"That's quicker than I imagined," Aditya teased when he saw Jatin coming back while straightening his clothes while that young girl also returned to her friends looking a little flustered. A slight blush could be seen on her cheeks while she took side glances at Jatin from time to time.

"I stopped it midway when I remembered that I might not meet you again for some time so I did not do the main deed, you know me, 'bros before hoes'" Jatin took a seat beside Aditya and grabbed a soft drink.

"Why do I feel that it was she who did not allow you to go any further?" Aditya squinted his eyes as he said. His 'Sensifull' was activated now so he could easily tell that Jatin was lying.

"Aditya, you have become more intelligent working in the garage. Before, you were not able to catch my lies." Jatin grinned as he lightly knocked Aditya's head, "she wants to date for a few days before taking the next step. She said something about 'delayed gratification', gosh, girls are becoming so complicated these days."

"As if you are simple," Aditya rolled his eyes and turned towards the entrance just in time to see two beautiful girls enter elegantly. His eye rested on the girl who was pretty tall for her age with lily-white complexion. Her brunette hair reaching her waist was long, straight and layered, it swayed gracefully as she walked.

She was a blooming rose with big attractive eyes and thick juicy lips. Her deep, dark honey coloured pupils glittered with intellect and pride. She had this aloof aura around her which was quite different from Taarini's cold aura or Hamsa's gentle aura. She was Anupama, the only girl who Aditya had fallen in love. He had dreamt of their future together for almost a year and tried to make it a reality. That was also the time when he stopped contacting Kumari and Sameera even on the social network.

Anupama looked really gorgeous today, she wore a midi length peach-coloured fit and flare woven dress. Her dainty and soft hand could be seen partially covered by the flared long sleeves filled with lace detail. A pair of gold and sea-green drop earrings dangled from her pinkish, fragile looking ear pinnae. Kavya was also beautiful as she wore a black printed A-line dress.

Aditya went into a daze when he saw Anupama after many days but quickly recovered as he smiled and stood along with Bhadra for welcoming them. Jatin ignored them as he chatted with a new girl he befriended in his mobile. Anupama and Kavya spotted Aditya as well as Bhadra and walked towards them. There was a slight shock in Anupama's eyes when she saw Aditya, he looked a lot different than she remembered from a few weeks back.

His eyes were bright and his demeanour was no longer that of a teenager. She felt like Aditya had become more mature and candid. There was a new kind of charm emanating from him which she had not perceived before as he stood beside Bhadra. Before, Aditya did not appear too striking when he hanged around with Bhadra and Jatin. He neither had the physique of Bhadra nor the pale complexion of Jatin but today Anupama could feel that Aditya has become the most eye-catching figure among the three. The change was not in the visible portion as he looked pretty much the same but it was in one's feeling.

"It's been a while, Adi, how have you been? You seem to have changed so much." Kavya exclaimed in surprise when she saw Aditya.

"I have been good, you have become more pretty, Kavya," Aditya smiled and nodded slightly as he turned to look at Anupama," Hi Anupama, how are things going?"

Anupama nodded slightly as she turned to Bhadra and said, "When is the program going to start? My father has already directly gone to the business conference. He said that most of the other people also directly skipped this party as it would not be good for the press to find out that these elites have attended the birthday of chief minister's son. The opposition party could make this into a controversial issue. So, I guess it's mostly going to be people around our age."

Aditya frowned slightly when he saw Anupama ignoring him but did not say anything as he sat down. It was not like he was too idle to pay attention to these things right now. He had a lot going on in his head even though he looked pretty relaxed outside so the question as to why Anupama was acting in this manner was way down his priority list.

Jatin leaned towards Aditya as Bhadra and Kavya conversed and muttered, "it is your elder sister Maahi, oh boy, you should have been on the scene, it was very entertaining."

Aditya's brows relaxed when he heard these words. He did not think that his elder sister would target Anupama also. He did not mind apologizing to Anupama in his elder sister's steed but he was sure what would follow if elder sisterMaahi came to know that he had apologized to Anupama for her. He was far too experienced and knowledgeable about his elder sister's character to commit such a mistake.

It was better to forget that he knew about the incident and act ignorant. As Aditya was thinking of a valid reason to distance himself from Anupama before she decides to confront him, he saw Faizal walking in with Raghav. He sprang from his chair and hurried towards the entrance to catch Faizal to give him the crucial mission he was here to accomplish.

Faizal also trimmed his beard as well as moustache and wore a cool set of black suit that gave that feeling like he was a bodyguard. Faizal blamed himself for doubting elder brother Aditya's kindness and thinking that he was selfish and scheming. He reminded himself that he would stay loyal to elder brother Aditya and keep the other three in line, not tolerating any kind of disobedience.

'look, elder brother Aditya is rushing towards me to welcome me. This is a kind soul, I will pray to god that all elder brother's endeavours become a success' this was the innermost thought of Faizal as he gave a bright smile to Aditya.

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Aditya came and patted Faizal's shoulder as he looked at him and said, "you look so handsome and cool Faizal, I am happy for you. What do you think of this place."

"This place looks like heaven elder brother, I never thought I would get to meet these many affluent and beautiful people." Faizal was not parsimonious in his praise as he gave a bright smile. Raghav was looking at this with dismay. He still remembered when he first met Aditya, although he felt that this kid was not bad, he knew that this kid was definitely not the type to be this selfless. Something felt wrong.

"Very good, Faizal, you can meet all the people you want, here, see if any girl might be interested in you. Oh, by the I have small work for you," Aditya said as his face became stern.

"You can just order me elder brother, no need for any formalities between us. I shall accomplish your request to the best of my ability," Faizal who was currently feeling euphoric did not think much as he hit his own chest and promised.

"Good, how many pockets do you have? Six?"

"Eight, elder brother, I have two hidden ones in my suit."

"Very good, do you see these small jars on each circular table?"

"Yes, elder brother, they are complimentary and are usually very tasty, they have chunky orange marmalade, strawberry conserve and honey. All are the highest quality and taste as they usually are made with superior ingredients. I saw them in Taarini elder sister's Vivanta hotel also." Faizal explained in detail.

"Good, collect them."

"Okay, sur… What!"

"I said to collect them and stuff them in your pockets. I want as many of them as possible, you know that I am a poor man working as a mechanic, right? Hamsa would also like these items. It might cheer her up. She is a well brought up girl, she might be feeling down as she is eating normal food every day." Aditya explained patiently with a straight face.

Boom!

Faizal restored faith in humanity blasted into smithereens when he heard those words. Now he understood why Aditya asked him to come. As for the reason for doing this for a girl, he did not believe a single word of this bullshit. He knew that his elder brother was selfish and scheming but he never thought he was also cheap.

"Also, if possible collect more of those honey jars because I like… cough cough... I mean she likes it very much, also get those other fellows also to collect as many as possible otherwise I will throw them to those gangs. Faizal I think you are going to catch a chick today, all the best." Aditya encouraged Faizal as the tall and muscular figure walked slowly into the Grand ballroom with drooping shoulders.

'Chicks? Which girl would spare a glance at him when he was out there collecting these jars and stuffing them in his pockets,' Faizal did not have the strength of mind to argue with Aditya anymore as he knew he would definitely end up worse than now. Who asked Taarini Big Sis to fancy him? Was this going to be their future?

Raghav looked at Aditya for a long time before patting Aditya's shoulders as he said, "Thank you, you have restored confidence in my intuition" and went away. Aditya was puzzled with these words as he turned around to go back to his friends but he saw a young man standing in his way as he looked at Aditya with interest. Aditya knew who he was with one glance. He had seen this person speaking to a grief-stricken Hamsa on that rainy night.

The youth had a thin, sharp face with a long straight nose and bright eyes. He smiled and held out his hand as he said in a gentle voice, "Hello Aditya, my name is Reyansh Varma, the boyfriend of Hamsa who is currently living in your place for the past few days."

"Oh," Aditya looked with an indifferent expression and did not extend his hand in greeting.

"Oh?" Reyansh's smile froze when he heard this passive response and saw no change in expression in Aditya's face.

"Okay, if there is nothing else you want to talk about, I have to get back to my friends," Aditya politely said and moved to Reyansh's side.

"Kid, don't act smart, the damage done is not beyond repair yet. I suggest you hand over the girl and bow down to Reyansh young master for forgiveness. He might still forgive you as you did not know the actual circumstances when you saved her. But if you turned back now, even Taarini won't be able to save you from the wrath of the young master as she cannot afford the prize." Flaming tiger blocked Aditya's path and warned while his huge figure towered over Aditya.

"Who did you say, cannot save him?" An icy voice was heard from Flaming tiger's behind as he felt his blood cool and heart freeze, even Reyansh felt chills when he heard this calm but piercing voice. It felt as if he was stared by a wild animal in the dark.

Reyansh looked at the charming woman who was standing behind him but he felt no feeling of attraction. Anyone who knew him would know that Reyansh always liked soft and gentle characters who could be bullied easily. A sense of foreboding started growing in his heart which clearly reminded him to not get on the bad side of this woman otherwise things will get really ugly.

But he regained his composure quickly when he remembered his own background. He did not believe that a puny underworld gang in a southern city would dare to touch him which was equal to provoking one of the grandest and renowned families in the capital.

Reyansh sneered as he said, "I definitely can't touch Hamsa if you chose to protect her but are you sure you can come out of this without paying a gruesome price? Is it all worth it? Just give me the woman and everybody is happy, what do you say?" his calm and gentle face twisted when he sneered.

Before Taarini could reply, Aditya opened his mouth and said, "You know what? I really do not like getting into violent conflicts if I could solve it through talks. I suggest you forget about Hamsa, otherwise," Aditya leaned forward and looked Reyansh in the eye with a sharp gaze as he stated in a deep, low voice, "I don't mind killing you."

Reyansh's pupils contracted as his heart constricted with dread when he heard Aditya's words. While Taarini felt like a wild animal to him which was very dangerous but a little manageable, Aditya's words felt like the god of death passing down a judgement. It was if this was inevitable like he was a powerless, weak mortal with no right of say in this matter. Reyansh's heart shuddered as he had never felt this way before.

When Reyansh had Aditya investigated, he found out that he was subordinate of Taarini. He always thought that this was just a classic case of a hero rescuing the beauty and that Aditya was just a young kid with a hot head. He presumed that as long as he revealed his background, even if Aditya did not submit, Taarini would do the right thing. But the reality turned out to be very different than his prediction.

The thing which intrigued Reyansh the most was that when he looked at the manners and attitude of Taarini and Aditya, he felt that it was only natural that they would not agree to send Hamsa back, it was as if he was an idiot for thinking that proclaiming his background would be enough. Looks like he needed to make a demonstration for them to realize their own place.

Reyansh regained his calm and gentle smile as he said, "I hope you people won't regret this action later, little Flame, come, let's go."

Reyansh left the Grand Ballroom with Flaming tiger following.

"Would you really kill him if he comes after Hamsa again," Taarini asked in her characteristic chilly tone as she looked at Aditya with a cool gaze.

"Maybe."