Of course not, the timing isn't right!
Moksh knew what she was thinking, so he grabbed the phone and handed it to her. Pratiskha did not step aside to take the phone call, instead, she confidently pressed the answer button, right in front of Moksh.
"Pratiskha, where are you right now?"
"I was afraid the reporters would find me, so I found a place to hide," Pratiskha replied calmly.
"So, you're saying you aren't aware of the incident with Sachin?" Vikrant asked in a patient tone.
"What's wrong with Sachin? The place I have hidden in is quite remote, so I haven't been able to keep up with what's happening on the outside, what happened?" Pratiskha tried her best to sound curious.
"Thanks to your manager, Rastogi Entertainment is now in a mess. Return to the office first, I'm going to arrange for you to hold a press conference. Pratiskha, I am depending on you to clear Rastogi Entertainment's name."
Press conference? More like another opportunity for him to throw the blame on Pratiskha...
Did he really think she was still that naive?
Pratiskha hung up the phone in disgust, when suddenly Moksh began to speak, "I've already saved my number in your phone. Anytime you need me, give me a call and let me know what you want to do."
"Thank you, Moksh..."
"You shouldn't be calling me that..." Moksh unfolded his legs and pulled Pratiskha to his side, "Call me something else...or I won't let you go."
Pratiskha blushed as she whispered shyly, "h...hubby..." A rare smile appeared on Moksh's face.
"Come on, I'll drop you off at work. Remember what you promised...don't get too close to another man."
Pratiskha knew exactly what Moksh was referring to. She responded with a reassuring smile and a hopeful look in her eyes for Moksh to trust her. Moksh's heart skipped a beat. Between the two of them, there was nothing more to say.
...
In just 40 minutes, Moksh had successfully driven Pratiskha to a location close to Rastogi Entertainment. As the King of Entertainment, he knew all the deepest, darkest secrets of the industry. Hence, he was curious as to how Pratiskha intended on turning the tables to retrieve her position as top model.
Pratiskha knew what she was getting herself into. It was clear that this was a game where she had to keep her cards hidden, whilst her enemies had already laid their cards on the table. If she couldn't change the outcome even after swapping out her entire hand, then she would have to admit defeat.
After stepping out of Moksh's car, she accessed the building through a secret walkway. As soon as the staff spotted Pratiskha, the room was filled with mixed reactions of disgust, hate and mockery; as if they were sure Sachin's revelations were all under Pratiskha's directions.
Pratiskha pretended not to notice. She walked over to Vikrant's room and pushed open the door as her gaze met the back of Vikrant's head.
"You're back..." Vikrant turned around holding back his anger.
"Tell me, what happened?"
"Pratiskha, are you certain you don't know about the incident with Sachin?" Vikrant threw the newspaper reports in front of Pratiskha. He questioned her angrily, "If he didn't receive orders from you, how would he be brave enough to do this?"
"Vikrant, we are about to get married, why would I do something like this? Wouldn't that be pushing you away?" Pratiskha choked on her words as she looked at him innocently.
"Then, how do you explain why you placed the Crown's Star on your ankle at the show? You knew very well, that the biggest difference between you and Payal are your legs..."
Pratiskha looked at Vikrant as he interrogated her. She thought back on the multiple times that Vikrant had protected Payal in the same way. She once thought it was all because he was trying to protect his own growing career, so she was willing to endure being wronged and allowed him to stick up for another person. But from the looks of it now, the only person he wanted to protect all along had solely been Payal.
"At the time, I had no way of wearing the Crown's Star on anywhere but my ankles. Payal's assistant was also present, you can ask him."
"I asked him already and he said you had made the decision yourself..." Vikrant pressed on.
"Vikrant, I am your fiancee, yet you choose to believe an outsider?" Pratiskha faked a look of disappointment as she continued to observe Vikrant's reactions, "Yesterday...we were supposed to be signing our wedding papers."
"It's too late to say anything now, the damage is done. Silicon Jewellery has already notified the court of their intention to sue Rastogi Entertainment for breaching the contract and thanks to your manager, the public's negative reactions towards Rastogi Entertainment are now getting worse and worse. You need to take responsibility for this." Vikrant looked down at Pratiskha condescendingly. He gave off the aura of an almighty god passing judgment.
"You will be my wife soon, I don't want my wife to hurt my career. That's why...Pratiskha, for the sake of Rastogi Entertainment, you have the responsibility to step out and explain to the public the entire mess was created by your manager for hype and has nothing to do with Rastogi Entertainment..."
"Admitting that my manager was responsible is just like admitting I was responsible! Weren't you the one that called me to hastily substitute Payal?" Pratiskha cried, "Vikrant, is it because I am to marry you, that I should be sacrificed?"
"I don't care. Being recognized was your fault." As soon as those words left his lips, Vikrant must have felt he had gone too far. He quickly calmed down and reached out his arms to give Pratiskha a hug, however, she retaliated by pushing him away. "Pratiskha, I was just getting a bit impatient. Just this once...after we are married, I promise to treat you well..."
Of course, Pratiskha held back her tears and nodded, "I am doing this, not because I admit to creating this mess, it is because I want to protect your career. But, there will be no next time!"
"Yes...I promise, there will be no next time!"
In actual fact, Vikrant knew Pratiskha would fall for it again next time. Especially after they were married, according to Pratiskha's character, she would be easily controlled by him.
"The press conference will be this afternoon at 3pm. We will have a meeting in a minute to go over your script."
"OK!"
Pratiskha stopped crying and forced herself to look into Vikrant's eyes like always. But, as soon as she left the room, her eyes swept over with a cold gaze.
She couldn't immediately forget the jerk, but, she was going to stick by her decisions.
There was no way she was going to take on the blame for Vikrant's wrongdoings again.
After thinking carefully, she returned to her own room and phoned her manager, "Sachin, Vikrant is trying to use me as a shield."
"Ha ha! Pratiskha, tell me what you want me to do." Her manager was full of fighting spirit.
"3pm. I will announce I created the mess and apologize. Afterwards...I want you to anonymously release photos of Vikrant and Payal being affectionate in the hospital..."
"Ha ha, sure! I've even thought up of a great headline 'Exposed! Rastogi Entertainment's boss has multiple affairs: The Biggest Cheating Scum!'"
Pratiskha couldn't help but respond with a laugh, before she began to apologize, "Sorry, Sachin, for dragging you into all this."
"Pratiskha, as long as you have made the decision to start afresh, I will help you return to being the top model. In fact, not only that, I will help you become...an international supermodel!"
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