Chapter-16 The Man Behind The Voice
700 Words
The night air suddenly felt colder.
The festival sounds outside continued—children laughing, music playing—but inside Aditya’s chest, everything went still.
Anika stepped closer, reading his expression in one glance.
Anika:
“Who was it?”
Aditya didn’t answer immediately.
He looked at the lantern—still glowing—like it was holding his father’s voice, his hopes, his fight.
Finally:
Aditya:
“He knew my father. He remembered that night.”
Riya, who had been smiling moments before, slowly turned serious.
Riya:
“Which means he’s been watching us. For a long time.”
Suresh exhaled sharply—the kind of breath that comes from old fear returning.
Suresh:
“There is only one person who would say something like that.”
Everyone turned.
Suresh’s jaw tightened.
Suresh:
“Mr. Dev Bajaj.
Chairman of the board.
Your father’s oldest friend.
And his biggest betrayal.”
Silence spread across the room like ink.
---
The Enemy, Now Named
Aditya remembered him—vaguely.
A man who used to visit the house when he was small.
Laughter at dinner.
Warm greetings.
Gifts.
The kind of man children thought was good.
Anika’s eyes narrowed.
Anika:
“I should have known. He was the one who initiated the transfer approvals. He signed everything—but he made sure the blame pointed elsewhere.”
Riya scoffed.
Riya:
“And he pretended to be a family friend.
Disgusting.”
Meera sat down slowly.
Not because she was weak—
but because memories came back like cuts reopening.
Meera:
“He held our daughter when she was born.
He called my husband ‘brother.’
And he destroyed him.”
No tears.
Just quiet fury.
Something stronger than grief.
Aditya placed a hand on his mother’s shoulder — not to comfort her, but to stand with her.
---
A Plan Takes Shape
Anika spread out papers on the living room table.
Anika:
“He’s powerful. Not because of money—but because of connections.
Politicians. Media. Investors.
He controls stories before they even begin.”
Suresh nodded grimly.
Suresh:
“And he has something worse than influence—loyalty bought with fear.”
Riya crossed her arms.
Riya:
“So how do we beat someone like that?”
Everyone looked at Aditya.
But he didn’t speak immediately.
He walked to the jasmine plant outside.
He touched one of its white flowers gently.
He didn’t cry.
He decided.
Then he returned to the table and said, quietly:
Aditya:
“We don’t destroy him first.”
The room stilled.
Aditya:
“We destroy the people he relies on.
The ones who protect him.
The ones who benefit from him.
One by one.
Slowly.”
Anika’s eyes glimmered with a spark of approval.
Anika:
“We ruin his foundation…”
Suresh:
“And then he collapses.”
Riya smiled — not sweetly this time.
With steel.
Meera looked at her son — and saw his father in him.
Meera:
“You are ready.”
---
A Small, Human Moment
Later, when the planning ended, and the documents were cleared…
Riya and Anika sat outside on the steps.
Riya hugged her knees, staring at the lanterns flickering across the neighborhood.
Riya:
“Do you ever wish things could go back to how they were?”
Anika thought for a long moment.
The wind played with her hair.
Soft. Gentle.
Anika:
“No.
Because if things didn’t break…
we’d never know what we were capable of.”
Riya looked at her—really looked—and saw not just strength, but wounds healed into armor.
Riya smiled softly.
Riya:
“You talk like a poem.”
Anika blinked, caught completely off guard.
Riya laughed.
The first light laugh of the day.
---
Inside the House
Aditya stood near the jasmine plant again.
Suresh joined him.
The older man spoke quietly:
Suresh:
“You have your father’s heart.”
Aditya shook his head.
Aditya:
“No.
I have my own.”
He wasn’t trying to be Rajiv.
He was trying to finish what Rajiv started.
Suresh placed a hand on Aditya’s shoulder—heavy with respect.
Suresh:
“Then Dev Bajaj has already lost.”
---
End of Chapter 16
- Writer
