Ayaan was in his office watching the business news when a headline flashed announcing that a new Director had been appointed to the ED, replacing the former one who had been serving on an extended term. A satisfied smirk tugged at his lips, everything was falling into place exactly as planned.
He glanced at Zara, who was lost in her work, completely absorbed.
“I think we should leave, we need some rest before everything blows open. And once we reach the manor tomorrow, Saanvi won’t let you look at me even for a second. So I want my wife all to myself tonight. I don’t want you exhausted during the celebrations… and I’ll be happy if you spare me a few glances in between.” Ayaan said as he hopped onto the desk opposite her.
Zara scoffed lightly. “Now you’re competing with our little Saanvi? Of course she’ll have all my attention, she’s the birthday girl. And I can’t wait to see her reaction to the surprise we planned.” she replied.
Ayaan leaned forward and gently bit her cheek, “This is for planning to abandon me already.”
Before Zara could protest, they heard a knock.
“That must be Sameer, I seriously regret choosing him as my PA. He’s on my back all the time. I swear I need to find a reason to get rid of him just to have time with you.” Ayaan muttered, rolling his eyes. He walked to the couch and called out the person. But instead of Sameer, Rohan entered.
“Sir, the doll city is ready, I just received a call from the home manager. He checked everything, and Ishika madam took a full tour. She loved it.” Rohan announced, placing coffee for both of them.
Ayaan and Zara exchanged a relieved smile. “Thank you, Rohan,” they said in unison.
“You handled everything perfectly, especially on such short notice.” Zara said thanking him once again.
Later, they left the office and reached the villa. Zara decided to cook, since she hadn’t done in a long while. Ayaan sat on the counter, helping her with little things and mostly watching her with a soft, dreamy smile. He was over the moon to eat something made by her and after dinner he cuddled her to sleep. Both were too excited to see the doll city and Zara insisted they leave early in the morning.
By dawn, Ayaan woke up to rustling sounds and blinked open his eyes. Zara was already dressed in a saree, moving around the room like a busy bee.
“Ayaan, wake up, We need to leave…hurry,” she said, focused on packing chocolates, the sweets she had made herself and all the new outfits she’d gotten designed for Saanvi.
“I’d like to be a baby if this is the kind of attention you give Saanvi and Ved,” Ayaan muttered sleepily.
Zara rolled her eyes, snatched the duvet off him and pushed him to get up. She was too impatient to meet the family and the little ones.
” She’d be the best mother”, Ayaan thought, a shy smile touched his lips as he walked into the closet.
When he returned, clasping his watch, Zara was instructing the servants to load everything into the car. The moment they left, Ayaan caught her by the wrist, pulled her gently toward the door, and pinned her lightly against the wall.
“You’re going to be busy the minute we step out, so I deserve a kiss that will keep me sane until we would be back in our heaven. Give me a kiss, wifey.” he murmured in a husky tone and kissed her deeply until she pushed at his chest, panting for breath. Ayaan smiled, gave her a quick peck and they finally walked out.
During the drive, he held her hand while she excitedly talked nonstop about Saanvi and Ved. Her happiness made him smile the entire way.
The moment they entered the manor, the living room was sparkling with stars and balloons as everyone enjoyed their morning coffee. Ved and Saanvi spotted Zara and rushed toward her, clinging to her legs with squeals of joy.
Ayaan and Zara wished Saanvi and she fed the kids the sweets she had prepared. Both children squealed louder upon receiving their gifts and chocolates, kissing the couple’s cheeks before dragging them into the living room, still holding their hands.
Zara carried Saanvi in her arms as the whole family followed them toward the wing where the surprise had been set up. She put Saanvi down gently and nodded toward the door.
“Go on, baby. Open it.” Zara said to her.
The moment Saanvi pushed the door open, she froze, her eyes widening in pure disbelief. Before her stood a grand miniature castle, glowing softly as if welcoming its little princess home.
She turned to Zara, then to the family, all of whom were beaming with pride.
Saanvi stepped inside, and the next few seconds were filled with squeals and gasps. She ran from the tiny cottages to the garden patches, touched the toy fields, stared at the Ferris wheel, and walked along the miniature roads lined with homes from her favorite cartoon movies. Ved held her hand as they wandered through the tiny streets, touching the little trees and the toy fruits hanging from them.
Overwhelmed, Saanvi rushed back and threw herself at Zara who was already crouched, waiting with open arms. Zara hugged her tight and the family watched the moment with full hearts. Ishaan and Pari, especially, felt their eyes sting with pride at how deeply Zara cared for their children.
“I love you, Zara aunty ” Saanvi declared happily.
Zara and Pari stayed back with her, since the little girl had no intention of leaving immediately. After some time, Zara managed to gently convince her to have lunch and take a nap, telling her there was an even bigger surprise waiting for her at the birthday party which finally worked.
By evening, Pari finally convinced Saanvi to get ready, telling her that a princess deserved to be dressed by a stylist. Vaishu stayed by her side, helping her into her gown. When she was ready, Reyansh and Vaishu held her hands and guided her toward the ballroom.
The moment the doors opened, Saanvi froze. Her tiny palms flew to her mouth as her eyes widened in astonishment.
Pari stood there dressed as Rapunzel, her hair cascading to the floor in a long, beautifully braided trail decorated with tiny flowers. Beside her, Ishaan looked every bit the charming Flynn Rider.
Saanvi squealed and ran to them, hugging them tightly and touching the braid like she couldn’t believe it was real. Ishaan and Pari lifted her into their arms, and she showered their cheeks with excited kisses.
They gently set her down, and Saanvi’s eyes widened when she saw Zara dressed as Cinderella and Ayaan as Prince Charming. She ran to them and they lifted her up as she covered their faces with excited kisses before they gently set her down again. She immediately spotted the next surprise. Ishika stood dressed as Snow White, Adhvika, graceful as ever, embodied Princess Jasmine perfectly, while little Ved, in adorable Aladdin attire, ran to Saanvi with a grin.
The room was filled with magic, just as a princess deserved.
Saanvi wore a tiny tiara and looked every bit a princess. She cut the cake, feeding everyone one by one, and received more gifts from the family. Mithun and Kajal couldn’t take their eyes off their granddaughter. After the grand celebration, everyone retired to their rooms.
Zara entered the closet to change when Ayaan stopped her.
“Don’t you think this princess and prince deserve a dance?” he asked, playing soft music as he took her hands and pulled her closer.
” He keeps saying he can’t stay away from me… now he calls us prince and princess. Does he really mean it? Or is everything still out of guilt? Can he actually love me the way Mama said? But he love his girlfriend and he made it clear once that I was just a placeholder”, Zara thought, her heart tightening as she moved with him.
Ayaan leaned in and kissed her forehead. “Stop thinking so much. This frown doesn’t suit you,” he murmured, continuing to sway with her.
But exhaustion soon caught up and Zara yawned. Ayaan chuckled softly, helped her out of the gown with gentle hands, and they both changed before collapsing into bed.
The next morning, Ayaan woke up early and slipped out of bed without disturbing Zara. After getting dressed, he walked to the living room only to find all the men already gathered there.
“Looks like the rest of the manor won’t wake up until noon,” Ayaan chuckled and the men laughed quietly before heading to Rey’s study.
Reyansh and Mithun took their seats side by side, with Hari Narayan settled on the single couch beside them. Ishaan and Ayaan sat opposite, making sure to switch on the jammer and silencer before the discussion began.
Hari Narayan opened the leather briefcase at his feet and pulled out a thick sealed envelope.
“This is everything we need for now. The financial trails, back-door transactions, shell companies, forged tenders, and the offshore accounts. It’s enough to call for a full-scale raid on Advik Raghavkar. He has dipped his hands too deep into public money. These documents will not only justify a raid… they will expose the scam and the corruption he’s been hiding for years.” he said, sliding it across the table toward Ayaan.
Reyansh exhaled sharply and Mithun clenched his jaw. Ishaan leaned forward and his expression turned grim.
Ayaan picked up the envelope, weighing it carefully. “This is more than enough to bring him down. I will go through every detail. ” he said, flipping through the pages.
Hari Narayan nodded to his words. “And be careful with these documents, once this surfaces, politics won’t stay politics. It will become war.”
“War is exactly what they invited the moment they touched our family. Grandpa, we’ll plan the exact date to bring Mom back but you have to resign before we do this.” Ayaan said his lips curling into a slow, cold smirk.
” I don’t want to do this from Chennai. I’ll return to Delhi and handle it quietly from the party office, make it look like it came from there. Use it to our advantage later, make it seem like something that happened at the party office. ” Hari said and Mithun reached out and squeezed his father-in-law’s hand in support.
“This is how years of experience think and plan,” Reyansh said, looking at Ayaan.
Ayaan nodded. “His experience will guide us in this war. The new ED director is in place and with our people embedded across departments we can strike first, call for a raid at the right moment, when Advik is out of the country. What we need is the evidence that was stolen from Baskar’s home, or anything that links everyone involved in the blast. Once we have that, we can plan our next move.”
“We’ll call the members of the opposition party only after the raid. There can’t be a single misstep in this plan,” Ishaan said. The men continued their discussion until the door opened and Vaishu walked in carrying a tray of coffee. Hari blessed her as she served each of them before sitting beside Reyansh, who instinctively slipped his arm behind her along the armrest.
He explained everything to Vaishu, and she listened quietly, pride softening her smile as she looked at Ayaan and her family who had taken up this battle for her, for her dream.
“Alright, let’s go have lunch. I’ve asked everyone to join us,” Vaishu said, rising as Reyansh stood with her, his hand naturally finding hers.
Ayaan was the last to step out. He headed straight to his room to secure the documents in his safe, but paused when he saw Zara already dressed, tying her hair into a bun. She looked tired yet heartbreakingly beautiful.
“Zara, keep this file safe. We’ll take it home with us. How are you feeling?” he asked, placing the folder on the vanity in front of her and pressed her shoulders.
“I’m fine,” she replied softly, taking the file and walking into the closet to store it in her safe.
When Zara returned from the closet, Ayaan gently pulled her into his arms. “Do you want to stay back and rest? Or should we leave after lunch? If you’re tired, we can skip everything and have a quiet dinner date at home. Whatever you say, wifey.” he asked softly, swaying her body against his.
Zara leaned lightly into him. “Let’s stay for a while, maybe even have dinner with the family. We won’t be back again at least not before the weekend.” she replied and Ayaan hummed in agreement.
He pressed a tender kiss to her cheek before lacing their fingers together leading her out of the room to join the family for lunch.
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