KHEL

Chapter 2

"What are you doing Tej!" Her father's shout reached her ears. Quickly, she walked towards the door and had almost opened it when the sight in front of her stopped her dead.

Two men, whom she recognised as her father's business partners, stood in front of her father, with guns pointing at him.

"Shakti, drop the gun!" Her father shouted again. "Why are you both doing this!"

"Bhaisahab!"An elegantly dressed woman said and Annika looked at her. She too had a gun in her hand and behind her, another woman was holding her mother tightly. "We are just doing business!"

"What kind of business is this Jhanvi ji?" Her mother struggled.

"Oho Bhabhiji, haven't you heard? In business, eliminate your liabilities and safeguard your assets! I don't know much about business but I know this! And anyways, don't be so surprised, we had planned this from the first day we met you!" The woman, who had her mother in her grasp, said menacingly.

"Pinky is right!" Shakti said with a smile, looking at her father. "You are a liability now! And so, we have to eliminate you!"

"Why, why are you doing this!" Her father shouted, tears forming in his eyes finally.

Annika's heart broke at the sight. She had never seen her father cry. She was so shocked, she could not move at all.

"Why? You know why!" Tej laughed. "We started a business together and you get sixty per cent of the profits? And what do we get? Twenty per cent each? No, I won't accept it!"

"What are you talking about? The business ideas are mine so naturally I get more of the profits! And you have your father's business as well, why do you want to snatch my hard work?"

"Yes, we have father-in-law's business but your ideas are more profitable." Pinky shrugged. "And frankly, that business is drowning. So if we don't get rich again soon, we will be drowning in debts in no time!"

"We worked with you for six years and we had no idea that you people were so damn greedy!" Annika mother cried.

Annika wept at her parent's state, putting a hand on her mouth.

"Okay, okay, I will transfer my business to your name but you will have to let us go!" Her father shouted.

"Thought as much." Jhanvi shrugged and pulled out a few papers from her bag. "Sign these. It states that you both, in your sound mind, are transferring all your rights to the business to us four."

Annika saw with blurry eyes as her parents quickly signed their hard work away to the scary people around them.

"Come on, let's go!" Her father said and held his wife's arm.

"Wait, wait, where are you going? Do you think we are so stupid to leave you? You are so stupid!" Tej laughed.

"Don't do this Tej!" Her mother shouted. "We have three young children! Let us go for their sake!"

"Bhabhiji, we don't care! Your children will too face the brunt of their parent's stupidity!" Pinky laughed.

The sharp sound of a gun's shot pierced Annika's ear and she almost fell back. She saw her father falling down as he was shot twice by the men. A second later, her mother lied beside her husband when the women shot her.

"Well, this is done." Tej chuckled.

"Now what Bhaisahab?" Shakti asked.

"How will we get rid of the bodies?" Jhanvi asked.

"I have an idea!" Pinky said. "Follow me!" She said and the four of them started walking towards the door.

Annika scrambled away as fast as she could, her heart pounding, heart crying and mind screaming. As she ran through the shadowy halls, her fear of darkness vanished into thin air forever. Reaching the gates, she ran towards her car and opened the door. Her sisters sat inside, almost asleep.

She quickly took her baby sister in her arms and grabbing her middle's sister's hand, ran against the direction of the building, where their parent's bodies lay. Two minutes later, she heard a loud boom and looked back, only to see the building shoot in red-hot flames.

Tears streaming her face, she looked as the four people left the building.

Not in her entire life would she ever forget their faces.

Annika shook her head and looked back at Veer and Swetlana.

"I saw them being shot dead. I saw myself becoming an orphan. I saw my sisters becoming orphans! Do you think I am just playing any game here? No! It's mygame! Twenty-five years! It's been twenty-five years since the Oberois entered my life! I was just four years old then! And they had planned to kill my parents since the first day they met!" Annika screamed, not a tear in her eyes. "I planted you in Tej Singh Oberoi's life to break them Swetlana, and what did you do? Nada! I did so much but you could not do anything! So I had to step in my own game! Had to enter that Mansion which was built on the corpses of my parents! Had to shake hands with people whose hands where laced with my parent's blood! Had to f*cking marry into this house! Two years, it took two years to gain their damn trust and if because of you, if anything goes wrong, you have no idea what I will do! Almost every night, I have to slip a damned sleeping pill in Shivaay Singh Oberoi's food! Do you know what's at stake here? My revenge, my respect, my sister's lives and you dare try to mess it all!"

"I..I am..so..sorry..Boss..I..am..I will not do it again!" Swetlana gulped in fear.

Swetlana sighed in relief when Annika's phone rang.

"Hello, yes Gauri?"

"What are you doing Di?" Gauri asked softly. "We all are fifteen minutes away from the house. How much time do you need to give those morons a nice lesson? Bhavya Di is tired of making excuses to delay our return!"

"I am done now." Annika said.

"Okay then, bye." Gauri said and Annika cut the call.

"I don't understand one thing Ma'am." Veer asked.

"And what is that?" Annika scowled.

"The elder Oberois killed your parents. So why are you playing with the younger Oberois as well?" Veer asked, wondering.

"Oh." Annika chuckled. "You see, the elder Oberois were stupid to do what they did because they have me surrounding them from every side. And their children will too face the brunt of their parent's stupidity. That's my game."