The Promise (SAMPLE ONLY)

Chapter 2

London, United Kingdom

"He was talking during the meeting when his breathing started to become uneven. A few minutes later, he was clutching his head. I rushed him to the hospital right away."

Rajesh Saaho was telling Vikram what had happened with his father. They were all at the Saaho house. Vishal had arrived a few hours earlier and accompanied his parents while they shifted the still unconscious Saaho patriarch from the hospital to their home.

"Grandfather is going to be okay, Dad," Vishal assured once again. "The old coot is most likely going to outlive us all."

Vinita Saaho smiled, but there was worry in her eyes. "I know he'll be fine this time, Vishu. But I'm worried that the stroke wasn't a random one. For the past few months, your dad and I have noticed that Papa seemed distracted."

"Distracted, how?" Vikram asked while waving away the offer for tea that was being served by their housekeeper.

While Vishwanath Saaho was being monitored by a team of nurses in his suite, the rest of the family were all seated in their large living room.

"Sometimes, Papa just sits quietly and contemplates," Vinita Saaho continued. "He was even going through a few old family albums. We thought he must be missing Mamma."

"He must be," Vishal added. Most of his life, Vishwanath Saaho had been busy building his empire rather than dedicating time to his wife or family. It was only during the last three years before his wife had passed away due to a terminal illness that Vishwanath Saaho spent quality time with her.

"Papa has been making enquiries and monitoring someone who lives in Srirampur," Rajesh Saaho added with a frown.

"Srirampur?" Vikram frowned similarly.

"It's a village in India," said Vinita. "Although Papa has never mentioned it to us, I have a feeling he's from that place or knows someone there."

"But Grandfather loathes India," said Vishal. "He doesn't even want us to do any business in the entire country even though it has great potential."

Vikram and Vishal had never visited India. Their other set of grandparents and extended family from their mother's side were sent tickets to fly to London whenever they wanted to meet their daughter and her family. Apart from making charitable donations, the Saaho Group didn't make any investments in India.

"Unless Papa wakes up, we can't speculate," Rajesh Saaho stated.

Which everyone agreed to.

Later that night, after checking on her father-in-law who was still hadn't gained consciousness, Vinita knocked on the door of her older son's suite.

It was quite rare to have both Vikram and Vishal home at the same time for this long. Both her sons were always on the go, flying around the world or staying in their penthouses in the city which were closer to their offices. Only when it was her birthday or some rare occasion, her sons made it a point to stay at their childhood home for a day or so to spend some quality time with her.

Vikram answered the door, and Vinita could hear the background noise of an ongoing meeting. "Mum? Everything okay?" he asked.

"Yes. Papa is fine, too. He's still sleeping." She went in and sat on a small antique sofa that had been in this room since Vikram's childhood.

"Did you get a chance to meet Trisha Seni?" she asked.

Vikram's eyebrows drew into a frown. "Who?"

Vinita was exasperated and worried about her eldest born. "I sent you Trisha's picture and even let Pooja know that Trisha will be in New York at the time of your visit."