𝑨𝒏𝒏𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒄𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕.

A little announcement for next week's update.

I will be traveling tomorrow with my manager and a few of my coworkers for a conference tomorrow and will be back on Tuesday.

I have Wednesday and Thursday as my off days so I will update on Wednesday and Sunday for next week.

Sorry for any inconvenience caused.

Now back to the story.
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"Come back to me. " The voice of Khushi interrupted Arnav's deep thoughts, and he looked up to see Khushi in her robe with a towel wrapped around her head.

He smiled as he pulled her onto his lap, and she sat astride him as he inhaled a sweet scent from her exposed neck, making Khushi giggle.

She drew back and pecked his lips while running her hand through his thick yet soft hair.

"You have been lost since you returned from speaking with Nani...... Did she do anything to upset you?" Khushi inquired with concern, but Arnav sighed and shook his head.

"She didn't upset me, but it was rather her observation that did it." Arnav responded, pausing for a moment before continuing. "She said that she believes Naina's presence here is not a coincidence, but that she was planted here because Anjali is planning something...... She wanted to tell Akash when he and Payal comes back but since am here, she couldn't wait that's why she asked to speak with at the occasion venue away from the house. "

Khushi appeared scandalized upon hearing Arnav's words, but she knew that if Arnav was deep in thought, it was not something to be taken lightly.

"What did she notice?" She asked.

"She said Naina had never come to RM to stay before, even during vacations or when Anjali and that disgusting old man went on their frequent travels during Naina's custody time with Anjali, but now all of a sudden, Naina is here, and what piqued her suspicions was her constant questioning about the family businesses and how many branches there are...... She also said that she knew when Anjali was plotting something, and Naina had the exact same expression as her mother when she was about to cause chaos....... I was sceptical at first but I remember she knew Anjali better than me and new most of her habits and expressions so when she told me this, I immediately called Siddharth and asked why Naina was not with him as usual when Anjali went on her travel spree, and what he said cleared up any doubts I had about Nani's words."

"What did he say? Khushi asked impatiently.

"He said Nani could be right because Naina was determined to come here even though she and Kiki were never close and, in fact, she despises Kiki..........Secondly, she was never close to Nani, the only member of the family with whom she should have had a strong relationship........ Mama and Mami had also left for Mami's monthly rehabilitation in Sweden with her new doctor, so what would be the reason for a teenager to abandon her friends?....... Siddharth had asked her friends if she called them, but no one had received any calls, and they had revealed to him that her calls with Anjali at school had increased, and she was always smirking devilishly at Kiki, even creating a hate blog for Lulu and Kiki's social media...... He is been looking into it for the past two days, and he expects to know whether the hate blog belongs to Naina by Tuesday........He had asked us to find a way to get Naina out of the house tomorrow so that some of his men could sweep the mansion for any hidden cameras or spyware just to be safe."

Khushi was stunned hearing all of this, and frustration overtook her because this was not how she wanted to begin their stay back home, but to be safe, she knew she had to set aside any of her grievances and do as Siddharth said.

She knew Lulu and Kiki would not like their planned outing with Naina, but it had to be done.

Back in Lulu and Kiki's room, the girls shared a bedroom because they preferred to be together on vacation or when returning to the mansion on both continents.

Lulu tucked a sleeping Advay into her bed, and Kiki surrounded him with pillows to keep him from falling.

"I don't like her presence here. " Lulu spoke with concern, but there was a hint of annoyance in her tone as they lay on the inflated chair in the center of their large room.

"Me too, so when I realized she was here, I immediately locked my door...... I know she is behind that stupid hate blog against us."

"I have the same suspicions." Lulu responded in support. "But, as Uncle Amy mentioned, we must always read only positive comments for motivation and reflect on genuine criticisms to improve ourselves and our blogs..... Let us not let that hater ruin things for us."

"Lulu, I am sorry. " Kiki apologized, which caught Lulu off guard.

"What for?" Lulu asked with a frown as she didn't Kiki's expression.

"I apologize for not listening to you when you said Naina was not a good person and we should not get too close to her...... I knew her better than you did, but you had better judgment about her...... We fought for the first time in our lives because of her, and my stubbornness almost ruined our hard work. I am deeply sorry." Kiki apologized in tears, and Lulu rolled her eyes and drew her into a hug.

"Kiki, you are a good person, but you are overly trusting; stop beating yourself up about this," Lulu said, pulling out of the hug and wiping her tears."It is in the past, and it is better you say what I meant to yourself that day...... We are supposed to be happy, but look how she has dimmed that happiness. We have a choice, and I have chosen not to let her presence ruin this happy moment, and neither should you."

Kiki smiled and nodded as she hugged Lulu, who smiled back.

When Lulu and a newly born Advay visited India for their first vacation a year ago, Kiki suggested to Lulu that Naina join their blogs and content because Naina had emotionally manipulated Kiki into believing she was lonely, and Kiki fell for it.

Lulu refused, resulting in their first fight since they were born.

Like the professionals they were, they managed to keep their disagreement out of their personal lives, so the adults were unaware.

A few days later, on Kiki's birthday, Kiki discovered Naina attempting to hack into her computer as she went to her room to change her necklace.

This made her realise that Lulu was correct in her refusal to allow Naina to join them, and she slapped Naina and kicked her out of her room, but not before threatening to expose her if she came any closer to her.

Lulu, who happened to enter the room at the same time, witnessed and heard everything, and Naina felt embarrassed and irritated as she walked out, leaving a broken Kiki behind.

Kiki apologized profusely but Lulu walked away not because she was angry bit because she didn't want to forgive Kiki easily as this will teach her a lesson not to trust Naina.

She did not speak to Kiki for a week, even after Lulu, Advay, and Arshi had left for Italy.

After a few days, she called Kiki, and they agreed that no one would ever come between them again.

Back in the present day, it was late, and they both went to sleep. After a few minutes, Arnav and Khushi discovered the trio fast asleep and smiled as they exited the room.

The next day, a grumpy Lulu and Kiki were furious because Naina was shopping with them and Khushi without their permission, but what enraged them the most was Khushi's indifference and reprimanding them when they pointed this out.

"I can not believe this is our first experience since coming home." Lulu whispered to Kiki while they tried on lehengas at A&K Boutique.

One of the numerous high end fashion boutiques owned by Arnav and Khushi.

"There is something fishy going on with Khushi aunty." Kiki responded, and Lulu nodded, confirming her suspicions.

"I will take them all." Naina slammed her entire collection onto the packing room counter, leaving the workers stunned and annoyed, but unable to say anything because she had arrived with Khushi.

Lulu and Kiki, who had finished choosing their options, looked irritated as they stood behind Naina, who had a smug expression on her face and stood arrogantly.

Naina turned to see her cousin placing theirs on the counter and politely asking for them to be wrapped up, which made the employees forget about Naina's rudeness and they all pushed Naina's clothes aside and attended to theirs, which irritated Naina but she kept her cool and instead decided to taunt them using Khushi's previous begging for her to join them against them.

"Thank your mother for me, but her attempt to buy my love will fail, but at least she is useful for something.... shelling out money." Naina exclaimed arrogantly and disrespectfully, and Kiki nearly jumped on her but was restrained.

Lulu approached Naina and stared her up and down before laughing, which both confused and irritated her.

"Oh, poor Naina...... You are more pathetic than you realize...... Imagine your mother thinking that a vacation with her sugar daddy is far preferable to spending time with you...... She can not stand you to the point where she travels whenever she has custody of you, leaving you with housekeepers and nannies to care for you...... Our parents run the world's most successful businesses, but they always make time for us; can you say the same for your mother? The answer is no...... My mother is not attempting to buy your love, as your mother always does with all those expensive gifts...... Our mothers, unlike yours, care about us. It is ridiculous and sad that you dislike your father, who genuinely cares about you, for a pathetic woman like your mother....... Whatever you do for your mother, she will never love you..... She is selfish and self-centered, and she only cares about herself, as opposed to your father, who genuinely cares and allows you to disrespect him and throw tantrums because he is afraid of losing you...... I hope he leaves you with your mother and starts over with his new girlfriend because you do not deserve him...... You deserve to have a horrible mother like Anjali Patel."

Everyone, including Kiki, was stunned by Lulu's words, and tears streamed down Naina's cheeks. Seeing this, Lulu realized she had gone too far, which was confirmed when she saw her mother look disappointed in her.

Naina walked out of the boutique in tears as Khushi motioned for two guards to follow her and whispered to the manager to leave them alone, and she ran out with the other employees.

She walked up to Lulu, who turned away, unable to look Khushi in the eyes.

"Like father, like daughter, you always say hurtful things when you are angry, only to regret them later." Khushi thought as she cupped her face and raised it to face her.

She pecked her nose, which surprised Lulu because she assumed her mother was angry at her.

"I understand your rage, but hurting her in that way is not acceptable." Khushi explained calmly.

"Well she wasn't lying. " Kiki justified making Khushi sigh. "We all know Anjali auntie does not care about her; only Siddharth uncle does, but she is always rude to him and humiliates him whenever possible, even in front of strangers."

Khushi chuckled as she saw Kiki come to Lulu's rescue; this was what she admired about the duo: no matter what the circumstances were, they would always defend each other.

"True, but there was no reason to humiliate her like that." Khushi retorted.

"Well, now she will understand how her father feels." Lulu defended and Khushi shook her head in defeat and Kiki snatched a nonchalant Advay from Khushi and they trio walked away to the corner of the room and played with Advay.

Khushi requested that the manager bag their clothes, and after half an hour, they all joined Naina in the Escalade as they drove off to their next destination of the day.

Back at the Raizada mansion, Siddharth sat in the lounge with Arnav and Nani as his tech team approached.

"You were right about her following her mother's instructions." Siddharth looked down, disappointed, as he prayed Nani's suspicions were wrong.

"Her iPhone is linked to her Apple laptop, and we discovered messages between her and her mother attempting to spy on the family and learn about the businesses they own...... Unfortunately, she was unable to access Akash's or any other computers in the study because they require three-factor authentication....... Her mother appeared irritated by the message and audio she sent her when she revealed this to her, but we have no idea what your ex-wife is planning...... We have tapped her phone and laptop, and we will find a way to gain access to your ex-wife's devices..... However, this will take some time."

Siddharth nodded, thanking them for coming, and to continue digging.

Arnav led them out because he knew Siddharth was not in the right mental state to do so.

"You are a good father, Siddharth." Nani said, but Siddharth scoffed bitterly.

"Despite being a good father, I could not keep my baby girl away from that venom. Nani, I really tried." Siddharth spoke up, looking defeated.

"We all know that is why I told you to tell Naina the truth...... Show her all of the recovered CCTV footage that Anjali had deleted at the hotel...... You have witness statements and video of her begging not to tell Naina the truth. Show it all to her." Arnav said this as he sat next to Siddharth.

"I can't do that to her....... She will break, and I do not want my baby girl to get hurt." Siddharth disagreed.

"So you are going to watch Anjali poison your daughter." Arnav said, looking agitated.

"Tell her the truth, Siddharth. Deliver her from Anjali's web before it is too late, and you will have enough ammunition to cut the ties between them...... Later on, you will figure out how to help her accept the truth. Please, Sidharth, save your daughter." Nani implored.

"I will think about it." Siddharth responded, and Arnav and Nani were pleased because, unlike in the past, when the family wanted him to reveal the truth, he was opposed, but now he was considering it, which was enough for them.

Arnav then called Aman and Sheetal and revealed everything to them, leaving Sheetal devastated beyond words.

She loved Naina like her own and was the only one closest to her.

Just like Arnav and Nani, Aman and Sheetal supported Naina knowing the truth.

Culiacán, Sinaloa, Mexico.

Anjali and her husband met up with the people his contacts had introduced them to buy the drugs she was planning to use to frame Arnav and the entire family.

They were skeptical because the amount she requested would take months to transfer without raising suspicions, but seeing Anjali ready with all funds paid directly to their offshore accounts, they assured her that the drugs would be transported to India when she was ready.

Anjali and her husband left the gang, satisfied with the outcome of her plans to frame Arnav and his family for drug trafficking and money laundering in order to ruin their reputation.

"Get ready, Chote; very soon, I will knock all of you down, along with the Kapoors, and that bitch who is clinging to Siddharth, she better watch out because I am coming for her too." Anjali thought with a devilish grin as she and her husband drove out of town.

To be continued.

Precap: Advay goes missing.

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٩(ര̀ᴗര́)ᵇʸᵉ.

Xoxo xoxo.