Charu rushed out of the room picking up her case files, her mind working at lightning speed.
She didn't have time to argue with anyone in the family right now when Abhir's entire career was on the line, and the media was already painting him as guilty.
Abhira paced in the living room, on the phone. "I know Par nanu I also saw the news about event organizers blacklisting him but please don't let bhai know about all of this he is barely recovering"
Manish frowned. "I will make sure of that beta but we need to do something before this gets worse. We cannot let them take him down"
Abhira's hands clenched into fists. "No one is taking my brother down like this. I'll make sure of it Par nanu, you please take care of bhai.".
Abhira turned after ending her call with Manish, only to find Charu standing at her room's entrance, hesitating.
Their eyes met, and for a moment, silence stretched between them-thick with unspoken emotions.
Abhira exhaled, running a hand through her hair before gesturing toward the room. "Come in, Charu."
Charu stepped inside, but the tension lingered.
There was something heavier between them now-a mix of guilt, hurt, and an unspoken bond neither could truly define.
Abhira sighed, folding her arms. "Sorry... I was harsh earlier," she admitted, her voice softer than before.
"I shouldn't have lashed out at you like that. It's just-Abhir bhai has already been through so much. Seeing him being dragged down like this -" She stopped, her voice catching slightly. "I just lost it."
Charu's throat tightened, the weight of Abhira's words pressing on her chest.
She didn't need an apology.
If anything, she felt undeserving of it.
"You don't have to apologize, bhabhi," she said, her voice steady yet laced with quiet remorse.
"You had every right to be angry. I was at fault. I should have seen this coming. I should have fought harder before it reached this point." She swallowed, then met Abhira's gaze, determination shining through her guilt. "But right now, let's not waste time on regrets. Abhir's reputation is bigger than this-bigger than me, bigger than us."
She reached into her bag and pulled out a thick file, placing it between them on the table. "Here are the case files. We need to brainstorm every possible way to turn this around before it's too late."
Abhira held her gaze for a beat longer, then nodded. Whatever anger or disappointment she had wasn't important anymore. What mattered was fighting for Abhir.
As Charu and Abhira sat together, pouring over every detail of the case, Abhira sighed heavily, rubbing her temple. "We could have somehow handled Mishra if he was alone in this," she muttered, frustration seeping into her voice.
"But it's not just him. The online hate, the music contracts backing out-that's the real issue.
Even if we fight the legal battle, public perception is turning against Abhir. That's what could truly destroy him."
Charu frowned, deep in thought, her mind racing.
Mishra was just a part now; the real danger was the storm brewing on social media, the way narratives were being spun against Abhir.
They needed to flip the script.
They needed to turn this chaos to their advantage.
And then it hit her.
An idea sparked in her mind. "A Social media war," she whispered under her breath.
Abhira blinked. "What?"
But Charu was already reaching for her phone. "Yes we don't just need to control the narrative-we need to set it on fire," she said, urgency fueling her words.
"Mishra and his allies think they can manipulate public sentiment, but they're forgetting that Abhir has something more powerful-his fans. And if we do this right, we can make the industry regret turning against him."
She scrolled through her contacts before landing on the name she needed.
Kiara.
If there was one person who knows how all this social media game works, it was Kiara Poddar-the unapologetic, social media-savvy and Abhir' s oldest fangirl.
Without wasting another second, Charu hit the call button.
--------------------------------------
"Charu di?" Kiara's voice came through, laced with worry. "Are you okay?"
Charu's grip on her phone tightened. There was no time for explanations, no time for emotions.
"There's no time," Charu cut in, her voice cracking before she forced it steady. "Kiara, come to the study near Abhira bhabhi's room now. And get your laptop."
She hung up before Kiara could respond.
When she turned, she found Abhira watching her, arms crossed, brows furrowed. "What exactly are you doing?" she asked, her voice wary, trying to make sense of Charu's urgency.
Charu met her gaze. "Fighting back."
Before Abhira could probe further, the door swung open, and Kiara barged in, breathless from running. She didn't even hesitate before saying, "Tell me what to do."
A wave of relief washed over Charu, but the storm inside her remained. "We need to fight back for Abhir," she said, pacing the room, her mind racing.
Kiara's fingers twitched over her laptop as she spoke, her tone sharp. "Have you seen what's happening online? They're dragging him through the mud, twisting everything! It's a complete character assassination."
Abhira clenched her jaw. She knew the world could be ruthless, but seeing it unfold in real-time, against Abhir, made her stomach churn.
"I know," Charu admitted, frustration thick in her voice. "That's why I need you, Kiara. If anyone can turn this around, it's you."
Kiara's gaze hardened. "What's their angle?"
"They're painting him as reckless, irresponsible-a liability." Charu's fists clenched. "We need to remind people who he really is. And we need to do it fast."
A tense silence stretched between them as Kiara's mind worked at lightning speed. Then, her eyes lit up. "A counter-trend."
"Exactly."
They brainstormed furiously, desperation fueling their ideas. Then it hit them-#WeStandWithAbhir.
"It has to be emotional," Charu insisted, her voice resolute. "We're not just fighting accusations; we're reminding people why they loved him in the first place."
Kiara cracked her knuckles. "His music. His struggles. The way he fought to get where he is. That's what people need to see again." She immediately logged into her fan page, pulling up old footage, heartfelt moments, and personal fan interactions with Abhir.
She frowned. "The fan pages have gone silent because of the hate storm. But we can fix that. We remind them why they became his fans in the first place."
Abhira finally understood the magnitude of the plan forming before her. She straightened. "I'll reach out to some of my previous VIP clients artists, producers-anyone in the industry who still has a conscience. We need verified voices to back him up."
Kiara nodded, already typing furiously. "I'll mobilize the fanbase. If we time this right, the media won't be able to ignore us."
Meanwhile, Charu worked the legal angle, making calls, tracing the source of the articles. If she could prove Mishra had paid journalists to defame Abhir, she would play her cards right and make him do what she wants.
Kiara didn't waste a second. She called her influencer friends-bloggers, vloggers, and even celebrities who had supported Abhir in the past.
"Everyone needs to post at the same time," she instructed. "Videos, tweets, Instagram stories-everything. We need to drown out the hate."
As Kiara fought with social media, Charu sat, staring at her phone, her mind restless.
Then, like a cruel whisper, her Abhir's voice echoed in her head-"When life separated me from Maa and Papa, I was forced to face a reality I wasn't prepared for. Once, I was the light of everyone's life-loved, cherished. Then, in a moment, everything changed. Everyone I loved was gone, and life pulled me into darkness. Every single day became a battle to survive."
Her fingers curled into fists.
She whispered into the silence, her voice a vow. "I won't let you slip into darkness again, Abhir. I promise to shield you from everything bad coming your way."
She'd fight with everything she had.
-------------------
Lying on the hospital bed, Abhir absently traced a pattern on the blanket, his thoughts tangled in a mess he couldn't quite unravel.
He had spent the past two days drowning in routine checkups, forced rest, and the occasional visit from Ruhi or Manish.
But today felt different.
Something gnawed at him-a strange, unsettling silence.
Abhira hadn't come.
Neither had Charu.
It wasn't like them to stay away, not after the accident.
Abhira had practically made it her duty to drop by, sometimes just to scold him for being reckless or force him to eat properly.
And Charu...
His jaw clenched as he thought of her.
She had been there almost every day.
If not to check on him, then to taunt him for a few minutes-her twisted way of showing she cared.
But after the other day when, she had disappeared without a word he had not seen her.
Something was off.
It wasn't like Charu to miss checking in on him. Not after his accident.
She came almost every day, if not to genuinely ask about his health, then at least to taunt him for a few minutes.
"Toh ab kiske sar pe gussa nikal rahi hai?" he muttered to himself, a frown settling between his brows.
If not him, then who was her favorite person to vent out to now?
The thought-completely irrational and ridiculous-made his jaw clench.
Crazily, Abhir felt a stab of jealousy-completely ridiculous jealousy-at the thought of anyone, male or female species, taking his spot as her designated source of annoyance.
He was missing her.
Way more than he should.
And that realization sat uncomfortably in his chest, like a weight pressing against his ribs.
"Pagal ho raha hoon kya?" he sighed, running a hand through his hair.
Just then, his friend Sira walked in, holding a fresh fruit basket. "Tum theek hai? Looks like you're thinking something serious."
Abhir scoffed, shaking his head. "Just wondering what's happening in Poddar house since yesterday. No one , even Abhira or Ruhi haven't visited me." His tone was casual, but his eyes were sharp, scanning Sira's face for any tell.
Sira cast a quick, hesitant glance at Manish, who had just entered
,he immediately stepped in, his voice smooth but too quick.
"Woh... unke ghar mein pooja hai, beta. Sab busy hain wahan."
He offered a reassuring smile, too polished to be real. "Par Abhira ne call kiya tha. Teri poori khabar le li. Tu apni sehat pe dhyan de. Kal agar tere saare tests theek rahe toh doctor ne kaha hai, tujhe discharge kar sakte hain. Kal Ruhi aur Abhira dono aayenge."
Abhir frowned slightly, his instincts kicking in.
Pooja could explain one day of absence, but two?
And Charu Bansal?
He highly doubted she would be the religious kind to prioritise a pooja over showing up just to roll her eyes at him.
Something was off.
Still, he let it go-for now.
His body was too drained to argue, and if something serious was happening, Manish wasn't about to tell him anyway.
His mind drifted back to her.
The one person whose presence had once been a headache, a suffering.
But now, her absence was somehow worse.
Why did she always trigger such extreme reactions out of him?
Why did she pull him in and push him away at the same time, making him feel things he didn't want to feel?
His fingers curled into the blanket as he exhaled roughly.
He hated this.
He hated how she had unknowingly become a part of his life, how she had made space for herself in his world without his permission.
And now that she was missing, it felt... empty.
While Abhir remained in his own bubble, his family wasn't.
Meanwhile, outside his hospital room, Manish and Swarna exchanged a worried glance.
They had seen the shift in the air.
What had started as a wave of supportive fans outside the hospital had begun to change.
The crowds had thinned, replaced by media journalists eager for a scandal.
It had begun with murmurs.
Then, it escalated.
Articles questioning Abhir's professionalism.
His reliability as an artist.
Whispers turned into accusations-claims that he had become unstable, a liability to the music industry.
And worse, there were talks of bans.
Production houses distancing themselves.
Music labels hesitating to associate with him.
The career he had built, brick by brick, was now being torn apart in mere days.
And all of it was being kept from him.
Because right now, his recovery was more important.
Because if Abhir knew the truth...
The damage to his self-confidence might be worse than the injuries to his body.