A U T H O R

The night was dark with stars twinkling in the sky. The dining table of Raghuvanshi palace, which used to be filled with laughter, soft murmurs of conversations — is now silent.

Everyone in the palace gathered together in the dining room except for Ashrit and Noor.

For Ashrit it wasn't new, — nothing unusual. He had long abandoned the concept of staying together and eating together. He always comes late— whenever pleased and eats alone in silence. Over time the family stopped waiting for him. No matter how much they tried, Ashrit never listened. Eventually, they gave up, accepting that waiting was pointless. Because they know — some people and some things — aren't going to change.

And for Noor, She was in the chamber. She got changed into a kurti and sat on the couch, her nervousness taking over her. For her, it was all new — this family, the people, their customs, everything. After how her marriage happened with Ashrit and how his parents treated her, she wasn't able to build up some courage and go to the dining room to eat with them.

For her, it felt strange, weird and new. Back at her home, it wasn't like this. It never is, After all, it was her home, her family. There she used to live the way she likes and the way she used to be but here everything is new, everyone is a stranger there was no one whom she can call her own, not even her husband. After all, she is just a replacement for her sister. How can she go and have dinner with a family who is just strangers to her?

People eat together with their family right? Then how can she go eat with them? They are not even her family.

She may be married into the family, but that didn’t mean she was accepted. How could she eat in peace, knowing the judgment in their eyes?.

Noor was ready, all set to go downstairs and that's when she remembered all the events and the people who didn't like her. And she stopped herself from going downstairs, even though she was hungry. Because she doesn't want to upset the elders. So,she sat back.

📍DINING ROOM

On the dining table, Abhiraj sat beside the king chair, on his side his wife Kalyani, followed by the twin's and Pihu. On the other side Ranjeet, prisha, Reshmi and Ranveer sat side by side followed by Devika.

They were eating in silence, when Ranveer chose to break it, “ baba, I am going to US for our new branch construction” he said. Abhiraj glanced at his son, his sharp gaze scanned him for a moment before he nodded “ hmm,”

Kalyani seated beside him, looked up from her plate, “for how long?,” she asked, her voice calm but carried a hint of concern.

“ Don't know, for a few months or maybe more,” Ranveer replied casually, taking a bite of his food.

“ There is much more to over see,”

Ranjeet who was silent, leaned on his chair, glancing at his brother, “ you should take some one with you,” he suggested “ handling everything alone is not easy”

Ranveer smirked, “ I can handle it.”

Prisha seated beside ranjeet, signed “ you always say that,”

Ranveer narrowed his eyes at her, “ what?”

“ That you can handle it, but in the end you call Ashrit,”

The conversation, though normal, carried an underlying weight. Ranveer smirk faltered at prisha’s word's but he quickly masked it with a shrug.

“ I manage just fine,” Ranveer replied,

Prisha raised a brow, her expression knowing “ oh really, don't you remember what happened with the London deal?”

Ranveer clicked his tone in irritation, before he could say, Ranjeet interpreted smoothly “ she is right, you should take someone with you. If not Ashrit then Harsh.”

Harsh who was eating silently, choked on his food when he heard his name and looked at his bade papa in horror “ no, bade papa! Main Ashrit bhai ke saath jahannum main chala jaunga. Par papa ke saath koi business trip pe nahi!” He made an horrified face making everyone chuckle except for Ranveer.

He looked at his son with an betrayed expression

“ Harsh ! Seriously?”

Harsh nodded, “ yes, one hundred percent correct,”

“ See, even your son doesn't want to accompany you,” prisha said, the side of her lips curved up as she tried to suppress her smirk. Everyone chuckled seeing Ranveer’s fallen face.

Ranveer crossed his hands, scowling “ what's this? A family roasting session?”

“ No, it's a Ranveer Roasting session,” prisha grinned, making him grit his teeth.

Abhiraj who was silently enjoying the scene, took a sip of water and said “ they are right . You always creates problems,”

Ranveer gasped, “ baba!, you too?”

And everyone burst into laughter.

Except for Devika, who was sitting on the corner of the table, she looked at the scene with sheer disdain in her eyes. Her fingers curled around the fork, her body trembling with anger and disgust as she looked at the family being happy and laughing. Not able to see their happiness, she pushed her chair back with a thud, so that it fell on back and stood up . Hearing the sound the family members looked at her, their laughter disappearing into thin air, as their eyes fell on her.

Their faces, which were happy till now, were now blank, as if they were not laughing a moment ago. Devika’s lips curled at the corner, as she saw the site of their blank faces which sent peace to her heart. With a smile she walked out of the dining room satisfied with the fact that she ruined their happiness.

After that no one spoke, they just ate and left for their respective chambers. Kalyani however was concerned for Noor, her absence at the dinner table didn't settle with her, so she ordered one of the maids to take the dinner to Noor, which was served by her.

While on the other side, After the dinner, Ranveer was seated in the garden backside of their palace while enjoying one of his favourite books. He was enjoying his me-time when he noticed a presence behind him. He knows who it was, after all he grew up with his elder brother. Ranjeet was standing there, looking The garden full of Daisies — her favorite. His heart clenched, when a memory flashed in front of his eyes, but quickly masked it and looked away. He walked further and sat beside his brother Ranveer.

“ Thanks, aaj ke liye.” Ranjeet said, his voice soft with a hint of gratitude. Ranveer smiled, a knowing, understanding smile.

“You don't have to bhaisahab, bhabhi se pehle dost hai vo meri, i know her,”

Ranjeet singed, finally letting out his true self out in front of his younger brother. He was controlling himself in front of his wife, his prisha. But now infront of his brother he can truly be himself.

“ She was really heartbroken with the wedding” he said, looking at the mulberry tree — prisha's favourite,beside the daisies. Ranveer closed the book he was reading to give his full attention to his brother, “ you know, veer,” he continued, his voice lower than intended, “she finally thought that Ashrit could be saved and was so happy with the wedding”

Ranveer nodded, “ i know,”

Ranjeet looked at his brother, his eyes carrying the weight of everything that has been troubling him, as he continued, “ we… finally thought we.. found a way to save our son…but —” he paused, as he tried to bit back his emotions “— you know what happened, what maasa and babasa did,”

Ranveer kept a reassuring hand on his shoulder, offering silent support, “ I know bhaisahab, par maasa aur babasa ne jo kiya uske liye zarur koi vajah hogi, varna vo Ashrit ki shaadi Noor se kyu karvate, kisi aur se kyu nahi?”

Ranjeet exhaled sharply, his jaw tightened “ I wish.. I know veer, I wish I understood why they made this decision. Noor… she is a nice girl, an employee in our company but she is not the one meant to be here,”

Ranveer observed his brother carefully. Ranjeet isn't the one who lets his emotions show easily. He is always a composed one but tonight his usual composed demeanor is nowhere to be seen.

“ Maybe that's why,” Ranveer said, looking at the other flowers present in the garden, “ Noor is not the one who is meant to be here, or maybe she is the one who needed to be here.

Ranjeet frowned, and looked at his younger brother

“ Do you think maasa and babasa chose her for a reason?”

Ranveer nodded slowly, “ I do, because they aren't the ones who take impulsive decisions. Especially when it comes to Ashrit”

Ranjeet ran a hand through his face, his frustration bubbling up, “ then why aren't they saying something? Why are they keeping us in the dark?”

“ Maybe it wasn't the right time,” he admitted.

Silence fell between the brothers, only interpreted by the sounds of insects in the garden. The garden was too peaceful for their internal turmoil.

“ I just… i don't want… prisha to get hurt again,”

Ranjeet finally admitted, his voice filled with different kind of vulnerability.

Ranveer understood. His bhabhi wasn't just his sister in law but also his closest friend, who always stood up for him and stood by his side. He knows that if there is someone who held onto the hope of Ashrit the longest, that is her —his bhabhi, Ranjeet’s wife and Ashrit's mother.

“ She will be okay, bhaisahab” Ranveer assured, “ she is strong, but you need to be there for her too. She is hurt but she won't show it.”

Ranjeet let out a dry chuckle, “ she is too stubborn to show it and a… little stupid too”

Ranveer smirked “ I know,”

Ranjeet signed, exhaling deeply from his nose, as he relaxed back on the bench, looking at Daisies again

“ I just hope Noor is strong enough for this family,” he murmured . “ Being Ashrit singh Raghuvanshi's wife isn't a…normal task.”

Ranveer didn't say anything but deep down he knows his brother was right. Noor had thrown into a Storm she never asked for.

It was Strom — either it will destroy her or build her, it depends on her. Because the Storm isn't going to stop , it will come either way and she has to face it.

NEXT DAY

📍 AT RAGHUVANSHI & SON'S

The company was bustling with the employees running around the lavish office of Raghuvanshi & son's. All the department's were doing their work peacefully while the cybersecurity department was in chaos.

Noor, the best cybersecurity specialist, was walking around the table while biting her perfectly trimmed nails, her mind racing with the thoughts of her upcoming funeral. How she wanted it, how she wanted people to wear colorful dresses instead of black and white, how she wanted the decoration and everything because she is certain that Ashrit will kill her after knowing what happened last night.

Disha however looked at her with a done face. She already knows what going in Noor's head, while Rohan the one of their team member was trying to restart her macbook.

And their head, their leader missing.

“ I SWEAR, I will kill that witch, if she doesn't come now,” Noor groaned, stomping her heels on the ground.

Disha leaned back on the chair, as she looked at Noor who was pacing around, “ can you stop planning your funeral and tell us what happened?”

Rohan let out a frustration sign, as he again tried to restart the macbook. “ Yeah Noor, i need to know that if I should start drafting my resignation letter or run for my life,”

Noor shot both of them a glare, running a hand through her hair making them messy, “ it's bad, guys very bad”

“ How much?”

“ Enough for me to regret my decision to become a cybersecurity specialist.”

Before Disha could roll her eyes, the glass doors of their department burst open, and Misha walked in. Their missing department head Dressed in a red dress, which was awfully bright for a man's eye, with sunglasses indoors like a celebrity avoiding paparazzi.

Now , the three— Noor, Disha and Rohan rolled their eyes at her.

“ Alright, who set my message box on fire —” she yawned and checked her phone “ —at 8 in the freaking morning?”

Noor looked at her in disgust, the scene of Piyush kissing Misha flashed in front of her eyes making her look away from her.

“ Okay, now tell me what happened? It better be important, cause I left my boyfriend in the middle of our make out,” she deribulIy said, making sure that Noor heard her.

Rohan and Disha looked at each other caught off guard, boyfriend and Misha — it was like crime in nature.

Rohan choked on air, while Disha looked at her as if she announced that she is moving to Mars. Noor on the other hand, her jaw clenched, looked everywhere but Misha.

“Misha!” Disha deadpanned, “ i don't think any of us need to know that,”

“ Exactly,” Rohan muttered under his breath, shaking his head, “something's should remain private.”

Misha just smirked, flipping her hair through her shoulders as she made herself comfortable on her desk

“ Well, too bad. Anyways, now tell me what's the earth-crashing crisis happened?”

Noor crossed her arms, shooting Misha a sharp look,

“ Someone tried to crash into our system Last night,”

Silence……

Misha’s smirk faltered, as she leaned on the desk, her well red- manicured nails tapping on the desk, “ define tried?”

Noor let out a breath, crossing her arms,

“ Tried and almost succeed,”

Disha and Rohan stiffened,

Misha straightened, her playful demeanor disappearing into thin air, “ what do you mean almost? How bad was it?”

Noor hesitated, “ very bad that I had to intervene manually,”

Rohan’s hands trembled as he dropped the macbook.

Disha groaned, rubbing her temples “ Noor please tell me you didn't do what i am thinking you did,”

Noor looked down at the carpet, as if it's the most interesting thing now,

Misha narrowed her eyes at her “Noor?”

Noor swallowed, “ okay, so i tried to hack his system but couldn't as he was smart like way too Smart. So I tried to track his IP address, but failed. Then I made a duplicate file and after an hour he got into it and I again tried to track him and got to know his location was here in jodhpur. And then suddenly my macbook shuts down and it doesn't work now.”

The long silence followed,

Disha looked like she was about to throw up,

Rohan? He just stood there, mentally planning his escape.

Misha, however remained unfazed, she slowly took her glasses off, folded them and put them on the table, then her eyes found Noor in a sharp glare, “ so, Noor did you save our upcoming deals and most importantly the Italian deal worth millions?”

Noor blinked,

Then again blinked,

Disha gasped, her hand flying to her mouth,and Rohan he visually paled.

Misha's glare darkened, “ Noor,?!”

Noor let out a nervous chuckle, stepping back, “uhmm… about that…”

Misha took a deep breath, controlling herself

“ tell me you didn't—”

“ I kind of forgot to secure it ….” Noor whispered, barely audible.

Misha stilled, “ you what ?”

Behind her, Disha hold her head, and sat down.

“ YOU. JUST. FORGOT. TO. SAVE . OUR MILLIONS WORTH ITALIAN DEAL??” Misha's voice was eerily calm, the kind of calm before the Storm.

Noor shifted in her feet and looked at Disha and Rohan for help, but they both stepped back. She made a crying face already knowing that this is her last hour on this earth.

Misha while with a blank face, picked up her phone and started to type,

Disha looked at Noor, their eyes met and she motioned

“ You are so dead”

Noor's eyes widened as she looked at Misha

“ What are you doing?”

“ Texting Samar” Misha didn't look up.

Noor paled “ what?!”

Rohan took a step back, and stood on the corner trying to hide himself.

Noor practically lunged before to take misha's phone,

“ no,no,no you can't text Samar! Boss is already going to kill me, don't make it worse!!”

Misha, turned off her phone and smirked at her,

“ Oh, honey you are late he is already on his way,”

Silence….

Dead silence..

Noor's face lost all its colour.

Rohan quickly grabbed his phone “ Siri, how to fake my own death and relocate to another country?”

Disha gave up and mumbled “ it was nice being best friend of you Noor —”

Then,

A ping echoed through the room

Their AI — Elle, pinged its soft chime cut through the suffocating silence.

| Incoming - Ashrit singh Raghuvanshi. Estimated arrival - 3 minutes.

Noor's soul practically left her body.

“ Three minutes?!” She shouted, running here and there, “ that's not enough for me to take my death!!!”

Misha smirked, “ you should have thought about that before forgetting to secure the files”

“ I was tracking that hacker down—”

Elle interpret again,

| Ashrit singh Raghuvanshi, Estimated arrival 1 minute.

Rohan let out a breath “ Noor. Run. Now”

Noor nodded, turned her heel, ready to bolt out —when Misha pulled her leg out , making a trip on it and about to fall — but before she could touch the ground, two strong hands, warm, firm, strangely comfortable wrapped around her arm, caught her in time.

And everyone in the room fell silent.

𐙚˙⋆.˚ ᡣ𐭩