Interrogation

Manya got up from her seat, having made up her mind. As Vendy also stood up along with her, she held her arm and said, "I think I need to leave now, I will talk to you some other time. I am sorry, Vendy!"

She was about to head out when Ishaan entered the dining area, and headed straight towards Manya, blocking her path. "I am really sorry Manya, but can you please listen to me? Just give me one chance to explain myself, that is all I need." He completed his statement, establishing himself right in front of her. 

Manya was not mentally ready for this sudden encounter. There were many things she was already battling with, and now that Vendy had brutally made her aware of the reality of things, she needed time to work through every bit of crucial information that had been dumped on her so casually. And for that to be possible, she needed her space as well!

"I need to go, Vendy." She said the sentence aloud once again, choosing to not acknowledge Ishaan's presence and instead, directing her statement to Vendy, who was still standing by the table they had been sitting at. Saying this, she somehow managed to escape from the little space she could get, avoiding eye-contact with Ishaan.

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She stopped in front of her car, panting as she leaned against the door. 

*It had been a really long time since she had to run this fast, she thought to herself. The last time she had run that way was the time when she and Ish- no, she corrected herself in time. Not Ishaan, but Arjun had found out that there was a dead body in the forest.

The weird part about that incident that had started to bother her again, was that it was supposedly a case of serial murders, but there was no apparent pattern. At least not one they could relate to the killer, on the basis of which he had been choosing his victims.*

She sat inside the car and drove towards her home, wondering what her path forward should be.

What should she do: forget everything and move on, or go through each and every thing once again, hoping to find out every single bit of her Ricordi- her memories? A car honked and pulled her out of the metaphorical crossroads, making her aware of the reality- that for now, whatever path she chose had to wait till the launch.

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Within half an hour, Arjun was standing on the doorstep of Advocate Roy's house, ringing his doorbell. 

After two rings, he opened the door and asked, "Who are you ? And how may I help you?" 

"For you, I am the grim reaper, itself."  Arjun replied, smirking as he observed the man head-to-toe before adding, "And don't worry about helping me, I can do that very well by myself."

He completed his sentence, pushing the man inside his house.

"How dare you! I am an advocate, you know-" Mr.Roy tried to complete his sentence, still somewhat shocked at this display of aggression by his unexpected visitor.

"I know, I know what a highly respected advocate you are, sir. Aren't you? But I think I need to introduce myself again.

So, listen carefully- I am Arjun Chauhan, the son of Arnav Chauhan. So you better tell me every single one of your dirty secrets before I get into my grim reaper character!"

"Wha-what do you want to know?" Advocate Roy asked in a shaking voice, as he continued to mumble to himself, "It can't be possible...how could you have found me! Haven't Meenal and Arnav left the city, what's happening-"

Arjun responded to this by slapping him across the face and then spoke, barely hiding the aggression in his voice. "Look, I am not fond of physical violence, but for people like you, this is compulsory! Now speak! Tell me, what have you got against the Prajapatis, what was the reason behind your doing everything! I believe I don't have to elaborate further?"

"I didn't do anything-"

Wham! Arjun's fist slammed into his face, as he proceeded to grab his collar and almost lifted him off the floor by the force of it. He roared like a possessed man, his eyes blown wide open with rage. "You say you didn't do anything? Do I need to read out the list of your sins in front of you? Let's get started then; but there is a catch,which you will find out eventually!" 

He then let go of Advocate Roy, causing him to slump to the ground as he slid along the wall, watching the young man fearfully.

Arjun wiped his palms against his shirt, as if wiping away the filth from his hands and then started speaking, crossing his arms against his chest. "Your biggest sin is that your false statements made a mother live without her only daughter for twelve long years." As he completed this statement, he lifted Advocate Roy up by the collar once again, and punched him in the stomach, making him bend over from the impact.

"Your second sin is to frame an innocent for the crime of murdering her own parents! How dare you?!" He punched him again, which caused him to stumble backwards, landing him on the sofa nearby. 

"Please stop!" Advocate Roy screamed, the terror in his voice mixed with pain. He stammered, "I- I didn't frame her! She is a murderer, in fact both the sisters are! One of them has already paid for her crimes with her own life, but the second one still needs to pay the debts! I wish, if I could kill her with my own hands, I would-" 

The old man had gotten carried away in his rage once again, causing him to forget who he was talking to. 

But Arjun gladly reminded him as he punched his face again, making his lips bleed. "Don't you dare foulmouth my Messo, and Maenu…"

Roy started laughing hysterically. "What do you think, why would I hate them so much? You young kids don't know the secrets that are hidden behind the Prajapati group of empires! But let me tell you why I hate that b*tch Sagrika so much! It's time her true personality is revealed. Her Dad and I were old friends, and my only son loved her, but when he proposed to her, she mocked him! This girl has an old habit of always going for money over love. And when I talked to my friend about blessing their relation with holy matrimony, he also turned me down, saying that her marriage to that Rahal boy was necessary for the growth of their business! Apparently, his daughter had also developed a liking to Manav Rahal- lies, all lies wrapped up in greed! But you know what he told me, that Swara was free to marry whoever she wants to! You see, he didn't reject me directly,but offered his other daughter as a replacement. I would have been snubbed, but nothing mattered more than my son's happiness! But she also rejected my poor baby, taunting him in front of both our families! I remember her exact words, the insolent girl! 'Who will marry him when he can't even decide which girl he likes?!' That uncouth young girl was much too sheltered by her parents, I am telling you, I would have slapped her for such inappropriate behaviour if she had been my daughter. Didn't she also love someone else? Then how was my son the characterless one?! He was not able to handle the rejection and ended his life…"

"What do you mean- did he commit suicide?" Arjun asked, totally shocked.

"Nah, he's not a coward! My poor baby was so heartbroken that he tried to marry Swara again. She definitely liked him as well, because she always kept giggling and acting out whenever he was around. But that heartless b*tch Sagrika filed a case of kidnapping before they could get married, and the security guards killed my poor baby. My innocent son was killed, just because of the Prajapati sisters! You know what, that was the day I decided that I will ruin every member of that family. I didn't even get a chance to cry at my own son's funeral, but I guess my sacrifice paid off. Now, only three of the Prajapati's are left. But don't worry, their reunion with the rest of their family is really very close...you just wait and watch."

Arjun punched him once again, shouting "And you think you will be able to do that? No! Police will be here very soon, and you and your son both are psychopaths! Just you wait, I will make you pay for each and every mistake of yours. Now no one can harm that family, not on my watch!"

"Huh! I will not do anything myself, young man! I haven't done anything back then either, apart from presenting the fake evidence in court. And how are you going to keep me in jail?! Even if the police come here, you don't have any evidence to back your claims! It will be your word against mine." He guffawed at the possibility of this, when they were interrupted by the sound of people entering the house. 

Unbothered, Arjun roared again "If it was not you, then who was behind the accident? Tell me!"

He started laughing again. "The person behind the accident was someone you can never imagine- it was-"

KA-BLAM! A loud noise echoed in everyone's ears, causing a panic. As the ringing faded away, the body of Advocate Roy lay in a puddle of his own blood. He lay writhing with pain, as dark red blood spread across the surface of the very sofa from which Arjun was about to grab and drag him by the collar.

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