Love or Revenge

Chapter 33

After another half an hour after Aditya left for office. Aditya called Zoya and she was half expecting this call. "Zoya... I'm sorry... that..." Aditya hesitated. "What happened, Aditya?" She asked. "Zoya... It's Sri Uncle... He died this morning..." He said and she can hear the grief in his tone. "What are you saying? How did he die?" she asked with punctuated shocking tone.

"I don't know... Police didn't tell me anything they just said that he died and asked me come to Surana Hospital. I'm on my way to the hospital to get more details", he said worriedly. Zoya hesitated and sighed, "Aditya... Do you want me to come over there?" She finally asked.

He hesitated but then said, "Meet me at Hospital". Zoya said, "Okay... I'll be there as soon as I can" and disconnected the call.

She reached the hospital in 40 minutes and she saw him in the lobby sitting far behind and he was looking at the ground with his hands on his head. She hurried next to him and sat in the seat next to him. "Aditya, are you okay?" She asked. Aditya shakes his head in denial and said, "Not really" he sighed and sat straight. Zoya waited for him to talk. "He was found dead... in his... apartment building... Inspector said... that... he must have... committed suicide... and they're not sure... They said only... after the post mortem... they can tell..." He said in distraught.

Zoya felt a pit on her stomach and she looked at Aditya who looked pale and more worried. She couldn't see him like that and she put her hand on his hand and squeezed a little to reassure him that she was there for him. After around an hour, Grace entered the hospital and Arjun was right behind her.

They both find Aditya and Zoya sitting in the lobby hand-in hand and hurried next to them. Both stood up when they are saw Grace and Arjun approaching them. Grace hugged Zoya and Arjun hugged Aditya, "How are you holding up, Bhai?" He asked. Aditya just nodded. Grace asked, "How did this happen? What did the doctor and police said?" Zoya told them what Aditya told her and said, "We're just waiting for the post mortem report".

Just then, Doctor and Inspector come to them and Aditya was anxious to know what they were about to say. "As of now, nothing came up with the post mortem. He died because of the impact of falling to the ground. And we don't find any evidence of any kind of force or marks in his body". Zoya sighed.

"So... you're saying this is a clear cut case of suicide..." Aditya asked. "Pretty much looks like it, Mr. Hooda. But we're going to investigate in other angles too before closing it as suicide", Inspector said. "And mostly inspector Arshad will be taking over from here. As you know, your father has asked him to handle the other cases of his friends specifically. So, you can co-ordinate with him later, if you need anything on this case", he added.

After Doctor and Inspector left, Arjun said, "I have informed Dad about his death. He was quite distressed and said he'll be taking the next flight home. I think, he'll be back home around this evening". Aditya nodded and seemed to be lost in his thoughts.

"What happened, Bhai? Are you okay? I know you were pretty close to Sri Uncle compared to others", Arjun asked. "I don't know... I'm not... but I'm confused... Everything seems so weird, don't you feel it's weird that one after the other is dying..." He asked. Zoya and Grace looked at him baffled. But then she gathered herself and asked, "What do you mean?"

"I don't know... I'm just saying... Dad's friends are dying one after another in the past six months... It's kind of feeling weird..." he said. "Are you saying their deaths are not natural?" she asked keeping a straight face. "I guess I am... obviously... Considering their deaths... Sri Uncle falls off from the building... Stan was overdosed and Vasu Uncle's death, they say he died of heart attack but his death was a mystery... Dad never spoke about his death at that time..." He said and his face looked even paler.