A/N: A massive apology for the delay and irregularity in updating. I was occupied with a lot of stuff (personal and non-personal). Thanks to all who are still investing their time. :)
(July, 24-31)
That night Khushi cried. It was as if a dam inside her had broken. For years she had tried to take everything in a stride- whatever twists and turns life had thrown at her, she bore with courage.
But this time...
She had already lost Arnav- the man she thought she could spend her life with, the man she thought she loved... and by next week, she would lose her company- which was her dream. 2 major blows in a span of weeks and the worst thing was that one was responsible for the other.
In the early hours of morning, a sleepless Khushi was lying in bed, reflecting on how things turned out to be so morbid for her. Arnav was a ruthless businessman yet in these few months that he had been in Magnolia, she saw a different side to him- one that she admired. But now... everything would come to an end.
No! A voice in her head berated her. She had fought for everything in life then how could she let go of her company so easily?
Getting out of the bed, she washed her face and turned the laptop on. She swiftly composed an email and sent it to a very selective list of employees she trusted. She wrote them to come to office as soon as possible.
It was 4:30 am in the morning. Most of those people would be asleep. But sleep would never dawn on her, not at this moment. She hopped in for a quick shower, changed into office wear and drove to the office.
The others would read her email and come in a few hours. Till then she needed to make a strategy.
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When the team arrived at her cabin next morning, Khushi could tell the shock on their faces. A cacophony of noise erupted as all of them gathered around her.
The small group of 5 were people Khushi could trust- Lavanya, the general counsel - Pam, the chief products officer- Aman, Astha- the corporate controller and Shlok, the head of digital marketing.
After the initial shock of the pending vote mitigated, they started racking their brains on what to do next.
"Pam," Khushi addressed the lawyer, "Does Sheetal's case hold? Or can we challenge it?"
Pam replied solemnly, "I re-examined the addendum, Khushi. It doesn't mention either of your names, just the designations. It doesn't even specify which MD. It could be the group or the company or both. It's vague."
"That's what Sheetal is taking advantage of." Khushi sighed.
"So the law is in her favor." Astha spoke. "Is there's nothing we can do?"
Khushi spoke. "If it's a vote between the 3 of us, they'll win. What we can do is..."
"Swing one of them in our favor?" Astha completed the sentence.
"Arnav." Shlok chimed in. "I think he can back us. Sheetal is completely irrational. But Arnav, I've worked with the guy. If we speak to him, maybe he'll favor us-."
"He won't," Khushi interrupted. Lavanya gave her an uneasy look. Khushi added, "I've already spoken to him. He'll not back us."
"What if we make it a 2 people vote? Remove Arnav completely from the equation," Aman spoke for the first time.
"What do you mean?" Astha asked.
Aman spoke enthusiastically. "Whenever there has been a tie between Khushi and Sheetal, the board of directors have always favored Khushi. So if we can make it a 2 people vote rather than 3, the decision goes to the board. We don't need to convince Arnav to vote for us, we just need to make him abstain from voting."
The other 5 people gave him a confused look. "How will we do that, Sir?" Lavanya voiced everyone's query.
Aman gestured at Khushi. "You can make him."
"When I can't even make him vote for us, how will I ever make him abstain?" Khushi replied.
"Isn't he some relative of your cousin, Payal? Her brother-in-law or something?" Aman prodded.
"Arnav is Payal Jiji's fiance's cousin."
"That's it." Aman remarked.
Khushi scrunched her eyebrow.
"Use it."
"Use it?" Khushi repeated Aman's words.
Aman nodded enthusiastically. "Threaten Arnav with his cousin's relationship to make him abstain from the vote."
"His cousin and my Jiji's relationship?"
Aman didn't notice Khushi's grave tone. He continued, "Yeah. That's our trump card. If we play it correctly, we might even get him to vote in our favor. But we can surely make him abstain. At the least."
She didn't need to mull over it since the answer was as clear as day.
Khushi spoke slowly to let each word sink in. "My sister's relationship is not a trump card to be used as a strategy."
"I didn't mean it that way, but it's the best option-." Aman began when Khushi cut him in. "I am not going to jeopardize her life in anyway."
Payal was not just a cousin. She was her friend, sister, confidante, everything. The only family she knew since she was 8. Payal was innocent and she wouldn't let her be collateral damage in this war for Magnolia.
"Not even to save Magnolia?" Aman questioned dumbfounded. "Currently it's the best and only solution we have."
"We are not doing this." Khushi's tone was firm. "There is no way in hell I'll do that to Payal Jiji. Or even risk it."
"Then what are we even doing here?" Aman retorted.
"Guys," Pam interrupted, "This news has been a shock to us all. Let's take a minute to calm down."
"Calm down?" Aman snickered at Pam, "You do realize we'll all be jobless in a few weeks when that crazy Sheetal wins at the vote and sells this company."
"She won't win," Shlok interjected. "That's why we are here. We'll find a solution, without dragging some innocent bystander in our mess." He referred to Payal. "We won't resort to personal attacks," he said but his tone was dicey. "Unless we all agree." Shlok looked at Khushi.
Aman huffed and sat on the couch. Astha and Shlok sat across Khushi and Pam pulled up a chair next to Aman. Lavanya served water to all.
Khushi scanned the room at the silent people. What Aman suggested seemed like the easy solution but Khushi would never forgive herself if, even by a small chance, she messed up Payal's future.
She still remembered how easily Payal had let her in the family. As a child, Payal was never envious of the new girl who would now share her room, her toys and her parent's love. Her uncle and aunt had never discriminated between the girls. Khushi owed so much to them. The woman that she was today, the company that she had built was all because 3 acquaintances took her in when she was completely alone. She had worked hard her entire life, but without their, especially Payal's support, she wouldn't even have a life.
Nonetheless she understood where Aman was coming from. She admired these people and knew they valued Magnolia as much as her. But her sister was not a pawn. Even for an empty threat.
Though she recalled how Arnav was worried about Akash and Payal too.
In their confrontation last night, when Khushi had angrily spoken about their cousins, Arnav had sternly told her not to mess with them. He did care... for Akash. A small doubt began to take hold in her heart. The way Arnav had cautioned her of not sabotaging Akash's happiness, could the threat work...?
The fleeting thought went away as soon as it came in her mind. There are some lines she wouldn't cross. Ever.
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Khushi and the team spent the next few days and nights going over the company articles, the directives and the loophole- trying to find a way to stop the vote on Monday.
Khushi had made the office cabin a temporary home. She spent sleepless nights trying to conjure up something, find out some technicality. With time maybe they could have zeroed in on something but time was what they were short of.
Sheetal's lawyers had spent months getting around the loophole and ensuring that no one could object. Sheetal had slyly kept her in the dark for months. How was Khushi to find a solution in a few days? Though that didn't prevent her from trying.
It was frustrating and exhaustive but they pressed on till the ill fated Monday, 31st July was on them.
They had spent a week trying to figure something out and had failed. The faces of Khushi's small team were marred with disappointment. Khushi tried to give them a pep talk. She appreciated their efforts and apologized for the lack of foresight. Her team, baring Aman, told her that she was not responsible for it but that didn't make her feel any better.
On Monday morning, Khushi got out of the elevator to head to the conference room but her feet wouldn't move. She took a deep breath and instead strode over to Arnav's cabin.
Mustering courage and shutting all her rationality, she walked past Arnav's PA and entered his cabin.
Arnav, who was standing near the table, with a file, raised his eyes to look at the unannounced visitor. His eyes didn't betray what he was thinking. Whether he was shocked, happy or angry to see her in his cabin, she couldn't tell. The last time they were in a room together, she had slapped him.
Khushi opened her mouth to speak but no words came out. The vote would begin in a few minutes. This was it. This was the moment to say something, maybe threaten him to back out using Aman's idea. But she couldn't conjure up the words.
Wordlessly, she exited the cabin and went to hers. She composed herself and exhaled deeply. Nothing could prepare her for what was coming next. A company that she had built would be snatched from her and she couldn't do anything. She felt so helpless.
"Ma'am," Lavanya's soft voice startled her. "It is time."
Khushi slowly walked to the conference room where the vote would take place. She gathered every ounce of energy to make her feet move. She felt sick on the inside.
Sheetal and Arnav along with the Board of Directors were already present when Khushi took her seat. Sheetal began with the introduction as to why they were there. A low murmur engulfed the room as the Board contemplated what Sheetal had said.
"A sale of Magnolia?" one of the board members, Mr. Mathur, voiced everyone's query, "At this stage of it's growth?"
"Yes," Sheetal nodded, controlling her disdain. Sheetal despised the directors because they had always backed Khushi.
"Then let's begin the voting process," the director replied. "Since there are 3 of you," his gestured to Sheetal, Arnav and Khushi, "There is no case of a tie and hence no involvement of the board. We'll get the decision immediately."
Khushi till now had avoided facing Arnav who was sitting right across her. She tried hard not to look at him because if she did, her emotions wouldn't be in control and she feared she would breakdown.
Yet, she could feel his eyes on her, boring in her skin. It made her angry, frustrated, defeated and hopeless.
Mr. Mathur gestured to the company secretary who began, "Good morning everyone."
Khushi's heart started racing as the end of her dream began.
"The agenda for today's meeting," the CS went on, "is the vote for sale of Magnolia. The parties involved had been intimated last week, on the 24th of July, regarding this as per the directive. So, let's begin the process with Ms. Sheetal Kapoor- the group MD, Mr. Arnav Singh Raizada- Magnolia's MD and Ms. Khushi Gupta, CEO"
Khushi froze. She could feel her heart beat wildly against her rib cage.
The CS spoke the next words slowly and clearly, "All those in favor of selling Magnolia, please raise your hand."
Sheetal's arm shot straight up and she smirked. Khushi took a deep breath and turned her head to face Arnav for the first time. As she had sensed, he was looking at her.
For a split second, Sheetal's smirk started to mitigate when Arnav didn't respond. For a split second, Khushi, against all odds, hoped that he was not going to go through with the vote.
It was all for a split second because the next moment, Arnav raised his hand. To Khushi, that was akin to him ripping her heart out of her chest.
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