41. THE LOSS
CONTINUE :
Vivan walked into his cabin with his usual confidence, coffee in one hand, files in the other. He opened his laptop casually-only for his expression to freeze mid-sip.
The numbers on the screen glared back at him like a slap.
Singhania Industries : Rank 8.
From Rank 1.
His breath hitched. "What the-"
He refreshed the page once. Twice. A third time.
No change.
Before the shock could settle, his secretary burst in, panting as if he had run the entire building. "S-Sir... may I come in?"
Vivan didn't look up. "Enter."
The secretary stepped forward, voice trembling. "Sir... we've suffered a major financial loss. The audit team checked everything. Files... confidential data... it's been leaking for years."
Vivan's jaw tightened. "Years?"
"Yes, sir." He swallowed hard. "And according to the market analysis-"
He didn't get to finish.
Vivan pushed back his chair and strode out of the cabin with a speed that startled everyone. The secretary rushed behind him, followed by four other senior employees trying to keep up.
In the corridor, he crossed paths with Aarvi and Tanvi. His eyes met Aarvi's for a split second-raw, stressed, stormy.
Then he looked away and walked past her without a word.
But Aarvi had seen it.
The tension behind his eyes. The silent panic he was trying to hide.
Before Tanvi could drag her away, Aarvi gently stopped one of the employees in the group.
"Excuse me... kya hua? Are you all okay?"
The man hesitated, then said quietly, "Ma'am, company ko... kaafi bada loss ho gaya hai. Confidential files leak ho rahi thi for years."
Aarvi's heart dropped. "Files... leak?"
He nodded and hurried away to catch up with Vivan.
As soon as he was gone, Tanvi flicked Aarvi's shoulder. "Leave it, yaar. Badi badi companies mein chote chote losses hote rehte hain."
She grinned and nudged her again. "Waise bhi, tum yeh sab sir se privately pooch sakti ho, afterall he is your husband?"
Aarvi managed a small smile at her teasing, but her mind was nowhere near the joke.
Her thoughts were stuck on Vivan...
on the stiffness in his shoulders...
on the fear swimming behind his eyes.
Something was wrong.
Terribly wrong.
Aarvi's worry only grew as she watched Vivan disappear around the corner with his team.
Tanvi was still teasing her about him being her husband, but Aarvi couldn't ignore the tight knot forming in her chest.
"I'll be back in a minute," she told Tanvi, stepping aside to a quiet hallway.
She dialed Yuvan, her hands trembling slightly.
He picked up instantly. "Aarvi?"
She took a shaky breath. "Actually, I need to tell you something."
She explained everything-Vivan's tension, the sudden loss, the leaked files, the chaos in the office.
There was silence on the other end until Aarvi asked, "Yuvan... do you know where Kiara is right now?"
"Of course," Yuvan replied casually. "She's in the US. That's why she didn't come for his birthday."
But Aarvi's instincts didn't settle.
"Can you please... just cross-check? For my satisfaction? Maybe ask that intern or heir who works in her dad's company?"
"Aarvi, she's in the U-"
"Please, Yuvan. Just once."
He sighed. "Fine, give me a minute."
A few seconds later, Aarvi heard him asking someone in the background-
the man he hired from Mehra Exports.
Then a pause.
A long pause.
Yuvan's tone changed completely. "Aarvi..."
Her heart skipped. "Kya hua?"
"She's not in the US," he said slowly. "He just told me Kiara is in Mumbai."
Aarvi froze. "Mumbai?"
Both of them went silent, shock crawling through their veins.
"let me call Vivan" Yuvan said and ended the call.
Meanwhile, in the main lobby, Vivan was striding forward, mind crowded with numbers, losses, and unanswered questions-
when a ringtone echoed sharply.
Yuvan.
Without thinking, he picked up. "Yuvan, yo-"
But Yuvan's voice cut him off, urgent and breathless.
"Vivan, I know everything."
Vivan stopped dead in the middle of the lobby.
His brows furrowed. "How do you know?"
"Who doesn't know by now?" Yuvan replied, voice strained.
Vivan's grip tightened around his phone.
A cold feeling spread through his chest.
If Yuvan already knew...
then the news must have reached-
"Papa..."
The thought hit him like a punch.
If his father had heard about the ranking drop and the file leaks...
How would he react?
Vivan's throat dried.
For the first time in years, genuine fear flickered across his face.
When Yuvan's voice came again-low, hesitant, almost afraid of his own words.
"Maybe... I know who leaked the information."
Vivan's head jerked up. "Who?"
Silence stretched for a moment.
"Vivan," Yuvan said carefully, "if you think with your mind, not your heart... you'll understand."
"Yuvan," Vivan warned, voice already cracking with anger, "just say the damn name."
A heavy sigh echoed from the other end.
"Kiara."
The world around Vivan went quiet.
Just a ringing silence swallowing everything whole.
"Try to understand, Viva-" Yuvan began.
"How are you so sure?" Vivan cut him sharply, but this time... the anger wasn't roaring.
It was trembling.
Yuvan's face brightened slightly-finally, Vivan wasn't blocking him out. "Check the rankings again."
Vivan's fingers moved mechanically as he refreshed the screen.
The list appeared.
His eyes landed straight on it.
Mehra Exports - Rank 3.
Kiara's father's company.
His chest tightened, breath hitching. His vision blurred at the edges as disbelief struck him harder than any loss figure.
He put the phone back to his ear slowly.
He could barely recognize his own voice when he spoke. "I... checked."
Yuvan asked softly. "Did you see it?"
A broken hum escaped him.
He couldn't look away from the screen.
He didn't want to believe it.
But there it was.
Yuvan waited for Vivan to steady his breathing before speaking again.
"Vivan... there's something else you should know."
His voice dropped, cautious, almost apologetic.
"Kiara is not in the US."
Vivan's brows furrowed, confusion flickering across his face.
"What do you mean?"
"She's in Mumbai," Yuvan said slowly, each word falling like a stone in water. "She's been there for a while."
For a moment, Vivan didn't react.
He just stood there.
Phone pressed to his ear.
Eyes fixed on a point far away.
A beat of silence.
Another.
Then Vivan finally moved.
He turned sharply toward his secretary. "Prepare the jet."
The secretary blinked. "Sir?"
"We're heading to Mumbai," Vivan said, already walking with long, furious strides.
Yuvan's voice crackled through the phone again. "Vivan-listen-"
But Vivan didn't give him time.
"And you," he said into the phone, tone leaving no space for argument, "are also coming with me."
There was no anger in his voice now.
Just cold determination.
The kind that came when a man's trust was shaken...
and he needed the truth-immediately.
Vivan arrived at the hangar first, the anger in his veins now cold instead of hot.
A private jet waited, engines humming softly, ready to take off at a moment's command.
He walked up the stairs stiffly, every muscle tight, every thought circling the same name.
Kiara.
Minutes later, Yuvan arrived.
He climbed the jet steps with the same commanding stride, the same calm sharpness in his eyes.
He didn't ask for permission.
He just took the seat opposite Vivan-equal, steady, respected.
Both men reflected the same storm in different ways.
Vivan's anger was silent, simmering in his eyes.
Yuvan's was sharper, calculating, controlled.
"Jet's ready to take off, sir," the pilot announced.
Vivan nodded once.
Yuvan didn't look away from him. "The managers are tracing her through other routes. They'll update us soon."
Vivan's fist tightened against his knee. "Good."
The jet doors sealed.
The engines roared louder.
As they lifted off the ground, speeding toward Mumbai.
The moment Kiara's location came through, Vivan's expression didn't change-
but something inside him snapped into focus.
The jet landed.
Cars were waiting.
And within minutes, he and Yuvan were standing outside a grand private venue in Mumbai.
Laughter, music, and clinking glasses echoed from inside-
a celebration.
Vivan moved forward, but the security guard blocked him.
"Sir, invitation?"
"I'm Kiara's friend," Vivan said sharply, pulling up a picture of the two of them from his phone.
The guard looked at the photo, recognized her instantly, and stepped aside.
"Go ahead, sir."
Vivan entered.
His footsteps slowed.
Because the first thing he saw was Kiara-
laughing...
glowing...
sitting comfortably beside a man he had never seen before.
Her parents sat on the other side, smiling proudly.
And then-
"Finally, our company is ranking 3," Kiara's father announced loudly, raising his glass.
A cheer rose across the room.
Kiara lifted her drink next, eyes gleaming.
"And soon it will be 1st, Dad!"
Another cheer.
The man beside her leaned in, smirking.
"And after that, Uncle," he said, "you'll have to marry her to me."
The room burst into laughter.
But in the doorway-
Vivan stopped breathing.
The words hit him like a punch.
His vision tunneled.
The celebration noise blurred, fading into a sharp ringing in his ears.
And before Yuvan could stop him-
before he could think-
Vivan strode forward, grabbed the man by his collar, and dragged him to his feet.
The entire party went silent.
Kiara's smile vanished.
Her parents froze.
The man stumbled, choking on surprise.
"Vivan-?!" Kiara's voice cracked.
But Vivan wasn't listening.
His grip tightened, jaw clenched, eyes burning with betrayal he was no longer able to hide.
"You want to marry her?" he hissed, voice low and deadly.
"You think you can play games with my company and then sit here celebrating it?"
The man stuttered, "Wh-What are you talking about-"
Vivan's fist twisted in his collar again.
"Don't act smart with me."
Yuvan finally caught up, placing a hand on Vivan's shoulder. "Vivan-stop. Not here."
But Vivan didn't let go.
Not yet.
Because he had heard everything-
every laugh, every cheer, every word that shattered the last piece of trust he had left.
Kiara stood frozen, her face pale.
And suddenly, like a switch flipping, she rushed to him-eyes wide, lips trembling, voice cracking with forced fear.
"Oh my God, thank God you came," she said quickly, grabbing his hand with both of hers. "Otherwise the... they were-"
"STOP IT!" he roared.
Everyone flinched-
Kiara, the man, her parents, the entire hall,
even Yuvan, who had seen Vivan angry before... but never like this.
Kiara's knees almost buckled.
She swallowed hard, stepping back, voice barely a whisper.
"Vi...van..."
She knew this tone.
This look.
This storm.
No one could control him when he reached this point.
Suddenly, Vivan grabbed her by both arms and pulled her close.
His grip wasn't gentle, and his eyes-
burned.
"Am I a fool to you?" he growled, each word heavy enough to crush the air between them.
Kiara's breath trembled. "Vivan... please listen-"
Her father stepped forward, protective instinct rising.
But Vivan's head snapped toward him instantly.
"Dare to take one more step-" he warned, voice shaking with rage,
"and I will burn your entire empire to the fvcking ground."
Silence.
Kiara's father stopped immediately.
Because he knew-
Vivan wasn't bluffing.
Not right now.
Not in this state.
Kiara stood frozen in his grip, tears threatening to spill-not from guilt, not from innocence, but from fear.
And as Vivan stared into her eyes, betrayal swirling in his-
"Why did you do this?" Vivan asked, voice eerily calm now, but his eyes-sharp, cold, burning-never blinked away from Kiara's face.
"I-I didn't d-do-" she stuttered, shaking so badly her knees nearly buckled.
"Don't. Test. My. Patience... Kiara."
He didn't raise his voice, but each word fell like a hammer.
And she understood. If she lied one more time... there would be no saving anything.
Her throat closed. Tears spilled automatically as she squeezed her eyes shut.
"I-I am telling..." she whispered, trembling so hard her voice cracked.
But the moment she opened her mouth, her father suddenly stepped forward and barked, "You can't!"
He'd forgotten Vivan's warning.
Big mistake.
Vivan's eyes sliced to him instantly.
Before Kiara's father could blink, Yuvan pulled out a gun, cocking it cleanly and pointing it straight at the man's chest.
He froze mid-step.
Gasps.
Chairs scraping.
Instant panic.
But before Yuvan could say anything-
Four of Kiara's father's guards stepped forward, guns raised at Yuvan from every side.
In a second, the tension tripled.
Yuvan didn't flinch.
Not even a blink.
Instead he smiled-
a slow, terrifying, confident smile.
"Put your guns down," one guard barked.
Yuvan tilted his head.
"If even one of you fires," he said casually, "your boss dies first. I promise you that."
Silence.
Kiara's father gulped, sweat forming on his forehead as he felt the cold metal of Yuvan's gun pressed deeper into his chest.
"Tell them," Yuvan said softly, deadly calm.
"Now."
Kiara's father hesitated for one second-one foolish second
And Yuvan pushed the gun harder, making him wince.
Her father's voice cracked, "Guns down! Now!"
His guards looked confused, but slowly-
they lowered their weapons.
Yuvan didn't lower his.
The room went dead silent.
Even Kiara let out a broken gasp, "D-dad... don't," her voice small, panicked.
Vivan didn't even look at the gun.
He didn't need to.
His gaze stayed on Kiara, voice dropping to a deadly whisper-
"Say one more lie... one. And watch everything you he built in the last 25 years burn in front of you."
Her father swallowed hard.
He knew Vivan meant every syllable.
Kiara's lips trembled. She knew there was no escape now.
Her heart thrashed wildly as she whispered, choking on shame and fear-
"V-Vivan... I... I'll tell... everything."