As soon as Sneha had opened the door of the car, Priya came towards her quickly and gave her shelter under the heavy downpour.

"Why didn't you give the umbrella to him?" Sneha whispered in a strict tone to her.

"Why should I?" Priya answered in the same tone.

Sneha could only glare at her younger sister.

Sneha looked at Viraj apologetically as she held the bags in her hand.

"I am...sorry...for..." She said slowly, while not really knowing what to say. He was really soaked in water.

"It's alright. Go home." He said as he walked towards his side of the car.

Sneha nodded and pulled Priya along with her.

When they had entered the colony gate, Viraj entered his car to drive back to his house.

"You should have given him your umbrella, Priya!" Sneha full-on tried to knock some sense in her little sister's head.

"Why should I? He broke the cycle that I had bought for you! He is the last person who deserves my sympathy." Priya reasoned.

"He was outside because of me. I had to change my dress or papa would have killed me! The least we could have done was to not let him get wet."

"I guess, we are even then." Priya chuckled. Sneha could only roll her eyes.

.

.

.

"Get the car cleaned." Viraj asked one of his employees as he reached back home.

"Yes, sir."

As soon as he entered the main hall, he saw Gaurav sitting on the sofa, waiting for him. And, on seeing him, he remembered the order he gave him not so long ago.

"Damn it! Gaurav, ask your men immediately to not proceed with what I had asked you to do." He said instantly as he walked near him.

Gaurav smiled when he heard Viraj.

"I didn't proceed with what you had asked me to do." Gaurav replied.

Viraj narrowed his brows as he sat in front of Gaurav slowly.

"You didn't?" Viraj asked.

"Yes. I knew you were angry and I wondered why you wanted to destroy an innocent girl's home. So, I decided to talk to you about it first to know your reasons and then take extreme steps." He replied.

"I wonder if I should get angry at you for not following my orders." Viraj chuckled.

"Why did you ask me to do that?" Gaurav asked.

Viraj took a deep breath before replying.

"Things happened and I was angry at that moment. I forgot to tell you in time." He replied.

"You forgot?" Gaurav exclaimed with a raised brow.

"I was...distracted." Viraj admitted and realized that he indeed was distracted the whole time he was with her. He didn't even think about anything else.

Strange! He thought.

"I wonder what made you distracted? Is it Sneha? You were having lunch with a girl! Is she Sneha?" Gaurav asked finally when he connected the strings.

Viraj merely stared at his friend, while not having the courage to admit that a woman distracted his attention.

"Oh my God!" Gaurav laughed at his expression.

"What? I just wanted to thank her." Viraj defended himself.

"You don't need to take her to lunch to thank her! A simple 'thank you' would have sufficed." He answered in a chuckle.

"Well, I have my ways." Viraj replied.

"I can't believe this! You should have told me that you were taking Sneha for lunch. I thought you were taking someone from our business background."

"What's the difference?" Viraj asked.

"There's a huge difference. She is from an entirely different world than us! She would have preferred a typical north-Indian cuisine instead of a plain salad for lunch."

"It was not a plain salad. That thing cost me..."

"For her...it was a plain salad."

Viraj glared at his friend.

"She'd be laughing at you for treating her with a salad." Gaurav chuckled again, igniting his ego more.

"She wouldn't dare to laugh at me."

"Well, you did take things the wrong way. If I am laughing at you, so would she."

Viraj sighed.

"This is why, I tell you to give me the complete details when you ask for my advice." Gaurav added.

Viraj ignored him.

"Bhai, you came back home?" Ananya walked down the stairs.

"I am here, right?" Viraj snapped in frustration while Gaurav only chuckled further.

"Why are you wet?" She asked, while ignoring the sarcastic comment.

"It's raining outside, Ananya. What kind of question is that?" He scolded her.

"Why are you upset? Did the lunch not go well with Sneha?" She asked as she realized his irritation.

"He made her eat plain salad." Gaurav replied before he can which earned him another glare.

"You did not!" Ananya gasped.

"I don't understand what is wrong with salad! We have it all the time." Viraj spoke in his defence.

"Yeah, bhai, but that's a side-dish and not a main-course! Plus, she is not even dieting. God, how will I face her tomorrow!" Ananya sighed as she sat on one of the seats.

"You both are taking this thing too seriously. She liked the food and she told me this herself."

"Of course, she would! She is just too polite to hurt someone's feelings." Ananya spoke.

"Or she feared you would take her out again if she told you that she hated what you presented before her." Gaurav chuckled again.

Viraj glared at his friend, again.

"Gaurav, instead of Manish, you will handle the deals with SNP. And, I need the task done in three days." Viraj replied and Gaurav's smile fell.

"Viraj, is...is this because I made fun of you?"

"Yes."

"Come on, Viraj! You know I am going to take my girlfriend out for three days. She barely gets free time out of her busy schedule. Don't ruin my day!" Gaurav whined.

"You should have thought about it before laughing at me." Viraj added arrogantly and stood up to leave.

"What's wrong with him, now?" Ananya asked Gaurav as she stared at her brother who slammed his room's door shut.

"I guess he is upset that Sneha would be laughing at him now." Gaurav answered with a sigh.

"His ego will be his downfall someday." Ananya mumbled as she stared at the table in front of them.

"Or, maybe he is upset that Sneha would be laughing at him now." Gaurav corrected himself while stressing Sneha's name.

"What do you mean?"

Gaurav only shrugged in response as he stood to leave.

Ananya only looked at her brother's room, unable to understand the reason for Viraj's new anger.

She knew Viraj was too patriarchal and egoistic for his own good. And, caring for a woman's feelings was what he was not taught since childhood.

So, what's making him so edgy! She wondered.

.

.

.

"Priya, open the door." Sneha called for his sister from the kitchen as she washed the numerous dishes after her relatives left for their home.

"Going!" Priya replied back as she ran towards the door.

Sneha knew it was her parents who were back after seeing the relatives out and maybe a little tour of the streets.

Priya opened the door to let her parents in. But, as soon as she had opened it, she closed it again. She ran in her sister's direction.

"Di!" She shouted in fear.

"What?" Sneha asked.

"He is here."

"Who?"

"The cycle breaker." Priya answered as she pointed towards the main door.

The dish fell from her hands as she heard Priya.

"What? Why... is he here?" Sneha asked.

"How would I know? Is it because I didn't give him the umbrella?" Priya asked.

The bell rang again making both girls take a step back.

"Papa and mummy are not home. We shouldn't open the door, right?" Priya asked.

Sneha hated moments like this. She was the elder one and thus, she had to take a step forward. She had to be the mature one here...because she was the eldest.

"Go to our room and lock it from inside. I'll talk to him." She said while trying to sound brave.

"No! Papa is not home. I can't leave you alone with him!" Priya interjected.

Sneha sighed.

"Trust me, Priya. Please go in. I don't want him to hurt you." Sneha stressed as she wiped her hands with a towel.

"What if he hurts you?"

Sneha had had enough. She gave a strict look at her sister and Priya ran back to their room.

Sneha walked towards the main door and gulped before opening it.

There indeed stood Viraj along with two of his men in suits. The mere image scared her.

I did not do anything wrong in the restaurant, right? She thought.

"Sneha." Viraj greeted in his usual cold tone.

"Uhh...Hi?" She greeted back as she looked at him, then to his men and then finally towards the streets from where her parents were fast approaching.

He took out a black device that she soon confirmed as the mobile phone.

"Here. The exact model that my men broke." He explained himself.

Sneha hesitated as her eyes fell on her father who was looking at them in confusion.

"What's going on here?" Sneha's father, Shankar interrupted when he entered the hearing range.

"Papa..." Sneha tried to explain the situation when Viraj interrupted her.

"Mr Bohra, your daughter helped my sister once and I am sure you are aware of it. Unfortunately, my men broke her phone and cycle. I'd like to compensate for them." Viraj spoke professionally.

"You are...?" Sneha's father asked.

Sneha realized that her father had not really seen Viraj. He had only heard of his name just like her when she had entered Maitri Elite college.

Viraj raised his brows in surprise.

"Papa...he is Viraj...Viraj Khatri." Sneha answered.

"Oh!" Shankar nodded slowly.

"Come in, please." Shankar said politely and Sneha stared at her father with wide eyes.

"Perhaps, next time, Mr Bohra. I have to go somewhere now." Viraj said to which Sneha sighed in relief.

"Oh, okay, then." Shankar smiled.

Viraj took it as his cue to speak. He turned towards Sneha again and forwarded the phone again.

Sneha looked at her father as if asking for permission. Her father nodded and she took it hesitantly. After she took the phone, he pointed towards the wrapped up item that was placed carefully on the concrete.

"And, that is the exact model of the cycle that we broke." He explained and only she knew, why he was stressing on 'exact model'. Was he trying to tease her, she wondered.

She looked at her right to look at the wrapped cycle.

"Th.thank you." She said while looking at him and then focused her gaze on everything except him.

"I shall go then." Viraj announced and took a step back. He nodded towards her parents and left as arrogantly as he had come.

They waited for him to enter the backseat of his car and leave the premises.

"Let's go in." Shankar ushered his family inside.

"Why did you invite him in?" Sneha asked her father as soon as she closed the door.

Her father sighed before replying.

"Because it is polite, Sneha." Her father answered.

"And, why did you let me take the phone and cycle?" She asked again. If anything, she knew how self-righteous her father was.

"Because he broke yours." He answered.

"There is some other reason. Right, papa?" Sneha asked again.

This time, Shankar sighed and replied.

"I have heard enough about him. He hates being insulted or challenged. So, I had to make sure to not let him feel that we are...disrespecting him in any manner."

"Are you scared of him?" She asked.

Her father took a step towards her and cupped her face.

"I am scared of him hurting my daughters. I can't enrage him just so that he would take out the revenge on you or Priya. Sometimes, we should let our ego aside for our family's sake, right?" Shankar explained himself.

Even though Sneha disagreed partially with her father, she nodded nonetheless.

"So now you love her more than me?" Came Priya's childish voice when she saw her father lovingly caress Sneha's head.

Sneha only rolled her eyes while their father smiled.

"Last time I checked, he is my father too." Sneha chuckled as she took a step back and make room for Priya who almost jumped on their father.

"Why was he here?" Priya asked finally.

"To give me this phone and a cycle." Sneha answered.

"Where's the cycle?" She asked.

"Outside."

"How is it?" Priya asked.

"I don't know. I didn't see it. It's wrapped." Sneha replied.

"Well, I am going to see it. Can I open it?" She asked Sneha.

Sneha only shrugged and Priya ran outside to open it.

.

.

.

"Papa?" Sneha entered her parent's room after supper.

"Yes, Sneha?" Shankar asked as he wore his glasses again.

"I wanted to talk to you about something." She sat beside him and looked at her mother too.

They both waited for her to speak.

"There's this project that I have to do with a partner. My professor paired me with Ananya, who is Viraj's sister. So, either I go to her home or she'd have to come to our home to do the project." Sneha started explaining.

"Ask her to come to our home." Her mother said.

"Her brother is against it. He doesn't want his sister to go to anyone's home." She answered.

"You can't go to their home, as well!" Her mother interjected.

"I know, mummy! I asked her to do the project at the college itself, but her brother denied it as well. What should I do? She insists that I come to her home for the project." She answered.

Her father thought for a while before answering.

"How long will you have to be at their home for the project?" He asked.

"Six days will be enough if we work 2-3 hours per day after college hours."

Shankar nodded before replying.

"Okay, then. You can go there but I will pick you up every day from their house. And, you must tell me if anyone mistreats you there. Okay?" He concluded.

"Yes, papa. Thank you." Sneha smiled and stood up to leave.

As soon as she reached her room, her sister have a questioning look.

"What?" Sneha asked as she opened the closet to pick out clothes for tomorrow.

"Mr Cycle Breaker is texting you." Priya answered.

"What?" Sneha asked and looked at the phone in Priya's hand.

"Doesn't he have any work other than texting you?" Priya sighed as she threw the phone in her direction on the bed.

Sneha ignored her sister's comment and took the phone in her grasp. She realized that he had taken the liberty of inserting a new sim card and even had the audacity to save his contact number in it.

Is he insane? She wondered as she opened the message box.

'I hope the cycle is working fine.' He had texted five minutes ago.

The phone almost fell from her hand when it started ringing. She stared at it with wide eyes when she saw his name flashing on it.

"I think he really has no other work." She said while looking at her sister.

"Is it him?" Priya asked and she nodded.

"Answer and knock some sense in him. He can't just call a girl at night. You are not his sister." Priya replied in irritation.

"Or, not answer at all." Sneha told mostly to herself. She didn't want to hear his cold and arrogant voice again.

She thanked all Gods when he didn't call or text her any further. Thinking that the storm was over, she kept the phone aside and called it a day.

She was however unaware of the effect of her ignorance on him! He was not a man to let the ignorance slide without interrogation.