International supermodel? She had never thought that far. She simply wanted to focus on the present...
...to make Vikrant and Payal face their consequences.
12pm.
Just before the meeting at Rastogi Entertainment , Vikrant, who hadn't had lunch with Pratiksha for a long time, suddenly decided to take her out to the fancy restaurant downstairs. He even booked a table and organized a candlelit lunch. Looking at the roses paired with the candles, Pratiksha had no reaction. She sat down as Vikrant pulled out her chair.
"I have ordered your favorite kadhai paneer ..."
Pratiksha was surprised for a moment, she was speechless. It turned out, even after 5 years of being together, Vikrant still did not know what she liked.
"What is it? You don't like it?"
Just as Pratiksha was about to respond, the chef appeared beside them holding a tray. He turned to Pratiksha, "Miss Mehra , today, we have your favorite Matar Paneer . I would like to congratulate you on your wedding..."
Upon hearing this, Vikrant's expression changed, but he was too embarrassed to say anything. He just quietly replaced Pratiksha's plate, "Your tastes have changed."
"Thank you, but we aren't married yet," Pratiksha explained to the chef whilst ignoring Vikrant. "You sure are attentive, I only mentioned it once and you remembered."
The chef politely left and Pratiksha turned back towards Vikrant.
"Next time I will definitely remember what my wife likes to eat!" Vikrant reminded himself.
"Hurry, let's eat. We still need to go back and discuss the script,"
Pratiksha sneered on the inside but kept her composure. At this moment...she received an SMS titled '0819'. When she opened it up, she realized it was a message from Moksh.
0819, was yesterday, the date of their wedding.
"The dish is from me. What the chef meant was...congratulations on OUR wedding."
Pratiksha let out a laugh and sent a response from under the table, "How did you know where I would be?"
"I have a way of finding out what I want to know," Moksh answered her calmly.
Pratiksha held onto her phone as she glanced around the restaurant. However, Moksh was nowhere in sight. Although she didn't know how he managed to organize something so thoughtful, she could sense he was nearby...
...he had a presence like a king that no one could ignore or deny.
"Pratiksha, what are you looking at?"
Vikrant asked as he waved his hands in front of her eyes. His gaze was full of questions.
"Oh, it's nothing..."
Pratiksha shook her head and calmly changed the topic,
"Vikrant , when will we go back to register our marriage?"
"After all this has settled. You do realize the upcoming Top Ten Model Awards would be Payal's opportunity to advance in her career. Pratiksha, she is lucky to have you...otherwise, Payal would have been ruined this time."
Vikrant poured Pratiksha some red wine and raised his glass against hers.
"I will help you get back what you deserve," Pratiksha smiled softly, her dimples made her appear even more beautiful.
However, Vikrant, at present, didn't notice her at all. His heart was already bewitched by years of bedside seduction from Payal. So, he had no idea Pratiksha's words had a hidden meaning.
"Pratiksha, you have suffered..."
Pratiksha knew, for all that she was about to do, today's lunch was just a little reward. However, this reward was all a ploy to mask his true intentions.
"Also, after the press conference, get in contact with your manager. In order to deal with her, it looks like we have to use a legal approach."
"OK," Pratiksha smiled sweetly.
However, there was no way she was going to let him touch Sachin.
2pm.
Inside Rastogi Entertainment's main hall, reporters from all forms of media were gathered. They were all interested in what Pratiksha had to say.
Everyone had questions for Pratiksha, ranging from why she suddenly retreated from the public eye to why she signed on with Rastogi's to what really happened with her substituting Payal. Ever since she retreated, she had kept a low-profile. It was hard to find anything bad about her.
Today, was the perfect opportunity for them...
3pm.
Dressed in plain clothes, Pratiksha appeared with bodyguards by her side. She slowly walked onto the stage and turned around to face the crowd. The reporters fought to be the first to question her.
"Pratiksha, your name is number one in search rankings and it continues to stay up there. Did you pay for that position?"
"Pratiksha, you and Payal are both models of Rastogi Entertainment , but, in recent years, only she has been in the limelight. Have you been frozen by the company, so you were envious of her fame?"
"Pratiksha, did you create this mess for hype?"
Facing the chaotic scene, the company's staff quickly stepped out to hold back the reporters, putting everything back in control. Finally, Pratiksha was allowed to speak.
"First of all, I want to apologize to everyone for giving the company a damaged reputation and causing everyone to question Miss Payal's integrity."
"At the Silicon Jewellery Crown's Star Show, I made the decision myself, unknown to my company and Payal, to appear on stage. Everything that has happened has nothing to do with my company, Rastogi Entertainment nor Miss Payal."
"I was...indeed trying to create hype! But, my manager has nothing to do with it, he was merely being used by me. I have decided to take on all the responsibility. Thank you for your patience, Thank you."
After Pratiksha spoke, the hall was in an uproar...
The reporters weren't at ease...they had never seen a celebrity admit to her wrongdoings so easily and in such a straightforward manner. Other people would have tried to avoid the situation, but she had taken on all the blame, claiming it had nothing to do with her manager, company or Payal.
Pratiksha thought that , everything was over. But, unexpectedly, Vikrant had prepared something else. In order to confirm that she was an attention seeker, he allowed the artists' director to approach Pratiksha and face the media,
"This was not the first time she has done something like this. But...the company and I will give her one last chance. Pratiksha, I hope you can learn from your mistakes and not step over the line again."
Not the first time...the purpose of those words were to obviously push back Sachin's claims. Now it seemed, every time she had substituted Payal in the past, was to create hype for herself.
Vikrant, you are ruthless!
Pratiksha remained silent as she gave an apologetic bow to the media. Then, with the protection of the company's staff, she was escorted out of the main hall...
In an instant, the netizens were filled with hate. Since Pratiksha had admitted everything outright, the public only saw what was on the surface and were filled with anger. Even the staff at Khuranas treated the matter like a laughing stock.
Coming out of a meeting, Moksh overheard his staffs' discussions. He turned to look at his assistant who quickly revealed what had happened at the press conference today. "President, did you want to do something to assist Miss Mehra ?"
"Not just yet, I want to see how she will deal with it herself," Moksh replied gently. He had already mentioned before that he was curious how Pratiksha would react. Because he had helped her the last two times, he wanted to see how she would resolve this issue herself.
As Moksh's wife, was she really going to let something like this discourage her?
what is moksh and pratiksha going to do now and how will she deal with it