Specks Of Love They Hate...

Twenty Nine

Vednath Rajan scoffed at the opulence of the Thakkar criminal household. If it were upto him, he wouldn't ever step into a place like this without getting his officers ready with an arrest warrant.

He was making his way to the root of this troublesome family, Danish Thakkar, when a young boy in tux approached him. He instantly recognised him as the druggie kid he had alerted the authorities about, the one who was magically bailed out before the charges could be stuck on him; Arjun Thakkar. He went on alert, presuming that the boy knew who he was and was probably here to threaten him or gloat about the legal system's failure.
But he realised that the kid was as unaware as only a spoilt youngest child of any rich family could be, the minute he opened his mouth.

"Good evening, Sir." Arjun had told him. "My father told me that you're the man who can be our biggest ally, even if you're undecided yet."

"Oh, I've decided on my stance, young man." Vednath had coolly replied. "It just so happens to be on your opposing side."

"I'm here to convince you to rethink that, Sir." Arjun sounded every bit cocky as he looked. "My father mentioned that you are the key partner we need to flourish in our business. Even though I don't know the details, since I'm not a part of the family business yet, but based on whatever I've gathered from dad, it seems imperative that we co-operate with each other's businesses."

Vednath was confused at first, but quickly gathered that Arjun probably didn't know that he was a government official, and not some businessman.
"I think I should rather have this conversation with your father or your brother, kid."

He noticed a brief look of anger in Arjun's eyes, which he wasn't really able to get rid of when he spoke.
"They're both going to be busy for the night, I'm afraid." Arjun had spoken with barely concealed anger. "My father is hosting his son's engagement and my brother," he had all but spat out the word, "is supposed to be entertaining his own guest tonight. The one whose happiness I think you should be considering before scrapping your deal with us."

Vednath heard the threat loud and clear. What he didn't understand was, are these Thakkars really so bold? Sure, he himself had accepted the invitation to this party because it was a risk he had to take for any proof of his daughter's well being. He had been dying to see her, hear about her, but Atirek Thakkar had gone quiet over the past few days and that had been quite unsettling for Vednath. So when his PA had informed him of Danish's invitation to his politician son's engagement party, he had almost immediately decided to take the chance to see if his Vanya was allright.

"If you're skeptical about whether Ms Vanya is happy or not," Arjun had continued, not realising the threat he was making, but simply reciting the words his father had taught him, "You can see for yourself. She's just like our family member and we all love her dearly."

Vednath glanced in the direction where Arjun was pointing at and there his daughter was. She looked so beautiful, like she always did, having been blessed by her mother's looks. She was standing beside an older woman and talking to her with a soft smile on her face. He felt his eyes burn, with the tears that would never come out of them, due to his intense training, and he kept staring while Arjun spoke something.
He came out of his trance when he saw a man, Atirek Thakkar's assistant, whisper something in her ear and then he pulled her away, out of the hall.

Vednath took a step towards her, to go after her, but Arjun stepped right in front of him.

"She's happy with us, Sir." Arjun smiled at him, but there was nothing good about his smile. "Dad told me that you don't really like my brother and that's why you've been opposing their union, but you can rest assured that she is very happy with him."