As Jaby silently escorted Akira back to the main hall, he saw that the entire dynamics of the main hall had changed. Everyone had gathered around the main hall looking towards the small podium next to the central staircase.

And he understood that it was time.

Time for the man of the hour to be introduced to everyone.

Time for the enemies to bite the dust and the loved ones to cherish the moment.

So looking at Akira, Jaby gave out a smile and said,

"This is the moment that we all have been waiting for !!!"

Even though she had this moment imagined inside her head, a thousand times over and over, somehow in just a second, her heartbeat paced up. Even though she had been with Raymond for the last couple of weeks, it was not the same as before. It was always in hiding, always with fear at the back of their heads.

So when she saw Sebastian taking that mic into his hands, a smile spread on her face instantly, as all her miseries were going to end, for once and for all.

"Ladies and gentlemen. First of all, I want to thank and each and every one of you for attending this party on such short notice. It means a lot to me because this party is a bit personal. There is something that I would like to announce to you all, and I am glad that you all could be a part of it."

Saying that Sebastian took a deep breath and then took out his reading glasses to put them on.

Taking a paper out from the file which was held by David, he looked at all his stakeholders, trustees and friends and spoke,

"Last year had been traumatizing for me. I lost my son last year, a part of heart, a part which I thought would take my heritage ahead."

"Good God !!! This man can act."

Dr. Nelson muttered under his breath and Akira couldn't stop smiling. Her eyes were constantly scanning the entire place, waiting for Raymond's dramatic entry, but as she scanned the hall, she saw Vikram standing in a corner, going through a file, standing next to Peter.

But that didn't bother her, because she knew that collateral damage had already been done. No matter what Peter tried, he could never save Vikram from the impending mysteries.

Getting all antsy she started biting her nails and seeing her doing that, Dr. Nelson smiled for a moment and then asked,

"Do you want me to hold your hand?"

"What?"

But before she could understand, Dr. Nelson had interlocked his palm with hers and gave a gentle squish and said,

"It is real and it is happening."

Akira smiled back and turned her focus to the man that she hated the most.

"So for a moment, I felt that my legacy is going to end. For a moment I felt that I should leave all this behind and seek solace somewhere in some remote corner of the world. I think many of you would have heard the rumor that my company was going public. My stocks went down and whatnot."

"But today I stand here in front of you, not as the lion who ruled, but as the captain of this ship who thinks that it's the time to retire."

As soon as he finished the sentence, there was dead silence in the room at first and then sudden applause. Half the crowd was happy as they were going to be benefited as board members of the trust to which the company would go to.

"But as you know, I built this empire with my own sweat and blood. So giving it away to a trust? - Not happening in this life people. I am sorry to disappoint you."

Sebastian said and a wicked smile spread on his face seeing the pale faces of people who were stunned to hear his announcement.

"Then to whom is this legacy passing to Mr. Sebastian?"

A reporter asked.

"Of course to my own sweat and blood."

"To your daughter? We never knew that she was into business." - Another reporter added.

Vikram was half stunned and asked Peter,

"Get all the information about Katherine. How can this happen? She is busy opening her own hospital right now. Did this father-daughter duo try to trick me? and where is Akira? Her phone is unreachable and I can't see here anywhere."

"Let's wait for the announcement to over and we can find her."

Peter replied with a hint of remorse in his tone as he couldn't understand how after everything that had happened, his boss was still looking out for her.

Meanwhile, Sebastian took a brief pause and said,

"Not to my daughter. She is kind of pretty busy with her own life to handle all this."

Hearing that, the whole crowd started whispering and talking. People started speculating about the presence of an illegitimate child, given his reputation.

But without letting the people have any second thoughts he said,

"My empire goes to the one and only son of mine, the one who defied death and the one who will always stand tall with the test of time - (pause) Raymond Walker."

The air just froze in the main hall.

People couldn't speak or blink.

All that they could do was to watch a handsome figure walking down the staircase with all the poise and attitude in the world, looking all dapper in his custom made suit.

As he climbed down the stairs, he adjusted his cufflink and scanned the room for that once face, which beamed as he saw her and then without even looking at anyone else he descended the stairs to stand next to his dad.

The cameras didn't stop clicking.

People couldn't recover from the shock.

But amidst all this hurricane, there was one man in that room who stood speechless, glued to the floor, unable to believe the catastrophe that has happened.

"This can't be happening."

That was all that he could mutter.