Khushi entered Arnav's study to find Lulu completely annihilating Arnav in a game of chess, and she smirked as she watched her daughter kill an arrogant Arnav who claimed to be unbeatable.

Khushi had never won against him, despite perfecting her skills in the game, and Arnav always made sure to rub it in her face when she lost, but Lulu's unbeatable victories against her father made her proud because she could use them to irritate Arnav.

Arnav, who was upset, pulled out his phone and wired money to Lulu's account, and she jumped up and began dancing.

"Loser. Loser. Loser." Lulu chanted while dancing, and Arnav crossed his arms, frowning.

Khushi's giggling alerted the father-daughter duo to his presence, and they watched as she approached them with Advay on her hip.

"Don't." Arnav said this knowing Khushi was about to taunt him for losing to Lulu, which caused the mother and daughter to laugh.

"Arnav, when will you realize you are not the champion you claim to be? You are not that good." Khushi teased, and Lulu nodded in support of her mother as Arnav glared at them both.

"I am glad he is not willing to give up because the more he challenges me, the wealthier I get." Lulu smirked as he looked at Arnav, who got up suddenly and grabbed Advay from Khushi. He giggled happily and rubbed his cheek against Arnav's beard, enjoying the tickle on his smooth skin.

"How is my baby boy doing?" Arnav gave him a cheek kiss.

Hari Prakash entered the study room and smiled as he watched his once arrogant and cold boss perfect his role as a father and son.

If someone had told him over a decade ago that his boss would fall in love, marry, and have children, he would have slapped them, but now they were a family of four, happily teasing each other.

He cleared his throat, alerting them to his presence, and was greeted with warm smiles from everyone.

"I apologize for bothering you, but Miss Singhania is here for you and Khushi bhabhi." HP revealed, and Lulu frowned, wondering what Siddharth's girlfriend was doing here, but seeing her parents' serious expression, she knew something had happened.

"Lead her to the garden and serve her refreshments; tell Akash and Payal to accompany her; we will join them in a minute." Arnav instructed, and Hp nodded before walking away.

"What is going on here?" Lulu asked as she took Advay away from Arnav.

"Nothing, so do not worry your little brain about it." Arnav mocked Lulu, who glared at him, causing them to laugh.

"I will be sixteen in two weeks, and yet you two treat me like a child..... We know something is going on, and it is frustrating that you are all shutting us out." Lulu vented her annoyance.

Khushi stroked her cheek while Arnav kissed her forehead.

"Some things are complicated, and you and Kiki are too innocent to be involved...... Do not worry, when everything is finished, we will tell you and Kiki everything, I promise." Lulu sighed in response to what Arnav said.

"I certain it has something to do with that brat." Lulu spoke under her breath, but Arnav and Khushi heard her. "Do not look at me that way because I know she is somehow related to why you have all been feeling the urge lately...... She will not change, and the sooner you all accept this, the better."

Lulu walked away with Advay, and Arnav and Khushi were upset to see her upset because they disliked seeing their children's negative emotions.

"Naina is losing not only her father, but also any relationship she may have with the children." Khushi exclaimed sadly, and Arnav sighed and kissed her forehead.

They walked to the garden, where Payash was already chatting with Anita, who appeared nervous, and Arnav and Khushi spotted Advay happily playing ball with his sisters on the opposite side of the garden.

Arnav and Khushi sat down, and he immediately got to the point.

"Anitaji, do you know what Siddharth has decided?" Anita nodded in response to Arnav's question.

Sheetal informed me.' Anita responded.

"So where do you stand in regards to your status with Siddharth? " Arnav asked in a serious tone.

"With due respect, I believe my relationship with Siddharth is our business, not yours." Anita responded as her nervousness faded and anger took over.

"With all due respect to you, Mr Singhania, you know Siddharth is one of my best friends. I do not keep friends, and aside from Akash, who is my cousin, Aman, Sahil, and Siddharth are not only my best friends but are like brothers to me, so whatever bothers them also bothers me, just as what bothers Akash also bothers me." Anita gulped, sensing Arnav's protective stance toward Siddharth."I heard you threatened to break up with him if he gave up Naina, which he did, so I am assuming you will go ahead with your decision to break up with him."

"I am sorry, I can not be with a man who abandons his child...... I speak from experience because you are aware that my father also abandoned my older half sister, which emotionally devastated her and drove her to make terrible decisions in order to retaliate against my father and ruin his reputation...... I adore Siddharth, and I can not bear watching Naina grow into my sister." Anita explained.

"So you are letting the trauma you went through influence your decision about Siddharth, but he can not let his experience or trauma influence his decision?" Arnav questioned with a raised voice, causing Anita to flinch.

Khushi had to squeeze his hand to get him to relax.

Arnav sighed and ran his hand through his head, as he always does when he is frustrated.

Akash, seeing this, decided to continue where Arnav had left off.

"Anita, it appears that your experience has blinded you to what is right...... The situation with your half sister differs from Naina's...... Your sister despised your father's decision to move on after her mother cheated with your uncle...... Your stepmother instilled hatred in her against your father and mother. The final straw was when she pushed your mother down the stairs while she was pregnant with your younger brother..... Fortunately, she and your brother survived, and your father realized he needed to do something because therapy and speaking with your half sister did not work, so he gave her up to protect his family and peace...... Siddharth's situation is unique; he was raped, and Naina was the result..... Do you know how traumatized he was when the truth was revealed........? Following Anjali's trial, he avoided interacting with my wife and the women in the family."Anita was stunned as she stared at Akash, unaware of the situation. " He spent two years in therapy before allowing Sheetal to touch him...... Even with all this, he put is trauma aside  and raised Naina the result of his rape..... It takes enormous courage and love to love, care for, and provide for a child born out of your trauma, and Siddharth is the best father a child could ever have, even if that child made his life a living hell just to please his rapist..... It's not easy and for years still never gave up...... He deserves happiness, and it begins with choosing himself first after more than a decade of prioritizing an ungrateful child."

Anita was crying now, realising how much she had messed up.

She prioritized her own experience over Siddharth's, making her as entitled and vain as Naina.

"I am so sorry. I did not mean it....... God, I can not believe how I was. I can not lose Siddharth........ I love him so much. I can not lose him." Anita cried, and the women felt sorry for her, but the men were still angry.

"We want you to stay away from Siddharth for the time being.... "He needs space, and if you love him, you will avoid him." Arnav spoke in a serious tone.

Anita tried to retort but Khushi shook her head at her and she nodded looking down.

"I will take my leave now." Anita left before anyone could stop her.

"What was that for?" Payal questioned angrily, glaring at Arnav, who smirked as Khushi giggled, confusing Payal and Akash.

"Jiji, Arnav was simply testing Anita.... If she truly loves Siddharth, you will approach him right away and make amends...... If she does not and does what Arnav says, she is a coward, and Siddharth does not need a coward as a significant other at this point in his life." Khushi explained, and Payal and Akash looked embarrassed, prompting Arnav and Khushi to laugh.

Meanwhile, when the girls saw Arshi laughing, they looked at each other, puzzled.

What do you think happened? Kiki asked as she tickled Advay, and Lulu shrugged.

"They won't tell me just like your parents but i think it has to do with that brat..... "I heard she is now permanently stuck with her witch of a mother." Lulu responded.

"Good riddance..... Uncle Siddharth deserves some peace in his life.... I do not understand why he does not simply sign away his rights..... That lunatic refuses to stop disrespecting him...... I just wish he would give her up and have another child with Anita, auntie." Kiki said, and Lulu nodded in agreement.

"What are you both talking about?" They both turned to see their parents approaching them and shrugged, smiling sheepishly, making their parents laugh.

"Come on, change......We are having dinner at Sahil and Preeto's restaurant. Tomorrow is Monday, we are all resuming working at the office and we won't have time for family dinner."

Kiki and Lulu smiled and run off with Advay to get ready.

Meanwhile at the Patel mansion, Anjali was pacing back and forth looking pissed as her husband stared at her annoyed.

The termination of parental rights has been approved and sent to Anjali, and Siddharth is requesting that his name be removed from Naina's birth certificate, which upsets Anjali.

"Anju, please calm down.... Isn't this what you wanted...... You wanted Naina for yourself, and Siddharth has granted you that wish. Viraj spoke, and Anjali glared at him.

"This is not what I expected.... It was just a threat to make Siddharth unhappy, and I can not believe he took it seriously and sent these. " Anjali yelled angrily and tossed the papers away. "Naina was supposed to be the tool to torment them, and now she is away from them...... I assumed Sheetal would keep in touch with her, but it is been a week and she has not contacted her and has blocked her on all of her social media...... Shruti has also done the same...... Now, how will I spy on them and make them miserable? I can not let them live peacefully." Anjali yelled angrily.

A knock on the door alerted her, and she dashed to the door, ready to yell at whoever was there, but was surprised to see Naina there.

"Naina, what are you doing here?" Anjali asked with a sickly sweet tone, patting Naina's head and smiling happily.

"I wanted to give you the schedule for all of my sports and school activities." Naina replied and handed her a sheet.

Anjali took it smiling but immediately looked sad which made the smile on Naina's face drop.

"I am sorry, Naina, but I will not be able to attend your activities and competitions. Viraj and I have to travel on Tuesday."

"Again? " Naina expressed shock and disappointment. "But you were gone all week, and I have been alone with the house help..... Please try to attend at least one this week." Naina pleaded.

"Sorry, dear, but I can't......This is very important, but I promise to buy you something special when we return." Anjali responded with a kiss on her forehead and walked in, closing the door in her face.

"She is so annoying and clingy...... If she had not been my ticket to subtle revenge against Siddharth and the Raizadas, I would have dumped her long ago...... Now I am stuck with her, and I can not use her to mock Siddharth about being a rape baby."

Viraj laughed and drew her into his arms, kissing her roughly.

Anjali reciprocated, and they had sex despite her daughter's disappointment face.

The next day, Lulu and Kiki were laughing as they walked to their swimming locker room to prepare for their lessons.

They arrived half an hour late because they were meeting with the principal, who wanted them on the school program organization team.

They entered the locker room, but were stopped by someone sobbing.

They exchanged puzzled looks before walking up to where the sobbing was coming from.

They came to a halt when they saw Naina in the corner, sobbing with her eyes closed.

Lulu was immediately moved with compassion and attempted to move closer, but Kiki held her hand, shaking her head, because she had become desensitized to Naina following her stunt.

"Are you OK?" Naina jerked and looked up to see Lulu looking worried and Kiki looking annoyed.

"I am fine." Naina responded, stood up, and walked away.

She paused and listened to everything Kiki and Lulu said.

"What if something is actually wrong this time?" Lulu voiced out.

"Well, that is not our problem.... She does not want us as family, so we should leave..... And she seems to have forgotten about her attempt to sabotage us.... She is just faking it for attention." Kiki's dissatisfied voice followed.

"It does not appear that she is pretending..... "I believe she is being genuine." Lulu retorted.

"Whether she is faking it or not is not our concern."

Naina heard Lulu sigh and ran away as the memories of her discovery replayed in her mind.

"She is so annoying......" If she had not been my ticket to subtle revenge against Siddharth and the Raizadas, I would have dumped her long ago...... Now I am stuck with her, and I can not use her to mock Siddharth about being a rape baby."

"They were right...... They were all right...... Papa really loves me...... He truly loved me and was always there for me...... He never missed any of my activities, including training and competitions..... He was always there, but I lost my Papa." Naina thought crying as she run down the stairs but in her haste, she stripped.

She closed her eyes, ready to embrace the pain and hurt she was about to feel, but instead, she felt two hands behind her, stopping her fall.

She opened her eyes to see Kiki and Lulu holding her wrists with concern on their faces.

To be continued.

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