Chapter - 26
Niran didn't sleep.
Not even for a damn minute.
He sat in his study with every light on, staring at the shattered remains of his phone.
Alisha was alive.
His wife.
The woman he'd watched disappear years ago.
The woman he had convinced himself was buried with the rest of his mistakes.
His hand trembled.
"Impossible..."
A quiet knock came.
Niran's head snapped toward the door.
"Come in."
His right-hand man entered.
"Sir."
"Find her."
"Who?"
Niran's eyes turned vicious.
"You heard me."
The man hesitated.
"Mrs. Alisha?"
Niran slammed his palm against the desk.
"Don't call her that."
Silence.
"Find her before Sky does."
The man nodded.
"Yes, sir."
"And one more thing."
Niran picked up an old photograph from the desk.
Nani's father.
Niran.
A younger Alisha.
And, barely visible in the background-
a black car.
"Find everything connected to October 8th, 2021."
The man frowned.
"Everything?"
"Everything."
Niran stared at the photograph.
"Because if Alisha remembers..."
His mouth curled into a cold smile.
"...she'll remember what she saw."
---
Meanwhile
Nani sat on the edge of the bed at Sky's mansion.
He hadn't spoken much since returning.
His laptop was open.
Several old files covered the screen.
Birth records.
Business documents.
Old newspaper scans.
Police reports.
Nothing.
Absolutely fucking nothing.
Nani rubbed his face.
"Why does every important answer in my life have to be hidden behind seventeen locked doors?"
A voice came from behind him.
"Because you keep opening the wrong ones."
Nani jumped.
"Jesus!"
Sky stood in the doorway.
Nani glared.
"Do you know normal people knock?"
"I knocked."
"When?"
"Before you started complaining."
Nani rolled his eyes.
Sky walked in.
His gaze fell on the laptop.
"What are you looking for?"
"My past."
Sky's expression tightened.
"Without me?"
Nani closed the laptop.
"Maybe."
Sky stared at him.
"Nani."
"What?"
"Don't shut me out."
Nani looked away.
"I'm trying to figure out whether I can trust you."
That landed hard.
Sky went silent.
After a moment, he pulled a chair across from him and sat.
"Then ask."
Nani looked at him.
"Did you know my father?"
"Yes."
"Did you know Niran?"
"Yes."
"Did you know Alisha?"
Sky paused.
"Not personally."
Nani studied his face.
"You're sure?"
"Yes."
"Did you know someone died that night?"
Sky's jaw tightened.
"I knew someone was killed."
"By my father?"
"From what I was told."
"Self-defense?"
"That's what the evidence showed."
Nani stared at him.
"Who gave you that evidence?"
Sky's eyes narrowed.
"I don't remember."
Nani immediately noticed.
"You don't remember?"
"It was five years ago."
"You remember the warehouse."
"Parts of it."
"But not who gave you the information?"
Sky leaned back.
"No."
Nani whispered,
"That's strange."
"Very."
For once, Sky didn't argue.
---
Nani waited until Sky left.
Then he opened his laptop again.
He searched:
October 8 2021 - Warehouse - Niran
Nothing.
He tried his father's company.
Nothing.
Then-
One result.
An archived business newspaper.
Nani clicked it.
The article was short.
LOCAL BUSINESSMAN SURVIVES ATTACK AMID FINANCIAL DISPUTE
Nani's eyes scanned the page.
Then stopped.
There was a photograph.
His father's old company building.
Underneath it:
Authorities declined to identify the deceased male found at the scene.
Nani frowned.
"Why wouldn't they identify him?"
He kept reading.
The article mentioned that the case had been closed after evidence supported self-defense.
But one sentence had been blacked out in the archived copy.
Nani zoomed in.
He couldn't read it.
"Damn it."
He downloaded the original page.
The file loaded.
Then-
A photograph appeared.
Nani froze.
It wasn't the same photograph.
This one showed the warehouse entrance.
His father stood near the doorway.
Niran was beside him.
Alisha stood several feet away.
And behind them-
A young Sky.
Nani's breathing stopped.
"Sky..."
But that wasn't what frightened him.
Someone else stood beside Niran.
A man Nani didn't recognize.
His face had been scratched out with something sharp.
Nani zoomed in.
There was a symbol on the man's coat.
The same symbol from the warehouse.
His stomach twisted.
"What the hell..."
Then he noticed something else.
A timestamp.
8:43 PM.
Nani checked the old police report.
The reported attack occurred at 9:17 PM.
Twenty-four minutes later.
Meaning-
This photograph had been taken before the attack.
Nani's hands went cold.
Someone had been there before everything happened.
Someone had been meeting Niran.
And Sky hadn't been alone.
---
A floorboard creaked.
Nani instantly closed the laptop.
He turned.
Sky stood in the doorway.
"Why are you awake?"
Nani forced a smile.
"Couldn't sleep."
Sky looked at him for several seconds.
"You've been crying."
"No."
"Your eyes are red."
"Allergies."
"To what?"
"Life."
Sky almost smiled.
"Come here."
Nani shook his head.
"I'm fine."
Sky walked closer.
"Nani."
"I'm fine."
Sky stopped.
He didn't push.
"Okay."
He turned to leave.
Nani watched him.
Then-
"Sky."
He stopped.
Nani swallowed.
"Did you ever see someone else with Niran that night?"
Sky slowly turned around.
His expression changed.
"What?"
"Answer me."
Sky stared at him.
Then his eyes narrowed.
"Why are you asking?"
"Just answer."
A long silence.
Finally Sky said,
"Yes."
Nani's heart dropped.
"Who?"
"I don't know."
"You saw him?"
"Briefly."
"Then why didn't you tell me?"
"Because I didn't remember him until tonight."
Nani's blood ran cold.
"What did he look like?"
Sky looked toward the window.
"Dark coat."
A pause.
"Silver ring."
Nani's eyes widened.
The photograph.
The man's hand.
A silver ring.
Sky looked back at him.
"Why?"
Nani slowly opened the laptop.
He turned the screen toward Sky.
Sky stared at the photograph.
His face went completely blank.
Nani whispered,
"You remember him?"
Sky didn't answer.
He leaned closer.
His eyes fixed on the scratched-out face.
Then his voice dropped.
"...I remember the ring."
Nani's heart hammered.
"Who was he?"
Sky stared at the photograph.
"I don't know."
A beat.
"But Niran knew him."
Nani swallowed.
"How do you know?"
Sky pointed at the photograph.
"Because look at Niran."
Nani did.
Niran wasn't looking at the camera.
He wasn't looking at Nani's father.
He wasn't looking at Alisha.
He was looking directly at the unidentified man.
And he was smiling.
Nani whispered,
"They knew each other."
Sky nodded.
"Long before that night."
The room fell silent.
Then Nani noticed something written faintly beneath the photograph.
A handwritten number.
17.
His blood ran cold.
The same number from the warehouse.
Sky saw it too.
His expression hardened.
"Nani..."
Suddenly-
The laptop screen went black.
A message appeared.
STOP DIGGING.
Nani froze.
Then another line appeared.
THE NEXT MEMORY WON'T BE AS KIND.
Sky stood up.
His entire demeanor changed.
"Get behind me."
Nani stared at the screen.
For the first time, he wasn't thinking about Niran.
He wasn't thinking about Alisha.
He wasn't even thinking about Sky.
He was thinking about the man whose face had been scratched away.
Because whoever he was...
he had been waiting five years for Nani to remember him.
-------
The laptop screen stayed black.
Nani stared at it.
Sky didn't.
He was already moving.
"Tee."
His voice cut through the room.
Tee appeared within seconds.
"Boss?"
"Lock the property down."
Tee looked at the dead laptop.
"...What happened?"
"Someone accessed the system."
Tee's expression changed.
"From outside?"
"Find out."
"On it."
He turned to leave.
Sky stopped him.
"And Tee?"
"Yeah?"
"Nobody enters this room without my permission."
Tee nodded.
"Got it."
The door shut.
Nani remained frozen beside the desk.
Sky turned toward him.
"You're staying here."
Nani blinked.
"Excuse me?"
"You're not leaving."
"There it is."
"What?"
"The bossy bullshit."
Sky sighed.
"Nani-"
"No. I'm not hiding in your mansion while someone sends me threats."
"I'm not asking you to hide."
"Sounds exactly like hiding."
Sky stepped closer.
"I'm asking you to stay alive."
Nani opened his mouth.
Nothing came out.
Sky's expression softened.
"Please."
That single word ruined Nani's argument.
He looked away.
"Fine."
Sky nodded.
"Good."
"But I'm still investigating."
"I know."
"And you're helping."
"I know."
"And if you tell me to stay out of it-"
"I won't."
Nani looked suspicious.
"Really?"
Sky gave him a tired look.
"I've learned that telling you what not to do only makes you do it faster."
Nani smiled despite himself.
"Finally. Character development."
"Don't get excited."
---
Three hours later, Sky's office looked like a crime scene.
Old documents covered the desk.
Financial records.
Company transfers.
Names.
Dates.
Photographs.
Tee stood beside the desk with a tablet.
"I found something."
Sky looked up.
"Talk."
Tee placed a file down.
"Your father's company wasn't the only one connected to Nani's father."
Nani leaned forward.
"What do you mean?"
"Five years ago, Nani's father's company borrowed a large amount of money."
Sky glanced at the documents.
"From my organization."
Nani looked at him.
"So the debt was real."
"Yes."
"How much?"
Tee named the amount.
Nani's eyebrows shot up.
"Jesus."
Tee nodded.
"Yeah."
Nani looked at Sky.
"And you went there to collect it."
"Yes."
"That's why you were there."
"Yes."
Nani stared at the papers.
"So you weren't there because of Niran."
"No."
"You weren't working with him."
"No."
"You didn't send those men to attack my father."
Sky's expression hardened.
"No."
Nani looked down.
A strange relief mixed with guilt.
"But you knew there was going to be trouble."
Sky shook his head.