The hospital corridor smelled of disinfectant and death.
Aarya sat on a plastic chair, staring at the floor. She had identified the body. Her mother. Cold. Still. Gone.
Strangers came and went. Police asked questions. She answered like a robot. Yes, she left at night. No, I don't know where she was going. No, she had no enemies.
Lies. Every family has enemies. Sometimes the biggest enemies live in your own blood.
That night, alone in the empty house, Aarya opened her father's diary.
The first pages were normal. Daily routines. Office meetings. Memories of her childhood. But as she turned pages, the writing changed. It became urgent. Desperate.
March 10, 2024
Someone is watching the house. I see the same white car every evening. I told Sudha. She said I'm imagining things. I'm not.
March 11, 2024
Raghav called today after thirty years. Thirty years. He said, "Bhai, the past is coming back. Be careful." I asked what he meant. He said, "You know what happened in 1984. The third person is still alive. And he knows we helped hide the truth."
Aarya's hands trembled. 1984? Third person? What truth?
March 12, 2024
If I die, know it wasn't an accident. My childhood friend Raghav Khanna lives in Mumbai. He knows everything. Find him. But be careful, beta. The truth can kill.
That was the last entry.
Dated March 12, 2024.
He died on March 13.
Aarya closed the diary and looked at the ceiling. Tears rolled down her cheeks, but her jaw was tight.
"Don't worry, Papa. I'll find Raghav Khanna. And I'll find who killed you both."
She didn't know then that finding Raghav Khanna would be the beginning of a nightmare.