The corners of Nancy's eyes were still teary. Wiping them away, she slowly stood up. She thought for a moment before responding to Pratiksha, "26th, next Wednesday."
"Are you still being told by Payal to reject all my jobs?" Pratiksha guessed.
"Yes..."
"Note down every single one and keep every single email from every single client for evidence. Next Wednesday, I will use them,"
Pratiksha ordered calmly,
"If you still have a sense of judgment, you will know, following me is more promising than following Payal. Just on the fact that she is a mistress alone, she will never get the chance to step onto the international stage."
After hearing these words, Nancy thought about why Payal had been getting into trouble so often lately, while Pratiksha's popularity was on the rise. She realized it was because all along, Payal had relied on acting weak and gaining sympathy. Meanwhile, Pratiksha...was using Payal as a stepping stone to make a comeback.
Nancy weighed the pros and cons and decided it would be best to follow Pratiksha, "I will help you prepare everything."
Pratiksha nodded as she started to leave. But, just as she reached the doorway, she seemed to have remembered something as she turned to warn Nancy, "If you don't have the ability to manage a PR crisis, then don't do anything scandalous for me to clean up after you."
Put simply, if she couldn't avoid having photos taken of her, she shouldn't have gone around seducing someone she shouldn't have.
Nancy's face turned pale. It was the first time she had come across an artist who had planned so far ahead without anyone knowing. From the looks of it, apart from seducing men, Payal really didn't have anything else going for her; in fact, she was unknowingly waiting for Pratiksha to send Rastogi Entertainment packing.
Coming out of the building, the day was still young. Pratiksha returned to her car with a tired look on her face. Upon seeing her, Sudiksha was extremely heartbroken, "Did you have an argument with Vikrant?"
"Vikrant asked to break up,"
Pratiksha replied calmly as she leaned her head back and slowly closed her eyes. She appeared to be trying to hide her emotions, "Sudiksha, did you know? When Vikrant spoke those words, it sounded like he was reading from a textbook."
"He even wants to freeze my jobs for 3 years."
"That jerk, how can he be so disgraceful? Isn't he afraid of being struck by lightning?!"
Sudiksha protested as she turned sideways. Seeing Pratiksha suffering, she reached out her hand to comfort her, patting her gently on the arm, "Do not allow a man like that to make you feel bad, especially since you are going to make that jerk pay everything back ten-fold."
"I'm not capable of controlling my emotions completely yet, take me home," Pratiksha requested in a gentle whisper.
"OK...have some rest."
Pratiksha knew, judging by Vikrant's cold and careless attitude, he wasn't going to stop at making her attend rubbish events like this. All it would take, was one word from Payal, and he would be able to do something even worse. She had to find a way to destroy Payal's plans of standing in her way.
By the time Moksh arrived home, it was already 8pm at night. However today, he didn't smell the aroma of dinner being served - all he felt was a cold chill. At first, he thought Pratiksha hadn't arrived home yet, but as he entered the bedroom, he saw her lying quietly in bed. No need to explain, she must have been treated unfairly today.
Moksh walked over and sat on the edge of the bed. Upon sensing the familiar presence, Pratiksha immediately sat up and hugged him.
"If you want to cry, then cry. You will feel better," Moksh gently patted Pratiksha's shoulder.
Pratiksha had been holding it in all day, but after being comforted by Moksh, she immediately let go and burst out crying, "Sorry, I promised I wouldn't cry over unworthy things..."
"It's okay, cry...Apart from me, who else would you be able to show your true self to?" Moksh encouraged. Maybe because Moksh's hands were so gentle, or maybe because Moksh was older than Pratiksha by 7 years and exuded a sense of safety and maturity, Pratiksha cried in Moksh's embrace for a long time until no tears were left.
"Better?" Moksh asked.
"Yep." Pratiksha freed herself from Moksh's embrace, "You mustn't have eaten yet, I'll go cook..."
Without doing anything else, Moksh grabbed hold of Pratiksha's chin and used all his strength to press his lips firmly against hers. Not only did he want to kiss away her tears, but he also wanted to use this special moment to comfort the hurt woman in his arms.
A kiss...was the best medicine and best painkiller. The couple kissed so passionately, the world felt like it was spinning as they tried to catch their breaths.
"Pratiksha, I hope that no matter if you are happy or sad, I would be the first person you would turn to. I don't care how many masks you are wearing on the outside, once you are home, we have to face each other truthfully. We should be like a normal married couple. We only need each other."
Moksh wiped away the tears on Pratiksha's cheek as he stood up, "I've said before, you aren't allowed in the kitchen anymore."
Pratiksha saw Moksh turning to leave, so she quickly grabbed onto him, "I need you, I need you right now...I need you to stay with me, hug me, kiss me..."
"I need energy to kiss you."
Pratiksha stopped crying, removed her blankets to get out of bed and held onto Moksh's hand, "Then I'll keep you company..."
The couple had an enjoyable dinner and showered. After returning to bed, Moksh leaned against the headboard and read some documents, while Pratiksha tried to sleep. But no matter what she did, she couldn't fall asleep.
"What's wrong?"
"I can't sleep, can you read me a book?" Pratiksha peeped out from under the blanket and pleaded Moksh.
Only in front of Moksh did she not remain emotionless. She also didn't have to be calm and capable like she was in front of Sudiksha. In front of Moksh, she was completely a little wife - a wife that needed to be spoilt.
Of course, in front of Pratiksha, Moksh also didn't have to be the Moksh everyone knew. If she was his subordinate, he would have thrown his documents in her face. But, the person before him was Pratiksha, so he picked a book from the bookshelf and returned to the bed. He wrapped Pratiksha in his arms as the two of them opened the book together and started reading.
This was such a simple gesture, but it turned out, Vikrant the jerk, would have never done something like this for Pratiksha. Who would have thought, it would turn out to be the King of the Entertainment Industry, that would be willing to experience such a silly thing with her.
The scars in her heart felt like they were slowly being healed. It was not long before Pratiksha fell asleep in Moksh's arms...and as usual, she slept sweetly.
The next morning, the air was slightly humid. Pratiksha was awoken by the sound of her phone ringing, it was Nancy. Her voice was a lot gentler than the previous day, "Pratiksha, I just arrived at your house, but only your assistant is home."
"I've moved."
"I came to tell you, after President Vikrant announced you would be appearing at the corporate event, the fans you gained are now in an uproar. They are arguing intensely amongst themselves. They said if you were to appear at this event, it means you are supporting unreliable goods, there is no way they can accept it and are ready to abandon you..."
"What's Payal's reaction?" Pratiksha asked Nancy straightforwardly.
"She can't wait to see you suffer. Going to this event was her idea from the start. Not only does she want to step all over you, she wants your life to be a living hell."
"Then let's see next Wednesday, who's life will be a living hell..." Pratiksha responded with a deeper meaning, "In the meantime, don't worry about the fans, let them yell at me as much as they want!"