CHAPTER 11 ! VAANI?
Ayaan took the phone from Vivaan with the absolute confidence of someone who had clearly inherited Aryav Rai Shinghania's complete, genetic disregard for fear.
He pressed the device firmly against his small ear while Vaani leaned sideways shamelessly, her crooked ponytails bouncing as she tried to eavesdrop on the call.
"Dad," Ayaan's voice immediately became more serious.
Silence crackled briefly through the line.
"No, I'm fine." Ayaan shifted his weight, his small brow furrowing. "Mama wants to take me with her for some time. She came to pick me up herself."
Another pause stretched over the network.
Then, Ayaan's small face turned deeply, profoundly offended.
"You trust Vivaan uncle more than me? That's hurtful."
Vaani burst into loud, unrefined laughter beside him.
Aadhira pressed her lips together violently, coughing into her hand to stop herself from joining the six-year-old.
Ayaan turned slightly away from the group, lowering his voice with immense, bureaucratic seriousness. "Yes, I behave today."
A beat.
"No, I did not insult my teacher today."
Another pause.
"That was only one time, Dad. It was an objective critique of her syllabus."
Vivaan slowly rubbed a hand over his face, his jaw tight.
Finally, Ayaan nodded once, accepting the terms of the negotiation. "Fine. Okay."
He pulled the device away and held it back toward Vivaan with the thoroughly exhausted expression of a senior corporate executive leaving a grueling board meeting. "He said yes."
Vivaan took the encrypted phone back slowly, his sharp eyes narrowing. "I assumed as much."
"Barely," Vaani muttered under her breath, kicking a stray pebble on the pavement.
Before anyone could make a move toward the vehicles, Vaani suddenly looked between Aadhira and her father, her massive dark eyes narrowing thoughtfully as she calculated her odds.
"Can I also go with Ayaan and aunty?"
Aadhira blinked, her internal alarms going off.
She immediately pointed a manicured finger at her own chest. "...Aunty?"
Vaani looked instantly horrified by her own tactical error. "No! Not aunty-aunty," she corrected quickly, pointing back at Aadhira with complete, deadpan seriousness. "Pretty didi."
Aadhira melted instantly.
"See? This child has manners."
Ayaan looked disgusted. "This is manipulation."
Vaani informed him proudly, chin tilted up, "it's working perfectly."
Vivaan stared down at his daughter for a long, silent moment, his expression dripping with dry danger. "You met her exactly thirty seconds ago."
Vaani replied with wisdom,
"She's nicer than you."
Vivaan looked down at her. " I literally pay for your existence."
"Fearfully."
Aadhira laughed softly before looking toward Vivaan with a cooperative expression.
"Only if it's completely okay with you, Vivaan bhai. She's welcome to join us."
Vivaan didn't answer immediately.
His eyes shifted toward the pink scooty.
Then at the two children. Then back at the scooty.
"No," he said immediately.
Aadhira looked deeply offended.
"Excuse me?"
"I'm not putting two children on that death machine." Vivaan stated, his voice a flat, unyielding baritone.
"Laila has feelings."
Aadhira defended, slapping the handlebar.
"Laila needs insurance."
" Bhai please..."
Vivaan looked at the faded pink scooty in complete, deadpan silence. Right on cue, one of the orange indicator lights flickered weakly twice, buzzed, and died completely.
Vivaan looked back up at her, his face a carved block of stone. "No."
"That is incredibly rude, Vivaan bhai."
"I don't care."
But before the enforcer could physically intervene, Vaani had already scrambled past him, climbing onto the scooty seat behind Aadhira with practiced agility.
"I'm going."
"A literal traitor in my own bloodline," he murmured.
Ayaan climbed on behind her without hesitation, like the scooty was bulletproof.
Vivaan looked at the scene in silence.
Aadhira.
Two children.
One pink scooty.
"This," Vivaan said flatly, his voice laced with dark, sharp sarcasm, "is precisely how I lose my job security."
Aadhira grinned beneath her pink helmet, revving the engine, which let out a deeply concerning, wheezing cough.
"Relax, Vivaan bhai. We'll survive the trip."
"You absolutely have to," Vivaan countered, his tone dropping into something deadly serious yet grimly amused.
"That scooty currently carries the Shinghania heir and my problem. I'd like them alive."
"I'll drive carefully. I promise."
"Aadhira," Vivaan said, his expression completely deadpan, "the fact that you actually believe that statement is the root of the entire problem."
Vaani waved her small hand dramatically as the vehicle balanced. "Bye, Dad! Don't be boring!"
Vivaan stepped aside reluctantly as the scooty started up with a sound that resembled a lawnmower choking on gravel.
He watched in absolute, watchful silence as the three of them wobbled and then disappeared straight into the chaotic flow of Mumbai traffic.
Once they were out of sight, he pulled out his phone with a slow, deliberate movement.
He hit speed dial, pressing the device to his ear.
After a long pause, he spoke directly into the line. "Boss."
A beat passed as Aryav's deep voice responded from the other end.
"Yes, they just left the school perimeter."
Another pause stretched.
Vivaan stared down at the empty patch of curb where the pink scooty had just been idling, recalling the slight wobble it had made around a massive municipal pothole.
Vivaan exhaled a slow, heavy breath through his nose, his eyes darkening with the grim, sarcastic reality of the situation.
"Boss... you should be worried." Vivaan said grimly into the phone.
"your son just left with Aadhira on that scooty." Pause. "I suggest prayer."
By the time Aadhira's pink scooty rolled through the massive iron gates of the Agrawal mansion, evening sky had already begun sinking into dusky shades of deep silver and fading violet.
The security guards opened the heavy gates automatically the exact second they spotted her approaching.
Mostly because nobody in the entire mansion staff had fully recovered from the scandalous reality that Aryav Rai Shinghania's only son and heir had voluntarily left school on the back of that exact plastic scooty.
The vehicle stopped dramatically near the front marble steps with one final, deeply protesting cough from the engine before dying entirely.
Vaani climbed off first with the untamed energy of an escaped prisoner tasting freedom. "This was absolutely AMAZING!"
Ayaan stepped down from the seat far more carefully, smoothing his tiny school blazer with quiet, innate dignity.
"The left side mirror vibrates aggressively when you hit 30 kilometers per hour, Mama."
Aadhira removed her pink helmet, looking down at him with deep offense.
"Laila is highly sensitive to criticism, Ayaan."
"She's sensitive to existence," Ayaan replied flatly.
Vaani gasped suddenly, her massive dark eyes widening as she spun around to look at the towering structure of the Agrawal mansion.
"You live HERE?"
Aadhira blinked, surprised. "Yes?"
"This is better than Disney land," Vaani
declared with supreme authority.
Ayaan nodded solemnly beside her, crossing his small arms. "Drama queen."
Aadhira laughed softly, shaking her head before taking both of their small hands and leading them through the grand double doors.
The moment they crossed the threshold, the mansion staff immediately froze in their tracks. Two children. One fiercely guarded Shinghania heir.
One tiny, unknown hurricane with crooked ponytails.
And Aadhira walking peacefully right in the dead center of it all.
It looked like absolute, beautiful danger.
Inside, Aadhira made them sit properly at the sprawling mahogany dining table while the kitchen staff hurried out with fresh, cold juice and warm snacks.
"No running in the hallways," she warned immediately, pointing a finger at them.
Vaani nodded aggressively.
Then, the exact millisecond Aadhira turned her back, the little girl attempted to slide three feet across the polished marble floor in her uniform socks.
"VAANI."
Vaani stopped instantly, looking up with total innocence. "I was merely testing the coefficient of friction."
Ayaan looked thoroughly exhausted already, resting his chin in his hand.
Aadhira placed the warm food onto their plates before sitting right beside them, automatically breaking the snacks into smaller, perfect pieces for Ayaan out of pure, maternal habit.
Aadhira automatically tore Vaani's snack into smaller pieces too, sliding the plate closer to her without even thinking about it.
Vaani blinked, visibly startled by the gesture.
Then she grinned.
Ayaan noticed immediately.
His small expression shifted almost imperceptibly, his brows pulling together into a tiny, dangerous imitation of Aryav's coldest glare.
Possessiveness.
Silent.
Instant.
Absolute.
Vaani noticed too.
"Oh my God," she whispered dramatically, pointing at him. "He's jealous."
"I am not."
"You are."
"I don't like you."
"Neither do I," Vaani admitted. "But you still we are friends."
Aadhira finally looked between them, immediately understanding everything.
Her expression softened.
Without a word, she leaned sideways and kissed Ayaan's forehead before placing another snack piece onto Vaani's plate too.
Balance restored.
Temporarily.
After making absolutely sure that both children actually ate their food instead of emotionally negotiating with the vegetables on their plates, Aadhira finally stood up and clapped her hands once softly.
"Okay. New rule for the afternoon." Both children looked up at her instantly. "You two go upstairs to my bedroom and play quietly. While you're up there, I'll make a batch of fresh cupcakes for both of you."
Vaani gasped as if she'd just been offered supreme constitutional power over the country. "Cupcakes?!"
"Yes."
"With actual frosting?"
"Yes."
"With extra chocolate chips?"