Chapter 110 - 109

Charan stood there with his mouth wide open and with no sense of reality. In all probability, even if some mosquito enters his mouth, he wouldn't notice it.

That was how perplexed he was seeing The Srivastav Manor. If he had thought Anand's house was big, he knew how naïve he was back then.

This was practically a palace. They had to drive 30 minutes from the outer gate to just to get to the building entrance. He looked above and he was clueless where to look first. It was huge.

The building itself was several stories tall with a terracotta roof and asymmetrical structure. While the whole building was covered from all around by trees. It did not look properly maintained. It looked more like a forest. But they were decorated with serial lights for the party making them look like a mini sky on their own. If the outer looked like this, he did not even want to go inside. He was terrified to even imagine.

In front of the building was a large clearing of grass that was trimmed to perfection. That was now filled with people working… Catering and all sorts of other staff working relentlessly to get the work done before people start arriving.

His train of thoughts was interrupted by someone hopping on his back like a monkey and it was none other than Shreya.

"HI…" She excitedly greeted him from behind his back.

Charan's hands instinctively went behind and held her first. Then he turned his face sideways and asked sarcastically, "Can't you behave like a human being for once??"

"Nope… not doing it. I will become boring then…" Shreya answered his question seriously with a big grin and of course, to prove her point, she also bit on his ears making him hiss in pain while Shryea giggled away.

Some of the workers stopped their work and looked at her with a warm smile. Some of them had been working in the manor for a very long time and they had seen Shreya grow up. When she was growing up, this was actually a very common scene around. She often rode on her dad's shoulder and her delirious waves of laughter would fill the walls. The manor was such a happy place back then.

But then when Adithya and Susmitha passed away… Shreya could barely stand to be in the manor. Only during new year festivities, she will come. Even then, whenever she laid eyes on the manor… you could clearly see the sense of gloominess on her face.

But seeing her now like this after such a long time… warmth filled them unknowingly.

Charan jolted in his place when he felt something rub against his legs all of a sudden and was met with two huge eyes of a golden retriever. Before he could react, Shreya jumped down and the next second she and the dog were wresting on the floor with Shreya squealing away.

"Hi, Charan. When did you come here??" Akash said joining them. He slung his hand over his shoulders and made himself comfortable.

Charan did not mind. He just replied, "Just now…"

"And the dog already took a bite of your ears??" Akash asked arching his brows. After all, Shreya was not shy when she bites. So it left a very red and a very eye-catching mark on Charan's ear.

Charan just shrugged his shoulders and said, "Something like that."

Just as the words slipped his lips, Shreya who was busy playing with the golden retriever stopped on her track and protested vehemently, "I am not a dog!! A pup- maybe… But definitely not a dog…"

Akash burst out laughing while Charan just shook his head helplessly. He did not know whether to laugh or cry at that moment. He did not know how she could run such a big company so successful and still behave like a damn kindergarten student.

"Shreya… Puppy is also a dog… just an FYI…" Akash said and continued his laughter.

"No… It is not!!" Shreya argued back pettily.

Of course, Akash was not going to lose to anyone in pettiness. So the argument went on.

Charan left the two brats be and went inside.

The inside was just as he feared… it was grand and luxurious. The living room itself stretched to the size of that of a freaking football field… Okay maybe it was a tad bit exaggerated but that's how it felt.

Bhagya stood there in the middle ordering people around. Charan approached her with a smile and offered his help, "Hey, can I help out too…"

"Oh, Charan. When did you come??" Bhagya greeted him with a pleasant smile and a warm hug.

"Just… I came early thinking I could help out in any way around…" Charan replied politely. He had a very pleasant impression of her. They may not be close but there was no reservedness or hostility between them. So he felt at ease to talk to her freely without any reservation.

And of course, Bhagya did not know how to be reserved for anyone… let alone someone who is part of her family.

"At last someone responsible to help!!" Bhagya said joyously and freely ordered him around. He mainly had to pass on her instructions and make sure everything was happening as it was supposed to be happening.

Originally she had called Akash to help her out but then that brat kept absconding every few minutes. It became a tedious job in itself just to track him down. So she let go of him after a while and started handling things herself. But then since Charan offered his help voluntarily, she did not shy away. It took a whole load of weight off her shoulders.

And with his help, she was able to complete all the arrangements before time without much fuzz.

"Okay, Charan. Thank you so much. I don't know what I would have done without you today. You go find Shreya and get freshened up. I will go and search for my lazy ass son now." Bhagya said and went away.

Charan stretched out for a bit and then went in search of Shreya. After running around the place for two hours straight, he was familiar with the ground floor of the manor at least. The first time around, he got so lost that he had to call Bhagya for help.

He found Shreya talking on her phone in a secluded part of the garden. Shreya noticed him come right away gestured him to come over.

"Hey, sweetheart…" Charan called out swinging his hand over her shoulders.

Shreya leaned on him still talking over the phone with a serious expression.