Stage

Shivam was sitting beside Dhira among other students, anxiously waiting for the performances to start. Dhira had just told him what went down backstage before. He heaved a sigh of relief, Divya had been riding her coattails to step up the social ladder for quite a while now. She should have chosen an easier target. She must not have been in her right mind to rope in the most terrifying person in her lies. Stupid.

"So what do you plan to do now with Divya?" Shivam asked. He really hoped that this useless banter was over for good. But knowing Dhira, she was the type to hold grudges till she drove her enemies into the ground. This matter was far from over.

"I have her in the very palm of my hands, just have to close my fist and an ant like her could be crushed anytime. What's the rush?" Dhira's lips curved up from the side and Shivam shuddered. Divya must have accumulated a lot of bad karma to have pissed this Yama[1] off. Why did he suddenly feel pity for her? If Dhira sees this expression on his face, he will be sharing the same luck with Divya. So he quickly looked away.

"What about the Devdoots? They've been eerily quiet these days." Dhira changed the topic. She didn't want to waste her time on an insignificant nobody anymore than she already had.

"No movement at all." he replied. Dhira knew there was something on their minds. They must be preparing for a way to get to her. What she didn't understand was why? Devdoots have been a very righteous clan until now. For now she could just assume that Shreya disagreed to bow down to them and wanted to return her clan to its former glory. If she had secretly rebelled against her clan, Dhira just needed to collect evidence and let Madam Tara deal with it. But she had a lot to look into. Divya was shut for now but who knows till when. If Visha wasn't so naively trusting of others she wouldn't have to do it herself. But that's exactly what made Visha trust her too, so she couldn't complain.

The guilt of using her as a means to reach Payal was deep-rooted within Dhira. So she wanted to do the most she could to protect Visha as compensation. Who knew she would actually grow fond of that little puppy following her around? A warmth filled her heart as she really did consider Visha as her sister. This was the closest she could get to familial love. But a darkness flashed in her eyes as soon as she thought about Visha's mysterious origins. She really wanted to protect Visha and that was the reason she didn't even involve Shivam in this investigation. She couldn't take the risk of someone else finding out something about Visha before her. They could see her as a threat for the clan and hurt her. Hence she had no other choice even though this would clearly increase her workload.

The sound of sudden girly shrieks and gasps made Dhira and Shivam turn around. And they instantly located the source of this commotion, it was those brothers, Yash and Vir! Their entrance made everyone turn back due to the girls' squealing. Those two instantly became the centre of attention wherever they went.

Yash walked in front and Vir followed behind him making their fangirls start to breathe heavy. This was a dreamy scene in front of them. The cold distant older brother followed by the social younger brother with a warm smile on his face, greeting people every now and then. Yash couldn't believe he was once worried about this guy fitting in as he walked in and took a seat in the front row.

Dhira squinted her eyes as soon as she saw Yash. This was the b******d who had humiliated Visha in front of everyone. Shivam saw the enraged expression on her face and started worrying. Who was it now? Why can't she let me live in peace? He thought and followed her gaze to the college's handsome hunk, Yash! Then he finally remembered the incident that happened with Visha. He had heard that this guy ignored her and made her look like a fool in front of everyone. He felt that Dhira's anger was justified but this was neither the time nor the place to deal with this.

A sudden "Hello" on the microphone made every one turn their attention to the anchor on stage which was gorgeously decorated. Multiple shiny glass stars, balls and other figures hung from the ceiling covering the entire roof above the stage. The lights of the auditorium were dimmed down leaving only the stage lit. The glass figures above reflected the light and made it look like a sea of stars. Everyone gasped as they were entirely mesmerised by the beautiful and elegant ambiance of the stage.