Chapter 24 - Blood over Love?

 It had been a week !

A week since Rudy started hanging out with Daksh. Ever since he got to know the truth about his mother, he was devastated and wanted to forget about it in any way possible so he turned to Daksh for help.

The situation was going downhill each passing day. Rudy had not attended any of his lectures the entire week and ShivOm didn't get to know about it cause Om and Gauri had went on an educational excursion that week.

Rudy's friends had questioned Rudy about his absence but Rudy simply flicked them off by giving any silly excuses, eventually Rudy's irrelevant reasons made Chubby and Prince think that Rudy didn't like their company anymore and hence was finding ways to avoid them.

Rudy was so blinded by Daksh's bad boy 'cool' life that he couldn't see anything, let alone his friend's hurt-filled eyes or his own wrong behavior.

Rudy had started smoking weed, since the 3rd day of his week-long hang out with Daksh and his friends.

Rudy lied about his days at college to his brothers and after first 2 days he even stopped regretting lying to his family.

*

Om had finished his lectures for the day and was about to go to canteen when he saw Shivaay walking towards him.

"Bhai, aap yaha ?" ("Bhai, you here ?") Om asked in surprise.

"Mujhe college se call aaya tha. Unhe Rudy ke baare mein kuch baat karni hai." ("I had received a call from your college. They want to talk to me about something related to Rudy.") Shivaay replied.

"Rudy ke baare mein ?" ("About Rudy ?") Om furrowed his eyebrows. "Kuch hua hai kya ?" ("But what's wrong ?")

"Pata nahi. Unhone bas bola ki unhe Rudy ke baare mein baat karni hai." ("Don't know. They just said they wanna talk about Rudy.") Shivaay pursued his lips. "Don't worry mein jaake pricipal se milke aata hu." ("Don't worry I'll go and meet the principal.")

Om nodded and quickly added, "Bhai mein bhi chalunga aapke sath." ("Bhai I'll come with you too.")

"Ok, lets go." Shivaay said and they both went to principal's office.

ShivOm reached Principal's office and the principal asked them to sit down.

"What happened sir ? Has Rudy did something wrong ?" Shivaay asked as soon as he sat down.

"In a way, yes." Principal replied in serious manner.

ShivOm looked at each other with worry.

"Is everything alright ? Is he okay ?" Shivaay asked concerned about his lil brother.

"You tell me...Is he okay ? Why isn't he attending college since a week ?" Principal asked.

"What ?" Om exclaimed. "He's not attending college since a whole week ?"

"How's that possible ? I used to drop him to college myself everyday !" Shivaay said.

"Oh God ! That means he's been lying to you." Principal sympathised. "Mr Oberoi, you're his guardian and it's your responsibility to keep the kids in check."

"I know sir, I'm sorry. Please forgive Rudy for his behaviour. I assure you that this won't be repeated. I'll talk to him myself." Shivaay assured.

"Please do talk to him, Mr Oberoi, Rudy's such a bright student, it'll be a shame if he goes the wrong way." Principal said.

ShivOm were then dismissed by the Principal.

"Mujhe abhi bhi yakeen nahi ho raha ki Rudy ne mujhse jhut bola." ("I still can't believe that Rudy lied to me.") Shivaay said, his voice full of hurt and disappointment.

"Mujhe bhi bhai." ("Me too.") Om said but his voice was filled with anger more than hurt and disappointment.

Om hated liars. Ever since his baba had told him not to lie, he had taken it seriously. He never lied to anyone, never ever ! Even when he was taking tution at Gauri's house, he didn't lie to Shivaay. He told Shivaay the partial truth that he goes to Gauri's house and Rudy stays at home.

Om felt betrayed by Rudy's actions. He and Shivaay had always taught Rudy not to lie then why did he ?

"Om, woh dekh Prince aur Chubby." ("Om, look there's Prince and Chubby.") Shivaay pointed towards Rudy's friends. "Chal, unhe pata hoga ki Rudy kaha hai." ("Let's go and ask them, they must know where Rudy is.)

Om nodded. ShivOm walked towards Prince and Chubby.

"Chubby, Prince, Rudy kaha hai ?" ("Chubby, Prince where's Rudy ?") Om asked.

"Arey bhai aap ?" ("Bhai you ?") Prince amused with a smile as he saw Shivaay.

"Haan, lekin Rudy kaha hai ? Aur woh lectures kyu attend nahi kar raha ?" ("Yeah, but where is Rudy ? And why isn't he attending lectures ?") Shivaay asked.

"Woh toh hume bhi nahi pata." ("We don't know.") Chubby replied sadly. "Woh toh ab humse baat bhi nahi karta." ("Rudy doesn't even talk to us nowadays.")

"Baat nahi karta ? Matlab ?" ("He doesn't talk to you ?") Om furrowed eyebrows.

"Woh pichle hafte se humse jhoot bol raha hai aur humare sath baat bhi nahi karta. Lectures attend nahi karta, infact college mein bhi nahi dikhta." ("He's been lying to us since past week and he doesn't even talk to us. He doesn't attend lectures, in fact I haven't even seen him in college.") Prince shrugged like he didn't care but his eyes told how sad he was about it.

"Toh fir yeh ladka jaata kaha hai ?" ("Then where does this boy go ?") Shivaay muttered worriedly and retrieved his phone to call Rudy.

Shivaay's concern only increased when Rudy started rejecting his calls.

"Phone nahi utha raha Rudy." ("He's not receiving my calls.") Shivaay mumbled. "Kaha dhunde ab usey ? Kahi woh kisi musibat mein toh nahi hai." ("Where will we look for him now ? I hope he's not in any danger.")

Om sensed Shivaay's growing panick and put a comforting hand on Shivaay's shoulder.

"Don't worry bhai." Om gave a small assuring smile. "Woh yahi kahi hoga, hume milke usey dhundte hai." ("He's must be around, we'll find him together.")

"Hum bhi apki help karenge." ("We'll help you too.") Prince and Chubby said at the same time making ShivOm smile at them.

"Thank you Prince, Chubby. Rudy bahot lucky hai ki usey tum jaise dost mile." ("Thank you Prince, Chubby. Rudy is very lucky to have friends like you.") Shivaay replied honestly.

Prince and Chubby smiled back. "Chaliye milke usey dhundte hai." ("Let's go and find him.")

ShivOm, Prince and Chubby went in separate directions looking for Rudy in the entire campus.

After 15 minutes of searching....

Shivaay was worried sick. He had looked for his brother everywhere but he didn't find Rudy.

Shivaay, at last, decided to go and check the backside of the college.

Om was also looking for Rudy everywhere. His anger was now fading into worry with no sign of Rudy anywhere.

"Tumne Rudy ko kahi dekha ?" ("Have you seen Rudy somewhere ?") Om asked one of the boys in the campus.

"Rudra ? Usey meine abhi abhi Daksh ke sath college ke piche jaate hue dekha." ("Rudra ? I just saw him going to backside of the college with Daksh.") The boy replied.

"Daksh ke sath ?" ("With Daksh ?") Om mumbled with astonishment. "Are you sure ? He cannot be with Daksh."

"Yes I'm sure. In fact I've seen Rudra hangout with Daksh since past week." The boy replied.

Om was shocked to say the least but soon his shock subsided and anger took over him.

In the entire college with 1080 students, Rudy only found Daksh to be friends with ?

No, Om was sure that this is all Daksh's plan to take revenge from Om for bashing him up that day.

Rudy is too innocent and hence got easily manipulated, but that didn't make him any less of an idiot cause it's a common sense that we don't hang out with our brother's enemies.

Om was outraged. He started marching towards the backside of the college to find Rudy and confront him.

*

Rudy was sitting on the old benches which the college management had kept at the backside of the college.

Rudy had just came back to college after spending 3 hours in a pub partying with Daksh, Jigar and Rasham.

Rudy lit his 2nd weed roll of the day and started smoking along with Jigar. He had lost control on himself as he started smoking.

"Rudy, Shivaay tumhara cousin hai na ?" ("Rudy, Shivaay is your cousin right ?") Daksh started with a smirk after passing a wink towards his friends, Jigar and Rasham.

"Hmm." Rudy slurred puffing in another blow.

"Fir bhi woh tumhari life control karta hai ?" ("Then why does he control your life ?") Daksh with fake sadness. "How sad."

"N..not sa..sad." Rudy replied with another slur. "H..he's m..my big...big br..brother."

"Really ? I don't think so." Daksh shook his head. "I heard him saying that he hates you and he's going to send you away from us."

"N..no !" Rudy stood up abruptly but couldn't hold himself up and was about to fall down but supported himself with the wall.

"Yes." Daksh pursued his lips. "He doesn't like you, you know, he just fakes it. In fact he hates you. But it's understandable...He's not your actual brother, he's your 1st cousin and usually cousins are not this much loving or caring."

Rudy's mind was hazy due to the effect of weed he had inhaled and hence he felt like whatever Daksh was telling him was the truth.

Rudy took another puff of his cigarette and stood with a stone face.

"I think..." Daksh continued. "...Agli baar jab tum Shivaay se miloge tab woh tumhe kahi dur bhej dega." ("...Next time you see Shivaay, he'll send you away.")

Rudy's eyes filled with tears.

"Rudy !"

Rudy, Daksh and everyone turned towards the source of the voice and saw Shivaay standing there with worried sick expressions.

Shivaay came towards Rudy and cupped his face. "Are you alright ?"

Rudy jerked Shivaay away.

Shivaay was hurt by Rudy's actions but then his eyes caught the cigarette in Rudy's hand and he also noticed Rudy's bloodshot red eyes.

"Rudy tu smoke kar raha hai ?" ("Rudy you're smoking ?") Shivaay asked disbelievingly.

Shivaay's face instantly turned into an angry one when Rudy took another puff from the cigarette in front of him.

"Rudy !" Shivaay yelled and snatched the cigarette from Rudy and tossed it away making Rudy angry. "Abhi ke abhi mere sath ghar chalo." ("Come home with now !")

Shivaay held Rudy's hand and was just dragging him away when Rudy made him stop by planting his feet hard on the ground and pushed Shivaay away again.

"Mein kahi nahi jaa raha." ("I'm not going anywhere.") Rudy yelled.

"Rudy, abhi ke abhi ghar chalo." ("Rudy let's go home right now.") Shivaay replied calmly.

"Nahi." ("No.") Rudy shouted again.

"Meri baat maano verna..." ("Do as I say or else...") Shivaay started but was cut off by Rudy.

"..verna kya ? Kya kar loge aap ? Mere papa ho aap joh mujhe aise orders de rahe ho ?" ("...else what ? What will you do ? Are you my father to give me orders like that ?") Rudy slurred. "Aap toh mere asli bhai bhi nahi hai...cousin hai aap ! Aapko koi haq nahi banta mujhpar hukum chalne ka. Mere papa banne ki koshish mat karo." ("You're not even my sibling...you're my cousin ! You've no right to order me. Don't try to become my father.")

Shivaay was speechless, he was too shocked and pained by Rudy's words to say or do anything. Tears were ready to roll down Shivaay's eyes as he stared at Rudy with hurt.

"RUDRA OBEROI !"

Everyone except Shivaay turned to look at the new voice in the scene and saw Om looking mad as ever.

Om stomped towards Rudy and slapped him in his outrage.

"Om !" Shivaay said in surprise.

"Teri himmat kaise hui bhai se aise baat karne ki ! Tujhe pata bhi hai tu kya bakwas kar raha hai ?" ("How dare you talk to bhai like that ! Do you even know what nonsense you're talking ?") Om growled.

Just then Om's eyes landed on Daksh who looked more than happy and satisfied with the current scenario.

"Yeh sab tune kiya hai na ? Tune mere bhai ke kaan bhare aur ab maze le raha hai ?" ("You're behind all this chaos, aren't you ? You instigated my brother and now you're enjoying it.") Om growled at Daksh and pounced on him beating him black and blue.

Shivaay quickly jumped into action and managed to pull Om away from Daksh before he kills Daksh with his bare hands.

Daksh stood up with numerous groans. Om's attack was too quick and unexpected that Daksh couldn't even defend himself. Daksh wasn't a genius but he knew for a fact that he had at least 2 broken ribs and a painfully sprained wrist.

"Ghar chalo dono." ("Let's go home. C'mon you both.") Shivaay said and dragged Rudy and Om towards his car and drove them both home.

All the way Shivaay struggled to keep his tears caged inside his eyes and stop replaying Rudy's words in his mind.

On the other hand, Rudy was fast asleep in the backseat. He had no idea that he had actually said those awful things to his beloved brother.

Of course, Rudy didn't meant any of those words. In fact, he wouldn't even have said that if Daksh wouldn't have introduced those words to him earlier or if Rudy wouldn't have been under the effect of the weed.

Shivaay dropped OmRu at home and went to his office, even though he had no work to do there, he just wanted to be by himself.

*

Om was in his room. He was shredding tears. This day was officially the worst day for Oberois.

First, they found out that Rudy smoked weed !

Second, Rudy said those nasty things to Shivaay and Shivaay was more than hurt by it.

Third, Om slapped Rudy !

Om had never ever raised his hand on Rudy before, of course they had small fights and had slapped each other numerous times but those were playful slaps.

A knock sounded on Om's bedroom door and Om cheered up a bit thinking that Shivaay is home, but his face slightly dropped when Gauri walked in.

"Om." Gauri quickly rushed by Om's side. "Mujhe Prince ne bataya ki aaj college mein kya hua." ("Prince told me the incident that happened in college today.")

Prince and Chubby had witnessed the scene as they had reached the backside of the building just in time.

"Bahot bura hua hai aj Gauri." ("Whatever happened today was very bad, Gauri.") Om said in broken voice. "Rudy ne aj...aj bhai ko nashe mein naa jaane kya kya bol diya." ("Rudy spoke to bhai very rudely today. He said what what and what not to him.")

Gauri nodded in understanding.

"Bhai ko bahot bura laga hoga. Woh dikhayenge nahi magar bahot dard hua hoga unhe jab Rudy ne unse woh sab baatein kahi." ("Bhai must've felt very bad. He'll not show it but he must've been pained by Rudy's words.") Om said with tears streaming down his eyes. "Bhai ne humesha humara ek pitaah ki tarah dhyaan rakha hai. Jabse Baba gaye hai, unki jagah bhai ne li hai." ("Bhai has always took care of us like a father. Ever since baba died, bhai has taken his place.")

"Mujhe bilkul accha nahi laga jab Rudy ne bhai se woh sab kaha." ("I didn't like it at all when Rudy said all those things to bhai.") Om confessed. "Aur isiliye mera haath uth gaya." ("And that's why my hand was raised.")

Om cried with his head in the palm of his hands.

Gauri's eyes filled with tears too as she witnessed Om crying. She rubbed his back comfortingly and to change the topic she asked, "Rudy kaha hai ?" ("Where's Rudy ?")

"Uske room mein hai, so raha hai." ("He's sleeping in his room.") Om replied.

------------------------------

Hey bubblies !

I know most of you are going to hate this chapter but you'll be happy with the next one I promise. 🤝😅

Cause I am going to send Daksh away in the next chapter !

Anyway...

Most of you were asking me when will Annika be the part of this book so I worked on the storyline and the answer is....

You can expect Annika's entry in 28th chapter and Bhavya's entry in, I guess and hope, 34th chapter so stay tuned !💕

Question of the Day,
Does anyone of you watch Kunal Jaisingh's new serial 'Pavitra Bhagya' ?

Answer from me : I watch it, but honestly, they're boring me now, like the storyline is going out of track and they're wasting episodes on any nonsense ! But on the bright side, I love Reyniti (Reyansh and Praniti) and can't wait to see them together and also Jugnu is so dashing and brave ! 🤩😍

I'll get going now..

Until the next update,
Have a safe and great life 😇