Face My Fate

Thunderstorm

"If I fail, I'll lose them forever."

⋆ ───⊱☽❁☾⊰─── ⋆

𝐕 𝐄 𝐃 𝐀

❀

The night did not arrive.

It unfurled.

Tonight, the sky was ominously dark. Lightning struck outside, accompanied by a loud roar of thunder, shaking the very ground beneath me. But it didn't matter.

None of it mattered.

I couldn't hear the thunder or see the lighting blazing the dark sky.

All I could hear were my mother's cries, my sister in law's voice as she tried to comfort her, my elder brother barking at someone on the phone call, my father's distressed sigh, and my grandmother's chanting of holy mantras.

All I could see were the twins' face.

I wiped the lone tear that escaped my eye. The last time I saw my little sisters was ten days ago. Ten-freaking-days. Ten days, since they'd gone missing. We have no idea where.

No one even called for ransom, and that's what worries me the most.

My eyes fell on the family photo resting on the side table.

Riva was standing beside Viraj Bhai with that small, bashful smile of hers. She was the quietest, the sweetest of all of us four siblings. Too smart, too compassionate, too good for her own good.

Beside her stood Rayi with a goofy smile tucked on her lips as she winked at the camera, completely contrasting her twin. She was the troublemaker of our house—bold, blunt, untouchable, the one who didn't tolerate anyone's bullshit.

The twins were polar opposites of each other, yet somehow they made it work. No one even came close to the bond they shared with each other.

Riva was the only one who could calm Rayi's anger, and Rayi was the one who could push Riva out of her shell. They always had each other's back no matter what.

My heart clenched painfully as I thought about them. My stomach churned as unsettling thoughts about their abduction filled my mind. They are just fourteen, for god's sake.

Why them?

It didn't take long before tears were flowing again, as did every memory I shared with them in my mind. Soon, I was crying ugly with my mother, holding my head in my palms.

Viraj 𝘉𝘩𝘢𝘪 threw his phone on the couch and let out a frustrated huff, running a harsh hand through his hair. Maa's ears immediately perked up as she looked at him.

"D-Did you find anything, Viraj? My d-daughters. Where are they?" Her voice cracked as she covered her mouth with her 𝘴𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘦 end to control her sobs.

"I don't know. The police aren't doing much either." 𝘉𝘩𝘢𝘪 spoke tiredly.

"Then go to higher authorities!" She yelled desperately.

"Calm down, Ritika." Papa chided, voice edged yet collected.

Maa turned to look at him, agitated. "How can I when my daughters are god knows where and in what condition?!" She wailed.

"Don't raise your voice at me." Papa said with a calm in his voice. A calm that hinted at consequences.

Maa looked away sharply, wiping the never-ending trail of tears but didn't say anything after that.

The news about Rayi and Riva echoed in the background. At this point, everyone in the city must be well-aware of the sudden disappearance of our girls.

I rested my head in my palm before a memory suddenly hit me, jolting me straight.

"𝘈𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦, 𝘙𝘢𝘺𝘪?"

"𝘖𝘧 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦, 𝘙𝘪𝘷𝘢! 𝘋𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘢 𝘱𝘶𝘴𝘴𝘺 𝘯𝘰𝘸."

"𝘐’𝘮… 𝘯𝘰𝘵. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘧 𝘔𝘢𝘢 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘱𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨?"

"𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘯’𝘵. 𝘛𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘮𝘦, 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦."

"𝘉𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘴, 𝘸𝘦’𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘣𝘺 𝘯𝘰𝘰𝘯. 𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘱𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴."

"𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘵’𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘢 𝘴𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘭 𝘧𝘪𝘦𝘭𝘥 𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘱."

"𝘐 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸, 𝘥𝘶𝘩. 𝘕𝘰𝘸, 𝘴𝘩𝘶𝘴𝘩. 𝘡𝘪𝘱 𝘪𝘵."

I heard this conversation before entering our shared room.

They went suspiciously silent after they saw me entering. That did raise a suspicion in me, but I let it slide because I was distracted by the urgent college assignment in hand.

They went missing the very day they came back from that school trip.

"M-Maa," I called out for her. "Where is your phone?"

She frowned, processing my words before she shook her head. "I-I don't know."

My legs moved before my mind caught up. I was already running upstairs. I skipped a few steps, stumbling on the others as I mindlessly focused on getting to my room.

Upon reaching my room, I searched for my phone. I panted as I scrolled through the contacts and dialed Krish's number. He's in college with me and is a tech genius.

"Hello?" He mumbled in a groggy voice.

"H-Hello, Krish? It's me, V-Veda." I managed to get the words out without choking on them.

"Veda?" I heard a slight rustling sound. "F*ck, are you okay? I mean, um, I heard about your sisters." He spoke hesitantly, as if afraid to say something wrong.

"I... I need you to track a number for me. Can you, please? Please, Krish." My voice cracked, coming out like a broken record.

"Hey, hey, relax. I'll do it, okay. Send me the number."

I let out the breath of relief I didn't know I was holding. "Thank you, Krish. I'll always owe you for this." I said and hastily sent him the number.

"None of that, Veda. We're friends, remember? And you know the rule of friendship. I'll call you after I'm done."

I let the phone slip from my grip and fall on the bed as I rested my head on my knees, waiting for the call. All the while, the only thing I could think of was that this is the last chance I could get to find them.

If I fail, I'll lose them forever.

My senses felt numb, for I could only hear the ominous ticking of the wallclock and my unsteady breathing. The rain was still pouring outside like it wanted the whole world to feel our grief.

With every second that passed, my heartbeat thumped in my ribcage. I couldn't stop the negative thoughts and scenarios that were poisoning my mind, increasing my anxiety.

"𝘋𝘪𝘥𝘪, 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘳, 𝘴𝘩𝘦’𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘤𝘶𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘮𝘺 𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵!" 𝘙𝘪𝘷𝘢 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘥, 𝘨𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘸𝘪𝘯.

𝘙𝘢𝘺𝘪 𝘱𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘦𝘥, 𝘧𝘦𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯𝘯𝘰𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦. "𝘐 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘺 𝘣𝘢𝘥𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰𝘯 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘮𝘦 ’𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘣𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘦𝘥."

𝘐 𝘩𝘶𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘥. 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘮𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘨𝘪𝘳𝘭𝘴 𝘣𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘢𝘴𝘯’𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨. "𝘙𝘢𝘺𝘪, 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘣𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘦𝘳. 𝘎𝘰 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘺 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘴." 𝘐 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘴𝘰𝘧𝘵𝘭𝘺.

"𝘐 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥’𝘷𝘦, 𝘪𝘧 𝘐 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥’𝘷𝘦." 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴, 𝘧𝘭𝘪𝘱𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘢𝘪𝘳 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬. "𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘉𝘢𝘣𝘢 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘣𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘶𝘴 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘴𝘰𝘭𝘢𝘳 𝘦𝘤𝘭𝘪𝘱𝘴𝘦."

𝘐 𝘳𝘶𝘣𝘣𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘺 𝘵𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘴.

𝘖𝘶𝘳 𝘧𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦. 𝘞𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘮𝘪𝘥𝘥𝘭𝘦-𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘴 𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘥, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘸𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘉𝘩𝘢𝘪 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘭𝘦𝘨𝘢𝘭 𝘢𝘥𝘷𝘪𝘴𝘰𝘳. 𝘔𝘢𝘢 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘉𝘩𝘢𝘣𝘩𝘪 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘳𝘴.

𝘖𝘶𝘳 𝘧𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘥𝘦𝘦𝘱𝘭𝘺 𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘥𝘰𝘹. 𝘙𝘪𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘦𝘥 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘢 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘤𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘢 𝘴𝘪𝘯 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘬𝘦𝘱𝘵 𝘢𝘵 𝘢 𝘸𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘵’𝘴 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦.

𝘔𝘺 𝘴𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘦𝘥𝘶𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘶𝘭𝘴𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘣𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵.

𝘞𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘵𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘦’𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘧𝘧 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘦 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘥𝘶𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘢𝘥𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘣𝘰𝘺𝘴 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘶𝘯𝘦𝘥𝘶𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯.

𝘔𝘺 𝘴𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘰𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘢𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘬𝘦𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘢𝘧𝘦𝘵𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘴𝘬𝘺. 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘢 𝘱𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳, 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘵. 𝘐’𝘷𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘺𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘴𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘢𝘳.

𝘙𝘪𝘷𝘢 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘢𝘳, 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩. 𝘠𝘦𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘢 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘢 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘷𝘰𝘪𝘤𝘦. 𝘚𝘰 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘙𝘢𝘺𝘪, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘙𝘢𝘺𝘪 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘭𝘦𝘥𝘨𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳.

𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘢 𝘍1 𝘥𝘳𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘳 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴. 𝘐 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯’𝘵 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘰𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥.

“𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘥𝘺.” 𝘙𝘪𝘷𝘢 𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘮𝘭𝘺, 𝘱𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘙𝘢𝘺𝘪’𝘴 𝘴𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘭 𝘣𝘢𝘨.

𝘙𝘢𝘺𝘪 𝘴𝘤𝘰𝘸𝘭𝘦𝘥. “𝘚𝘵𝘰𝘱 𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥. 𝘠𝘰𝘶’𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘯 𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘰𝘭𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘮𝘦.”

“𝘒𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥: 𝘖𝘭𝘥𝘦𝘳.” 𝘙𝘪𝘷𝘢 𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘩𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘻𝘦𝘥 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘮𝘭𝘺.

𝘙𝘢𝘺𝘪 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘢𝘯𝘦𝘥, 𝘫𝘶𝘮𝘱𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘥. “𝘐’𝘮 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘨𝘰 𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦.”

𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘰𝘳 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘥𝘳𝘢𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘤 𝘧𝘭𝘢𝘪𝘳, 𝘢𝘴 𝘪𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳.

“𝘋𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘴𝘭𝘢𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘰𝘳!” 𝘙𝘪𝘷𝘢 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺.

𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘣𝘣𝘰𝘳𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘶𝘮𝘱.

𝘙𝘪𝘷𝘢 𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘩 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘣𝘰𝘳𝘯 𝘵𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥 𝘢𝘭𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘺. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘶𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘨𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘴 𝘶𝘱 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘥𝘨𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘯𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘦𝘹𝘵𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯.

“𝘚𝘩𝘦’𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘪𝘯 𝘧𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘵𝘦𝘴,” 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘶𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥.

𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴𝘯’𝘵 𝘴𝘰 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦. 𝘙𝘢𝘺𝘪 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘢 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘥𝘰𝘮 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘥𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦… 𝘰𝘳 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳.

The ringing of my phone beside me broke my trance, pulling me out of the web of memories. I fumbled to pick up the call after seeing Krish's name being displayed.

"Hello?" My voice was shaky.

"I... I found it." He spoke, and my heart dropped with hope and fear.

"W-Where...?"

"Westward district. The elite locality."

What...? Why would the twins go there?

The city was divided into two parts. The eastward area where we the poor, middle class, and upper class lived. The westward, though, was filled with socialites that came from old money.

Why would Rayi and Riva go there? And how? There is no means for them to—unless... they took the bus. But where did they get the money and resources from?

"C-Can you... Can you tell me the exact location?" I asked.

"Yeah, um, it's," a pregnant pause. "...The Armani Estate."

The Armanis were among the three wealthiest families in the country. Alongside the Menons and the Scindias, they held immense influence over politics, business, and power structures.

Together, these dynasties formed a modern form of Indian royalty, their wealth and authority carefully preserved and passed down through generations.

Armanis, Menons, and Scindias. The big three of the Indian corporate world. Globally. Their names stood as a brand across the country.

Bhai worked for them.

What if... they had something to do with...?

Oh no, no, no. No. Don't go there, Veda.

I ran a hand through my hair as I thought about it all. Maybe I can go there and ask if they have seen my sisters. If the phone was last spotted there, then they must be somewhere close by.

I glanced at the wall clock. 11:56 am. Dammit! There's no way my father would let me go out at this hour. But I can't wait. I have to get there.

I picked up my phone and texted Svaha 𝘉𝘩𝘢𝘣𝘩𝘪 to get up here. Within a few minutes, the door opened, and she entered. She was wearing a blue 𝘴𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘦, and her long raven hair was tied in a messy bun.

"Veda, what ha—"

"I think I know where they are." I spoke, cutting her off.

She froze, eyes widening as her mouth fell agape. She blinked a few times. "R-Really? Where? Let's go tell others."

I grabbed her hand as she turned to leave. She turned back and gave me a confused look.

"I'm not sure yet, Bhabhi." I shook my head. "I... I just need to go somewhere and find something out before we tell the others." I spoke, voice low.

The lines of confusion on her forehead only increased. "I don't get it, Veda. Why would you...?"

I took both of her hands in mine. "Please, trust me on this one, Bhabhi." I all but begged. "My gut is telling me that I'm on the right path. Please."

Her face softened as she nodded. "What do I need to do?"

"Cover for me."