Shadowed Desires

Chapter 28

Next morning...
10:00 AM

Atharv had just left for the office. Kritika was sitting alone in the living room when Aditya arrived.
“Bhabhi, sab thik to hai? Aapne aise urgently bulaya mujhe?”
(Bhabhi, is everything okay? You called me so urgently?)

Kritika asked one of the househelps to arrange tea and snacks for him and guided him to take a seat.
“Aditya, mujhe tumhari ek help chahiye.”
(Aditya, I need your help.)

“Meri kaisi help?”
(What kind of help?) he asked.

“Par tumhe promise karna hoga ki abhi tum is sab ke baare mein kisi ko nahi bataoge — na kisi family member ko, infact Atharv ko bhi.”
(But you’ll have to promise not to tell anyone — not even any family member, not even Atharv.)

“Woh toh main nahi bataunga. Par aap yeh toh batayein, bhabhi, baat kya hai jo aap itne pareshan ho?”
(I won’t say a word. But please tell me what’s troubling you so much?)

Kritika took a deep breath.
“Someone is targeting both Atharv and me simultaneously.”

Aditya’s expression tensed.
“Toh bhabhi, aap yeh baat Atharv bhai ko kyu nahi batati? Aap dono ki jaan ko khatra ho sakta hai. Woh insaan hai kaun, aur aapko kyun target kar raha hai?”
(Then bhabhi, why aren’t you telling Atharv bhai? Your lives could be in danger. Who is this person and why is he targeting you?)

“Tumhe yaad hai woh scams jo humne reveal kiye the? Uska unse pakka kuch lena dena hai. Aur woh hum dono ko har tarike se nuksaan pahuchana chahta hai.”
(Do you remember the scams we exposed? He's definitely connected to them. And he wants to destroy both of us in every possible way.)

“Par bhabhi, aapko yeh sab kaise pata chala?”
(But bhabhi, how do you know all this?)

Kritika replied, “That’s a long story.”
Still, she went on to briefly narrate the incidents that had raised her suspicions.

After hearing her out, Aditya said, “Bhabhi, jo bhi aap ye series of events bata rahi ho, mujhe lagta hai woh insaan agla target bhai ko banane wala hai.”
(Bhabhi, from what you're saying, I feel like his next target is going to be Bhai.)

“That’s my biggest concern right now.”

“Main chahti hoon ki usse pehle ki woh Atharv ko ek scratch bhi pahucha paye, hum us tak pahuch jayein.”
(Before he can even lay a scratch on Atharv, I want us to get to him.)

“Leave it to me,” Aditya promised. “I’ll find out who the culprit is within two days.”

“Please do it as fast as you can,” Kritika pleaded. “I don’t know why, but I feel he’s planning something much bigger. The elections are around the corner. He’ll try to create havoc again.”

“I’ll dig out every document, every piece of information on him,” Aditya vowed. “Just say the word, and I’ll bring his dead body to you.”

“No. I want him alive.” Her voice was cold with conviction.
“He’s the one who stained my late mother’s name in front of the world and separated us from all of you. I want him to pay for every single deed.”

Aditya nodded. “Haan, usne sabse badi galti ki thi aap dono ko humse alag karke.”
(Yes, his biggest mistake was separating the two of you from us.)
“Now every one of us is suffering in a new way because of that. But this time, his game will end.”

They talked a while longer about the rest of the family before Aditya was about to leave. Kritika stopped him.

“You didn’t eat anything and you're already leaving?”