The Ideal Stranger

Chapter 32: The Cat and the Mouse

  Aanya spent the next few days digging into Kabir's past. She returned to her childhood neighborhood, spoke to old friends, even visited the school they had both attended. Every clue she found only deepened the mystery. Kabir had always been invisible, blending into the background of her life, unnoticed and unremarkable. But as she uncovered more about his past, she realized that Kabir had been carefully constructing his disappearance. He had erased himself from the world, becoming a ghost that only she could see.

  Then, one afternoon, she found something that stopped her cold.

  It was an old yearbook from their school days. Flipping through the pages, she found the usual pictures—smiling faces, groups of friends, teachers—but there, hidden in the back, was something she hadn't expected.

  Kabir's handwriting.

  It was scrawled beneath a photo of Aanya, hidden in the margins of the page.

  "Soon."

  Her hands trembled as she traced the letters. This wasn't just a forgotten yearbook; it was a message. A warning, left for her to find. Kabir had been waiting for this moment for years, patiently biding his time. And now, it was almost here.

  Aanya closed the yearbook, her heart pounding. She had been so focused on running from Kabir that she hadn't stopped to think about what he wanted. But now, she was beginning to see the bigger picture. He was playing a game—a twisted, elaborate game of cat and mouse—and she was the prize.

  But she wasn't going to let him win.