Maya paused for a moment and answered the call. On the other end, her grandfather's faint voice came through, "Maya!"
His voice was not as gruff and stern as it used to be. There was a sadness in it.
After a moment of silence, Maya replied, "Yes, tell me, Grandfather."
Hearing Maya call him 'Grandfather' again lightened his heavy heart a bit.
He said, "Maya, there is a board meeting at the head branch of Dream Emperor tomorrow. This time, not only the board members but all higher authorities and higher executives of the company will be present. I have decided that in front of all of them, I will choose the person who will take over Dream Emperor in the future."
Hearing this, Maya smiled and calmly asked, "Grandfather, why are you telling me all this? What do I have to do with it? I left your family this morning. So why are you telling me all this? It doesn't make any sense now."
Hearing her response, her grandfather's eyebrows furrowed in anger. Even after everything, his granddaughter was saying such things so calmly. Had her greed for Dream Emperor really vanished?
Bringing a sternness to his voice, he said, "Maya, leaving the house doesn't end our blood relations. The Arya family's blood still runs in your veins. Whether you like it or not, you still have as much to do with our family as you used to."
Hearing her grandfather talk about blood ties, Maya's lips twisted with interest.
Maya pursed her lips, waiting for her grandfather to continue speaking.
He continued in a harsh tone, "Maya, I don't want you to accuse me in the future of being biased or giving Natasha more importance than you. That's why I want you to come to the board meeting tomorrow."
After saying this, he paused.
Maya remained silent, wanting to hear her grandfather's entire plan.
Maya knew her grandfather wouldn't call her without a reason. But she wanted to understand his motive before saying anything.
After a brief pause, her grandfather said, "Maya, I have decided that the person who will take over Dream Emperor will be the one who has the most board members' approval and support. I will not interfere in this matter. The entire process of choosing the new president will be fair. In the end, the person who becomes the president with everyone's consent will be the new heir to our family."
Hearing this, the corners of Maya's lips curved in sarcasm.
Instead of getting angry, Maya began to smile deeply. Her grandfather was using the exact tactics on her that Mr. Rudra had used on her.
He was saying the process would be fair, but was it really?
Most of the board members were already influenced by Natasha.
Natasha was the vice president of Emperor Industries. Due to Mr. Rudra's support, her position in the company had become even stronger.
Even though Maya had been handling the entire Dream Hotel from the beginning, the highest management of the Dream Hotel was actually controlled by Emperor Industries.
Indirectly, if someone had to be chosen based on the board members' support and approval between Maya and Natasha, it would obviously be Natasha.
Even though Maya's contribution to the expansion of Dream Hotel was immense, her abilities far surpassed Natasha's, and her thoughts and strategies were untouchable and revolutionary in the business world, none of this mattered.
Natasha's image was friendlier in people's eyes. Because of her buttering nature, the board members preferred her.
They believed that even though Maya had a smiley face and calm nature, she was not easy to control.
The board members wanted a president who would work according to their wishes, but Maya's nature was not like that. Therefore, most of the cunning board members supported Natasha because she met their expectations.
Her grandfather was not unaware of these things. He knew everything. Initially, he had decided to make Maya the president of Dream Emperor directly. But the situation had changed.
Due to the changed circumstances, her grandfather had also changed his plan.
He had now decided that he would not interfere until Maya herself submitted to him.
Maya smiled calmly and said, "Grandfather, you know very well what the outcome will be tomorrow and whether your new decision is fair or not. But if you still want me to come, I will definitely come. You can rest assured; I will attend the meeting that makes no sense."
Hearing Maya's response, her grandfather was filled with disbelief and irritation. Shouldn't Maya be begging for forgiveness or getting angry at him right now? Why was she still so calm?
He clenched his fists in anger, his old face burning with frustration and surprise.
He hadn't expected such a cold reaction from Maya. He thought she would get angry after hearing his deceptive words, but nothing of the sort happened. Instead of getting angry, Maya had become even calmer.
He asked without any expression, "Do you have anything more to say, Maya?"
Looking at the shining moon in the empty sky, Maya replied, "No, Grandfather, I have already said everything I needed to. What more can I say?"
Hearing this, he clenched his teeth and angrily disconnected the call. Every time he thought his words would break Maya's patience and calmness, she would surprise him by becoming even more patient and calm.
It always bothered him that even in his old age, he didn't have as much patience and calmness as Maya did.
After the call was disconnected, Maya lowered her eyes to look at Ayansh.
While sleeping, his small face was filled with only cuteness and innocence.
Maya had been standing in the balcony holding Ayansh for quite a while, so she decided to take him inside and put him to bed.
When Maya turned to go to the room, she saw Vidyut.
Vidyut was leaning against the wall near the sliding door of the balcony with zero expression on his face. His deep blue eyes were fixed on Maya.
Maya looked at Vidyut's handsome face for a few moments. They had a small but strong eye contact, but Maya said nothing to him.
She walked past Vidyut and went straight into the room.
After putting Ayansh to bed and covering him properly with a blanket, Maya surrounded him with pillows on all sides.
Vidyut had now turned towards Maya, his blue eyes fixed on her again.
After making sure Ayansh was comfortable, Maya turned around. Vidyut asked her in a soft, cold voice, "Have you had dinner?"
Maya replied with a single word, "No."
Hearing her response, Vidyut came closer, took her wrist, and said, "Come on, have dinner first. I have something important to discuss with you afterwards."
Without saying anything, Maya quietly walked out of the room with Vidyut.
On the other hand,
At Neeraj's farmhouse,
After dinner, Pratham and Neeraj were walking in the garden area, talking to each other.
In the course of their conversation, Neeraj asked, "Pratham, why don't you tell Maya about Mr. Veerendra Arya and that you are alive? Maya misses you a lot. I've seen her sitting alone by your memorial for hours many times."
Hearing this question, Pratham replied with a faint smile, "Neeraj, you don't know Maya well. If she finds out about Veerendra Arya's deeds, she will destroy everything. You are not aware of Maya's anger. When she gets angry, she becomes more dangerous than the devil. As long as she remains unaware of these things, it's better for everyone."
Listening to Pratham, Neeraj laughed lightly and said, "You and Maya are completely different from each other, Pratham."
Hearing this, Pratham remembered Maya, and a warmth appeared on his face.
While they were walking and talking, someone suddenly struck both of them on the head.
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What will happen next? To know...
To be continued...