ch 73 the truth
Ashiana clutches the penbut her fingers freeze.
Her heartbeat echoes loudly in the empty, dark room.
She steps back slowly.
ASHIANA (voice trembling, overwhelmed)
"Pa... but... but I can't... I... I love him..."
Her father's face hardens for a split second but she doesn't notice.
Ashiana continues, her voice breaking:
ASHIANA
"I love Aarav, papa. And... and I want you too. I want both my worlds... I want both of you..."
Her father's eyes narrow, but he quickly masks it with a sad smile.
Ashiana touches his arm softly, pleading.
ASHIANA
"Papa... don't worry, okay? I will talk to him...I will make everything fine... He... he loves me too... he'll understand..."
Her innocence cuts the silence like a wound.
She tries to hug him again, desperate to unite her shattered past and fragile present.
ASHIANA (soft, hopeful, breaking)
"Papa really... I'll fix everything. Just come with me... Please don't hide anymore..."
But he doesn't hug her back this time.
He steps awaythe softness draining from his face.
His voice turns colder. Firmer.
FATHER (low)
"You're making a mistake, Arshi."
Ashiana looks up, confused.
He watches her with an expression she has never seen on him before a mix of frustration and dangerous disappointment.
FATHER (icily calm)
"If you go back to him... you will lose me forever."
Ashiana's breath catches.
Her eyes fill instantly.
ASHIANA (whisper, devastated)
"Pa... why are you saying this...?"
He just stares at her.
Silent. Intense.
Like a predator who just had his prey slip away.
Ashiana swallows hard, her voice cracking:
ASHIANA
"I... I just want both my families... Why can't I have that, papa...?"
He says nothing.
Just watches her.
And that silence terrifies her more than any words could have.
Ashiana is still staring at her father, eyes wet, breath shakingwhen suddenly...
A sharp, cold voice cuts through the darkness.
AARAV (deadly calm)
"Bas. Enough of this drama."
Ashiana gasps and turns.
Out of the shadows...
Aarav steps forward.
Face hard.
Jaw clenched.
Eyes burning with a rage she has never seen.
Behind him
Aditya. Kabir. Raghav.
All three radiating fury, betrayal, and protective anger.
Her father's expression instantly changes from soft fatherly griefo
pure calculation.
Aarav walks closer, every step heavy with lethal control.
AARAV (to Ashiana, eyes on her father)
"You came alone... to him?"
His voice isn't angry.
It's hurt. Destroyed. Angry beneath the hurt.
Ashiana's lips tremble.
"Aarav... I... I thought—"
He doesn't look at her yet.
He's staring at the man who claims to be her father.
Aditya steps forward, voice shaking with restrained pain.
"Where is he?
My real father.
My real sister."
Ashiana's head snaps toward Aditya, confused
"Bhaiya...? W–what—"
But Aarav lifts his hand gently, silently asking her to stay quiet.
He finally turns toward Ashiana.
Not harsh.
Not angry.
Just heartbreakingly soft.
AARAV (voice breaking a little)
"You trusted a message from an unknown number... and came alone into danger... onliesi you believed he's your father?"
Tears fill her eyes.
She whispers
"Aarav... he said he loves me... he said you tried to kill him... I—"
Aarav's jaw flexes.
A dark, humorless laugh escapes him.
"Of course he did."
Then he looks at the man again.
And his expression turns lethal.
AARAV (cold as death)
"VEERAJ KAPOOR.
International crime syndicate head.
Human trafficking.
Weapon circuits.
And the man who killed Aditya's father and kidnapped their baby sister."
Ashiana stiffens.
Her father's face freezes.
Aarav steps forward, eyes hard:
"And you dare call yourself her papa?"
Kabir cracks his knuckles.
Raghav's fist tightens.
Aditya's eyes glisten with fury and unbearable pain.
Ashiana covers her mouth, tears flooding.
"K–kidnapped?
W–who?
W–what do you mean?"
Aarav turns to her.
Slowly.
Softly.
"Baby... He didn't come here for you." He looks at the man with disgust.
"He came for the file. The one that holds the property he took by killing Aditya's parents."
Ashiana's legs wobble.
She whispers
"No... no this can't—"
Her "father" suddenly shouts
"ENOUGH!"
And in that momentAshiana realizes the softness was an illusion.
Aarav immediately pulls her behind him, shielding her.
Aditya, Kabir, and Raghav circle like wolves around a trapped monster.
Aarav growls:
"Touch her again... and I'll end you myself."
Ashiana stands frozen behind Aarav, eyes shining with hurt and confusion, when her father suddenly softens his expression again switching masks like a trained devil.
He looks directly at her, voice trembling with fake pain.
FATHER (shaking voice)
"Arshi beta... look at me. I'm your father. Your papa... Why are you standing behind him? The same man who tried to kill me?"
Aarav's hand instantly tightens around Ashiana's wrist protectively.
AARAV (warning)
"Don't."
But the father ignores him and steps one inch toward Ashiana, eyes glossy with false tears.
FATHER
"Beta... did you forget? Who carried you on his shoulders? Who sang you lullabies? Who protected you when you hid under the bed during thunderstorms?"
Ashiana flinches remembering flashes of old memories.
Her lips tremble.
ASHIANA
"P–Papa... I don't understand... everything feels—"
Her father seizes that moment, voice rising with desperate manipulation.
FATHER
"You don't understand because THEY are fooling you!
Aarav... Aditya... Kabir... Raghav...
They want to separate you from me!
Just like Aarav separated you from your mother that day!"
Aarav's jaw clenches so tight a vein pops on his throat.
Aditya steps forward like a predator.
ADITYA (low)
"Don't. You. Dare. Bring my aunt into this."
But her father snaps back viciously:
FATHER
"She died because of HIM!"
(points at Aarav)
"He tried to shoot me and your mother ran in between! Aarav killed her and then acted like a hero!"
Ashiana gasps, hand flying to her mouth, tears welling.
Her entire world spins.
Aarav takes one step toward her, pained.
AARAV (soft, breaking)
"Baby... you know me... you know I would die before hurting you or your family."
But her father strikes again like venom.
FATHER (roaring with hurt)
"HE married you so he can control your money! Your property! Just like he controlled Aditya's family's empire!"
Aditya's fury rises.
Raghav grabs his arm to stop him from lunging.
Kabir's hands curl into fists.
Ashiana shakes her head, crying harder:
ASHIANA
"Papa... stop... please... I can't— I don't know what to believe—"
Her father makes his final move.
He steps forward, voice breaking, almost whispering:
FATHER
"My daughter... come to me. Leave him. He's dangerous."
(teary smile)
"You're my blood. My little Arshi. Come home."
Ashiana stumbles a step forward instinctively.
Aarav sees it
And for the first time in his life, he looks scared.
He whispers
AARAV
"Ashi... no.
Look at me.
Look at my eyes.
Does this look like a man who would lie to you for gain?"
Her father cuts in sharply:
FATHER
"He ALREADY DID! He's lying even now—"
Aarav snaps.
Fury boiling, he steps right up to the man.
AARAV (deadly calm)
"You killed her mother."
"You killed Aditya's father."
"You sold your own people."
"And now you want to use her... AGAIN."
Ashiana gasps.
Her father's mask slips for one second a cruel, cold smile flickers.
Then disappears.
Her father strides toward her arms opening
FATHER
"Beta, come to me!"
Aarav immediately blocks him with his whole body.
AARAV (thunderous)
"She is MY WIFE. And you will not take her anywhere."
Her father snarls, losing control:
FATHER
"She is NOT your wife! She is MY DAUGHTER! She belongs to ME!"
Ashiana cries out
ASHIANA
"STOP IT! STOP!"
Aarav turns and cups her cheeks gently, forehead touching hers.
His voice is soft, desperate, trembling from the deepest part of him.
AARAV (pleading)
"Ashi... Baby... Don't let him break us. Please... trust me."
Her father screams:
FATHER
"He is the evil one! NOT ME! HE—"
And that's when Aditya steps forward with the file, voice like ice:
ADITYA
"Let's end this lie."
Her father suddenly lunges jaw clenched, eyes turning monstrous
FATHER (roaring)
"YOU STOLE MY DAUGHTER!"
He grabs a broken bottle from the ground and charges straight at Aarav.
Ashiana screams
ASHIANA
"AAAARAV!"
Aarav instantly pushes her behind him, shielding her with his whole body, ready to take the hit
But Kabir gets there first.
With one deadly punch.
A fist cracks across the father's jaw with a sickening thud.
He falls to the ground, spitting blood.
KABIR (voice full of pure rage)
"You dare touch my bhabhi or my brother I'll break every bone in your body."
But the father laughs a cold, unhinged, evil laughwiping the blood from his lip.
FATHER
"You think you've won? You children don't know anything."
Aditya steps forward.
No anger in his eyes.
Just pure deadly calm.
He grabs the father by the collar and SLAMS him against the wall so hard the wood cracks.
Ashiana flinches.
Aarav instantly wraps an arm around her waist protectively.
ADITYA (cold, lethal whisper)
"You want to play games?"
"You want to use my sister again?"
"Fine. Let's play."
His fist hits the man's stomach hard, surgical, military precision.
The father lets out a strangled groan.
Kabir blocks the door.
Raghav stands behind them, eyes emotionless, recording everything.
RAGHAV (quietly)
"No escape. No lies. Not this time."
Aditya lifts the man again, face inches from his.
ADITYA
"Tell her the truth."
The father spits on the ground.
FATHER
"The truth? She is MY daughter—"
Aditya's fist crashes into his ribs.
The man screams
Ashiana sobs, covering her ears, but Aarav gently holds her hand, grounding her.
AARAV (soft to her)
"Baby... it's okay. I'm here. Just hold my hand."
Aditya grabs the father's jaw and forces him to face Ashiana.
ADITYA (voice shaking with fury)
"Tell her why her mother died."
"Tell her whose orders it was."
"Tell her what you did to MY parents."
The father's face changes
fear.
Real fear.
Ashiana's breath trembles.
ASHIANA (whispering)
"Papa...? Tell me... please..."
Aditya strikes his face again not anger; punishment.
ADITYA
"TELL. HER."
The father breaks screams and finally shouts the truth:
FATHER (shaking, defeated)
"I... I killed her mother!"
Ashiana falls to her knees, sobbing silently.
FATHER (stammering, trembling)
"Th–They tried to save her mother. So I...
I burnt your house."
Kabir, Aarav, Aditya, raghavall four brothers exchanged a look.
A slow, murderous look.
They knew.
He was lying.
Aditya's jaw clenched. His eyes went dangerously blank. Without warning, he dug the knife deeper into Veeraj's palm, twisting it with a slow cruelty that made the older man scream.
ADITYA (cold, dead voice)
"Truth."
Veeraj's breaths hitched. Blood dripped on the floor. His body trembled violently.
Finally, he broke