11:30 PM, 16th October 2018, Tuesday, Chennai.

In the Auction hall, Anil was holding a success party with the employees and all the members. The party had mountains of food and lots of drinks to boot them.

Though Hari has been missing for 2 days now, none of his brothers were overly concerned, since his present strength was almost the same as them.

In the hall, half-drunk Anil was standing on a round table holding a bottle of champagne.

"Everyone cheers! Cheers for being a fabulous tonight. An organization is bound to fail without devoted, loyal employees, so we have to share and celebrate each success while appreciating sincere people behind it.

Let me call out the honored employee of Kyro Auction House.

It's none other than Miss. Kisna Arora, the way she handled a drunkard pervert today, is a testament to her commitment and courage."

"Miss Arora, let's show a reiterate for all our friends here. I'll be the drunkard while you'll just redo what you did to that man. Shall we?"

The young woman hesitated a while before nodding with blush and got on the wooden table. She had short hair and a tiny nose with a noticeably large neck.

Anil suddenly became wobbly, and he nearly tripped down a few times before reaching Kishna.

Kishna was holding an imaginary tray of water bottles. Anil walked to her and hugged the woman while his hand moved all over her back before going downwards.

Sushani and others averted their eyes and turned their heads the other way. Similarly, all the hostess also averted their eyes but with a hint of unwillingness and anger.

They knew in their field of work, such dirty behavior needs to be tolerated, but boss blatantly disgracing a woman before the crowd is intolerable.

*Slap*

And everyone turned their heads to the stage. There Anil holding his right chin and heavily breathing out.

"Kisna, this was supposed to be playacting; you don't have to slap me for real."

Anil was slightly offended, and he raised his voice.

"Sir, sorry, sir, sorry….."

The woman pitifully apologized again and again while drops of tears fell from her puppy eyes.

Riya couldn't see the young woman bullied, so she jumped to the wooden table, she covered 10 meters in just one single flawless movement.

"Anil, the slap was as real as your hands. So stop harassing this lady."

Rita stepped forward for the young lady in trouble.

"Kiya!! You're supposed to be on my side, aren't you?"

Anil cried like a little naïve kid.

"Firstly, to begin with, I'm not on anyone's side, and I will not standby and do nothing watching a girl get bullied. Secondly, this is the last time I'm going to tell you, My name is Riya and not Kiya."

Anil stunned speechless while Riya bought Kishna down the table.

*ahem*

Anil cleared his throat and grabbed everyone's attention; he shamelessly started a great moral lecture.

"The slap is a testament to her dignity and defiance to such act will uphold the principles of our organization. Remember, as a hostess tolerating and enduring any act below, your dignity is not a part of your job description."

Anil's speech was awe-inspiring, completely erasing his previous image as a douchebag in the minds of his employees.

Throughout the party, everyone had a hearty smile and a content heart. Anil's speech has won the hearts of his employees and bought a few loyal men to their auction house.

An hour later, Hari entered the hall, people were sitting in groups and chatting about everything from rocket science to the political arena.

Kiya and other girls were gossiping with a short-haired young woman while Anil and Sushani were moving up and down the hall, chitchatting with every group.

The person who drew his attention was his oversized brother Rakesh. Rakesh was an authentic introvert; generally, his conversation beyond their group of brothers was non-existent.

Yet, strangely enough, he was happily having a drink with their Expert Appraiser, Rishi Dhawan. The Appraiser was also a reclusive person, much similar to his Brother Rakesh.

Both of them were chatting together like old pals, in fact, Rakesh wouldn't be so unrestrained around Anil.

This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author's work.

Hari walked over to Rakesh slowly; all his brothers, including Anil, noticed him and were about come to him, but he signaled them to stop.

Following Rakesh's eyes, Rishi noticed Hari walking towards them.

Rakesh whispered to Rishi to act normally if everyone notices Hari the room would become solemn, and party mood would be thrown out of the window. In the minds of the employees, Anil was a friendly manager close to their Boss Hari.

Quietly Hari pulled a chair and joined their table, but the previous harmonious air between the two was lost.

"Why the sudden silence, Rak, what were you guys talking about? You seemed to be having the time of your life?"

Rakesh hesitated a bit, a couple of times he nearly spoke out, but he decided against it considering Rishi's feeling.

"Rak, why are you feeling shy around me?"

Though Hari knew he was forcing himself into the conversation, he really couldn't hold back his curiosity. Sensitive to Rakesh's predicament, Rishi smiled and spoke up.

"We were talking about our family."

Rishi apathetically said as he picked the glass of wine. Hari suddenly quietened, and the smile slowly disappeared.

"Where was I again, yeah, after that love drama Suseela's parents accepted our love; a year later, we got married.

Ahh…. Life was beautiful, it couldn't have been more perfect; we first had Anitha and then Kiran. Everything was smooth sailing until that fateful day, one the way to my office I suddenly collapsed on the train.

Later after some tests and scans, I was diagnosed with a rare terminal illness.

I knew for a fact that if I stayed back and took treatment, I would be nothing but a dead weight. Moreover, regardless of whether I recover or not, my family would be in shambles.

Thus I took a very radical decision; instead of dragging my entire family, I separated from them soon after transferring whatever little property I had to my wife's name.

The next few years were the most painful as well as blissful part of my life – The Life of Wanderer.

Whenever I saw a happy family, a stabbing pain reminded me of what I had left behind.

On the other hand, my perspective towards life changed; I started appreciating life in the most real sense.

As a spectator, I had forsaken the prism built till then about life. Everything seemed very beautiful, even an ugly cockroach looked gorgeous; it was as though my spirit was evolving.

But a more tangible and intrinsic part of me started rebelling. The tumor inside my body grew, and pain worsening day by day, thus putting an end to my spiritual pursuit.

I didn't know the name of the place, but I was in the eastern part of our country. There I was kidnapped, and one of my kidneys was stolen.

Miraculously, the tumor was also removed, or so I assumed because the pain I was suffering had vanished.

Maybe, because only kidney transplantation was in its embryo and other organ market were yet to even form at that time.

Those guys sold me to a slave merchant; maybe if it were today, they would've killed and completely sold everything. From there, I was smuggled out from India, finally, after being trafficked from one country to another, I landed in Thailand."

 "There an Antique shop owner bought me, and I spent the next decade in that shop. The shopkeeper was a gentleman, though he didn't grant me any freedom I was never abused or maltreated.

Escaping wasn't an option either, the slaves were implanted with an electronic chip. If the slave moves 100 meters from the tags, we will be electrocuted to death.

Nearly after a decade, the old man died, and his heir granted me freedom. 

By then, I was already 15 years away from my home. 

With great struggle, I returned to our country; I traveled all the way to Chennai from Thailand to my family.

Unfortunately, everything was too late by then. My family had totally erased my existence, my little boy didn't recognize me anymore; my lovely daughter seemed to have forgotten me. 

Lastly, my wife totally ignored me; not a word was spoken, but you know at times silence can be a lot sharper them words. Just their eyes, it pierced through my heart; their anger and hatred shattered my heart into pieces. 

From then on, I would visit the house every Sunday and stand outside till dusk, pleading for their forgiveness. It took me 3 years to reach the lawn from the gate."

Rishi ended with a great sense of achievement; though Hari couldn't really understand his feeling, he could sympathize with a fellow man in deep sorrow.

"Why don't you just tell them the truth; you did what you did in the best of intentions?" 

Hari thoughtlessly suggested.

"huh..if only life was so simple. It's irrefutable that my actions were well-meant, but you can't escape the consequences just because you're well-meant.

Everything said and done, I'm a failure as a father and a husband. My kids grew without a father while my wife went through a lot of difficulties to raise our children single-handedly."

Rishi paused a bit and downed another cup of wine; his eyes were filled with grief.

"I indeed need their forgiveness, but it shouldn't be forced or out of pity."

Rishi was very firm in his stance; Hari, he could never talk him into telling the truth. 

Hari quietly pondered a few minutes silently and looked at the men drinking sorrow. 

Rakesh also has a tragic past, the only difference in his case is that his wife separated from him. Actually, after having a baby, Rakesh's wife pleaded to him quit from the army. Rakesh turned a deaf ear to her pleading, he just completely ignored it.

In the accident two years ago, not Hari lost three of his brothers; she also lost her elder brother. One of them was Rakesh's Brother-in-law or his wife's elder brother. 

His demise struck hard on her; after a quarrel, she left Rakesh with their baby.

Though he later quit from the army, Rakesh's wife still refused to return. Her mindset had totally changed by then; she would instead raise their son as a fatherless child than have a father who dies in their childhood.

Her brother's death broke hit too hard on their family; she didn't want her child to go through the same sufferings and pain as her niece. 

Even after retiring, Rakesh couldn't leave everything behind him; if there was an emergency situation, he might be called back. Though he wasn't obliged to return, it was almost given that Rakesh wouldn't turn his back to his mother nation.

A couple of years, Hari was too busy wallowing in self-pity to notice his brother's family breaking into shambles. 

Till the party ended, Hari gave the two men a silent company. Neither Rishi nor Rakesh spoke a word; they silently downed two bottles of wine.

2 hours later, Early morning at 3 AM….

Hari walked to their office upstairs; all his brothers followed him with serious faces.

"Hari, what happened? Why did you suddenly take off? Where have you been for the past 2 days?"

Kiya asked in an uncertain tone while her eyes were filled with concern. Everyone in the room keenly looked at Hari, they all knew Hari wasn't a reckless person.

"Kiya pull out the CCTV footage; we had company from Ori Realm."

Immediately all their faces changed; Kiya didn't make any delay. In a matter of seconds, the footage was presented on the computer.

Hari pointed at the screen, and Kiya marked nine guests, excluding Shreya.

"Kiya pull out their information; they are our targets."

Hari directed, and Kiya immediately sprang into action. In just ten minutes, all their data was gathered.

"Hari, all of them, has a clean background, in fact, they are just too ordinary, and nothing about them seems suspicious.

As most of the guests, most of these guys are also businessmen, to be precise with numbers 5 businessmen, a high profile doctor, and two famous lawyers and one scientist.

In the background software is trying to establish any relation between them, it might take a few minutes, but it'll be a thorough check. Here these are the information I have gathered on these 9 individuals."

Kiya passed on a bunch of papers to Hari without turning her head, she was totally focused on the computer. There were just too many things happening on the computer that none of them could follow anything.

Hari carefully went through the data, Kiya was always exhaustive with details. It took him a quarter an hour to read through all the information. 

"Adam L. Gekas, the Textile merchant, make a note of this name he'll be our target; this guy had a tinge of bloodlust, though it was concealed."

After careful consideration, Hari chose that man.

"Sushani, we need the merchant. This guy will most likely be a handful, an exiled teen was as strong as you guys.

Kiya, you run a Third Degree investigation on Gekas and Second Degree examination on others; also keep Sushani. Guys exercise utmost caution; we can't afford mistakes." 

 "Anil, you will be in charge of the office, and Priya, you'll have to learn about the family living in the address that I'll forward shortly. Try collecting as much information as possible, the focus should be on their character umm.. take Rakesh with you."

Anil was more or less adapted to Hari's aggressive leadership, and he's also gotten used to being ordered around. 

Everyone in the room understood the seriousness attached to their task, so all of them were fired up. Deep within, everyone was curious to dig the secrets of Ori Realm; there were just too many mysteries swirling around it.  

Sushani equipping her assassin suit, a unique camouflage. Kiya was busy gathering information about Gekas. Priya and Rakesh were seriously discussing their strategy. 

Anil and Riya helping them, Riya was getting data on family residing in the address given to Priya while Anil passing on all the information gathered by Kiya to Sushani.

Hari was pacing up and down in confusion with a cigarette between his fingers. His strange behavior went totally unnoticed under the eyes of his brothers, who were too involved.

Just as everyone was about to start, Hari abruptly stopped their tracks.

"Wait, minute, guys."

After some internal struggle, he opened his mouth; all his brothers were slightly surprised to their brother being so indecisive.

"A couple of months ago, I met a guy; I even mentioned him to teacher."