MALHOTRA MANSION

Running around the huge mansion was a young king in his mid-twenties, wearing Apple air pods in his ears listening to a podcast on health. He was dressed in black gym tracks and black full-sleeve t-shirt that sticked to him like a second skin.

He continued running for one more hour before he walked inside the mansion, going to his room. He took a good bath and dressed in simple jeans and brown t-shirt, leaving his hair wet. Walking to the dining room he noticed his younger brother Arush sleeping on the table with his books beside him. 

Vihaan removed his phone and took a few photos of Arush as he drooled in his sleep.

"Chote" Vihaan smiled and hit Arush's head, waking him up.

"It's dining room not bedroom" Vihaan said laughing. Arush looked at Vihaan with 0 emotions and shook his head.

"What time did you sleep yesterday?" Ridhima asked filling Arush's plate with food.

"4 in the morning" Arush replied rubbing his eyes and yawning loudly.

"That's like 3 hours of sleep" Veer said to which Arush nodded and took his plate from Ridhima's hand.

"Don't spoil your health" Vihaan said softly filling his own plate with food. Arush showed him a thumbs up and focused on to eating.

"Go take a nap for 2 hours, I'll wake you up" Vihaan said after finishing his breakfast, worried about Arush's health.

"I am fine bhai. Its nothing new. I've had coffee so I'll manage" Arush looked at Vihaan with red eyes showing the sleep deprivation. Vihaan glared at him making Arush understand his point.

"Two hours please, not a minute more than that" Arush stood up after his breakfast was done and sprinted to his room and slept.

"Did he brush, or he just ate without brushing?" Veer asked more concerned about the hygiene.

"Veer... my son was studying till late and you just want to tease him" Ridhima scolded him making Vihaan laugh. Veer pretended that he was vomiting seeing Arush's plate extremely clean. He also closed his nose and looked at Vihaan telling him that his brother stinked.

"Where were you last night?" Ridhima asked Vihaan ignoring Veer and his nonsense. Vihaan looked at her shocked at how she knew that he wasn't home.

"I was with a few friends" Vihaan said truly, hiding the other half to himself.

"Doing what?" Veer asked interested.

"What do friends do together Veer?" Ridhima looked at Veer questioningly. Vihaan thanked his stars for saving him from lying.

"You may never know Ridhima, these days kids' night out isn't like ours theirs could have sex, drugs, murder, god knows what" Veer said with a horrified expression, trying to make his wife believe in him.

"Someone delete his Netflix and Amazon Prime account please" Vihaan said looking at Ridhima for help.

"Betaji... you think you can only watch web series and movies on those things?" Veer looked at Vihaan challengingly.

"He also uses pirated sites, great! A KING uses freaking PIRATED SITES, any opinion on this ma?" Vihaan fisted his right hand and held it in front of Ridhima's mouth asking her to speak into his just-made mic.

"You want me to tell the real location of what you were doing last night?" Veer looked at Vihaan folding his hands at his chest and with a challenging smirk. Vihaan pulled back his hands and sat with a straight back.

"The school in which you are studying beta, I am the principal there" Veer used the most common 'dad dialogue' which he applied everywhere. Vihaan hit his head with his hand and raised his hands surrendering to him.

Vihaan walked inside his room and saw Aryaman calling him. He picked the call with a smile.

"I hear that you scared off a girl last night" Aryaman said teasingly.

"Not my fault exactly" Vihaan walked to his balcony and sat on the railing keeping his phone on speaker.

"She was the manor's daughter" Aryaman reminded him.

"You've got to listen to me before you judge me. One. Why was she at a sex club for elites? Two. How was I supposed to know that she didn't know what I was hinting to?" Vihaan looked at the sun slowly raising in the sky, warming the environment.

"Forget that WHAT WERE YOU DOING AT A SEX CLUB?" Aryaman seethed in anger as he asked the question.

"What do you do at a sex club Aryaman? Definitely not to pray and admit your sins in front of God" Vihaan looked at the phone with a 'duh'.

"Why were you there Vihaan?" Aryaman took a deep breath and asked.

"Umm...To have sex like others, I guess. It was fun after the daughter of manor left. If she'd stayed long, we could all have had a foursome. Unfortunate for her" Vihaan said smiling as he remembered the events of the last night.

"You'll get STDs idiot" Aryaman reminded him.

"They all are verified about that first and only then they can work there. Are you angry on why I went there or angrier that you can't go there anymore?" Vihaan tried changing the subject from him to Aryaman.

"Don't change the topic. You are literally most of the nights at sex club Vihaan, who'll marry you if they get to know that? And when you meet the right person, it isn't about permission or ethics it is about you choosing not to go because you no longer need to go" Aryaman explained to Vihaan calmly knowing the exact reason behind Vihaan's behavior.

"Arya... I find my release this way so let me be where I am. I enjoy it and it helps me clear my head even if it is for a few minutes" Vihaan explained it to Aryaman his side of the story. Aryaman decided to let go of the talk and thought to catch him later on it at a different time.

"Take care and don't scare of people" Aryaman cut the call as both of them shared a laugh.

"Vihaan..." Vihaan just cut the call and heard his mother calling him. He turned around to look at her.

"Why are you sitting on the railing? Get off from there quickly... Don't you know you can fall down? Stop smiling idiot and sit on the chairs" Vihaan got off from the railing and sat in the balcony chairs looking at his mother. 

"The Ranawats are coming over for dinner, so be there" Ridhima said asking him to not go whereever he went. Vihaan nodded his head.

"When do you start?" She asked him.

"Tomorrow" Vihaan said streching his arms and neck.

"Ready for it?" Ridhima asked running her hand in his hair.

"Yupp" Vihaan held her hand in his and nodded his head.

"What's the plan for today then?" She asked lovingly.

"Nothing much... just going to binge watch my last series before the whirpool of duties and lack of sleep begins" He said getting up and showing her that he was going to just chill in their home theater the whole day.

"You and Veer have a very unhealthy obsession with whatever violence series you watch" She said getting up and leaving his room. Vihaan laughed and sat down to watch White Collar.

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