Chapter 20

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Aditya paced up and down the length of his office, he felt like throwing his phone against the wall. All the hard work, all the preparations to trap the culprit down the drain, the person didn't take the bait. Now on top of that there is news that third party is involved. He went to his desk and stood with his hands on the desk, head bowed, trying to think who it could be.

He stood up straight and rubbed the back of his neck. His Jacket has been discarded long before, his tie was loose, the sleeves of his shirt rolled up. All signs of tension he has been going through throughout the day. This was not only a professional rivalry, but the person holds a personal grudge also. And now it is obvious that it is more than one person involved. He needed to inform his uncle and Vishal. He also needed to let his dad in on this, so he can keep an eye out at home.

First thing he needs to do is increase the security at home, and also someone to keep an eye out for the ladies when they are shopping. He contacted his investigator and also the private security firm he used to make all the arrangements. Once that was done, he began to think on the reports he received from the investigator. In order to find out who this newcomer is he needed to attend the party that one of his colleagues is having the next night.

His tension increased at thought of attending the party. He had to talk Anjali into going with him and the last one he talked her into had been a disaster. He didn't want to put her through the stress of facing those same people again, but it is a real close friend and he will expect Aditya to bring the whole family. While his parents, uncle, and auntie will decline to attend, he knows Vishal and Kajal will accompany them. In addition he will ask Anish and Raj also. He knows Anjali's friend and her husband will attend, so it won't be so bad.

Aditya grimaced at thought of facing Shruti, but he will have to for Anjali's sake. He never liked her, and only reason for that was she always tried to keep Anjali from him in college. He never understood why she had disliked him so much from the first meeting. He understood that she was trying to protect Anjali, but she never even gave him a chance, and of course what happened later confirmed her beliefs that he was bad for Anjali. He is just going to have to show her that he will never hurt Anjali like that again, and he loved her more than his life.

He picked up his phone and dialed Anjali's number before he could change his mind. He felt a sense of relief as soon as he heard her soft "Hello."

He smiled, "Hey sweetheart, where are you?"

Anjali had moved to a more private area as soon she heard Aditya's ring tone. "We are almost finished with Kajal's dress and will be heading home soon. What's wrong?" She knew something was wrong no matter how cheerful he tried to sound.

Aditya knew he should have waited to get home and see her instead of talking himself into calling her just to hear her voice. "Nothing is wrong, Vishal and I are about to leave, we will pick you up, tell me where you are at." He waited for her to reply, there was a few seconds of tense silence as if she wanted to say something, but changed her mind. She told him where they could be found. He told her to wait in the store for him he would be there in thirty minutes. He told her bye quickly and hung up before she could ask him anything else.

On the other side Anjali stood there for few moments in tense silence lost in thoughts. Now she knew there was something definitely wrong and she is going to make him tell him later that night. She had been patient long enough, but if he keeps stressing, it's going to affect his health. She went back to Kajal to finish shopping and to inform her that Aditya was coming to pick them up in thirty minutes.

Thirty minutes later Aditya pulled up in front of the store. He was glad he decided to bring Vishal with him. He had filled Vishal in on what's happening. Now they can both talk to his uncle that evening. He also told Vishal he may need his and Kajal's help in talking Anjali into going to the party next night.

Vishal gave Aditya are you kidding me look, and he understood even his brother was reluctant to talk her into going after the last disaster. Kajal will even be worst. She may take Anjali's side in all this. Aditya ran a hand thru his hair tiredly. What a mess! He prayed everything turns out okay.

Kajal and Anjali were both waiting for them when they walked into the store. Anjali sharp eyes immediately looked at Aditya and concluded that she had been right. Something big must have happened for him to look this tensed, he is usually very good at hiding things.

Aditya knew he had been unable to hide his worry from Anjali. He gave her a smile and went towards her. "Please don't start scolding me here. We will talk about it later. I just want to go home for now." He put his arm around her to hug her to his side. She didn't say anything, just nodded her head and let him lead her out the store.

Once they were home he quickly escaped to his room while everyone was discussing the shopping expedition, and inquiring about what was bought. He felt Anjali's eyes on him as he was leaving and knew she would soon follow him. He needed to be prepared to answer her questions. He quickly dropped his things in the chair, took out track pants and T-shirt to change into and went into the bathroom to freshen up.

He was just coming out of the bathroom when Anjali walked in with a cup of green tea. She knew he expected her to start questioning him right away, and she was tempted to but he looked too tired, so she decided to wait until later. She put his tea on the table and waited for him to finish drying his hair. When he was finished she took the towel from him to take back to the bathroom.

When she came out she saw him sitting on the side of the bed, head lowered in tension. She went and stood in front of him. She slowly ran her hand thru his hair, he looked up at her and started to say something but she stopped him by putting her finger on his lips.

She shook her head. "Drink your tea and rest for a while, I will come get you for dinner." She started to move to get him his tea but he stopped her by wrapping his arms around her waist tightly and putting his head on her chest. Anjali wrapped her one arm around him and placed her other hand on back of his head to hold him closely.

After few moments she pulled away from him, gave him a reassuring smile and went get his tea. She sat beside him while he drank his tea, silently offering her support, and this was not missed by Aditya. Finally when he was finished with the tea she took the cup from him and stood up. She placed her one hand on his cheek and smiled. "Get some rest." She leaned down kissed him on the cheek and left before he could say anything.

Aditya lay on the bed, thinking about how to bring up everything in front of the family. He didn't want to cause them worry, especially before Kajal's engagement, but he needed them to be alert, so he will have to tell them everything. He drifted off to sleep after a while.

When everyone was gathered for dinner, he finally brought up the incidents taking place at Mehta industry construction sites. "Uncle, I have something I need to discuss with everyone." At his somber tone, everyone kept quiet and waited for him to continue. Anjali who was sitting beside him was watching him intently. He glanced at her once then turned his attention to rest of the family.

"There have been quiet a few incidents at our company's construction sites in last few months. I've been trying to find out why and how it's happening, and would have caught the person, but they found out we set up trap and didn't take the bait. So now we don't know who it is that's been causing problems by replacing our orders of good quality materials with cheap materials." Everyone stopped eating stunned at his revelation.

"Aditya, why didn't you tell us all this before?" His uncle was first to break the silence.

"I didn't want to worry you, I thought it was someone just trying to steal from our company but today I found out it's more than that, it is not only a professional grudge, but someone who also wants a revenge personally." He looked around the table and his gaze stopped on Anjali, who was watching him with worried expression.

His dad asked the next question. "Do you know who it is?" When Aditya shook his head no, his mother in tense voice said, "How will you know who it is? You are not telling us everything."

He told them about how and when the problems started and what has been done about it so far. "As for how will we know, we need to attend a party tomorrow night, that one of my colleagues is throwing." He looked at Anjali to see how she would react to this news. He knew he was playing dirty by bringing up the party in front of the family, but he needed her beside him, and he knew she wouldn't refuse in front of the family.

To his surprise she didn't look mad but worried. He took her hand under the table and squeezed gently. She gave him a faint smile.

"Bhai, how will we know what to or who to look for at the party?" Vishal asked.

Aditya took a deep breath swiping his hand across his face. "I don't really know. All the investigator was able to get out of his source was that I should be there and I will know."

It was really quiet for a moment, and everyone looked worried. "We won't be attending the party, we have to be over at Mistry's tomorrow, but the four of you go and be careful." His uncle said with concern.

"I have also asked Anish and Raj to attend with us." Anjali gave him a surprised look, but didn't say anything.

All the men moved to the study to discuss rest of the details while the ladies cleaned up. 

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