[10th January 2025]
[ARIA'S VILLA | SHIMLA, HIMACHAL PRADESH]
The living room was dimly lit, with soft lamplight casting long shadows against the dark wooden walls.
Rain tapped gently against the windowpanes as Vijay Sharma sank deeper into the living room sofa, his laptop resting on his knees.
He rubbed his temple, eyes scanning the screen before glancing at Aria who was standing nearby, arms folded, her posture rigid.
He exhaled. "Aru... what are we getting ourselves involved into?"
She didn't look away from the baby bottles she was sterilizing.
"Something much bigger than we imagined."
Vijay snapped his laptop shut.
"That girl — Vidya... are you sure we can trust her?"
Aria turned, finally facing him.
"She told me she was kidnapped by human traffickers as a child—Abused—Escaped a year ago—said Rooh saved her when they tried to kidnap her again seven months back."
Vijay frowned.
"I asked a friend of mine—still in the CBI—to run checks on her. Cross-referenced her face, biometric estimates, potential aliases... There's nothing, Aria. No school records, no missing child reports. No legal or illegal trace. It's like she never existed."
Aria's face darkened slightly.
"Have you tried finding Rooh?"
He nodded.
"Tried everything. Phones, devices, CCTV logs, travel data — nothing. It's like Ruhani vanished into thin air."
A heavy silence settled before Vijay broke it again.
"You think Vidya really doesn't know who the twins' father is?"
Aria's brows drew together.
"Rooh trusted her. I don't want to doubt her either... but something in my gut says there's more than she's letting on."
Before Vijay could respond, the muffled sound of crying broke out from the backroom.
Aria immediately rushed down the hall, with Vijay right behind her.
Inside Vidya's room, the girl was already up, cradling both infants, visibly overwhelmed.
She paced, murmuring softly, trying to soothe them, but the cries only grew louder.
"Vidya, it's okay," Aria said gently, reaching for Navya.
Vijay picked up Dev and grimaced. "Diaper alert. These two have declared war."
Vidya hesitated. "Let me —"
"Nope," Vijay interrupted. "You're dead on your feet. Go rest. We've got this."
"But —"
"We've had more experience dealing with exploding diapers than you could imagine," he added with a wink.
Reluctantly, Vidya nodded and handed over the twins.
"Okay... but wake me up if they don't settle."
"We promise."
Back in Aria's bedroom, the twins still wouldn't calm down.
Aria glanced at Dev and sighed. " They're a mess. We need to bathe them."
Vijay already had the tap running in the bathroom. "On it."
With practiced care, they bathed Navya and Dev, giggling quietly at the twins' tiny kicks and squirms.
As Vijay dried Dev with a towel, his eyes narrowed at something — a crescent-shaped moon in the boy's right wrist.
"Aru... come look at this."
She leaned over.
"Ah! It's a birthmark... Navya has it too. Hers is in her left shoulder blade. Dev's is a darker red than her."
"I've seen this before," Vijay muttered, his eyes distant.
"It's not ordinary. I've seen it on someone else... A magazine maybe? Or a case file. I need to check my old archives back home."
"Could it be connected?"
"I don't know. But I'm going to find out."
By the time the twins were bathed and swaddled, it was nearly dawn. Vijay carefully moved their cradles into Aria's room.
"I'll come back once I've found something."
"Be safe," Aria said.
He nodded and slipped out.
The villa returned to stillness.
But the twins remained restless, wriggling and grunting softly.
Aria picked them up and sat by the window, cradling one in each arm.
She began to hum-a tune etched into her childhood, one Ruhani used to sing when Aria would sneak into her bed during sleepovers after a nightmare.
It was a soft, nostalgic lullaby that carried the ache of forgotten innocence.
In the adjacent room, Vidya stirred in bed, tossing under her blanket.
Her heart was still heavy, her thoughts twisted in knots. But when she heard the lullaby echoing from the next room—the same one she'd heard Ruhani hum softly to her unborn children months ago — her panic finally eased.
Her fingers relaxed.
And for the first time in weeks, Vidya fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.
○●○
[Few Weeks Later – 2nd February 2025]
The crisp morning sunlight filtered through the large windows of Aria's villa. The air was calm, and so were the days lately.
Vidya had begun to settle into a routine. The twins were now more accustomed to their new surroundings—Dev loved staring at the hanging toys over his crib, while Navya had already begun recognizing Aria's voice and responded with a tiny smile.
For once, things felt a little more peaceful.
Then came the knock on the door.
Vijay stood at the threshold, holding a folder in one hand and an expression of hesitation on his face.
"I found something," he said, stepping inside.
Aria motioned for him to come into the study, away from the children's room.
Once seated, Vijay pulled out an old photo from the file. It was slightly faded, taken from a distance-a tall boy, likely around eighteen, standing beside a car. His nape was visible, and so was the birthmark.
"Recognize this?" Vijay asked.
Aria took the photo, eyes narrowing. "Wait... is that?"
"Ahaan Rajvanshi," Vijay confirmed.
"Our seniors took this during the investigation nine years ago. Do you remember the 'The Rosevine case'?"
Aria exhaled sharply.
"Of course, I do. It was quite a high-profile and an unusual case."
"The victim was Mahima Rajvanshi and her husband was the primary suspect. Shailendra Pandey sir was leading the investigation, right?"
"Yes, until the genius lawyer Vaibhav Maheshwari swooped in, miraculously cleared the Rajvanshi name and turned it into an accident," Vijay added with a scoff.
"Yeah. And Pandey sir was so pissed that he wanted to strangle him to death."
Vijay sighed.
"He retired afterwards... I miss the old psycho."
"Me too. But you have to admit it. For his young age and with no to little experience, Vaibhav Maheshwari had done a miraculous job. It was to be expected actually, since the Rajvanshis wouldn't have let him handle their case if he wasn't capable." Aria admitted with a pout.
"You sound proud of your brother, right now." Vijay teased.
"Absolutely not, I hate him." Aria strongly denied.
"Forget about him and continue with what you were saying."
"Fortunately, Pandey sir had kept some pictures. I dug into the archives. And found this...This birthmark—it's the same one Dev and Navya have. And that's no coincidence."
Aria clenched her jaw, voice cold.
"He hurt Rooh — used her and destroyed her."
Vijay studied her carefully.
"But if he is the twins' biological father, Aru-"
"Then he will suffer for it," Aria snapped.
"Rooh might have loved him, but I won't let him walk free. Not after what he's done."
Just then—
Her phone rang.
It was her father...