Pyaar Toh Hona Hi Tha

47.Unexpected turn of life

The silence of the night was thick, wrapping the house in a blanket of stillness, save for the occasional rustle of leaves in the wind.

The large ancestral home, which usually stood as a fortress of comfort and security, now felt like a place of secrets and shadows.

In the house library, a solitary figure was hunched over a desk, the soft glow of a lamp illuminating the stern lines of his face.

Captain Rajveer Singh Shekhawat, a man known for his bravery on the battlefield, was now fighting a different kind of war-one against the ghosts of his past.

Rajveer's eyes, sharp and focused, scanned the contents of the files spread out before him.

These were no ordinary documents; they were filled with the details of an event that had shaped the course of his life-the car accident that had claimed the lives of his parents.

For years, the narrative had been clear: a terrorist attack, orchestrated by a group that had claimed responsibility shortly after. But something had never felt right to Rajveer, and now, after year's of digging, he was starting to uncover a truth that was far more sinister.

As he pieced together the information, the threads of doubt that had long lingered in his mind began to form a coherent picture.

The terrorists who had claimed responsibility... they didn't exist. Or at least, not in the way the official reports had claimed.

The names, the organization, all of it-it was a fabrication, a smokescreen to hide the real perpetrators.

And someone had gone to great lengths to bury the truth.

Suddenly, the creak of a door broke the silence. Rajveer didn't need to look up to know who it was.

The heavy footfalls, the authoritative presence-it was Colonel Shakti Singh Randhawa, the man who had raised him after the tragedy, the man he had come to know as "Dad."

Shakti stopped at the doorway, his eyes narrowing as he took in the scene before him.

The library was rarely used at this hour, and yet here was Rajveer, deep in thought, surrounded by files that should have been left untouched.

"Rajveer," Shakti's voice was low, tinged with concern but also carrying the weight of a reprimand. "What are you doing up at this hour? You have duties tomorrow. This isn't the time to be-"

"Dad," Rajveer interrupted, his voice steady but laden with an emotion that made Shakti pause.

Rajveer looked up, his eyes meeting Shakti's with a piercing intensity. "There's something you need to know."

Shakti's gaze flickered to the files, and his heart sank.

He had hoped Rajveer would leave this buried in the past. "Rajveer, whatever it is, it can wait. You've already lost so much sleep over this."

"It can't wait," Rajveer insisted, his tone leaving no room for argument.

He leaned back in his chair, the weight of what he was about to say evident in the way he exhaled. "The terrorists... the ones who were blamed for the accident... they don't exist."

Shakti froze, the blood draining from his face.

He had known this day would come, had dreaded it.

But to hear it spoken aloud was something else entirely. "What are you talking about?"

Rajveer pushed a file across the table, the paper rustling as it slid toward Shakti.

"Look at this. Every detail, every piece of evidence that pointed to them-it's all fabricated. The organization was a front, a decoy. Someone else was behind my parents' deaths, someone who went to great lengths to cover their tracks."