Pursuit (Completed)

Twelve - Part B

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Ishika landed in Jaipur. After close to 20 hours of travelling and transit waiting, she should be fatigued. However, when she saw the man waiting for her outside the arrival hall, her heart skipped a beat. The coldness in those eyes was less than she expected. He even offered to load her bags in the car. Ayaan should be giving her the cold shoulder or must be angry; he was being nice instead.

“Thank you for coming to pick me up.” She said with a hope of conversation.

“How was your flight?”

“Long and tiring. I wish I could have an iced tea and sleep for a day.”

“Next 24 hours are critical for us. There is no way we can sleep.” His eyes were fixated on the road ahead.

“Why is that?”

“I already reminded Mom of the three month deadline. I told her when I'm back, Aashayein is going on sale. Hope Jhanvi aunty is prepared to be the buyer.”

“Mamma? I was going to be the buyer.”

“Mom saw you already. You are Deepshika Verma to her. Remember?”

“I will talk to Mamma. She might not want to come…”

Ayaan interrupted her. “She landed in Mumbai an hour ago.”

Her mother was in Mumbai and she had no idea about it. Ayaan had called her and she didn't inform her daughter. Okay, the mother-daughter relationship was full of secrets but, she wished her Mamma wasn't so stubborn this time and informed her.

“As for your iced tea,” Ayaan opened the storage box between their seats.

There was a take away cup with Cafe Coffee Day logo. She took the first sip. It was for her, no doubts remained.

“Thank you.”

Ayaan didn't respond.

---

When they entered the duplex, Dhruv greeted her with sarcasm. “Wow, you really came. I hope the suitcase is not empty. Nothing is accidentally missing.”

“Dhruv!” Ayaan warned.

That was enough for Dhruv to shut up. But she knew of other ways to silence him. She opened her suitcase and handed over the backpack. “In this bag, you will find everything I found in your Aunt's room including the laptop.”

The papers and the pictures were missing but she didn't think the brothers had any business with them.

Dhruv directed his attention to the backpack when she called Ayaan aside. “I need to talk to you.”

“It's okay. We will talk later. Freshen up and have something.”

“No, Ayaan. Now.” She held his hand and dragged him into a room leaving her luggage in the living room except for her handbag. “Listen, in the phone… Yikes!”

A man was tied to the armchair. He looked about the same age as Ankush but was built leaner. “Who is he? What… what the hell!” She turned to Ayaan her anxiety turning into anger.

“He is Siddhant Arora. Our family lawyer. He came with me to see this property. A ruse to keep Mom from suspecting me.”

“You mean, you believe your Mom is suspecting you. Why do you think she would do that?”

He took her to another bedroom and answered her in whispered tone. “I saw her forcing a fork against Raghav's throat. I can't believe but I can't ignore as well that she meant harm. What did you have to say?”

“Oh yeah, I unlocked her phone. Ayaan, Aakriti aunty didn't commit suicide. She was murdered. I have proof.”

Deepshika retrieved the phone from her handbag. She opened the app that was connected to the cameras in Aashayein. She pressed ‘Play’ and handed the phone to Ayaan.

The video captured Aakriti first fighting off Chhaya. When they reached one room, Chhaya pushed Aakriti against the mirror. She then placed a shard of glass in Aakriti's palm and dragged it against her other wrist. Aakriti tried to resist but Chhaya overpowered her running the sharp edge deeper into the skin. She released only when Aakriti breathed her last.

When the video ended, her eyes moistened at the sight. She had watched it multiple times with her mother, trying to decipher why they happened to be there or what led to the feud. Yet everytime, the sight was painful to watch.

Next to her, Ayaan was beyond shocked. He stepped back sitting on the edge of the bed. He replayed the video, his eyes fixated on the action. “That's Mom? She actually… Shika… Mom…” He stammered.

“I know, Ayaan. But this is the evidence. That's what it shows.”

Ishika's phone rang. It was her mother on Whatsapp call. “Shika, did you show Ayaan that video?”

“Yeah, Mamma. You are in Mumbai. You didn't...”

“Raghav died this morning. Ankush is behind bars.”

She reiterated what she heard to Ayaan who simply nodded. “How did Raghav die?” She asked her mother.

“Overdose of sleeping pills. I doubt she was the one behind this as well. She might have known he is helping Ayaan.”

“Mamma, you be careful. Anything, please call me. I will talk to you later.”

To Ayaan, she said, “This is not good. Raghav died of sleeping pills overdose. Ayaan, what are you planning to do?”

“I still can't…” He was clearly dazed by the video.

“Ayaan! This is not the time. Wake up! We need to act fast. We must know why Chhaya Agnihotri is going on a killing spree.”

Ayaan made no attempt to move. She left him there and went into the living room.

“Dhruv, I managed to unlock the phone, but the laptop is still password protected. Can you hack it?”

“Where's Ayaan? What happened?”

“He is still getting over some shocking news. Will you get moving as I said?” She screamed.

Until Ayaan found his bearings, she would take the lead. She had to because the next target on Chhaya's list must be Jhanvi Gupta once she knows she is in town and buying Aashayein. Time was running out. A misstep and she would lose her mother just like she lost her father.