The Lies That Built Us

Jaipur – 2014, Eleven Years Ago

The room was dimly lit, draped in velvet curtains and secrets. The air was thick with incense—and dread. A younger Aaradhya, just ten, clutched her notebook as she sat cross-legged on the floor of the Gurukul-styled home-school.

Across from her, a woman with eyes sharp enough to slice glass watched.

"Repeat," the woman said coldly.

"'I am not owed love. I earn protection. Obedience earns reward. Disobedience earns…'"

A pause.

"Speak, girl."

Aaradhya's voice cracked. "Disobedience earns disappearance."

The woman smiled slightly, tapping her cane.

"Very good."

---

Present Day – Mumbai, Rathore Estate War Room

The large digital map zoomed in on Jaipur.

"Topside, it's a school," Iqbal said. "But beneath—steel plating, wired security. Five levels. Possibly eighty to a hundred kids. Some drugged. Some trained."

Ruhan ran his thumb along his jawline.

"Timeframe?"

"They'll start the transfers in 96 hours," Iqbal answered. "That's our breach window."

Aaradhya stepped forward. "I'll go in tonight."

Ruhan frowned. "Not alone."

She turned to him. "I won't be. You're sending Kabir and Zoya with me, right?"

Zoya, leaning against the wall, smirked. "When do we leave?"

Ruhan's eyes met Aaradhya's. "You get one night. Just recon. No heroics."

Aaradhya's lips twitched. "Since when do we follow that rule?"

He exhaled. "Since I realized I can't afford to lose you."

---

Jaipur – St. Mira's International School (Covert Facility)

Midnight

Disguised as journalists for an education board inspection, Aaradhya, Kabir, and Zoya entered through the front gate.

Inside, the corridors were too clean. The staff too perfect. But the air?

Wrong.

"It smells like chemicals," Kabir whispered.

"Sedatives in the ventilation," Aaradhya said. "That's how they keep kids compliant."

Zoya flashed her ID at a guard, smiling sweetly. "We'd like to check your academic labs."

The guard hesitated.

Aaradhya's voice dropped an octave. "I'm on call with the Jaipur commissioner. Want me to put you on?"

He moved aside instantly.

They slipped into the lab wing.

There, in one corner of the floor, was a heavy steel grate masked as a storage unit.

Kabir pulled the case aside. "Got it."

They cracked the lock.

A staircase spiraled into the dark.

Zoya grinned. "Well, this is cute."

Aaradhya went first.

They reached Level 2 before they heard it.

Whimpering.

Then—whispers.

Then the unmistakable sound of a child counting backward, like reciting something memorized.

Aaradhya's breath hitched.

She moved quickly to the source.

A boy—maybe six—sat on a cold cot, knees hugged to his chest, whispering:

"Ten lies make a truth. Ten lies make a truth…"

Aaradhya knelt. "What's your name?"

The boy blinked.

Then whispered, "Vihan."

Zoya scanned the corners. "No cams here. They didn't expect anyone to talk to them."

Kabir watched the hall. "We need to get out. Now."

But before they moved—Aaradhya froze.

There, on the wall, in red chalk, was a symbol.

Her childhood symbol.

A wolf curled around a dagger.

"No way," she whispered.

Zoya stepped closer. "You recognize that?"

Aaradhya nodded slowly. "That was… my old training crest. From before I was 'adopted.'"

Kabir tensed. "You trained here?"

"I was built here," she muttered.

Then she turned, eyes burning.

"We're coming back. With fire."

---

Rathore Estate – 3 AM

Ruhan was waiting by the east wing entrance when they returned.

He scanned Aaradhya from head to toe. "You okay?"

She nodded.

Then, without a word, she tossed him the footage chip they pulled.

He slid it into the projector.

One frame lit up the room.

And all of them froze.

The camera angle showed a girl—young, thin, bare-footed, reciting something in a rigid posture.

Ruhan's brows drew together. "Is that—?"

Aaradhya answered quietly. "Me."

Then another frame.

This time, a voice.

A woman.

But not just any woman.

Ruhan leaned forward.

"I've heard her voice," he said. "In your files. The one from your first home."

"Her name is Shraddha," Aaradhya whispered. "She ran the program before my adoption."

Zoya narrowed her eyes. "You think she's still alive?"

Kabir pointed to the time-stamp.

"Yeah. Because this video was from last week."

---

Delhi – Rathore Syndicate Council Room

Devraj sat silently as the footage played.

When it ended, he finally spoke.

"That woman was presumed dead during the '08 purge."

"She faked it," Aaradhya said.

"Why resurface now?" asked one of the council elders. "What does she want?"

"Control," Ruhan said flatly. "She's grooming a new generation."

Devraj's fingers curled over the edge of his chair.

"Then let her know: we're still kings of the old one."

---

Jaipur – Next Night, Perimeter Operation

Night fell heavy over the desert-tinged air.

A team of twenty infiltrators moved in formation—silent, swift, lethal.

Kabir and Zoya handled the upper levels.

Aaradhya and Ruhan descended straight into Sector Three, where most of the children were held.

Room after room, they found kids—drugged, blank-eyed, starved for affection and light.

Ruhan barked orders. "Tag and extract. Gentle. Fast."

Suddenly—alarms blared.

Aaradhya spun.

Down the hall—Shraddha.

No longer in shadows. Now fully visible.

Elegant. Cold.

Unchanged.

She smiled.

"My darling girl," Shraddha said. "All grown up."

Ruhan moved forward.

Aaradhya blocked him with her arm.

"She's mine."

Shraddha clapped her hands once.

Doors opened.

Four children stepped out—faces empty, moving like machines.

"She trained them," Ruhan muttered. "Like you."

Shraddha whispered, "Come back to the fold, Aru. You were always my masterpiece."

Aaradhya didn't blink.

"I was never yours."

She fired first—straight at Shraddha's shoulder.

The woman shrieked and ducked.

But the children didn't flinch.

They charged.

Aaradhya turned. "Don't hurt them! They're controlled."

Ruhan drew a sonic disruptor and activated it.

The wave rippled through the hallway.

The children collapsed—shaking, but alive.

Shraddha tried to run—but Zoya blocked her at the stairs.

Kabir slammed her against the wall.

"You're done," he said.

Shraddha spat. "You think ending me ends the system?"

"No," Aaradhya said, stepping close. "But it ends your chapter."

She injected Shraddha with the same suppressor serum used on the kids.

The woman slumped, sedated.

Zoya nodded. "Let's get them out."

---

Next Morning – Rathore Estate

The children were cleaned, fed, checked by medics.

Aaradhya sat on the front steps, exhausted, head in her hands.

Ruhan sat beside her.

"She's in custody," he said. "Interpol's involved now."

She nodded. "That won't fix everything."

"No," he said. "But it fixed this."

She looked up at the pink sky. "I used to think that if I could just remember everything, it would stop hurting."

"Does it?"

She turned to him. "No. But it helps me stop it from hurting others."

Ruhan took her hand.

"You're not a machine," he said. "Not a weapon. Not their product."

Her throat tightened.

"Then what am I?"

He leaned closer, kissed her knuckles.

"You're mine."

And for the first time, she believed him.

---