Gayatri Mansion
Rudra was sitting at the dining table, having his lunch. Looking at his expressionless face, no one could tell what was going on in his mind at that moment.
Rudra was thinking that, no matter what, he had to find out the person who had caused such a huge mess and was betraying him. But who could it be that wanted to harm the company?
All the servants were standing silently. No one dared to say a word.
Just then, Anirudh entered and said,
"What, brother? You started eating without me today? Were you that hungry? I thought you wouldn't even have lunch today. You already ate so much since morning."
Hearing Anirudh's words, Rudra came out of his thoughts and looked at him.
"Anirudh, haven't you started talking a bit too much these days? The work I gave you—did you do it or not? Did you find out anything?"
Anirudh deliberately acted dramatic and said,
"About whom, brother? About that girl? I'm investigating her very deeply, but I still haven't found anything. So how can I tell you?"
Hearing Meera's name from Anirudh's mouth, Rudra felt extremely angry, but he didn't say anything. However, Anirudh understood that this was the calm before the storm.
So he came straight to the point and said,
"Yes, brother, you're asking about who made the mistake in that project. The information leak that caused the project to be cancelled—only someone from the family could have leaked it, because no one else could have had so much information. Or this could be the work of someone from the management department. Because no one in the house could leak it, since apart from you, me, and grandfather, no one knew about this information."
Rudra said,
"Yes, it could be someone from the management department. But I don't understand who could do this, because only Mr. Gupta from the management department knew this information. No one else had any knowledge of it. And we cannot doubt him, because he has been working with grandfather since the very beginning of this company."
Anirudh replied,
"Yes, brother, you're right. But apart from him, only the three of us are left—and none of us can do this. So what do we do now?"
Rudra said firmly,
"Other than the four of us, there must be a fifth person who leaked this information. We must find out about him as soon as possible. Otherwise, our company could suffer even greater losses."
Anirudh nodded.
"Okay, brother. I'll look into it."
Saying this, both Anirudh and Rudra left for the office.
SAIING Hospitals
An ambulance arrived and stopped in front of the hospital. A nearly 75-year-old elderly man was brought inside on a stretcher. As soon as he was taken inside, chaos broke out in the hospital. He was rushed to the emergency ward.
Doctor Verma arrived and went straight into the emergency ward. He immediately started the treatment.
Outside, almost all the family members had gathered.
Meanwhile, Rudra and Anirudh also arrived. As soon as they reached there, they asked about the ward and stopped in front of it. Anirudh said to the woman standing there,
"Mom, what happened to Grandpa?"
That woman was none other than Anirudh's mother and Rudra's aunt, Nirmala Pratap—the younger daughter-in-law of the house.
And the man lying inside was none other than Rudra's grandfather, Mr. Pratap, also known as Ajit Singh Pratap—the founder of Pratap Group of Industries. Even today, his dominance in the business world was unmatched. There was hardly any businessperson who didn't know him.
Rudra sat down on the bench nearby. Looking at his expressionless face, no one could tell how big a storm was raging inside him.
Everyone standing there had tears in their eyes. But there were two pairs of eyes that had tears, yet no sorrow—only happiness. They belonged to Kamini and Abhijeet. Kamini was Rudra's stepmother, and Abhijeet was his stepbrother, about six months younger than him.
Rudra's mother, Gayatri, had passed away when Rudra was just eight years old. The house he lived in—Gayatri Mansion—had been gifted to his mother by his grandfather at the time of Rudra's birth.
Barely two weeks after his mother's death, his father brought another woman home as his new "mother," along with a boy of the same age named Abhijeet.
From that day on, Rudra began to hate his father and stepmother. He left Pratap Niwas and started living in Gayatri Mansion.
When Rudra turned twenty, his grandfather appointed him as the CEO of Pratap Group of Industries, ignoring both his sons. After that, Rudra's stepmother and stepbrother started hating him even more, and they began instigating his father against him.
But none of that affected Rudra.
His uncle, Mr. Suresh Pratap, was a well-known director and producer in the Bollywood industry, and his father, Mr. Mahesh Pratap, was a famous lawyer.
After his mother's death, it was his aunt who gave him a mother's love. She had two children, Anirudh and Rishika, yet she loved Rudra even more than her own children.
Rudra's aunt stood up, came to him, and said,
"Rudra, dear, don't take too much tension. Grandpa will be fine. We know how much you love him."
Rudra replied softly,
"Yes, Aunt. I know he'll be fine."
Just then, the door opened and Doctor Verma came out. Everyone surrounded him.
"Don't worry," he said. "Nothing serious has happened. It was just a major heart attack. He is stable now."
Rudra's uncle asked,
"Can we meet him, doctor?"
Doctor Verma replied,
"Not everyone right now. Only one person can go inside."
After thanking the doctor, Rudra's aunt said,
"Rudra, dear, you should go first and meet Grandpa."
His uncle also agreed,
"Yes, Rudra. Your aunt is right. You should go first."
Just then, Menka spoke up,
"No, no. We should meet him first. After all, I'm the elder daughter-in-law of the house—and Rudra's mother."
She said this deliberately to make Rudra feel that she had taken his mother's place. She was afraid that if Rudra met his grandfather first, he might give all his property to him.
Rudra had a lot to say, but he remained seated with his expressionless face. Everyone understood Menka's intention.
Anirudh was furious. He said firmly,
"Brother will go inside first, and only he will meet Grandpa."
The authority in his voice made everyone feel as if Rudra himself was standing there.
Before Menka could say anything, Rudra stood up and went inside the ICU.
As soon as Rudra entered, a tear rolled down his cheek. For the first time since his mother's death, tears had come to his eyes. He loved his grandfather the most, and seeing him surrounded by machines, he couldn't control himself.
Only one word escaped his lips—
"Grandpa…"
His grandfather slowly opened his eyes and smiled when he saw Rudra. He gestured for Rudra to come closer and said,
"Son, in this entire family, I trust only you the most. If anything ever happens to me, don't let this family fall apart."
Rudra stopped him and said,
"Nothing will happen to you, Grandpa. You'll be fine and come home soon."
His grandfather smiled and replied,
"Yes, I know. You love me so much that I don't even have the courage to leave you."
They talked for some time, and then Rudra came out of the ICU.
That day, thousands of storms rose and settled in his heart.
Around 7:00 PM, Rudra's grandfather was shifted from the ICU to a normal ward. Everyone went to meet him.
Tears filled their eyes, but smiles returned to their faces.
Seeing everyone emotional, Anirudh joked,
"What are you all doing? Nothing can happen to Grandpa. He's a long-distance runner."
Everyone laughed at his words.
After some time, they all came out of the room.
Leaving Rudra and Anirudh at the hospital, everyone went home. Since no one had eaten or drunk anything since morning, Rudra and Anirudh insisted that everyone go home.
What will happen next?
Will Rudra be able to find the one who leaked the information?
To be continued…