CHAPTER-17

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Today evening, a disaster happened. I opened my Wattpad account but didn't find this story on my profile or in the editing section. It got disappeared with absolutely no trace and the moment I realised it, my eyes got blurred with tears, thinking of the worst scenario.

Later, I reported to the Wattpad help centre as suggested, and guess what, it was just some bugs that needed to be fixed.๐Ÿ˜Œ๐Ÿ˜Œ

But anyway, everything is fine now.

This chapter is dedicated to kitten0004 as a 'thank you' gift. Hope you like it.

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The next morning, a constant ringing of my phone disturbed my beauty sleep. I lazily sit with a great yawn, stretching my body and ultimately ignoring the call.

I looked at the time.

7 o'clock.

15 missed calls.

Guess who was too impatient to ruin my peaceful morning.

Norah Vincent.

Neither I was late nor it was office time. She just signed her death with my bare hands.

I frowned and answered the call "Norah, What is it -"

"Ma'am, look at the Aggarwals last night released wedding catalogue. They copied us. It's an emergency. Everyone is on their way. Please, you also come here as soon as possible."

"Okay Norah, First you don't panic. I am coming and we will find some way."

I quickly opened Google and searched their website. What I saw, snatched the ground beneath me. It seemed someone threw cold water on my whole body.

They indeed copied us. If the situation was favourable, I would have laughed, seeing they didn't even do slight labour to change things here & there.

The backgrounds, the poses, effects and whatever anyone could add were the same except the model's face and of course our designs.

Those lehengas and Sherwanis were months of hard work of Tuval & her team. If it was possible to have copied our designs overnight, then I would have been seeing ours there.

Wait why did they not use photoshop. It would have definitely saved their time, money and energy. Maybe, they did. Who knew?

I gritted in frustration. It
was not possible for them to inflict our company. It was sure, someone from our side betrayed us. We had a traitor in disguise. But for now, I had to be careful and observe this around.

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I entered my office, Norah following behind.

"Is everyone here?" She nodded in affirmation.

"I want our high officials present in the conference room in half an hour." She noted in her notepad.

"Okay. Everyone has arrived. Tuval Madam is in her office and is very upset. She did not talk to anyone. Should I send her here?"

"Don't worry I will myself see her." She nodded and went to her desk.

I went to the first floor, where Tuval's office cum workshop was situated.

I saw her with sunglasses on, resting her upper body on the table miserably.

"Talk to me, Tuval." She turned her face another way.

"You know the consequences of ignoring your boss," I said in a daring voice.

"It's my territory and here, I am the boss." She said in a low but firm voice.

"Finally," I muttered under my breath.

"We have to find the culprit rather than mourning and what is with the sunglasses, you are wearing in the office. It is very irritating." I tried to irk her for a response. With a doomed self, we could never recover for the best.

"Eyes are the mirror of your feelings. In these last 20 years of work, Everyone has seen a positive Tuval who can cheer anyone's day. I don't want anyone to look at my stressed and depressed self today."

"We are human and indeed we all feel pain. But sometimes there is no harm to share it with others and let them help you." I tried to make her understand but doubted was she even paying attention to my words.

"But hey, look at the bright side. Our designs are not used but the idea of representation means we can outshine them with better strategies." Hearing no response, I sighed and continued.

"Meeting is in half an hour there we will discuss our plans." I got up.

"And yes, Tuval, I need to talk to you about something."

With my serious tone, she with a frown turned toward me.

"Say."

"No, not now. First, you, lighten your mood and also it is not the right place. Meet you at your place in the evening, done?"

She nodded in affirmation.

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"Is everyone here?" I looked around the conference room.

"Yes"

"I want the details of every person present there during the photo shoot. Norah, it's your duty." Everybody frowned. In between, the manager of this company, Aman Shree dared to speak.

"Ma'am it is not possible. There were around 100-150 people around during the photoshoot - makeup artists, photographers, interior designers, and so on other manual labourers. And in the office, there were around 500-700 people. I highly doubt You can get everyone's information. It is like searching for a needle in a haystack. Moreover, no one can be blamed baselessly." Overruling his plea, I ordered.

"Norah, do as I say I want all the information on my table in 1 hour."

"Ok, Ma'am." She replied with uncertainty.

"Before that, collect yesterday's CCTV footage. I want to take a look at them. And by the way, Mr Ram Manohar, I will also like to talk with you."

He was a company's security in charge.

"I hope, you know what is happening around."

He had been serving us for the last 15 years but today I was not in the situation to trust anyone even a slight bit.

"Believe me, I have not done anything. I have been working there for years. Why will I betray the work which had been providing every facility to me and my family."

"Manohar Ji, I didn't accuse you of anything. I want to hear your side of the story tell me what happened yesterday."

"Everything was normal. With the completion of the photoshoot, the photographer handed me the memory card and as usual, I kept it in the locker of your office as usual."

"Do you suspect anyone?" He shook his head negatively.

"We have to compensate for this loss. We will start the wedding photoshoot again. They steal an idea but this time, we will come up with better ones."

"We have no time. It has to be done as soon as possible." Tuval commented. Professionalism was what I appreciated about her very much. I nodded in understanding. Even she was upset, it didn't show even an ounce of it here.

"We have no time. It has to be done as soon as possible. Arrange everything in the next 2 hours. We all will work together from today itself."

"I have a better plan." One of our employees commented. We turned our heads toward her for further explanation.

"Why don't we do something different."

"She is right. But what should we do new this time? We don't even have time." Tuval said.

"Why don't we to an outdoor shoot. Maybe somewhere with a beautiful scenic view."

"But where?"

"In Rajasthan. Their culture and tradition will surely enhance the beauty."

"But the travel will take time with every arrangement to be done. It can't be possible to book everything as desired overnight. Moreover, with the loss we faced, Radhika has to keep a close eye on the things here in the office. We have to choose a location, somewhere near."

"I have a better idea." Norah continued.

"It's monsoon season, the season of romance. With lush around the beauty will get enhanced. With #NaturalBeauty #GoGreenThisMonsoon, it will rock this wedding season. It will give a unique effect to the photos as well as appreciation and more attention from the public, of course, more than required, especially among nature lovers."

"I like it. Done." I said.

"But where we should go? The location should be near." One of the members asked.

"Khandala." Norah suggested.

"I have heard, there are forts too. It will be like killing two birds with a single arrow. The situation is not right but I am very excited about it. Think about the coming adventure." Tuval squirmed with excitement.

"Inform Diedam about our plan. And also to our male model Vicky Khanna."

"I will finalise the list of people among us who will join the photoshoot. Rest will be here, taking care of the respective work. This week, our burden has increased but we will manage."

"Yes." Everyone said in unison.

"Good. The meeting is dismissed now. Get back to your work."

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Radhika with her team reached Khandala at 8 O'clock in the night. They decided to start the shooting work the next morning and everyone retreated to their respective rooms.

Once she reached her room, she wears off sandals, throwing her purse aside. She let her body fall on the heavenly soft mattress. she sighed with frustration and exhaustion.

She had to find the culprit but before that, the photoshoot was her main priority. Even with a long day working and travelling, she didn't feel an ounce of desire to take a rest. She unlocked the phone and started surfing on the internet for something.

Boringly, she opened a WhatsApp to check received messages, silently wishing to receive Vivaan's. Much to her dismay, there weren't any.

Some were from Maya - rambling about her coming prom and a few ways from dad asking about company progress.

With time, his health was deteriorating and keeping himself locked around four walls, didn't do any great to his health. The one who used to fill the house with laughter was silent these days.

She hid this matter from him. she could not stress him more and answered him about the company's positive progress. She was happy that she could come to any help.

At last, her eyes stuck on Vivaan's profile pic. He had a smile on his face with prominent dimples. He was in his casuals. Behind a river was flowing and a dynamic mountain was picking from afar.

She tapped his profile and viewed their last conversation. Before coming here, she called him to inform him about her travel plan but he didn't pick it up. So, she messaged him. There were two blue ticks which meant he read it but alas never replied.

She huffed in agony and kept the phone on the side table. She walked toward the window which was providing cold breezes to the ephemera.

There was one thing that was disturbing her since she checked the CCTV footage and she needed someone's genuine advice. And it was then she realised who could help. She quickly grabbed her phone."Tuval, be in the lobby in 10 minutes. I need to discuss something very important."

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"Oh God, I can't believe you called as if some disaster came."

Tuval kept her hand over her heaving chest while taking long breaths. After she calmed down herself, they started walking in the resort compound. Radhika could not help but admire the beautiful garden around. It was very well maintained.

"I need to discuss something very important. I guess, I found who did it." The last line produces a massive jolt to a relaxed Tuval. She indeed wanted to know which traitor stole her months of hard work. Even she didn't admit but she wanted to strangle him herself as a punishment.

Her blood started boiling.

"You should see this." Radhika forwarded her mobile to her. She tapped the play button. It showed the timing of around 7 PM.

"Hell, everyone there in that building at that time." she thought.

She saw a cleaning staff in uniform entering Radhika's office and sometime later, he got out, looking around him, maybe to ensure no one noticed him and went in another direction. She could not see his face as it was covered.

"I think, he is the culprit. His face is not seen. Can you recognise him?"

"I know most of the working staff in the office but never saw him. I mean look at his physique. Tall and muscular body. He looks well trained as a professional bodybuilder. Did you check other footage?"

"It seems that he just got disappeared. I couldn't find him in others. Tuval, I think, he doesn't work in our office but came in disguise. We should report it to the police. The matter is very serious." Tuval nodded in support.

"You know, I have a better plan for now," Tuval smirked at her and dragged her to her allotted room.

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๐Ÿ‘†๐Ÿ‘†๐Ÿ‘†

I always imagine Vivaan saying it to Sneha at the end. ๐Ÿ˜๐Ÿ˜

What do you think? Aren't they made in heaven type Jodi?

What do you think is wrong with that Sneha?

First, she refused Vivaan's marriage proposal. When Gautam decided to call off the wedding, she interfered. And before the wedding, she ran away.

Did she hit her head somewhere?๐Ÿ˜๐Ÿ˜

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In the next chapter, our two alphas - Vikram and Vivaan, are going to make a meet at the same place.

What do you think, is going to happen?

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Did anyone know the song 'Aati kya khandala' was sung by Aamir khan? When I came to know about it last week, I was like 'what the hell I was doing since childhood' because it was one of the songs, I used to croon in my childhood but alas never noticed.

Hearing this song, makes me nostalgic, remembering that golden period. I am sure, so does it to you all.


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