Hey my lovely readers.

How are you all?

Are you all enjoying the book so far?

I've decided something, although I am contradicting my point which I stated earlier but I think, I should do it now because my hard work isn't being appreciated I think, though I put my heart and soul in every chapter that I publish.

I've observed that the views on my chapter are almost 300+ but the votes don't even cross 110. Is it so difficult to press the star button, which doesn't even take a nanosecond?

I am setting up vote target now and believe me, I won't update till the target is reached.

My last five chapters should've at least 120+ votes, only then I'll update the next chapter.

I've been giving regular updates since I started writing this book i.e every Wednesday and Saturday and I update the chapter without fail. My regular readers very well know about it.

If silent readers can't appreciate my effort, I don't think it's worth giving my time.

I've been getting offers from many paid platforms lately for my book and believe me, I am very much tempted to take my book down from here altogether, leaving behind only sample chapters (which is most likely just 5-6). If my hard work isn't appreciated, I'll gladly take my book down.

I am also thinking of deleting the 'updating schedule' chapter from my book because from now on, there'll be no regular update until the target is reached.

Remember, from chapter 94 till now, I need at least 120+ votes, until then, no update.

I am sorry my regular readers. I hope you understand my pain as a writer as well. I need to take this drastic step or else, my hard work is getting wasted.

Before beginning the chapter I would like to dedicate it to my reader Sasanka54. A very happy birthday dear.

May god fulfil all your wishes.

Let's begin with the chapter now.

Akash's POV

Mohit and Samaira were eager to meet Sanchit. They wanted to give a piece of their mind to him.

The next few days went by with Sid raising a complaint against Sanchit to our HR and me submitting all the proofs against him.

Kriti had applied for leaves till the trial gets completed and Sid was more than happy to approve it.

Talking about Sid, he has been lately acting as a love sick puppy around Kriti. I don't blame him. The girls have actually wrapped us around our little finger.

On the day of trial, Sanchit was found guilty and Kriti was asked what should be done with him.

She didn't say anything, she was actually clueless.

Sid suggested the panel to blacklist him so that he can't apply for any other company. Moreover, the panel decided to give him termination letter instead of relieving letter and it would be clearly mentioned on the letter that he was proven guilty of sexual assault.

Even Kriti said that this punishment was too harsh for him but before me and Sid could make her understand, Siya beat me to it.

She made her understand the exact same thing that I said to her when we were in hotel that day when the incident took place.

I was so proud of her. Though she was strong now to have an opinion of her own, I was so happy that she still understood and listened to me and my point of view. 

I was glad I made her understand and in turn she made Kriti understand what needs to be done with bastards like Sanchit. 

I am happy that they both understand now what should actually be done with criminals like them.

Finally Mohit and Samaira went back, giving lot of instructions to the girls while Mohit had a 'private' discussion with us.

"No deed before you both get married" he had said, making me laugh while Sid's face was worth watching. I literally felt like he was about to pee in his pants.

What can be done, I can understand his situation. Facing your girl's brother can actually scare you to death.

Well I need to admit that I am actually lucky when it comes to dealing an elder brother, because Siya is the only child to her parents.

What a relief.

As per my dealing with the client, everything was under control.

I was right now attending a conference call with Adarsh today along with Sid. We were preparing now for our new company and we had decided to submit our resignation in one or two months so that we could completely focus on our company.

"I had a discussion with Mr. Clarke today. He really liked your idea and is ready to invest in your company, owing to the fact that you both come from a technical background, he was very much delighted with the idea, especially Sid's presentation. He seems to like you a lot" Adarsh said on the call.

"Yeah yeah, that's why Akash was so adamant to take me with him" Sid said, rolling his eyes.

"Of course why not, pushing your boundaries to the maximum limit and getting out of your comfort zone will only lead to your success" Adarsh said and we all laughed.

"Bhai I would suggest you to register your company either from US or UK" Adarsh said.

"Why?" me and Sid asked in unison.

"Sophia actually did some research on where should the company be registered. She told me that it would be better if it is registered from abroad, that would automatically give it a tag of being an MNC, even if you operate it from India and don't get international clients in the beginning or for a while" he said.

"You could hire Indian or international employees, that's totally up to you" he said.

Me and Sid looked at each other.

"I must say the girl is quite talented. She has done quite a lot of research huh?" I said, smirking.

"Yeah, she did. She had to, after all she considers you like an elder brother" he said, rolling his eyes.

"You can't neglect the fact that she is an efficient employee. On second thoughts, you should be thankful to me that I gave you a gem or you would've never got such an efficient employee who's ready to bear your tantrums" I said.

"Yeah yeah" he said in a dismissive tone but I could see the small smile playing on his lips.

"What would you like to name your company?" Adarsh asked, before I could tease him further.

I looked at Sid and he looked back at me.

"A&S technologies" we said in unison.

"Hmm...initials of your name, that's good. We need to check if this name is available for copyright or not. If not, you'll have to set for a different name" he said.

We both nodded in unison.

"I'll ask Sophia to start with the paperwork today. You both might need to be in US for some days, not now but probably after two three months. The papers will take some time to process" he said.

"Wouldn't the papers be bounced? I mean we aren't American citizen" Sid voiced his doubt.

"You don't need to worry about it. I'll get it all cleared and since you both will be permanently required after few months, better put down your papers now" he said.

"I've got some client meetings scheduled for getting few projects once the company will be registered" I said.

"Okay. Why don't you both apply for US Visa for a year? It'll take some time to get processed, meanwhile you can serve the notice period and attend other clients" he suggested.

"Yeah, we better do that" I said.

"Okay then, it's settled. You both will be applying for VISA while me and Sophia will get your registration settled" Adarsh said.

We disconnected the call after bidding our goodbyes.

"There's lot of work to be done" Sid said, sighing.

"Sid, we already knew what we were signing up for when we agreed to start our own business. Hopefully you'll remain strong" I said.

"I will. It's just that this all is very new to me and I don't think I'll be able to give Kriti enough time" he said, sighing. "We've just started dating. I don't want her to feel neglected."

"I know, but we need to take care of the girls as well or they'll feel like we're neglecting them" I said and he agreed.

"Yeah. Coming back to our company, we've got one investor as of now. As long as clients are concerned, we'll try to acquire them when we go to the US and have got the company registered. Don't you think, meanwhile we should start interviewing to hire employees?" I said.

"Yeah, you're right. We also need at least one HR to handle them and finance team as well" Sid said.

"Yeah. I think we should start using our contacts which we've made so far. Also, it would be better if we hire experienced employees in place of newbies. That would decrease the cost of training. Once our company is stabilized, we can start hiring freshers and trainer as well" I suggested.

"Yeah. That's what I was thinking" he said.

"Great, since it's all settled now, let's start working with hiring an HR as of now. The HR will then help us in hiring new employees" Sid continued.

"Okay. Do you've anyone in mind?" I asked.

"Yes actually. You know our HR, who helped us in sorting and assigning our trainees?" he said.

"Yeah, what about her?" I asked.

"I heard she's not happy with the management and is thinking to quit her job. Why don't we approach her?" he suggested.

"That's a good idea but do you think we can trust her? I mean what if she somehow spits it in front of others? You do know right that we need to be discreet about our company as long as we're working in it? We can't afford anybody apart from us knowing about it "I affirmed.

"No, she'll not. I am sure about it" he said.

"Okay, if you say so. I am trusting you on this" I said.

"Of course. Don't worry" he said smiling.

We then heard a sniffing sound from outside our room.

We both looked at each other in confusion.

"Who's it?" he asked.

I shrugged and said "let me check."

When I opened the door, I was shocked to see her standing there.

"Siya" I whispered.

Siya's POV

We were both waiting for them but seems the call was taking longer than usual.

"How long do we've to wait for them? I am starving" Kriti whined while rubbing her tummy.

I chuckled and said "they've been busy lately and you know the reason well. Starting something from scratch will take time and you know it."

"Yeah, I know but at least they should eat on time or how will their brain work? Oh god they both are so dumb" she said, dramatically.

I chuckled and said "let's wait for sometime. If they don't come back in ten minutes, I'll go and call them."

"Okay" she sighed and got busy on her phone.

When they weren't back even after waiting for like half an hour, I decided to check on them.

"I'll just check on them" I said and she nodded.

When I went to Akash's room, I heard them talking about applying for US VISA.

'That means he'll go to US, leaving me behind' was my first thought.

The thought was enough and my eyes welled up with tears on it's own.

I heard them talking about many other things but it was like my mind was just clouded and stuck at the thought of him leaving me. Every other thing that they were talking about was in the background.

I was hearing them talking but couldn't understand any other thing.

I don't know when my tears turned to sobs but I muffled them by placing my palm on my mouth.

I waited for my heart to calm down a little and when it did, my sobs turned to sniffles.

I knew this day had to come. He had been waiting for the right opportunity to take the leap and now was the right time.

I knew it from the very start but when the time is finally here, my heart aches now. What can I do with this heart, which isn't ready to be far from him, even if it's for a day, not when we just got together after so many years.

I was lost in my thoughts, looking ahead on the wall aimlessly when the door opened and Akash came out, catching my attention and breaking my chain of thoughts.

He saw me but before he could say something, anything, Sid came out.

"Oh Siya, we were just about to come for lunch, have you two been waiting for too long? I know it's way past our lunch time" he said with a small smile.

"Yeah, yeah actually I came here to ask you both to join for lunch. Kriti and me have been waiting for so long" I said and looked down.

My voice was hoarse due to constant crying.

"Yeah, probably, we should head for lunch. Come Akash" Sid said.

All the while Akash was gazing at me but he didn't say anything.

"Why don't you go and join Kriti? We'll join you in some time" I heard him say to Sid, all the while I could feel his gaze on me.

"Yeah, okay. Come soon. I am starving" he said and I heard footsteps fading.

Since I was still looking down, I saw his feet in my view in few seconds and then he interlinked our fingers and pulled me to his room.

I didn't protest but I couldn't stop the tears that were welled up in my eyes.

He sat on the bed and made me sit beside him.

I still didn't look up but I could feel his gaze on me.

After few minutes of silence, he said "why're you crying?"

I didn't dare look up at him but tears were now freely making it's way down my cheeks. 

Sighing, he pulled me and I immediately landed on his lap sideways.

Cupping my cheeks and wiping my tears, he said "what's wrong? Why are you crying?"

I immediately hugged him and he held me by my shoulders.

"Please, don't go" I whispered and nuzzled my face in his shoulder.

"Hey, hey, please don't cry" he said and rubbed my back.

I cried more listening to him.

After few minutes, I looked at him in the eye and said "please don't go Akash. Please."

I was begging him now, but I didn't care. I don't care if I sound like a desperate bitch because I am desperate for him.

"Please don't cry, baby. Please" he said and I rubbed my nose on his shoulder.

"Do you know you're making my t-shirt dirty with your snot" he said and I chuckled in my hoarse voice.

He rubbed the back of my head and after few minutes, taking my face in between his palms, he said "I am not going anywhere, I am right here, with you" saying this, he kept his hands on my heart.

"I am your heartbeat, Siya. Have you ever heard heartbeat getting separated from heart?" he said.

"But if there's no heartbeat, heart will die" I said and cried more but then I felt his lips on mine, catching me off guard.

He was kissing me like there's no tomorrow. He's hungry for me for so many days and so am I so I did what came to my mind, I kissed him back with equal passion.

Breaking the kiss, he said "Stop crying baby and please stop saying anything about dying. You know I am not going anywhere leaving you. It's just for work."

I was sniffing by now and looked down.

"If I don't go, how will I win the 'best entrepreneur of the year' award and introduce you to the whole world as my love?" he said, flicking my nose with his.

This action of his made me smile.

"Whatever I am doing or planning to do, it's all because of you, for you and you know it very well" he said.

I nodded and looked down.

"Never doubt my love for you" he said and tucked a lose strand of hair behind my hair.

I looked up at him and said "I'll wait for you."

"I know, you will" he said and kissed my forehead.

I hugged him and there was silence for a few minutes. 

"I think we should go now or Kriti will kill us. She was hungry for quite some time now" I said.

He chuckled and said "come let's go."

Getting off his lap, we went to the dining hall, hand in hand.

Hey my lovely readers.

How did the chapter come out?

If you all liked the chapter, please vote comment and share my book.

Do you think it's the calm before the storm? 

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Till next chapter, tk cr bbyee

Tadas.