"President. We have some news from the airport." A respectful voice was heard from the other end of the line.

"Is it worth disturbing my sleep, Sharma?" a man’s cold voice echoed inside the room.

"My apologies, President Rathore. It’s about that photo."

The man jolted up from the bed, his drowsiness leaving him in an instant. "Tell me about it."

"A woman with the same features as Miss Myra Kaul arrived at the airport in a private jet. It was two hours ago." Sharma made a deliberate pause. "But..."

"But what?"

"President, her name is no longer Lily Kaul."

Silence followed.

"Then what is it?"

"Lily Kaul. Her name is Lily Kaul. President Rathore, I took the liberty of gathering more information about Miss Kaul, and it seems that she is a prominent figure in Europe."

"Europe?"

"Yes, President. She is the CEO and Owner of Facci Group of Companies in London. The news says that she just canceled her engagement with another Tycoon from London and received three companies as compensation from the Arison family. If my guess is right, she should be here on business, to handle those companies."

"Facci?" Rihaan Rathore furrowed his brow. He had heard of the Facci family. However, how could Myra have become one of them?

"Yes... Lily Kaul is a low profile businesswoman who rarely appears in functions and banquets. Because of this, not many people know of her past. However, according to our sources, Lily Kaul was the lost granddaughter of Lilian Facci who died a month ago."

"Continue..."

"Well, it is said that Lilian Facci found Miss Kaul in a Mental Facility in Delhi."

Rihaan clenched his jaws at his secretary’s words. "Good. I want the full report. No-no... I want you to bring it to me."

"Right now?" his secretary asked.

"Yes, Sharma. Right now," he answered before abruptly cutting the call. He looked at the time on his phone.

Three in the morning.

Rihaan Rathore dragged his feet out of his king-sized bed and donned on a black robe. He went ahead and poured himself a glass of his favorite bourbon.

The burn of the bourbon instantly made him more alert and he finally managed to process the words he had just heard from his secretary. He downed another glass of bourbon as if hoping to find the answer to his question at the bottom of it.

"Lily Kaul," he thought out loud before walking towards the terrace of his penthouse. "So that’s why I was not able to find you." Rihaan scoffed as he opened the email he had received on his phone.

It was a photo of a woman wearing a deep red, knee-length dress, walking down from the private jet. Her hand held her hair back, trying to stop it from dancing with the wind. Rihaan’s gaze instantly darkened when he swiped to the next photo. It was Lily walking away from the jet, talking and smiling to the young pilot next to her.

"Lily Kaul... Myra Kaul..." he murmured. "I finally found you."

His gaze turned towards the sea of clouds in front of him. It was dawn, yet he could no longer see the streets full of glittering lights. This was the thing he loved the most about living in the tallest floor of Sky City.

The peaceful sea of clouds.

Lily woke up at ten in the morning.

It was still Friday, so she decided to visit their new retail site, A.R Mall and Boutique, located at the heart of Delhi and do a little shopping and inspection before going to the columbarium to pay her respects at her paternal grandmother’s niche.

After Nova had confirmed the arrival of the directors, Lily gave her some directions regarding their itinerary for the day. To her surprise, Nova informed her that Liam Arison would be accompanying them to the site visit. He said that he intended to introduce her to the managers there.

Although she had not expected Liam to personally guide her at the site after what happened between them, Lily still accepted the arrangement and proceeded with her initial plan for the day. After all, it was only reasonable for the CEO of Arison’s Holdings to be doing this for the people who just bought their company.

What she did not know was that this news also reached Rihaan.

As the CEO of the Rathore Group, one of the top banks in Delhi and India, Rihaan had his ways of finding Lily Kaul’s itinerary.

"President, Mr. Liam Arison just landed and is on his way to Miss Kaul’s place," Sharma said, his confidence dwindling as sweat started to trickle down his back. President Rathore’s face was so dark that Sharma’s soul almost left his body.

"Didn’t you tell me that she had already broken off the engagement?" Rihaan said. "Why is he still following her around?"

Sharma did not know whether to cry or laugh at the president’s words. Why did it seemed like the president’s IQ has dropped today? "President... I believe it is perfectly normal for Mr. Arison to come here and guide Miss Kaul around the company that she just acquired. Moreover, the acquisition is going to be gradual. Miss Kaul made sure to take over in stages so that it will not affect daily operations and the morale of the employees working at that mall."

"Why does it have to be him? He also has a sister and a brother working at their company! Does this mean that the Arison family still want their son to be associated with her?" he reasoned. His voice was not loud, but it was loud enough for his secretary to hear. However, the latter chose to remain silent.

Sharma decided that he would ignore what the president said and act as if he had not heard anything. For some reason, ever since Miss Kaul arrived last night, the president had been acting like a female with hormonal imbalance. He had been very moody and was always talking to himself.

The worst thing was, the president seemed to overthink everything. From the choice of his suit to his tie, the color of his shoes and his hairstyle. It was as if he was trying to look his best should he encounter Miss Kaul.

Sharma could only watch as the president continued to talk to himself. He mentally made a note to send a text message to the president’s best friend, to let him know of President’s unusual behavior.

Though he was aware of how the president had done everything in his power to find Miss Kaul, Sharma still found his boss’ actions unbelievable. He never would have imagined that Miss Kaul’s arrival in the country would turn his cunning and cold boss into an insecure mess. He couldn’t wait to see how President’s Zhuo would behave when he is in the same room as Miss Kaul.

"When the day comes that Lily Kaul asks for an appointment, I want you to cancel all my meetings and schedule an appointment with her on that same day."

"Eh? But President, how sure are you that she will call for an appointment?" Sharma asked. Was President becoming a fortune teller now?

The temperature in the room instantly turned a few degrees colder after Sharma asked that question.

"I apologize President... how about I find out more about what Miss Kaul went through in Europe?" Sharma instantly suggested, in an attempt to pacify Rihaan. Seeing the president nod and signal him to leave, the secretary did not hesitate to leave the office immediately.

It was unimaginable for Sharma who had never witnessed this side of the president. He knew the president as someone logical and cunning about every situation except when it came to the woman in that photo.

At that time, the President had asked him to do everything that he could to find Myra Kaul from all the mental facilities in Asia. However, their search always failed. Because of this, the president assumed that the Kaul family had something to do with Myra kaul’s disappearance seven years ago. It was not a secret that Rihaan Rathore had been attacking the kaul family gradually. The Kaul family had been suffering in his hands for years simply because he thought that they were the ones responsible for Miss Kaul’s departure from the mental facility years ago.

In President’s mind, no one except the Kual family was capable of covering their tracks and hiding Myra Kaul. He thought that the Kaul family had either killed her or hid her somewhere in Asia.

Seven years... the president took it upon himself to look for a woman who might have been dead. However, he never once saw the president lose hope in his quest for Myra Kaul.

Although Sharma did not know about Myra Kaul’s history with the president, he knew that she was extremely important to him. Now that he had witnessed what Miss Kaul’s presence in the country could do to the president, he couldn’t help but ask himself if her arrival had been a boon or a bane.

After all, President Rathore might not act like it now, but he was the mastermind responsible for Delhi’s success in the global market.

The true king of capitalism.

"This area here will have a fountain and a mini-park. The proposal for this project had already been approved by the board of directors. If you want, I can hand it to you anytime," Liam said as he side-eyed Lily. If it were not for his father and mother, he would never come here to follow her around.

Initially, he expected her to decline this arrangement and cause a fuss. Who would have imagined that she would accept the offer and treat him as a mere business associate? Had she forgotten that they were engaged until a week ago?

"No need. I am not interested in this project." He heard Lily mutter next to him. He stared at her for a moment before he responded.

"But this will attract customers..." he was about to retort when Lily turned her head towards him. She gave him her signature smile, almost making him curse in annoyance.

"I am not interested in a park, Mr. Arison. Thank you for the generous offer though," she said before turning her gaze towards the space in front of them. It would be a waste to turn the spot into a park. Lily could not help but shake her head in dismay. No wonder the Arisons had been losing money. Their CEO was incapable of recognizing the potential of that space.

A.R Mall and Boutique lay in the middle of the city. However, the Arisons did not realize its tremendous potential. What a waste. Good thing, she was able to acquire this property at a reasonable price.

Sometimes, Lily could not help but pat herself on the back. If she hadn’t been smart enough to make this acquisition plan when the proposal for engagement arrived, she would have declined the proposal for marriage there and then and cut ties with that worthless person.

While Lily was praising her cunningness inwardly, Liam Arison was already fuming, eyes shooting daggers her way. How dare this woman insult the project he painstakingly planned?

Sensing his escalating rage, Liam’s secretary approached him and offered him a bottle of water. The latter took the water bottle without saying anything. He then drank a mouthful of water and gave it back to his secretary before clenching his fist. At this moment he seemed to have realized that she had not even spare a glance his way. She was intentionally ignoring him!

"I think we should talk about what happened," he thought out loud after a few minutes of awkward silence.

"About what?" Lily asked before accepting a folder from Nova. "Ah, Mr. Arison. I don’t think I have the time to discuss such matters. We should part ways. I still have a lot of things to do," she said before turning away from him.

"Lily kaul!" Liam grabbed her arm to stop her. "I’m unsure why you are doing this, but I am unwilling to give up on our engagement. If you want, I could break up with my girlfriend. This marriage is profitable for both families. I want you to think about it again."

"Eh?" Lily raised an eyebrow at him. She had thought that Liam wanted to talk about the park and had, therefore, instantly declined and wanted to part ways, not wanting to explain how laughable his idea was.

So he was thinking about the canceled engagement and not the project. Lily grew more amused by the minute.

"Mr. Arison," she started, eyeing her secretary and some directors that were accompanying them on this visit. She couldn’t help but wonder if he was intentionally spewing these words in front of her subordinates to pressure her to agree to talk to him. Did he think that she would get uncomfortable and ask for him to settle this matter in private?

With this in mind, Lily smiled at the man in front of her before tugging at her arm, causing him to let go. "You are the one in a relationship with your cousin when we were still engaged. I am not only disgusted by you but also angry. Did the Arison family think they could bully me because my grandmother passed away?"

Liam’s eyes widened when he heard Lily’s words. He initially thought that she would hold back her and ask to talk to him in private. He had never thought that she would lay everything out in the open. Wasn’t she afraid that people would think she was incompetent and that’s why her fiancé cheated on her?

He watched as Lily leaned in closer to his face.

The smile on her face seemed to have become broader; the sparkle in her eyes had become prominent. However, this did not make him feel any better. For some reason, this smile gave him goosebumps. It was as if a highly deadly predator was looking at him. He wondered if this was the infamous grin people around Europe spoke about.

"Don’t provoke me again." She patted his shoulders as if trying to remove the dust on it. "Or else, I will bring down the whole Arison family with you." Her sharp words were said with such sweetness that Liam felt his throat burn. It was the first time he had seen Lily in this light, and to say that it didn’t put the fear of a higher entity in him would be a lie.

At this point, Liam saw Lily as someone so scary that he could stop his body from trembling.

Liam could only watched as Lily strutted away. To say that he was infuriated right now would be an understatement. He badly wanted to strangle the woman, choke her and wipe off that smirk from her face. However, Lily’s eyes and insidious smile made him swallow his anger instead. That woman was a pure evil. He was sure of it.

He could only curse his parents for forcing him to come here and try to coax Lily.

After Lily left Liam, she asked Nova to drive her towards Scarlet City, the number one upscale Mall in delhi. Aside from the fact that this was a part of her itinerary, she also wanted to check out her competitors.

"I already told you to find a reliable bodyguard that will act as a driver. The ones that you have chosen were so unreliable," Lily thought out loud, her gaze was glued on the busy streets of delhi. Lily always hated bringing her own security and wanted to stay as lowkey as possible, so she had asked Nova to engage an agency that would take care of their security while they were in the country. Who would have thought that the agency would cancel at the last minute saying that they had a shortage of manpower? How could they conduct business like this?

"President, the agency that I chose is the second most trusted agency in Delhi. Even celebrities used them during their concerts and tours. I thought they were reliable. Hmmp! They did not even inform me about this issue beforehand. They only called this morning! I will surely leave a bad review on their website later on! Just they wait and see!"

Lily did not say anything; she had already grown accustomed to Nova’s personality. She knew that Nova would definitely find a way to get back at the security agency for being so unreliable and inconveniencing her beloved president. "Hey... could you drop by to the pastry store at the corner of the street?"

"The pastry shop to our left?"

"Yes. That one," she nodded. This was her favorite sweet store in the country. She would not miss the opportunity of eating the one thing that she had actually missed in this place.

Lily immediately instructed Nova to buy her a few of her favorites including her favorite coffee and a dozen cupcakes for Nova and the directors. She then watched as Nova made her way into the store.

However, not even a minute passed when Lily furrowed her brows. A white custom van had recklessly parked in front of them, almost hitting her Volkswagen beetle in the process. Lily narrowed her eyes at the driver who got out of the car and opened the door for the passenger. It was a middle-aged man with a military haircut, wearing a black suit.

High-end security.

Influential families.

Those were the two things that came into Lily’s mind. However, to her surprise, the passenger who came out of the van was someone that she was very familiar with.

Raghav Singh.

Her ex-fiancé.

Then the other person inside the van must be her superstar step-sister and Raghav Singh’s beloved wife, Meera Singh.

Lily looked on as Raghav went inside the same store to buy some sweets. However, unlike seven years ago, Lily didn’t feel anything as she stared at him. No anger, no hate, certainly no love. What happened seven years ago was because she was too stupid. After everything that she had been through, Lily already realized that this Raghav and the Kaul family did not deserve her hate.

Even her hate was something precious and she would not waste it on some insignificant person.

Lily was aware that revenge was not something that she was good at getting. However, if those people would dare try to offend her, then she could not promise that she would not retaliate.

Minutes passed by slowly, and Lily was engrossed in her own little world. When she finally noticed Nova, she was already sitting next to her with a very dark look on her face.

"What’s wrong?" Lily asked.

"President, you won’t believe what had happened inside. Some guy acting like a celebrity walked in and forced me to give the last piece of gold leaf doughnut to him! How disrespectful. He said that his pregnant wife wanted to eat these golden donuts! I would have given it to him had he not been so arrogant to demand it from me instead of asking me nicely..."

Nova continued to grumble, completely unaware of the change in Lily’s expression. Pregnant? Meera is already pregnant? Lily clenched her fist as a tinge of pain flashed in her eyes. However, she easily recovered and continued to listen to her secretary’s grumbling.

Pregnant or not, this had nothing to do with her.

"Wow! Look! It seems like that guy is really someone of influence. President! That is the bodyguard of that guy! He is coming to our car! I bet he wants the donuts!" Nova’s words woke Lily from her stupor. She watched as the bodyguard knocked on Nova’s window with a grave expression.

"Look, sir, I already told you, I am not going to sell you this donut!"

"Miss. We are willing to pay! Our Madam is currently pregnant, and she wants this donut. We need to have this," the bodyguard insisted while eyeing Lily who was just blankly staring at him. Seeing Lily’s expensive clothing, the guard instantly assumed that she was a small-time businesswoman and Nova was her secretary.

After all, judging by the model of Lily’s car, it was really easy to assume that she was a small-time businesswoman. Moreover, he had also heard the woman mentioned earlier that she couldn’t give this donut up because her President wanted it.

With this in mind, he shifted his attention towards Lily. "Miss... I know you are this person’s boss. Why don’t you sell this donut to me? I will compensate you with triple of the original price."

Lily who had been staring at the bodyguard, suddenly gave him a smile. "Give me a hundred thousand dollars and I will give this to you," she said, surprising both Nova and the bodyguard. A hundred thousand dollars? Is she sane? It was just a simple blueberry donut with icing in the form of a golden leaf on top! It’s value was less than ten dollars.

"Oi! Don’t be too much! This donut only cost five dollars! You are clearly creating trouble for us!" the man fumed! He had clearly encountered a hooligan! Did this woman think that she could get away with this?

Even Nova was frozen because of Lily’s words. What was this situation? A hundred thousand dollars for a donut? Wasn’t this a little... extravagant?

"Alright. Since you can’t afford a hundred thousand dollars then please move aside. I don’t have the time to deal with you," Lily said before she signaled Nova to start the beetle.

"Aman, what’s the hold-up? The madam and master are in a hurry," the driver who almost bumped into Lily’s car said as he approached the car with his brow furrowed. The madam and master waiting inside the car were getting impatient. The madam had said that she wanted to eat this donut but since it was already sold out by the time they got to the store, they had no choice but to force the customer who bought the last donut to sell it to them.

"This woman is a hooligan! She asked me to pay a hundred thousand dollars for a piece of donut!" the man named Aman answered before turning his attention back to Lily. "I advise you to stop playing around and give the donut to us. You can’t afford to offend our master and madam."

"Hmp! Now you are making threats! You are the one who can’t afford to offend my President! I would advise you to move aside or don’t blame me for being ruthless!" this time it was Nova who answered. Her fiery temper was what Lily loved so much about this secretary of hers.

"You-" Aman answered. "Wait here! I will talk to the master." he said before walking towards the van. The master had told him to obtain the donut no matter what. Since this woman was not budging, giving him a headache, he had better seek direction from his boss, Raghav, on how to deal with the situation.

“Sir... the lady who has the donut is refusing to sell it to us. She even dare to demand for an unreasonable amount just now. She is clearly looking for trouble."

"Give it to her. Can’t you see that your madam needs it?" Raghav answered, irritation apparent in his voice. His wife had called him in the middle of a meeting just to ask him for this donut. When he refused, she started crying and accused him for being ruthless for ignoring their child.

"But Sir it was an extravagant amount..."

"I told you to give it to her! Why are you still standing there?" Raghav chided.

"Raghav, calm down." Meera lovingly stroke her husband’s back before looking at Aman. "How much is she selling the donut for?"

"Maam... the woman said she would only sell it for a hundred thousand dollars."

"What?" both Raghav and Meera blurted out at the same time. A hundred thousand? Raghav’s face instantly turned dark. He always had little patience for people who were unreasonable.

Seeing Raghav’s dark expression, Aman instantly added fuel to the fire. After all, Raghav had always been known for his short temper. In his mind, it would be best if his boss asked him to get even with that hooligan. "Sir, it seems that the woman owns a small business. From the way she dresses, I don’t think she is in need of money. If my guess is right, she is just intentionally causing trouble for us."

“Darling... Our child wants that donut. Please just have Aman do something about it." Meera pouted. Her motives were clear. She knew that her husband loved her a lot and she was sure that he would not hesitate to spend a hundred thousand dollars on her. However, to spend this amount on a donut was just too much.

Meera immediately thought that what Aman had said about the woman intentionally creating trouble for them could be right. "Aman, did you let them know who my husband is?"

"Maam, I did not. I assumed that they already know." Any fan of Meera would be able to recognize her van. Since Meera was a superstar, Aman assumed that the woman would recognize the van too.

"Why don’t you give her my husband’s name card and tell her to sell the donut for fifty dollars." Meera’s motive was simple. She wanted to intimidate the woman who has the donut. After all, her husband was a great director and the CEO of Singh Films and Albums. Everyone in this country would surely recognize him as he was an influential person.

If what Aman said about the woman being a small businesswoman was true, then she would be smart enough to realize that she could not afford to offend someone from the Singh family.

Aman instantly beamed at Meera’s words before giving them a bow. "Maam is wise. I will follow Maam’s orders." With that, Aman made his way towards the beetle with his head held high. He actually forgot to mention Raghav’s name to intimidate this woman earlier.

Aman confidently knocked on Lily’s window and waited for her to wind it down. However, Lily signaled him to walk towards Nova’s side. She would not be stupid to open her side of the window and risked being seen by Raghav and her sister.

Aman let out a loud harrumphed before walking towards Nova’s side. For some reason, he did not like these two women, especially the one who was being addressed as the President.

"First, I want you to know that my boss, CEO Raghav Singh is not someone you can offend. I will buy the donut from you for fifty dollars and I can also give you my boss’s name card which contains his personal phone number. If you are smart, you will take my offer. You can even give him a call and maybe ask for an investment for your little company," he confidently said. A smart businessman would surely not let this opportunity pass.

"However, it would also depend on your capability. If your company is good, I’m sure that our CEO will be willing to invest a little. That should be enough for this donut. Right?" he added.

He was expecting for Lily to give in immediately, especially after hearing Raghav’s name. Who would have thought that Lily and Nova would burst out laughing? Their eyes full of mockery.

"Let’s go, Nova" He heard the woman ordering her driver in a languid tone, making him speechless. Why does it seem like the woman did not even hear his proposition? Was this woman crazy?

How could she be so stupid as to refuse this offer? No one in their right mind would do this!

"I want to know that woman’s identity as soon as possible!" Meera demanded, she was about to explode with rage. She pouted and crossed her arms in front of her. That woman actually dared to decline the offer. In rejecting Aman’s proposal, she was either stupid or very stupid!

"Meera... calm down. This will affect the baby," Raghav said with gentleness. He put aside the irritation he felt from the incident earlier and tried to pacify his wife. He was very familiar with his wife’s temper. Although Meera might look kind and gentle on the outside, Raghav knew that the real her was nothing like the persona she portrayed to the outside world and especially to her fans.

Meera was vicious and scheming. She was also insecure and jealous. Yet, Raghav loved everything about this woman. Especially now that she was pregnant with their first child.

Raghav stroked his wife’s back slowly and gently. "Don’t worry too much about it. I will put that woman in her place and show her why I am feared in the industry."

"You better!" Meera scoffed. "Hmp! She is nothing but a small business owner! Yet, how dare she bare her fangs at me? Me, of all people?"

Raghav patiently listened to his wife’s rants, and waited for her to calm down. Sometimes he couldn’t help but wonder and ask himself exactly which part of Meera he loved. She was not virtuous nor kind, so how did Raghav ended up liking her over his mild and docile ex-fiancée before?

Right, Meera was the exact opposite of the submissive Myra kaul. Meera was feisty, her cunningness and sharp tongue was what attracted Raghav. Her arrogance and domineering attitude was the reason why Raghav paid more attention to her.

Memories flooded Raghav’s mind as he thought about Myra’s unfortunate fate. Myra crossed Meera and her step-mother and because of that, it was fated that she had to fall from grace, way before that incident, seven years ago. It didn’t happen earlier because her grandmother, the Matriarch of the Kaul family, was always there to back her up. That was why Meera and her mother, Revati kaul, devised a plan to render the Matriarch of the Kaul family useless.

Raghav could only sigh at Myra’s sad ending. Seven years ago, they drugged Myra with a drug that would lower her inhibition. The intent was for Myra to create some ruckus in front of the media and tarnish her reputation as a prim and proper eldest miss of the Kaul family. Then, Raghav would use this as an excuse to break off the engagement with her.

Who would have thought that she would end up in a bar, seduce some random man and even got photographed passionately kissing the man? This was something that even the scheming Revati kaul never expected.

When the ruthless Revati kaul got a hold of this information, she immediately tried to use this opportunity to get Myra’s ten percent share in the Kaul family’s business. Revati kaul and Meera had meticulously planned out everything to ruin the eldest miss of the Kaul family. And they succeeded.

But Raghav would never blame his wife and mother-in-law for wronging Myra. After all, in the world of the rich and influential, backstabbing for the sake of money and power was a common phenomenon. It was normal for people with less influence to be thrown away like a rug once they had outlived their usefulness. Myra was born weak. And that was her biggest mistake.

For everyone involved in that scheme, the only regret they had was that they were not able to obtain Myra’s signature for the transfer of the shares. This was because, she disappeared right after she was admitted to the mental facility. Everyone failed to find her.

"Speaking of which, clear your schedule this monday. The lawyer will be reading late Grandmother’s last will." Meera’s beautiful face slowly turned into a scowl. "I am so irritated at this arrangement. It is obvious that I will get everything. I don’t even think there is a need to disturb my filming to attend this reading," Meera said. "My schedule is already full yet that damn lawyer had told my father that it was absolutely necessary for me to attend. He also said that Myra is coming!"

"Myra?" Raghav blurted as a flash of surprise glinted in his eyes. "The lawyer found her?"

"Not the lawyer. It was late Grandmother. Apparently, she had found Myra years ago but did not tell anyone about it. That old woman was truly stupid. If she was that adamant on protecting Myra, then why have the lawyer call Myra out upon her death?" Meera sneered. "Did she think her soul could protect her favorite granddaughter?"

"Maybe she wanted to leave some assets for Myra."

"Impossible. If that happens, it would only attract Mother’s ire. If that old woman truly cares about Myra, then she would leave her with nothing but some charity of a hundred thousand dollars in a bank account," Meera said before stifling a yawn. "Either way, I am still eager to see how that woman looks now. She ran away seven years ago without anything. No money, no clothing. I wonder how she could have survived until now."

Meera then leaned towards her husband and closed her eyes. Myra was nothing in her eyes. She was insignificant like the dust on the ground to her. To Meera, Myra and her waitress mother were not even fit to clean her shoes.

Meanwhile, Raghav fell into a deep thought at Meera’s words. Myra was back? And according to his wife, she was still alive and well. That was something that Raghav did not expect.

When Myra disappeared seven years ago, everyone assumed that she ran away in shame. Meera and her mother even asked people to check the morgue in the country every now and then to see if Myra’s body would suddenly turn up.

Everyone expected that Myra would die or suffer a misfortune sooner or later. Yet, time passed, and nothing of that sort happened. Eventually, everyone got tired of waiting and slowly forgot about her.

Not that he cared about all this.

Raghav never liked Myra. He respected her before, but that vanished when she hid the fact that she had slept with another man and even tried to move forward the wedding. Raghav understood that Myra was only using him to move out of the Kaul family.

To Raghav, she was a despicable woman who wanted to use him to change her status.

While Raghav and Meera were talking, Lily was already on her way to one of the top jewelry stores in Scarlet City.

Scarlet City was the number one shopping mall in Delhi. The high-class mall was able to attract some of the world’s most stylish and popular boutiques and housed Delhi’s most iconic and exclusive shops. However, three years ago, Scarlet City, owned by the elusive Richard Family of India, almost went bankrupt due to some internal conflict. Rumor has it that they were saved by one of the richest man in Delhi: Rihaan Rathore, the owner of Rathore Group.

Who was Rihaan Rathore? He was a legend in the business world in Delhi but no one knew much about him. This was because he was even more elusive than the Richard Family. There were no images of him online, nor any articles written about him and his lifestyle. Moreover, Mr. Rathore had never accepted any interviews, be it from magazines or news media outlets. Everyone concluded that he had used his influence to keep his identity a secret.

This man swept the Delhi market six years ago and single-handedly raised the economy of the country, a first in the history of Delhi.

Lily remembered that her late grandmother, Facci, had once told her to look out for this man if she ever wanted to branch out in the India. However, at that time, Lily had been busy trying to establish a foothold in Europe, so she felt that it wasn’t the right time to think about branching out in the India, especially not in the country of her birth.

Hence, she hadn’t given that man any further thought until today.

"Nova, find someone reliable to investigate the owner of Rathore Group," she calmly said while heading towards the third floor of the mall. If she wanted to establish her company in the India, then she would need the support of someone powerful, like the owner of Rathore Group. "Also, how is the Kaul Enterprises? Did you get ahold of their current standing in the stock market?"

"President, the Kaul Enterprises seemed to have been suffering for years now. Their stock prices had not shown any improvements for the last five years. Their business is slowly dwindling down. The biggest share in the company is still held by the current Patriarch of the Kaul family. According to my research, Kaul Enterprises will continue to perform poorly for a long time," Nova explained. "They must have offended someone really influential. Otherwise they would not suffer like this."

"Who holds the second biggest share in Kaul Enterprises?" she asked.

"It’s the Rathore Group. Kaul family’s Patriarch owns 32 percent of the shares in kaul Enterprises while Rathore Group owns 25 percent. Our sources said that sooner or later, Rathore Group will seize ownership of this company."

Lily furrowed her brows in response. She really needed to be acquainted with the owner of Rathore Group. "I want you to check if there are any upcoming galas or charities that have invited the President of the Rathore Group as a guest. Then, secure an invitation for me," she instructed before stepping inside GC Jewels; a famous jewelry brand in Europe that had a store in Scarlet City.

"Lily darling!" Lily turned her head towards the source of the voice.

"Fernando!" She smiled at the man who was in his early thirties. Fernando, who was wearing a dark grain one button men’s suit had a brilliant smile on his face.

"Welcome!" Fernando kissed Lily’s cheek and took off her camel colored trench coat, revealing her sophisticated red flare dress. The man raised an eyebrow while looking at Lily’s outfit before he gestured for his assistant to take care of Lily’s coat.

"Beautiful as ever!" Fernando’s lips hooked into an enchanting smile before he looped his arms around Lily’s. "Let me take you to the VIP area. I have some new items that will surely look good on a dashing woman like you."

Nova shook her head as she followed the duo into the VIP room of the store. Fernando was known to be one of Lily’s good friends from Europe. He had been working as a manager in GC Jewels for years now. But most people did not know that the man was also the lead designer in GC Jewels and was responsible for designing some of the most iconic and expensive pieces of jewelry for the company. As a lead designer, instead of working at the headquarters, he had chosen to work in the shop because he wanted to see the reaction of the people who purchased the jewelry he designed.

Seeing Fernando’s dedication to the company, the owner of GC Jewels was touched and made a surprising decision by appointing Fernando his sole successor and heir. As the owner was a single man and did not have any children to pass on the business to and follow in his footsteps, making Fernando as his heir was a logical decision for him. He was convinced that business would continue to thrive in Fernando’s hands.

Of course, Nova only came to know about this because Fernando was considered one of the President’s best friends.

"Hmmm... this pea sized gem is one of the rarest pearls in the world." Fernando gave Lily a display box made of glass. Inside the box was a pair of tangerine colored earrings. "Since there was no way to cultivate this kind of pearl, this piece of gem right here is completely natural! Try it!"

Fernando enthusiastically opened the box and gave the earrings to Lily. Then he ushered her to a mirror that was placed in the middle of the table that they were sitting at. "See? I know this will look good on you!"

"Because of its rarity, only three pairs of these earrings with this precious pearl were made. I especially designed this one for you. This was supposed to be for your birthday but..."

"Fernando... my next birthday is next year." Lily rolled her eyes at her melodramatic friend. Of course, Lily knew that the latter was just talking nonsense. "I like this. How much is it?"

"Hmmm... having you wear one of our items would already be enough to pay for it. But... since I know that you will insist on paying for it, I will sell this to you at half of its original market price."

Lily raised an eyebrow. Fernando was the biggest profiteer among all of her close friends. There was no way that he would let go of such a beautiful pearl for a cheap price. However, she also knew that this man would be willing to catch a bullet for her.

"Twenty Lakhs," Fernando said,

"Alright." Lily smiled. However, before she could tell him to wrap it up for her, they were interrupted by a knock on the door.

"Manager, the Mrs. Kaul of Kaul Enterprises is here to take a look at our jewelry." A woman’s voice was heard. "She said she wanted to see our exclusive collections." Lily instantly grinned.

As expected, enemies always meet on a narrow road.