"Was Arshad home last night?", Arshad's paternal uncle, Abbas Siddiqui asked his wife, taking his seat at the dining table.

"Ask your daughter, who would know your nephew's schedule better than her",  Sajida Abbas Siddiqui answered making her daughter blush.

"Ammi... Stop it", Zeenat, their daughter tried to dismiss her mother's words, though the thought of getting married to her cousin fluttered her heart. Why wouldn't she want him, he is the most sought after man in their circle, powerful, handsome and rich. He is perfect at everything he does, most importantly he is kind, calm, composing and highly patient or so she thought.

"Sajida... Don't talk like that in front of children, until it's finalized, it's not right to...", Abbas started

"What more confirmation do you want? Nadia bhabhi expressed her wish to make Zeenat her daughter-in-law many times", Sajida told her husband

"But Arshad didn't agree, he didn't express his interest in this proposal, not even once, so stop feeding unnecessary thoughts in your head, it would hurt later", Abbas tried to put some sense into his wife's head but failed as usual.

"He didn't deny either...", Sajida said and Zeenat gave a half smile to her mother before walking away, leaving her breakfast half way.

Slowly, everyone gathered at the dining table and had their breakfast at their convenience. There's no particular time for meals usually, but when Arshad Wasim Siddiqui is home, everyone strictly follows 'eating together' as they hardly get to see him at home, so whenever they do, they grab the chance to spend some time.

He was the loving elder brother, responsible head of the family and very reputed man in the society. At a very young age, he took the responsibility of heading their community at a national level which earlier his father used to handle until he was alive.

The responsibility was huge, heading millions of their community people, throughout the country brought a lot of challenges but he faced it with courage and confidence. He worked for the empowerment of their community every minute and his whole family is proud of his achievements.

Arshad walked inside the mansion, when the younger generation was almost done with their breakfast. He was walking towards his room upstairs but his cousins insisted he joined them. They loved him immensely, at the same time were afraid of his anger, he never got angry but definitely has a aura of 'my anger is destructive' which kept everyone at check.

"Bhai... Need to discuss something important regarding our investments in Middle East, specially...", His younger brother Akram began but he was cut off by Zeenat...

"At least let him sit and have his breakfast", she said serving breakfast in the plate where Arshad usually sits, that is at the head of the table.

While he just showed his palm to stop her from serving.

"I trust your decisions, no need to discuss with me, go ahead, you were the one who always took care of business, you know better", Arshad spoke

"Yeah... Why are you wasting Arshad bhai's time by asking about boring business when you know bhai only takes care of the community and it's operations, being a religious head", Naveed, Arshad's paternal aunt's son spoke, which was backed by Zubair, Zeenat's brother.

Arshad gave a small nod at them and after hearing their bickerings for a few minutes, he walked away, but not before patting his youngest cousin sister Inaaya's head. She is his Paternal aunt's daughter, he pampered her to the fullest but she never turned arrogant, she was the kindest and Arshad vowed to protect her innocence always.

-------------------------

He reached his room, after taking some rest, he dialed a number...

"If Akram invests in DIL Ltd., then let him, but if he decides to invest in any other firm, keep blocking his investments until he chooses the right one", he said and hung up.

Everyone including his family thought he was unaware of everything that's happening in their business but he liked to handle it from the backend always. He didn't want to be a face of the company. Initially he supported his brother and uncle in their company decisions, but when it started to grow, he slowly stepped back to take care of it from behind. He had two forms, one who wasn't aware of the developments in their business which his family and the outer world thinks he is, while the other one who he actually is... The man who controlled everything around him.

Not just in business, but many other things, he held all the power in his fist but didn't let anyone know. He decided to stay hidden until there was an absolute necessity for him to step out in the open.

Arshad Wasim Siddiqui, people who knew him by face didn't know him by nature, people who knew him by nature didn't want to see his face.

-----------------------------

"Arya... It's your interview, be on time at least today", her father, Prateek Awasthi shouted from downstairs.

"It's her office, she can go whenever she wants... I don't even like this interview process, why should she interview in her own company?", Narayan Awasthi, Arya's grandfather said

"Papa... She just finished college, she needs to explore what she wants to do in her career, and to know her worth, she needs to give interviews like everyone else, Arya doesn't want any privileges neither will I give any", Prateek said

Arya descended the stairs and hugged her grandfather from behind kissing his cheek. 

"Dadu... My sweet cute dadu... Relax... I'll be fine, don't worry so much about me, instead, you should be worried about Dad and his colleagues who are gonna bear with me from here on", Arya said winking at her grandfather who nodded and ordered the house help to arrange breakfast for his favorite grandchild. 

"Jaanu... Have breakfast, and here, keep this", Narayan said, handing over money bundle to his granddaughter. 

"Hawww dadu... You don't give even 20 rupees if I ask, but whole bundle for didu?", her younger cousin Karan whined

"That's because I'm Arya Awasthi, Dadu's favorite grandchild", Arya proudly announced, before slapping his cousin's cheek with the money bundle. 

"Arya... Have breakfast quickly and get going", Prateek said strictly

"Dad... What do you mean by get going? You are supposed to take me to the office right?", Arya questioned

"I was supposed to... not anymore, I'm getting late, your interview is at 10 AM, but my office starts at 9 only, so bye", Prateek said

"Dad... Please...", Arya started but was interrupted by her grandfather.

"Why are you pleading him... He will take you with him, I'll make sure of it, go and have breakfast, and yes ask rajini to put black dot behind your ear, my jaanu is looking extra pretty today", Narayan said making Arya smile widely...

"Thank you jaanu, you are the best, that's why I love you so much", Arya said kissing her grandfather before walking to the dining hall, giving a wink to her father who sighed at her.

"Papa, you are spoiling her a lot, she has to understand that she needs to be on time to get the things done, she can't be sleeping till late", Prateek told his father.

"Sleeping? Yes she is sleeping but do you know she woke up early in the morning, took bath, carried prayers and then prepared breakfast before going to sleep again?", Narayan said glaring at his son...

"Papa... I...", he fumbled, he didn't know his daughter woke up that early...

"This is the problem Prateek, you don't know neither do you try to understand Arya... You only see her mischief, but when will you see the pain behind her wide smile?", Narayan asked making his son sigh.

"I understand papa... Losing Meera affected both of us terribly, but despite my pain, I have always tried to be there for my child, but she never understood me either, or the hatred you instilled in her never let her try to understand me", Prateek blamed his father.

"Don't push this on me, Arya will understand you if you stop roaming with that friend of yours... Listen to me Prateek, they can never be our friends, they only know to backstab", Narayan warned his son who shook his head at his father's baseless rant.

Arya hated his friend, Rahman and to show her rebellious nature, she only showed her irresponsible self to her father. She hated the fact how her father found solace in his friend's arms after hed mother's death. She tried to separate her father a lot but he dismissed her attempts as instilling disharmony in the society.

Both the father-daughter left to the office arguing on their way on which route to take to not come face to face with 'them' and what unsettled Prateek was his daughter's hatred won, they ended up taking a different route despite being a lengthy one, getting them late to work.

If this is the case, then he was afraid how would her daughter handle his friend's presence in the company? And a lot more people that belonged to the same community...

-------------------------------

"Bhai... Why do I feel you are a lot more than you show", Akram asked while they were all seated in the huge lawn in their mansion.

"What does that even mean Akram?", Arshad asked checking the papers in his hands, the employment contract between on of their subsidiaries and a youth sect of their community.

"Sometimes I think you control a lot more things than you show, you held a lot of power than you like to throw, as if you are hiding one more person inside this clueless person you are from outside", Akram said, their other cousins huffed at his baseless points.

"Where am I clueless Akram? I have an idea of everything that's happening within our community... As a community head, I know every point of detail I'm supposed to know, regarding the rest, I don't need to waste my energy", Arshad said, still checking the papers. "By the way, increase the spending on training students from sect 3 colleges, as their recruitment percentages are low, they need to improve their skill set", Arshad added.

He has divided all their community colleges into sects and held different trainings to improve their skill set, so that they get placed into corporates easily. This was one move to decrease unemployment rates which are very high in their community.

"Bhai... I don't understand why are you so critical in hiring the students from these colleges only after the clear the interview like everyone else, come on bhai, they are our people, we can hire them after their college and can train them accordingly", Akram said

"I'm working for the community, what I am doing is selfless service for our community, but what you are doing is business, you are heading a multi-billion dollar empire, your job is to hire people that are capable of running your business, filter out the candidates based on their skill set, not on their religion", Arshad advised his brother.

"I'm sorry to say but whenever I hear you talk like this, I so wanted to question your capability of heading our community", Akram said angrily... "Anyway, business is my responsibility, it would be better if your opinions stay away from it, bhai", he added before getting up and walking away...

"You are trying to change this hiring system for years, weren't you? Try again, maybe this time you'll get what you want", Arshad said calmly, still not looking away from his work.

"Bhai... What do you mean?", Akram stormed back to his brother.

"I may not have an official say in the business, it might be true you have all the power in your hands but you still cannot do something if Allah is against it, this was the proof, you were unable to change the rules of hiring despite having all the power, why? Think about it carefully", Arshad said, looking up with a smile on his face at his brother who got mad hearing his words.

He stormed away and Arshad continued his work as if his brother just didn't disrespect him, well Akram never disrespected his elder brother but these days with the kind of friends he is having made him like that and Arshad isn't a fool not to notice it, he was just giving his brother a chance to rectify his mistakes before he took matters into his hands.

"Bhai... I'll talk to Akram bhai, he can't talk to you in this tone", Zubair Siddiqui, Arshad's paternal uncle's son said but Arshad shook his head with a smile.

"There will come a time when everyone realizes their mistakes, we just have to wait till almighty enlightens them...", Arshad said calmly before indulging himself in work, simultaneously responding to his cousins who were talking about what's going on in their life.

If his brother thinks hiring someone from other communities meant going against their people, then he is a fool and he didn't like a fool leading his empire, yes, it's Arshad Wasim Siddiqui's carefully constructed empire, Akram Siddiqui is only a toy he was using to run his empire on his terms and only he can make someone dance on his tunes without even letting the other person know that he was getting played. His brother will be heading their business only until he remains his puppet. Just like the puppet has no idea that the show stopper is the puppeteer, Akram Siddiqui too didn't have any idea that the real king is his elder brother, Arshad Wasim Siddiqui.

------------------------------

Who is AWS? A peaceful religious leader heading the muslim community in the largest democracy in the world, he is known as the synonym of peace, man who is well-respected by all the muslim community across globe. All powerful leaders of the community held him in high regard, his selfless works for empowering the community received accolades from all corners of the world.

Arshad took care of the reigns more than a decade ago after the sudden death of his father in communal clashes. Despite that, he never openly preached hatred against the majority in the country, but that didn't mean he didn't has any hatred to feed, he did, but the seat he occupied taught him to think only about the welfare of thd whole community and it's people, and their welfare is only in living in harmony with the majority.

He didn't want to repeat the mistakes his father committed by instilling hatred in the people and prompted the communal violence, plotted many killings. His ego didn't let him think rationally, Wasim Siddiqui thought preaching peace forgetting all the atrocities of the past was a fearful move and he didn't want to come out as a coward and that's the mistake Arshad wanted to avoid, and to some extent he got successful. His father wasn't a bad man, he worked for the betterment of their community but he definitely chose a wrong path in doing so. Now Arshad wanted to fulfill all his father's dreams and that would only happen by not choosing the same path his father once chose.

He wasn't in love with the majority community in the country, he hated them, but he didn't make the mistake of generalizing, like his other cousins, or his family members did. At the back of his mind, he knew religion isn't responsible for violence, it's the person's mindset and their capability to understand their religion that causes clashes. He didn't want to make that mistake, he wouldn't.

------------------------------

It's been a week since Arya started working in her father's company. Although she hated all her interactions with them, she was behaving or should say trying to behave professionally, courtesy of her father's strict warning. 

She didn't understand despite what happened to her mother, how can her father still tolerate them. If she was given power, she would fire everyone belong to that from the company, she didn't trust they could be loyal, and loyalty is one of the most important things in a business like theirs.

"Jaanu... Get up, We need to go to the hospital for your checkup...", Arya said to her grandfather...

"Arre you just returned from office, at least take some rest... why are you stressed about me? I'll go for my checkup some other day, the weather isn't good today, see it's raining cats and dogs", Narayan Awasthi told his eldest grandchild.

"I won't be available any soon if not today, so yes we are going now", Arya said

"No problem, I can go with Karan or Kiara", Narayan Awasthi tried one last time as he hated visiting hospitals.

"Yeah... So that you can bribe these two and escape some important tests huh? Today I'll be accompanying you, get ready, you have 10 minutes", Arya ordered and went to her room to freshen up but within the next 5 minutes, she heard a loud scream of her younger cousins Kiara and Karan. Arya dashed downstairs only to see her grandfather lying on the floor unconscious.

"Dadu... Dadu... Wake up...", Arya cried trying all the first aid tactics she knew while asking karan to dial ambulance but he fumbled with the phone.

Thankfully, Prateek came at the right time, and Arya, karan and Prateek got Narayan into Prateek's car. Arya asked her younger cousins to stay at home while Prateek and Arya took Narayan to hospital in the storm.

But unfortunately, their car ran into trouble in the mid way.

"Dad... Do something... Dadu... Dadu...", Arya kept crying, continuing with the first aid and to some extend it worked, Narayan came into consciousness but not fully.

"I'll call Rahman", Prateek said taking out his phone...

"NO...", Arya said instantly, followed by Narayan's harsh breathing in protest to his son's proposal.

Prateek nodded in dismissal, his daughter or his father preferred death than taking help from them. Their hatred is too much and just then he saw a car passing by...

------------------------------

"I don't understand why are you so lenient to them, we have so much money and power, we can dominate them now... They don't deserve the privileges they are getting anyway, I suggest we fire most of them and hire from our community", Akram started his rant again, his hatred for Hindus isn't hidden...

"Akram... I don't want to have any discussion on this... Will talk later, I'm currently driving", Arshad hung up after saying this...

His brother is sure one hell of a stubborn man when it came to destroying them. It's not like he has some positive aspect for them, but it's just that he saw people who work for him as assets, not bothering about their religion but unfortunately his brother is too immature to be able to draw that line.

Arshad was thinking of multiple scenarios when he saw a man standing in rain trying to ask for lift. He noticed the red thread on his wrist and was about to drive away but he saw the man folding his hands and screaming for help, so Arshad stopped the car and got down.

"My... My father, he collapsed, our car... It wasn't starting... Please help him take to a hospital...", Prateek begged.

"Sure...", Arshad immediately agreed and got ready to follow him but Prateek stood rooted noticing the symbol and the urdu texts on Arshad's car... Prateek knew Arya or his father for that matter would agree, so he did what he felt right.

Prateek rushed to their car and while he and Arshad helped Arya in shifting Narayan to Arshad's car, Prateek purposely broke Arya's spectacles so that she doesn't notice the details on the car which clearly indicated about his belonging.

"Dad... You should have been careful... Now how I can't see a damn thing properly... Hey... You... Please be careful, my dadu is my everything...", Arya shouted the last part looking towards Arshad, he so wanted to give back to this arrogant girl but thr vulnerability of the situation stopped him...

They got Narayan shifted to the back seat, Arya settled in back seat with her grandfather while Prateek took the passenger seat and Arshad, the wheel.

"Drive fast... Faster... Hey... What's your name?", Arya asked, her tone worried... Arshad fisted his fingers holding the steering wheel tightly...

"Ar...", Arshad began to speak but Prateek cut him off...

"Achyut... Achyut Sharma...", Prateek said instead, folding his hands begging Arshad to lead on... Arya sighed hearing it... "And Arya he is helping us, be polite", Prateek got upset with his daughter.

"Stop it dad... I was telling you for months to get your car serviced, but you were so careless, dadu would have been at hospital if your car didn't break down... I will not forgive you if something happens to my dadu...", Arya screamed at her father...
"Hey... I'm using this jacket, my dadu is feeling cold", Arya said the latter part to Arshad who didn't bother to respond as he knew she wouldn't stop even if he said no.

He wished not to meet this arrogant woman ever who seemed to love only her grandfather and by the way how Prateek converted his name into a hindu name, he understood this arrogant girl hated their community, but wondered the hatred was so much that she wouldn't even take their help at a situation like this?

They soon reached the hospital and Arya and Prateek wheeled Narayan inside. Arshad left from there but on his way he remembered he had a very important pen drive in the jacket so he drove back.

After the immediate treatment, doctors declared Narayan to be stable and that's when Arya received her senses back.

The nurse handed over her grandfather's belongings which included the jacket. Seeing it Arya remembered how she spoke to the guy who helped them. She quickly took the jacket and walked out of the hospital in case if the guy is still there.

Arya carefully observed the letters on the jacket that read AWS.
A for Achyut, S for Sharma, W-? She wondered, before starting searching for him in social media so that she could return the jacket and also thank the mysterious person who saved her grandfather's life, but fortunately or unfortunately Arshad reached there before her search reveals any fruitful results.

Due to lack of spectacles, she couldn't recognize Arshad Or his car. But he recognized Arya, by his jacket in her hand.

"Excuse me...", he called, his voice startled her. The dominant tone scared her, and her first reflex was to move far but her legs for some odd reason stayed still.

"Who are you?", she asked...

He frowned but soon understood the whole matter. His sharp gaze already noticed her father purposely breaking her glasses and now he understood the whole fiasco.

"Achyut... Achyut Sharma", Arshad hated introducing himself as such, but for some odd reason, the helplessness in Prateek's eyes and the way he folded his hands reflected his situation. "My jacket", he asked forwarding his palm.

"Sorry", Arya said, her tone going soft, making Arshad look at the woman in front of him for the first time. Is this the same woman who talked to him as if he was her servant, just a while ago?
"I... I was worried for my dadu... I shouldn't have spoken with you in that manner, I'm sorry and thank you, I would be forever grateful to you for your help...", she added, and his lips twitched in surprise. Her words caused an unknown twitch inside him.

He slightly nodded at her.

"If you need my help ever, or anything I could do for you, I would be very happy, I am Arya Awasthi... Though I don't know how you look... Haha", she giggled before continuing... "because of my poor eye sight, now that I know your name, I'll recognize you...", she added making his eyes smile for the first time in a long time, at her innocence.

It's very dark and Arya was standing under the roof while Arshad was a bit far, and due to the darkness and her poor eyesight, she couldn't see him properly.

He cleared his throat and forwarded his hand to take the jacket, she gave it to him but suddenly realized something.

"Wait! What does AWS mean? A is Achyut and S is Sharma... What W?", She suddenly asked.

Arshad ran his brain to search a hindu name with W but nothing stuck his head, then he saw the name just below an idol starting with 'V' but he made it 'W'

"Wishwanath... Achyut Wishwanath Sharma", he repeated lowly...

"Vishwanath with 'W'? Strange...", she asked him with a smile, and for a second he was lost in the cute innocent girl in front of him... He nodded and she stared again... "You have names indicating the trimoortis huh? Lord vishnu, shiva and brahmaji?", she noted

"Huh?", he was confused...

"Sharma... Your surname, is a brahmin surname, so brahmaji...", she said before chuckling... "Sorry... I'm not making any sense right?", She added, her head was still stuck at the tragedy that would have happened if Arshad didn't give them lift...

"Your grandfather will be fine... Don't worry", He said and walked away from there picking his jacket.

His words though sounded emotionless calmed her restless heart. The way he related her stupid talks to the pain she is feeling mentally, made her heart filled with gratitude.

"Achyut Wishwanath Sharma... Um... No... That's too long... Mr. AWS... I owe you, you saved my dadu, I promise you, I will do anything you ask me to... Anything... It's Arya Awasthi's promise", She said looking at the black sky...

Precap - A few years later...