The Bias

Chapter 64

Shehnaaz's dad moved out the car walking upstairs. Sidharth worked from the main office in the building, 4th floor to precise. Gully ways was the parent company that oversaw multiple small and large companies that Sidharth was directly involved with in construction from raw material to heavy construction and detailed interior at homes. The same building housed another offices where he would visit to oversee the work in jewellry and the other startups that he had invested in. He was rich and when Rita had summed up four thousand crores to Arya she wasn't a joking.

Upon being led by Sidharth's assistant he walked into a room. An elegant office adorned with mahogany furniture and shelves lined with books. Faint sunlight filtered through the windows, casting a warm glow on the scene.

Seeing Sukhbir approach Sidharth rose up from his chair. "Sir!" He spoke. After all the man was Shehnaaz's father

Sukhbir nodded in approval, gesturing him to keep sitting. He was a middle-aged man with a serious demeanor, with a quick gait and precise movement of a surgeon. Shehnaaz had taken her walk from him.

"I am sorry for walking in uninformed, you must be working!" He spoke sitting across the table, as Sidharth signed the i- pad and passed it to Maya.

"Nahi, sir please don't embarrass me."

The man nodded. "I see that Shehnaaz has agreed to marrying you. You are intelligent enough to have convinced her." he spoke denying the water that was presented to him.

"Yeah, we told that to you people last night. Is there a problem?", Siddharth questioned. Sukhbir's arrival was weird. The man would hardly talk, he was usually busy reading , or doing something. He was different from the kind of mother Rita had been to him or his dad had been. He had seen how he would make Shehnaaz push her boundaries. They had been a driving force behind the professionally ambitious and cut throat woman she was.

Sidharth had hardly ever talked to him properly or to her mother for that matter. This felt strange. He hoped they would not have issues.

In a composed , calm but a powerful tone, he started. "Shukla, thank you for taking the time to meet with me. Shehnaaz loves you and hopefully you do too. But now that you are getting married, I have something important to discuss regarding my daughter's upcoming marriage."

Sidharth looked at him. His face devoid of any expression. He wondered if his profession had something to do with the empty expression.

"Of course, Dr Gill I'm all ears. You can speak freely. Please go ahead."

Sukhbir took a deep breath, gathering his thoughts before speaking." I don't want you to take offense, think of it with an open mind. A broad mind too.
You see, Siddharth, my daughter, Shehnaaz, is engaged to you. And while I believe you genuinely love each other or at least hope so, I have concerns about the future. " he spoke as Sidharth looked.

"Shehnaaz is going to inherit a lot. Her grandfather had a will that placed all of it to his grandchildren. Now that she is the only one there, Shehnaaz will inherit everything that Gills have ever had. And she would inherit everything that I and her mother have made. And she would inherit whatever gifts have been given by her maternal ancestry. I don't think that a man of your stature needs to be told this, you are very much in a smiliar position and I hope that you understand. Shehnaaz is our only daughter. Infact she is our only child, only the child in our ancestry.The question of her taking your surname does not even arise, my concern is that if your children take only your surname, ours would be gone from the face of earth. And that's not what generations in the family have worked for. Had she been a guy, there would be no discussion.." he was speaking when Siddharth interviened.

"State it. What do you want?" Sidharth was quick to. He could see where this discussion was going.

"Alright!" The man nodded, "you to prepare a prenup, or we will get it prepared. But you will have to convince her. Any inheritance that comes through her would not financially and legally belong to you through marriage. Any one having your surname will not inherit it. And the most important thing, if you have more than one child, one of them, girl or boy would take our name. And if there's is only one child, you can use both names ,or adopt another child."