ch 72 meeting of trust
The next morning
Malhotra Mafia Base.
Underground. Soundproof. High-tech.
Their real war room.
The four of them stood around the massive curved screen:
Aarav, Kabir, Raghav, and Aditya.
The image paused on the screen was the same masked man from the reception
only now zoomed, enhanced, clarified.
The atmosphere was suffocatingly silent.
Raghav stood with arms crossed, glasses reflecting the pixelated face.
Aarav's jaw flexed.
Kabir tapped his fingers impatiently, restless, ready to hit someone.
But Aditya...
Aditya wasn't even blinking.
His eyes were glued to the photo.
A strange tightness spread across his face fear, confusion, denial.
Aarav spoke first, low and steady:
"Adi... look closely."
Aditya swallowed hard.
His hand slowly lifted, trembling just slightly, as he pointed at the screen.
He stepped closer.
Closer.
Until his nose was nearly touching the LED.
Then in a cracked voice he hadn't used in years he whispered:
"This jawline... this ring... this scar..."
Kabir leaned forward.
"What? You remembering something?"
Aditya shook his head rapidly first in denial, then in fear.
"No... no, it can't be... He .. he can't be alive."
Raghav's brows furrowed sharply.
"Who can't be alive, Aditya?"
he asked in his cool strategist tone.
Aditya inhaled shakily.
His throat bobbed.
He finally met Aarav's eyes helpless, tormented.
And whispered:
"My... uncle."
Aarav's eyes hardened instantly.
Kabir froze mid-movement.
Raghav's fingers stopped on the keyboard.
Aditya continued, voice raw
"My father's younger brother .. Viraj Kapoor. He died in the same accident that killed my parents and my sister... at least... that's what I was told."
He closed his eyes tightly.
"I saw his body. I thought I saw his body. But That ring... that scar on his chin... He always wore that skull ring. It was his signature."
Aarav stepped closer.
"Adi... are you saying he faked his death?"
Aditya's jaw clenched, pain tearing through his eyes.
"I don't know... but if it's him... then he didn't just fake his death."
He looked at the screen again the man laughing in the darkness as the projector flashed Ashiana's childhood photo.
"He watched my family die... and then chose to disappear."
Kabir cursed under his breath.
Raghav clicked on another file zooming in on the skull ring.
"It matches," he confirmed.
His voice dangerously calm. "He's not just alive. He planned this."
Aarav's voice turned ice
"Then why is he after Ashiana?"
Aditya's face went pale.
He stepped back, heart pounding.
And whispered the line that made all three brothers still:
Night.
A deserted old house. The wind whistles through broken window frames, and the streetlight flickers weakly.
Ashiana steps out of the dark doorway, clutching her phone tightly. Her eyes scan the empty surroundings.
ASHIANA (whispering to herself, scared, trembling
"H-How can this be possible...? Th-That man... he sent me a message to meet here only... and I... I came here alone. I know it's my stupidity but... but what could I do...?"
Her voice cracks as she presses a palm against her chest.
ASHIANA
"In the evening when I got the message.
.. from this number... and it saidArshi beta, I want to meet you.
.. I... I couldn't stop myself."
Her eyes turn glossy with hope.
"Wh-What if he really is my father.
..? What if... he had a big reason for hiding these years?
My father... he can never hurt me. I know him. He used to love me so much..."
She swallows hard, her breath forming little clouds in the cold.
ASHIANA
"And... and I can't tell anyone. Especially not Aarav... he'd never let me come here. They all wouldn't."
A shaky step forward.
"But... but I need to know... was he truly my father...?"
A painful, longing whisper escapes her.
Suddenly
A DEEP VOICE FROM BEHIND, HIDDEN IN THE SHADOWS
"Arshi... beta."
Ashiana jolts, her breath hitching as she spins around.
A tall, dark figure slowly steps out of the shadows... only the faint outline of his body visible... the voice eerily familiar yet wrong.
Ashiana turns sharply, breath trembling
And freezes.
A man steps fully into the faint light.
Her father.
RAJEEV SHARMA
The same eyes... the same gentle, familiar curve of his smile... the same soft warmth she used to run into as a child.
Her lips part, a shaky whisper escaping.
ASHIANA (almost breathless)
"Pa...paa...?"
His expression softens instantly, exactly the way he looked at her years ago full of tenderness, pride, and affection.
He raises his hands slowly, calming her.
FATHER (voice gentle, emotional)
"Arshi... meri bachchi... it's really me."
Her eyes blur with tears.
She steps closer, confusion and longing both suffocating her.
ASHIANA (voice breaking)
"Pa... but... where were you? Why... why didn't you come back? Why did you leave me...?"
He gives a soft, sad smile and cups her cheeks the way he used to when she got scared at night.
FATHER
"I had to hide, beta... for your safety. You were in danger because of me. I... I never stopped loving you. Not even for a second."
A choking sob escapes her.
He pulls her into his chest gently.
Ashiana collapses into the hug, tremblingAll the years of pain, loneliness, and hope crashing together.
FATHER (stroking her hair softly)
"I'm here now. I'm back. I came only for you, Arshi."
Ashiana tightens her hold, tears soaking his shirt.
For the first time in years... she feels like she has her father back.
But behind the soft expression on his facehidden deep in his eyes a flicker of something colder, darker, entirely unseen by her.
Ashiana slowly pulls back from the hug, wiping her tears, still overwhelmed.
Her father gently holds her shouldersand his softness slowly shifts into something heavier, something pitying.
FATHER (voice trembling, forcing emotion)
"Arshi... beta... do you know why I disappeared?"
Ashiana sniffles, shakes her head innocently.
ASHIANA
"Pa... you said it was for my safety but... what danger? From whom?"
He looks down... pretends to hesitate... then exhales shakily, as if revealing a painful truth.
FATHER
"It was Aarav."
Ashiana freezes.
ASHIANA
"A–Aarav?"
He nods, eyes filling with fake hurt.
FATHER
"Yes. He tried to kill me, Arshi."
Her breath catches. She steps back in shock.
ASHIANA (whisper)
"No... no that's not true... Aarav would never..."
He grips her arms quickly, desperately.
FATHER (voice intense, emotional)
"I saw him that day. I saw him kill a man with my own eyes. He saw me watching... and he came after me. If I didn't run, if I didn't hide... I would be dead by now!"
Ashiana's face drains of colour.
ASHIANA
"Pa... what... what are you saying..."
He shakes his head slowly, pretending to be broken.
FATHER
"That entire accident... the fire... the attack... it wasn't an accident, Arshi. It was him. Aarav Malhotra. The family you trust so much."
She clutches her dupatta tightly, panic rising.
He lowers his voice, speaking softerdeadlier.
FATHER
"The Malhotras... the whole empire... they're behind everything. Behind our destruction. Behind your tears. Behind the danger we lived in."
Ashiana's hands start trembling.
He gently lifts her chin, forcing her to look into his eyes.
FATHER (soft, poisonous)
"They will destroy you the same way, Arshi. Just like they tried to destroy me."
A single tear slips down her cheek.
ASHIANA (broken whisper)
"No... Aarav loves me... he protects me..."
He smiles sadly, stroking her cheek.
FATHER
"That's what he wants you to believe.
But I know the truth.
I escaped that day because of you.
And I came back today... only for you."
Ashiana's heart pounds painfully, confusion ripping her apart.
ASHIANA
"Pa... please... tell me everything... everything you know..."
He nods, pulling her close again and a cold, victorious smirk flashes in his eyes where she cannot see.
Ashiana stands there, shaken, her heartbeat unsteady.
Her father watches her closelycalculating her every breath.
He sighs softly, acting wounded.
FATHER (gentle, pained)
"Beta... you don't have to be scared. I'm here now. I won't let Aarav hurt you the way he tried to hurt me."
Ashiana's lips tremble.
ASHIANA
"Pa... I... I don't know what to believe..."
He steps forward, placing his hands on her cheeks exactly as he used to in childhood.
His voice becomes heartbreakingly soft.
FATHER
"Believe your father, Arshi. Not strangers. Not those men who only pretend to care."
He wipes her tears.
FATHER (murmuring)
"Aarav... Raghav... Kabir... Aditya... they all belong to the same world."
A cold pause.
"A world that destroyed us."
Ashiana flinches.
He lowers his hands and opens his coattaking out a black leather file with trembling fingers.
FATHER
"I didn't want to involve you, but...
if we want to survive...
if we want to leave this city...
if we want a new life..."
He taps the file meaningfully.
FATHER (soft, pleading)
"You will have to sign these papers."
Ashiana looks at it, confused and scared.
ASHIANA
"What... what papers?"
He hesitates... then speaks slowly, as if terrified.
FATHER
"Protection papers. Property, identity shift... I had to prepare everything so we can escape Aarav's reach."
Ashiana gulps.
ASHIANA
"I–Identity shift? Pappa... why would I need that?"
He grips her shoulders again.
FATHER (urgent whisper)
"Because Aarav will come for you, Arshi!
Once he finds out I met you, he will never let you go!
He will trap you... control you... and once he gets what he wants—"
He stops mid-sentence, letting the horror sink in.
Ashiana staggers back slightly.
ASHIANA (shivering)
"No... Aarav... he won't do that..."
He shakes his head sadly.
FATHER
"You're blinded, beta. Love blinds."
A soft, pitying smile.
"But I am your blood. I know what's best for you."
He opens the file, revealing documents with blank signature lines.
FATHER (coaxing, gentle)
"This... is the only way I can keep you safe from them."
"Sign these papers... and come with me."
Ashiana stares at the pen he places into her hand.
Her fingers shake, her mind twisting between fear, love, and confusion.
ASHIANA (broken whisper)
"Pa... is this... really necessary?"
He cups the back of her head and pulls her forehead to his chest—
the same comforting gesture she grew up with.
His voice deepens.
FATHER
"If you trust me... if you still believe I am your father... then sign, Arshi."
She closes her eyes tightly.
A single tear falls.
Her hand slowly lifts the pen over the paper
completely unaware that she is about to sign away her freedom.