Chapter 8: Shadows and Confessions

The air in Manav Dixit's safe house felt suffocating. The dim light cast long shadows on the walls, where a web of conspiracy stretched across pinned newspaper clippings, photographs, and blood-red strings. In the center of it all stood Aryan, staring at the article that had shaken him to his core.

"Billionaire Heir Found Dead in Abandoned Factory—Body Never Recovered."

His name was in the report. Aryan Nagtilak.

He clenched his fists. It didn't make sense. He was alive. Wasn't he?

Renu stepped closer, her voice laced with concern. "We need to talk about this, Aryan."

He didn't respond. His mind was a storm—memories surfacing like fragments of a broken mirror. The car accident. The months in the hospital. The scars that never fully healed.

What if… what if those weren't just injuries?

What if that was when they got to him?

The Weight of the Past

Renu placed a hand on his arm. "You're shutting me out."

Aryan let out a slow breath, forcing himself to meet her gaze. Her eyes—sharp yet kind—had always been his anchor. But now, even they felt distant.

"I don't know what to believe anymore, Renu," he admitted, his voice quieter than he intended. "This report… it says I died six years ago."

Renu frowned, glancing back at the article. "But you're here."

"Am I?" He let out a humorless chuckle. "What if the Aryan you know was… created? What if I was just a replacement?"

Renu's expression hardened. "Don't do that."

"Do what?"

"Talk like you're not real." Her grip on his wrist tightened. "You are Aryan Nagtilak. You are the man who saved my life more times than I can count. The man who never backs down, no matter how impossible the fight. And I don't give a damn what some old newspaper says."

Aryan stared at her, feeling the weight of her words settle in his chest.

"I need to know the truth," he murmured.

"Then we'll find it together," Renu said without hesitation.

Her unwavering loyalty did something unexpected. It made his carefully built walls crack—just a little.

For the first time in years, he felt afraid. Not of the truth, not of the Assembly, not even of the Phantom.

He was afraid of losing Renu.

A Trap in the Dark

Before he could respond, Aryan's phone buzzed. Unknown Number.

He answered.

A voice—distorted, synthetic—filled the room.

"You're getting too close, detective."

Aryan's body tensed. "The Phantom."

A soft chuckle. Mocking. Familiar.

"You were never meant to find out, but curiosity has always been your flaw."

Aryan glanced at Renu. She had already started tracing the call on her laptop.

"Tell me what you know," Aryan said, keeping his voice steady.

"I know everything about you, Aryan. More than you know yourself. And if you don't stop digging, I'll take away what you care about most."

Aryan's blood ran cold. His grip on the phone tightened. "If you so much as touch Renu—"

"Who said I was talking about her?"

A chill crawled down Aryan's spine. Before he could demand an answer, the call disconnected.

Renu looked up, frustration clear on her face. "The signal bounced off multiple locations. It's impossible to trace."

Aryan exhaled sharply. "He's toying with us."

"More than that," Renu muttered, pulling up security footage from Manav's motel. "Look at this."

She played a clip from the night of the journalist's murder.

A figure in the shadows. Tall. Strong. Moving like a predator.

The moment they stepped into the light, Aryan's stomach dropped.

The Phantom wasn't wearing a mask.

He didn't need to.

He had Aryan's face.

A Dangerous Revelation

Renu inhaled sharply. "It's not just a frame job."

Aryan's hands clenched into fists. This wasn't just someone pretending to be him.

The Phantom moved like him. Stood like him. Felt like him.

The doubt that had been eating at his mind twisted into something worse—an unshakable certainty.

The Phantom wasn't just a copy.

He was Aryan.

Or at least… a version of him.

Renu met his gaze, her voice careful. "Aryan… I think you were part of the Assembly's experiment."

He wanted to deny it. To reject the thought completely. But deep down, a terrible realization was already forming.

The missing years. The inconsistent memories. The scars that weren't from the accident.

The Assembly hadn't just experimented on others.

They had experimented on him.

Renu took a step forward. "We'll figure this out. We always do."

Aryan looked at her—the only constant in his life. The woman who had trusted him even when he wasn't sure he could trust himself.

Without thinking, he reached up, fingers brushing against her cheek for just a second before he caught himself.

A flicker of emotion crossed Renu's face. Shock, warmth… something deeper.

But neither of them had time to dwell on it.

Because in the next second, the safe house's windows shattered.

Bullets tore through the air.

And The Phantom's voice echoed in Aryan's mind:

"I'll take away what you care about most."

End of Chapter 8