Dhruv explained the happenings of the evening. He had retired to his room, while the three adults shuffled into the study room on the second floor. He received a call from Aakriti. When he answered, he realised that Aakriti had called and left the phone on for Dhruv to listen in to the conversation. Dhruv would bet she did it accidentally but knowing his Aunt's love for the crypt, it could have been intended.

“Ayaan is visiting Aashayein frequently. Almost every other day.” His Mom reported. “I doubt he is on to something.”

“Is that why you agreed to the sale?” That was his Dad's voice.

“Yes. Aakriti, you didn't happen to tell him anything, didn't you?”

“No. No, I didn't. Why do you think he is visiting?” His Aunt replied.

“No idea. Why would he go there so frequently? He wouldn't find anything there.”

“I will talk to him. See if he tells me.”

---

Ayaan thought for a while before saying, “I must be careful. Mom must have set up a GPS on me. I normally don't take my car when I go there. Anyway, you are here only to tell me this?”

Dhruv nodded. An awkward silence filled the room. Ayaan and Deepshika exchanged glances briefly turning to Dhruv and evaluating him. Reaching a decision, Ayaan said, “I think we are going to need him.”

“Fine, brief him.” Deepshika picked up the phone and called room service for three cups of tea. “It's a long story. I need it to keep me awake.”

With hot tea in hand, Ayaan dived into the narration. At the age of five, he had lost his mother at a railway station but was grateful for being rescued by a stranger who admitted him to the orphanage. As he grew up, he always wondered why the stranger never returned to visit him, despite promising him to do so. Four years ago, he found out that the stranger, named Vipul Gupta, was shot dead. He tried to retrieve the police report but was unsuccessful as the police refused to share the information.

In the due course, after almost a year from the time he found out about Vipul, he witnessed a scene at Mahanidhi by chance. A stout man in police uniform handed a file to Chhaya and received a thick envelope from her. Once he left, Chhaya handed the file to Raghav. Ayaan followed Raghav into the kitchen. By the time Ayaan came down the spiral staircase and reached the kitchen, Raghav lighted the stove and was about to place the file on top of it. Ayaan snatched the file from him and demanded an explanation. “Ayaan, please don't tell anyone about this. Chhaya will fire me from this job.”

“You usually call her Chhaya ma'am.” Ayaan reminded him, clutching the file against his thigh.

“You can have that file. I will tell you my identity when the time is right. But not now.”

In the present time, Dhruv jumped forward at the revelation. “Raghav is also involved in this?”

Deepshika answered him. “He is but we don't know who is he playing for."

Ayaan continued, “The report stated the death of a 60-year old man. The cause of death was carbon monoxide poisoning in his car. The file contained pictures of the victim when he was found, the death certificate and postmortem analysis.”

“Why would police give the report to Mom and most importantly, why was Raghav destroying it?”

“No idea.” Ayaan sounded dejected after narrating his findings. “On further investigation, I found out the victim is none other than the Director at the orphanage, from where Mom and Dad adopted me. When I visited the site of death, I found that it was a few feet away from the old bungalow. It unsettled me deeply that it happened so close to that house, of which nothing is spoken about in our family. Too many questions raised in my mind with no answers, except that it's related to Aashayein. I had set out to investigate Vipul Gupta's death. If the Director was alive he would have given me some clue. But with him out of the equation, I have run out of options. The orphanage burned down years ago. The man with a possible clue is no more, pointing to Aashayein for some hope that it would provide the clue.”

Over a couple of years, Ayaan had tried to search for more details pertaining to Aashayein but none of his efforts resulted in fruition. Raghav refused to talk, Aakriti played ignorant of Aashayein, Ankush ordered him to not involve with Aashayein. Time was running out but he had no lead to proceed. The house was filled with blank walls, empty hopes and concealed mystery. So, he played one last trump card - selling the property. The rationale was that the property sale would trigger a thorough examination of the place, its history in the government records and a legal access to the house without any obstacles. He asked Deepshika Verma, whom he introduced as his friend to Dhruv, to place an offer to the property agent.

---

While Deepshika did not want to involve Dhruv, she accepted Ayaan's decision. Dhruv and Ayaan shared not only a brotherly relationship but also were best buddies. After the brothers left her room, she picked her mobile and called Aakriti. “Ayaan brought Dhruv on board.” She updated her on the happenings of the evening in detail.

“Is that all? Did Dhruv say anything?”

“No, he only listened. Now, I'm wondering why he didn't question. He was all okay with the plan and agreed to help Ayaan. However, by doing so, isn't he going against his parents?”

“Dear, get a clarity for yourself. Don't confuse your intentions with Ayaan's. He is only trying to find the truth of Aashayein in order to find who was behind Vipul's death. You, on the other hand, have a better clue and are the one standing against the Agnihotris.”

Deepshika knew Aakriti to be a patient woman. She didn't hurry. She took her time to absorb the facts before putting forward her point. However, Deepshika felt that during the phone call, Aakriti was expecting a call that a bomb had gone off somewhere. She sounded agitated especially when she asked after Dhruv. Brushing her thoughts away, Deepshika laid down to sleep. She had enough to think of her own plans.

---

Dhruv sat next to Ayaan as the latter drove them home. Ayaan didn't initiate a conversation. So Dhruv rewinded his memory and relived the conversation he heard when Aakriti called him.

“Aakriti, are you helping Dhruv with something?” Ankush asked.

“What are you referring to?” Aakriti asked back. Dhruv smiled to himself that his Aunt was covering his back for the other morning's incident at the office.

“A week back, one morning, you shuffled me out of my cabin. When I came back, I saw Dhruv slithering away. Rest, see for yourself.”

The line was blank: no one spoke. Dhruv could hear his heartbeat thundering in his ears. Was his Dad only asking out of doubt? Was he caught? Thankfully, Aakriti spoke up, “What was Dhruv doing in your cabin? From the footage, it seems he is tampering with your laptop but wasn't successful.” There was a camera in the cabin and Dhruv missed it. He was caught for sure. He slapped his forehead. His brilliant scheme failed.

“Oh, he tampered, alright! I found the keylogger attached to my desktop. Will you answer or should I confront him?”

Chhaya came to Dhruv's rescue. “Ankush, you know him. He always likes to crack the code. He must be only playing around. I am sure…” She yelped before completing the sentence.

Ankush hissed. “For God's sake, Chhaya! For God's sake, he is not a child. He is 25 and very capable of hacking into systems. His hobby and passion for security systems is no secret. What he did in my cabin is not playing. It's called cybercrime. If it was not your son, he would have been behind bars by now.”

“My son? He is our son, Ankush.”

“If Ayaan did the same, you would have gone to extreme lengths to have him behind bars. Wouldn't you?” A short pause followed with a muffled answer. “Exactly. He is also my son, just that he isn't yours.”

Dhruv had dropped his phone which ended the call. It was public knowledge that Ayaan was adopted. Ayaan himself knew this fact and shared with him about the time, he came into Mahanidhi and found his best friend in the 5-year old Dhruv. Ayaan being Ankush's biological son was newsworthy, probably even Ayaan didn't know about it.

Dhruv squeezed his eyes shut and replayed Ankush's words, imagining the scene in the study room. Obviously, Chhaya knew this. And, Aakriti knew this as well. She had always favoured Ayaan, loved him like a mother. She would always take time to listen to him about his day at school, his plans for a career, taught him his initial steps at AMC and sheltered him like he was always in some danger. She was in that room, with Ankush and Chhaya. She was party to their secrets.

Dhruv patted himself mentally that he chose the right partner. Aakriti had taught him to code when he was in high school. She gave him her skills at encryption, ethical hacking and reverse engineering. When he told her that he overheard his parents at Aashayein, she warned him to not dig the skeletons if he wants to stay safe. On the other hand, she also helped him sneak into Ankush's cabin. Dhruv, however, was unable to decide whether she was the bad guy or the good guy.

###

I hope the plot is clearer now. This was a lengthy update. Did it surprise you, or bore you?