65 Grand Ballroom (2)

"You can go catch up with your friends, I also have to meet with some old colleagues of mine," Taarini said as she released Aditya's hands and walked towards the people who nodded at her when they had entered the ballroom. Aditya felt a slight regret when Taarini's soft hands released him as he liked that feeling.

He stayed still for some time looking at her before been pulled out of his daze as Bhadra held his hand and abruptly dragged him back to Jatin "Come on, let us go." Bhadra did not take notice the grudging look on Aditya's face for having been pulled out of a romantic trance-like moment. But the fury was short lived as it disappeared when he saw Jatin waiting for him. Aditya bumped fists with Jatin as he also took a glass of drink and sat beside him as he said, "it is so good to see you guys. What are you people doing here?"

Aditya still did not know what was going on here as he came along with Taarini and she did not inform anything to him. The only information he had was what Faizal had revealed but he did not know how authentic the news was. He activated 'Sensifull' to see and observe everyone even while he conversed with his friends.

"We are here to attend the Chief Minister's son's birthday and make some friends while our parents are going to have an informal business meeting about the new investment region," Bhadra explained briefly.

"What is the business meeting about?" Aditya asked as he felt that this meeting carried huge significance for Taarini from the way she behaved. Aditya had spent many hours training alone with Taarini in the past week that he had begun to understand her nature and thoughts.

"My father said that the chief minister wants to build an iconic tower worth $ 250 million in the approved Investment region and I heard that many of the builders who are visiting today are interested in getting the contract," Bhadra said as he ate some crispy coconut curls.

Aditya nodded as he looked at Taarini who was talking to others. Her eyes turned to look at him for a fleeting instant but moved away as she continued her talks. A small smile appeared on Aditya's face as he turned and asked, "Is your father also interested in this contract?"

"Of course he is interested but he has more desire than energy, the highest construction he had undertaken was a $ 50 million luxury apartments, you think he could get the finance and the technological support based on this portfolio," Bhadra shrugged his shoulders and explained.

Aditya frowned slightly when he heard this, he knew enough about Taarini to know that she was almost at the same level as Bhadra's father in terms of capability and assets so he was not sure if she was aiming for that contract or if she had found some external support which he didn't know about. Aditya's eyes lit up as he asked Tya, "Tya, could you create an ability so that I could understand what people in a distant are talking about based on there lip readings?"

"Easy-peasy, actually there is no need for a new ability as according to your calculative abilities, I am pretty sure you can figure out the words by just observing a person's lip, jaw and tongue movements and learning the corresponding sounds produced with little practice," Tya's cute voice rang out, an icon with a lip symbol glowed in the corner of Aditya's inner mind on the side of 'Slow Timing' and 'Sensifull' which Aditya selected instantly.

When Aditya looked at groups of people conversing in hushed voices or even whispers, he could clearly understand what they were saying which marvelled him once again of Tya's potential. He turned to look at a delicate girl who was talking and giggling with her friend as they looked in their direction.

'That dark blue blazer (Aditya) seems to be already taken as I saw him walk in with a beauty, that maroon shirt (Bhadra) is very handsome but he looks gentle and kind, the kind who takes his relationships seriously which is not what I want but that green tie (Jatin) is definitely my type, I would definitely date him if he asked me out,'

Aditya rolled his eyes when he knew what they were talking about as he looked at Jatin and said, "Jatin, looks like someone fancies you."

Jatin smiled confidently as he stood up and said, "I don't need you to confirm as I already know," he walked towards the said girl as she acted shy and embarrassed like an innocent girl in search of true love. Aditya scoffed at that act as he turned towards Bhadra and said, "What about you? Is Kavya coming?"

"Yup, they should be on the way," Bhadra said as he nodded.

"They?"

"Kavya and Anupama."

"Oh..."

"Right, what happened to school? Last time I called Jatin, he did not tell me in detail," Aditya asked as he remembered that Jatin had laughed and cut the call when Aditya had asked about the school.

"What! You didn't know?" Bhadra sat upright in his chair as he shouted loudly. He caught himself in time as he expressed apologies to the disturbed guests as he turned to look at Aditya with an incredulous expression.

"What am I missing here? Jatin reacted the same way," Aditya asked with a puzzled look as he was startled at Bhadra's overreaction.

"it's your elder sister Maahi," Bhadra said with a look of awe.

"Elder sister Maahi came to the school?" Aditya asked with shock as he could basically guess what must have happened without any further details. He knew her more than anyone. Now he could basically confirm that the school was done for, what he was interested in knowing was how she did it.

"Is the school still functioning?"

"Nope,"

"What happened?"

"Sex Scandal and food poisoning."

"Sex Scandal?"

"Yup, both Karan and his father Prakash Malhotra, it basically buried the school's reputation once and for all." Bhadra said as he laughed with schadenfreude, "the twist was that they were doing the same female teacher without one knowing the other, it was quite a blast in the school when the videos were played in the school cafeteria's huge TV screen."

Aditya did not expect anything less from his elder sister Maahi who maintained a team of professional corporate spies. Getting these videos must have been very easy for them. He asked, "and then?"

"Then, this news was leaked to the national press which somehow decided that an earthquake in Japan was less important than this scandal and played the blurred video all day long while conducting surveys, opinion polls and heated debates whether such a practice represents progressiveness or violates ethics."

"Oh," Aditya nodded as he also knew that elder sister Maahi had extensive contacts in the media as well.

"The final nail in the coffin was when a circular was released from 'The ministry of health and family welfare' which cited reports of test results from Food Safety and Standards Authority of India(FSSAI) stating that the food provided by the school's cafeteria was unhygienic and the international students were prone to gastric disturbance at best and lethal food poisoning at the worst. With that masterstroke, our school became a favourite meeting spot for all kinds of international ambassadors and high commissioners. The rest is history as they say it," Bhadra said with a gleeful expression as he remembered the looks on both Karan and his father. He still doubted if they knew that all this had happened because of expelling a student who was an 'orphan'.

Aditya sighed when he heard these words. This was an aspect of his elder sister that he had a contradiction with. She took revenge so far that not only the culprits but the people associated with them also suffered devastating consequences. Because of the above action, along with Karan and his father, the teachers who were good like Kapil sir and the chefs in the cafeteria and many other workers also suffered which they did not deserve.

When he asked her once about this attribute of hers, she had replied with only one sentence, "the anthill is not at fault for the death of a person due to a snake bite but it provided shelter for the venomous snake which was the main culprit. But when the villagers gather to kill the snake, the first hit falls not on the snake but on the anthill."

"So, you guys changed to a new school?" Aditya asked as he took a sip of the non-alcoholic champagne which tasted refreshingly like apple and peaches.

"Yup, which parents would want their children to study in that school anymore after what happened, the whole class transferred to other schools. You know transferring in the middle of the term is a huge headache. Luckily we found a school which had newly started teaching international curriculum since last year and so many vacancies were available. Most of us got admitted into that school including Jatin, me, Kavya, Anupama and even that Yu Yan." Bhadra explained briefly while looking at Aditya.

Aditya nodded but his main attention was now on the conversation of Taarini.

The middle-aged man who had greying side swept short hair and a goatee spoke in a sarcastic tone, "So the great Star Empress wants to leave the underworld and became a pure white collar businesswoman by using the opportunity of grabbing the contract for building the iconic tower of Bangalore. Do you know what we call a person who wants to leave the abyss? We call them cowards. Is that what you have become now? Your elder brother would have been ashamed of you if he was alive today."

"Except, he isn't," Taarini shot back icily, there was no change of her expression when she heard the sarcasm of Kasi who was the leader of one of the key gangs of Bangalore's underground, "You people seem to have forgotten that my brother did not choose this life but it was forced on him by the lack of law and order in the past. Now, the situation is not the same anymore, the place for extra-governmental players is becoming extinct. I suggest you also start thinking of alternative careers as our time is about to end."

"Taarini, you!" Kasi was outraged when he heard these words while the hawk-like eyes of the old man, who had slicked back white hair and a white beard, twinkled. When Kasi was about to refute, Taarini raised her hand to stop him and continued her speech.

"Don't you people know what happened to Mumbai's underworld which used to be the most notorious mafia in our country? Wiped out in one night. Why is there a Mumbai Mafia Alliance made up of stray dogs fleeing Mumbai currently in our city, trying to take over our city's underworld? What kind of an enemy did these people encounter that they did not have thoughts of resisting and decisively left Mumbai to come to our city? Are you sure you could resist the Mumbai Mafia Alliance let alone that enemy from Mumbai when they come to Bangalore?" Taarini shot one ice-breaking question after another which caused the middle-aged guy named Kasi's face to pale by the minute.

Taarini looked at these seniors and stated nonchalantly, "I, for one, don't want to sacrifice my brothers and followers. So if there is even a minute chance that I could get out of this vortex before calamity struck, I would take it. You people might have passion for the abyss but I don't share the same feeling. So, I am only here to give a heads up to you people. As I know that you two are the better among others and had a lasting relationship with my elder brother Manu, I don't mind handing the territories in my hand to you guys. Consider this as to part on good terms."

"Then, what about Flaming tiger?" the old man who hadn't spoken till now opened his mouth at last.

"Just because I am leaving the underworld doesn't mean I would clip my claws and remove my fangs, elder Gani, my grudge with Flaming Tiger is very much alive and I will kill him with my own hands one day," Taarini gazed at the old man and replied in a chilly tone.

"So, how do you plan on bagging this prestigious project? You do know that it is beyond your capacity, right? Convincing the financier and the political leadership with your background is very hard." Kasi asked.

"I have my ways, the deputy Chief Minister owed a favour to my brother. He had agreed to convince the political leadership and the 'Wande' group has agreed to provide a guarantee to the quality of the construction done by providing the required aid in technological and infrastructure support," Taarini answered.

"Wande group? isn't that the top infrastructure development company in our city? You got them to accept these conditions? What did you have to give them?" Kasi asked with wide open eyes.

"90% of my property," Taarini answered indifferently but the other two people could not keep calm when they heard those words.

"I didn't expect that your desire for a normal life was so strong. You have my best wishes, even if I can't accept your resolve, I will support you even if it is just for the relationship I shared with your elder brother." Kasi smiled a little as he looked at Taarini. The small girl, who used to cling on to her elder brother every time he went home with a pure, bright smile, had grown.

Taarini turned her head to look at Aditya who was also looking at her with a smile. After some time, a small smile appeared on Taarini's face.