended that he was busy on his phone but she could see him glancing up a few times.

"Mr. Oberoi insists." The lady pressed.

"I'm sure he does." Annika couldn't help but mutter to herself as she narrowed her eyes at the box. What was inside it? She turned to the lady who was nervously looking around as if to see someone was watching. And she didn't need to ponder much because she could see him in her own line of vision.

"Please ma'am, have this. This is from the latest collection of VOID's ballroom outfits. This is a one in a million chance to be able to wear the dress before it hasn't even launched yet." The lady gushed. "And he had specifically asked them to send one for you." Annika blinked at that. She couldn't believe it for a second.

Shivaay frowned, why wasn't she accepting the gift? He had genuinely given it because of the admirable work she had done in such short notice. There was no other intention there, of course there wasn't. Except for the dress.

"Shivaay so this is the collection that we are launching this year." Arjun spoke as he gestured around the room, Priyanka was gaping at the designs as she strutted forward to admire them closely while he was just strolling and admiring them. They were beautiful pieces of art.

His eyes stopped at the dress that was kept in the corner away from the rest. It was a beautiful golden ombre gown. The dress appeared to shimmer under the low light that it was kept in, the colors blended together to create a beautiful symphony.

And the first thought that crossed his mind was her. He had froze when he imagined her in the dress.

Shivaay stared at the pair, he watched as Annika raised her head, her eyes meeting his and he nodded towards the box, he wasn't expecting anything but he was surprised when she turned back to lady and took the box from her hands.

It doesn't mean anything. The thought crossed their minds but they both dismissed it as soon as it came and turned the other way.

Annika looked at the card in top of the box and her eyes widened when she recognised the name on top of it. It was hers. It was an invitation to the gala that she was organising. She turned to look in the direction that he was standing a few moments ago, only to find him gone.

<>

Sometimes Shivaay wondered what he had done that his own family turned his back to him and didn't even spare him the glance when he needed them the most.

He chuckled bitterly, why was he expecting anything. He was exiled before as well, why was he surprised now. First it was only his bade papa and badi maa, it broke him from inside, yes but he still had his anchor by his side. Annika and his brothers whom he loved more than himself.

He was a fool to not understand it before. If they could have done it the first time, then they could have done it again as well, why was he acting surprised. He had always been the easiest target to his family. To pile all the duties and to dump all the responsibilities upon, earlier it didn't affect him but he could see it now. How he was molded into the person that they wanted to see.

He couldn't remember who he was, before he was constructed into the wall that was to act as the shield to the family no matter what happens. He had been groomed up to follow up to family's expectations, and the very same ended up being the reason of his fall.

He have had enough. He was neither the Shivaay nor the Great Wall they had termed him as. He was now a man who had been searching for the answers of the past so he could clear out the stain around his name.

To make them realise their own mistake.

The coin has flipped.

They had played out their move and it was now his turn to make his own.

Ahh!! So the thing is I was always so intrigued about the family chemistry of Oberois, and kind of wanted my own version of it, so there it is. 'Unveiled Secrets' and actually it would circle more around Shivaay's childhood and his journey to become the businessman that he was destined to. Would mean a lot of you'd check it out.

Also, I have a few more books planned including two rom coms, one of which is set in the college era but it won't be anything like 'safe place' or 'not a cliché'. Also I might republish that book soon. ;)