Raymond collected himself from his disturbed state and then he picked up his jacket and asked his driver to get the car to the main gate.

When he reached the ground floor he saw Akira surrounded by her team-mates, who had come down to wish her before she left. When Simon saw Raymond coming down, he said,

"Ah, Mr. Raymond is here. You are lucky that you got to meet him before you left".

Akira heard Raymond's name from Simon and turned back immediately.

His eyes were bloodshot red and there were only two people who knew why.

To avoid any scene, she immediately recomposed herself and said,

"Hope to see you soon Mr. Raymond, I will be going now".

"Do you need a drop?", he asked and paused.

I couldn't have lunch with you, at least I can drop you back", he asked very calmly.

But before Akira could say anything Simon interrupted and teased Akira,

"Haaaa no need, her boyfriend has already sent a car with a chauffeur for madam".

Raymond looked towards his right side and indeed a car was parked there with a driver waiting outside.

"Thank you so much for your kind offer but I am sorry. I already have a ride", Akira said apologetically.

He took a deep breath and then said,

"Why are you sorry about it. I am the Maverick Akira, my independent mind doesn't get bothered with all these petty things."

Then he smiled at her and said again,

"Well, then I will get going. But remember one thing, if there is anything that you need, or want to talk about or any help or you are in any problem then you can talk", he said and gently smiled at her and left. His eyes were trying to convey her something but she was unable to comprehend.

She couldn't understand what he meant. His lines were simple and straight forward and yet so cryptic. She started pondering -

"What was he trying to tell? Was he saying something when he meant something else because everyone was here?"

"Did he want to talk with me further?"

She started feeling all restless seeing his car leave, as if a part of her heart, died instantly at that moment.

---

Vikram had some things to take care of, so he couldn't come to pick up Akira. So after the chauffeur dropped her at her place, she texted Vikram that she had reached safely and then entered her room. She kept her bag and looked around. Mike wasn't there at home so she felt even more depressed.

Her hands itched to call Raymond but then she recollected the terms of the deal and refrained herself.

She sighed and mumbled,

"How I wish I could talk with you right now Raymond !!!"

Then she opened her laptop and opened her blog page.

She saw a new comment posted at that instant by @RodeoMaverick.

"No poems today? All good at your end author? Nothing to talk about today?"

She replied,

"My heart just got broken again !!!"

She started a new page to write something but somehow she couldn't.

So she shut down her laptop and slumped on the bed and kept staring at the ceiling until she was swept away by the tides of slumber.

---

Raymond came out from the study room at Katherine's place and went to the kitchen where she was preparing coffee for both.

"What happened?", Katherine asked.

"She has slept off", Raymond said and took off the headset from his ears and took a sip of the coffee.

"How is she?", Katherine asked.

"She is broken, but she is trying to stay strong. I need all this to be over as soon as possible. I can't see her in so much pain every single day", he said and sighed.

Katherine nodded.

"So everything sorted for tomorrow?", Raymond asked.

"Yeah, just wait and watch for my A-class game tomorrow. I will not let you down. We will get to the root of it Raymond. Whatever it takes !!!", Katherine said and placed her hand on his shoulder to comfort him.

"I can't see her this way, Kat. If feels so pathetic. She likes me, I like her and we should be together. It's as simple as that", Raymond said and pinched the space between his eyebrow.

"I know, I heard it all Ray. You guys make a beautiful couple. I just hope we can tear apart the plan of this mastermind who is playing games with us, as soon as possible", Katherine said and then sat on the chair.

"How are you going to secure your medium of communication? Your phone is getting tapped right?", Katherine asked.

"David has arranged for a Private Number for me and I am not sharing it with anyone as of now. Not even with you as it might not be safe. And as for Akira, I do have a different medium to talk with her", Raymond said and sipped on his coffee again.

"Different medium?", Katherine asked.

"Yeah, but I don't know yet if she has figured it out yet or not", he said and moved to the sink to keep his mug and then he came back to Katherine and said,

"I am taking the device with me", Raymond said and he was about to leave the room when he received a text message.

He read the text and turned towards Katherine,

"Time confirmed 10:30 am. You better don't mess it up", Raymond said and picked up his jacket to leave but then Katherine interrupted him and asked,

"Will you be ok keeping the device with you? I mean I can listen to it and let you know if anything important is there", Katherine said and came towards Raymond.

Raymond looked at her and said,

"My love isn't so shallow that I will misunderstand her for anything. I know whatever she does or says from now on is only for my sake. So don't worry, I will be all right", Raymond said.

"Fine then tell me that you will sleep at night and not keep listening to her beating heart", Katherine asked him sternly.

"That would be childish", Raymond said and left Katherine's house.

The brother that she knew would never take the device away from his heart even for a second, and she knew that very well. She just sighed and waved back at him.

Raymond got in the car and placed his headset back in position, listening to her silent breaths and her tiny beating heart. Somehow it calmed him, made him feel like she was close by, lying next to him and that strangely comforted him.

Then his phone buzzed and he saw a text message from David,

"The blocked video footage from the villa has been retrieved and you won't believe what has happened. I am sending you the footage clip. Please check" - David

Raymond opened the attachment and saw the video.

His fists clenched in anger !!!