39 RM !!

"The merger is complete, Sir. All the documents are executed and funds are transferred. I have sent the scanned copy of everything for your records", Sheela informed Dhruv.

"Thanks", he said, and she took leave from his cabin. Her work for the week was done.

Merger of Riya's Choice with Marble Enterprises was finally completed.

Dhruv was ecstatic. This was his dream for a long time but he expected it to happen under different circumstances.  He never expected to let go of Riya in order to achieve this. But, obviously life always had different ways of proving itself and at the end of the day, we end up being both victims and victorious. We need to let go of something in order to achieve better things in life.

Dhruv's team somehow managed to pull off the acquisition in a couple of days.

Next, he had a meeting with the existing investors of both Marble Enterprises and Riya's Choice where he will brief them on the way forward. He knew exactly what he wanted.  He knew exactly what he needed to speak in the meeting, in order to get what he wanted. And, he also knew the kind of challenges he would face in the way of achieving what he wanted.  But, it was his duty to do it. As currently, being the majority shareholder in the merged entity called RM (Riya's Marble Enterprises), it was at Dhruv's discretion to take the final call. 

It wasn't just Riya's Choice or Marble Enterprises anymore. Dhruv had decided to brand everything under RM and bring all their products under one roof.  The first part of his plan was successful now. He could say that it was the hardest part. Now, the second part of his plan was about to come into play.

He looked at himself in the mirror. He wore his lucky black suit for facing the day, because there was only one path and that was the path to success. His grey eyes were urging him to go ahead with confidence, and just do it instead of being anxious about the consequences. 

He took a deep breath and went ahead to the conference room with puffed up chest.  It must be done today and he held all the leashes in his hand!! He reminded himself.

~~~*~~~ 

Meanwhile, Riya did what her father advised her to do. She ate well and rested all day. She had her favorite, chicken for all two meals. In fact, she called Sam to join her for dinner because the last time they met was disastrous. 

Sam also told her that she discussed everything with Rohan, and as Riya rightly suggested, Rohan was taking a bigger hit than Riya due to the media. Unfortunately, Sam also confirmed through Rohan that the takeover of Riya's Choice had been completed by Dhruv recently. 

Both the friends chatted over Sam's new romance novel, where the female protagonist cheats on her current boyfriend to end up with the male protagonist. These were the kind of stories which Riya usually hated, but today she was more than grateful to talk about anything other than Dhruv or her current life. Or any other depressing topics for that matter. There was some part of her mind which incessantly thought about Dhruv. That part of her mind, she decided to ignore for awhile.

Riya also considered writing a book for a minute. Of course, not romance. It was stupid. If she ever wrote something, that'd be about business, self improvement or travelling. Maybe she should park this idea for a later stage. Also, Riya had always dreamt of travelling, but because of her rare medical condition and hectic work schedule, she was never able to pursue that dream. Maybe now would be the right time, as she was both unemployed and almost cured. She decided to put a pin on that thought and visit it later.

Sharan seemed to be in his own world for the past few days, playing some mind-numbing games and binge watching videos. Riya was a little scared of his behavior. But one thing she knew for sure, once she bounced back to normal, he would too.  Her father promised, they will have the big discussion tonight and only after that she would be able to make a proper decision on career. 

She was not happy and calm as she portrayed to Sam. Unless and until she had the talk with her father, she wouldn't be able to completely have peace. 

Riya visibly sighed in the middle of the discussion, where Sam was eagerly describing a love scene. 

"I know! I know! I'll write something better. Don't kick me out!", she said urgently which invoked a chuckle out of Riya.

Sam gaped at her friend.

"What?", Riya asked casually sliding better on the couch. 

"You just.....laughed", Sam said agape.

"Yeah!", Riya told as if Sam didn't make any sense. 

"Riya... you rarely laugh... you didn't know that?", she confessed to her friend making her realize one of her biggest characteristics which she was not aware of. 

This made Riya suddenly think of something which completely broke her heart.

She'd been having so much fun with Dhruv, that unconsciously she had changed a lot. 

She was usually worried, stressed and only worked. But Dhruv showed her a different world. A completely different perspective of enjoying things. He was also a CEO but he was rarely worried and always did stuffs he liked.

And finally, when it was time for them to be happy together, he broke everything and left. Without another ounce of thought.

Sam noticed Riya's reaction change and scooched over. But, Sam was still scared of touching Riya and spooking her off, so she stayed at a good distance.

"Can I ask you something?", Sam asked doubtfully.

Riya nodded mindlessly because her mind was busy pondering on something else.

"You told me to talk with Rohan, and I did. Most of the problems got cleared. Why don't you talk to Dhruv and see what he has to say for himself? I don't think Dhruv would've done any harm to you on purpose, Riya. He.....um..... I think he,.....", Sam trailed but Riya just chimed in cutting her short. 

"It doesn't matter, Sam. He has the motive, intent, means and everything to have done it and I think he did too. He was so smug about it. I just need to talk to my dad and figure out stuff. I'm fine... It was..... I honestly don't think about him much", Riya lied quickly and before Sam could speak more or continue the topic, she asked, "do you want ice cream?" and started moving towards the refrigerator. 

Sam got convinced of Riya's demeanor and decided that maybe Riya only had a small crush on him, that was why she was acting aloof about him. But, she was so angry on Dhruv that he spoiled her life. Even though he was insignificant for Riya, he shouldn't have spoilt her career which she worked so much for. Riya was always fond of being the CEO and he just grabbed it away from her. Bastard! He would definitely pay for this, Sam thought. 

Whatever the case might be, Sam wanted only good things for her friend and she would help her achieve it.