Alok had just gotten in from his morning run. He stepped into the shower, cleaned himself up. He flicked his laptop open and a new email popped up.

“New Job

Target: Kunal

Estimated time for contract: 2 Weeks

Nature of Contract: Elimination

Status: Activated

Upon completion of Job, send an email to receive the remaining payment for the Job”

It had been a while since he last got a job as huge as this. He already had the funds and would buy the supermart tomorrow to get some supplies. For today he would freshen up and do a recon on his target, a quick Google search should tell him who the target was.

He put on his grey sweatpants, a t-shirt and some sneakers. He didn’t need much whenever he was on a recon job, just the basics. He had gotten the address of his Target, he is a nice and rich man who owns some properties in Mumbai. Alok just like this type of person who was never security conscious and Alok couldn’t wait for this one to prove him right.

He navigated the streets till he got to the Target’s house. it was your standard condo with not a lot of security. Alok parked his car across the street and waited. It seemed like the Target was headed somewhere and alok would need to know his schedule as well so he wondered if he could get that from his contractor.

As soon as the target was out of the house , Alok stepped out of his car and got to the front door and began. First of all, he had to wire tap the whole house for audio and maybe visuals if he had enough time. He quickly ran to the back to disable the security alarm . The back area was closed off with sliding doors. The target was making this easy. He did a quick and efficient walk-through of the entire house and when he was satisfied, he got in his car and left. Alok will be back with the bugs tomorrow. He would have to ask for the itinerary of the target from his contractor later today. He was done for now, this would be a nice and clean job. He was known not to make mistakes and he won’t start now.

Alok was at the target’s house again. The target was out again leaving his place all to Alok. He used the backdoor again, same as yesterday, disarmed the alarm again and began his operations. He had gone to the hardware store yesterday and had gotten some standard mics and micro cams. First of all he put one of each in Target's bedroom, then in his kitchen, then the living room and lastly the garage. Next, he hid some weapons only where he could find them, this was just in case he decided to take out the target in here, he would have some weapons at the ready. He went into the garage and put a mic in the car as well in case the target discussed useful information while on the go. He was all set, one more thing he armed the alarm once again and went out front. He hadn’t decided on the manner of approach yet but he would weigh his options and whichever posed the less risk was the one he would go for, with the way things were progressing he doubted he needed the 2 weeks to complete this job but to be safe, Alok always stuck to his designated timeline. Tomorrow he would begin tracking the target and he could find something new and useful doing that. For now he needed to map out his strategies and find the one with the less risk and collateral damage to go with.

Other hand ,

If ever there was someone who was covetous and greedy, it was Anika Agarwal. The first and only child of Ajay and Ava Agarwal and at least she was till her father decided to bring in some girl whom he had with another woman elsewhere. Anika was a beautiful girl, maybe that was what made her such a haughty character, she was 25 years old, with long dark hair which complimented her long slender face. She was also tall and slender which made her the center of any party she stepped into, she had hard thin lips that gave her that look of being a tough person which she was anyways, her most prominent feature would have to be her dark green eyes, those eyes really captured anyone who looked into them, she used all her features really well as she was a master of the art of seduction. Anika was a bitter person naturally but this became worse when her stepsister came to live with them, with her father always doting on her stepsister, that enraged her the more she would do anything to get her father’s attention. Father died in a really ghastly car accident and she had gone to identify the body with her mother and she couldn’t hold back her tears, she cried a lot for days but was soon cheered up by the fact that her dad had left several businesses unattended to and since he had no son, her mother had taken over most of them while Anika pursued her modelling dream. Right from when she was a child, her mother had pampered her and lavished her with anything money could buy and she gradually got used to it. That was all she had known ever since she was a child growing up, she couldn’t imagine the horrors ahead if she eventually got broke with no liquidity of any sort. Anika had always loved modelling and she enjoyed the perks that came with it.

It didn’t take quite long for Anika to be seen as one of the city’s top models, this was because her mother used up most of their resources to push Anika’s career forward . She invested money into some top brands and they in turn would invite Anika to come model for them and soon Anika’s face was pretty much everywhere. She was invited to the best parties, slept in the best hotels, went on vacation to fancy countries, she was living the life.

Anika was home, trying to pick a dress to wear for an event. It was the launch of a particular product and she had modelled for them so it was only right that she was present at the launch . Her mom Ava came into the room and sat on the bed and watched Anika check herself out in the mirror for a while before she spoke up.

“Anika darling, what are you dressing up for?” Ava asked .

“Oh, just a dinner mom.” Anika replied.

“Oh alright, okay then, I would like to talk to you about something” Ava said.

“Well, you’re here already, what’s on your mind mom?” Anika replied while still looking at her reflection in the mirror.

“So I’ve been thinking, as you know, you have quite a number of admirers and you haven’t really done anything about them” Ava stopped.

“Oh that, i just haven’t really found the person i like yet mom, really” Anika replied casually.

“I understand that but i have an idea, why don’t we take advantage of the attention you’re getting and make it a business move instead?” Ava said with a mischievous smile.

“Hmm, I’m listening” Anika said and sat on the bed beside her mother.

“We know your admirers are people who are in the industry as well right? They’re men with companies and shares in different corporations, yes? Now, what if we make you go out with one of them, sort of an indirect merger between our company and his, whoever it may be? That way we have access to more resources than before, what do you think?" Ava asked Anika for ger opinion.

“I love the idea mom!” Anika said excitedly. If anika loves something in life then it's only money.

“I’m glad you do, I was just thinking about it, you know the way for our company to move forward, so do you have anyone on your mind? Someone you might be easily attracted to and he also has a strong company on his hands?” Ava said giving a hint .

“The only person that comes to mind right now is Arjun Kapoor, he’s handsome and i wouldn’t mind being with him at all” Anika said while smiling.

“Alright then, I’ll have to set up a meeting with his father, hopefully i can convince him to agree to the plan and see the advantage in joining our families and companies together” Her mom got up from the bed, as she was stepping out, she turned and said, aj“Oh and you can pick the green dress instead, it brings out your eyes honey”

The Next Day.

Ava was a really pretty woman but she was so selfish. She can do everything for own profit. Ava loves her only daughter the most and that's why she instead invested heavily in her daughter as her daughter was a carbon copy of her .

Ava was headed to go visit an old friend, who is no one else than the father of Arjun Kapoor . Ava has known Arjun’s father for quite some time as the Kapoor family and Agarwal family have been close friends for a long time.

Ava met the Kapoor family for the first time when her late husband took her to her first business dinner. After the death of Mr Agarwal, Agarwal Industry faces a huge problem and the Kapoor family help them a lot and from then on she pays him visits once in a while to the Kapoor family.Today Ava has other intentions in her mind.

Ava got to the Kapoor Industry Building, she quickly walked towards the receptionist. It seemed they had changed receptionists because the old one immediately sent her up to the office as she knew they were close friends.

“Good day mam, how may I help you?” The pretty girl behind the desk asked quite politely.

“I would like to see Mr. Guarav Kapoor please” Ava said.

“Okay mam, do you have an appointment?” the receptionist asked.

“No, but I’m a close friend of his and I trust he wouldn’t mind ” Ava said with a smile.

“Well, I understand but I would still have to ring him up to inform him of your presence, pleas give me a few minutes madam” the receptionist said.

“Alright, I’ll wait. ” Ava said. While the receptionist rang him up, Ava looked around the waiting lobby. It seemed they had changed the décor of recent and she loved the new paintings they had hung, as they added to the setting and it projected a calm and serene environment.

“Madam, he said to come up, sorry for having to delay you” the receptionist said with head down.

“Oh it’s alright. " Ava said .

“Thank you for understanding, have a nice day” The receptionist smiled .

“Ava walked towards the lift. She was soon on Guarav’s office floor, she headed to the door marked “CEO, Kapoor Industries " . She knocked on the door and heard him give her permission to enter.

“Ava! How’re you? How’s Anika? How’s business?” He said as he shook her hand.

“Hello Guarav, I’m alright, Anika is doing well and the business has its highs and lows but we’re alright and we recently bought some stocks and can’t wait for them to go up . By the way How’re you Guarav? How’s your handsome boy? How’s the company?” Ava asked as Guarav walked back sit behind his desk, he sat down, poured 2 glasses of scotch and beckoned her to sit down.

“Please have a seat and drink with me, well, I’m alright, doing must fine, just got back from a vacation i took to clear my head, Arjun is doing alright, he handled the business while i was away and he did a great job, business is moving well, so to what do i owe this visit? You usually call ahead before you come visit” He crossed one leg on the other, put his fingers together and stared at her.

“Well, I have a business proposal, ” Ava said.

“Alright, let me hear about it, wait, before you begin, is it going to benefit me in a way or is it going to be my downfall?” Gaurav Kapoor Asked.

“It had benefits of course, are you ready to hear me out now?” Ava said with a serious voice

“Alright, continue” Gaurav anserd in a same tone.

“Okay, here goes, as you know in our business, in order to stay ahead of competition, partnerships are made right?” Ava asked him .

“Correct” he answered.

“Good, now i want to propose a partnership of sorts between my end and your end, if you would be okay with it” Ava said with a smile .

“Oh, is it that? Sure, I would love to be partners, okay, first, I would need to see your papers, your general ledgers, your income, general inflow, you know the usual for my boys in accounting to look at so we know how best this could benefit us” Gaurav said. Gaurav Kapoor is a perfect businessman who knows how to tackle this type of situation.

“You don’t understand, this isn’t an official merger, it’s an indirect one” Ava said with a mischievous smile.

“Hmm, what are you saying?” he asked

“I’m saying your son is single, my daughter isn’t seeing anybody as well, why not bring them together in the public eye but their coming together can also serve as a coming together of both our companies?” Ava suggested.

“Wow, that’s brilliant” Guarav Smiled now for the first time.

“Thank you, so what do you say?” Ava asked and extended her hand for a handshake.

“Yes, you have a deal, you talk to your daughter and I’ll sit down with my son, let’s set up a date for both of them to connect” He said and stood up and adjusted his suit then extended his hand for the handshake.

“I’m glad you see the vision the way I do, I can’t wait to be partners, partner” She smiled as she shook his hand.

“It’s a beautiful vision, I am honored to be a part of it” Gaurav answered .

“I’ll be on my way now, thank you for everything" Ava said as she turned to head out.

“It was a pleasure to talk with you” He said after her.

Ava passed the receptionist and did a little wave at her which she returned. Ava walked out of the building quite relieved, she was glad he found the idea interesting, she had expected him to put up a fight but he bought it and that was a good thing, she got into her car, she couldn’t wait to inform Anika of the good news.

Other hand ,

Gaurav Kapoor was sitting in her cabin. He was not so sure about this idea as he knew his son's unknown secret. He took his phone and dialled Arjun's number. After 3 rang he picked up. " Hey dad . What's up?" Arjun said. "I want you to marry Anika Agarwal" Gaurav said in a serious calm tone but Arjun's next words shocked him.