📜 Pratap Singh Mansion — The Study Room
Pages rustled. Old parchment cracked softly under hurried fingers. The family searched with desperate intensity, each of them turning through centuries-old Reeva manuscripts as though the answer might vanish if they blinked too slowly.
Kiara skimmed another brittle page, her eyes burning from exhaustion but refusing to close.
Angad sat across from her, flipping through a thick, leather-bound scripture—one of the oldest Vikram had ever sent them.
His eyes dragged over the text…
And then—
He froze.
Just for a second.
Not long enough for anyone else to notice.
But long enough for Kiara to feel a pinprick of cold dread.
Angad's eyes widened—a hint of shock, then fear, then something he quickly tried to hide. His fingers trembled as they clutched the page.
Before Kiara could speak, he ripped the page out—quietly, swiftly—slipping it into his pocket with a subtle movement.
But Kiara saw.
Her breath hitched.
"Angad?" she asked softly, carefully. "Did you find something?"
He jerked slightly, as if pulled from a trance. "No."
He forced a smile far too quickly. "No, bhabhi, nothing at all. Just… old stories."
Kiara's eyes narrowed, concern awakening in her chest. "Then why do you look pale?"
Angad blinked rapidly. "I—I'm fine. Just tired. Too many books."
Kiara took a slow step toward him, voice low. "Angad… what did you just hide?"
He stiffened, avoiding her gaze. "Nothing. I said it's nothing."
She opened her mouth to question further—but he was already closing the book and standing up abruptly.
"I'll be right back," he said, voice tight. "I—I need some air. It's too much dust here."
He turned to leave.
Kiara's heartbeat kicked harder. Something was wrong.
Very wrong.
She turned to the family who were still engrossed in their texts.
"Keep searching," she instructed, forcing her voice steady. "Don't stop for even a moment."
They nodded, unaware of the tension blooming between the siblings-in-law.
Kiara stepped away from the table, her footsteps careful, quiet.
And with a final glance at the trembling study lamps, she slipped out of the room—
following Angad.
Her mind racing.
Her breath held.
Her fear rising.
Because the look on Angad's face…
It wasn't confusion.
It was terror.
And whatever was written on that ripped page—
could destroy them all.
Angad closed his room door quietly, almost fearfully. His hand shook as he pulled the torn page from his pocket. The words he had read felt heavier than the paper itself—dangerous, unbearable.
He struck a match.
But before the flame reached the edge of the page, a sharp gust of air swept through the room as the door flew open.
Kiara stood there, breath uneven, eyes wide with disbelief.
In the next heartbeat, she crossed the room and snatched the page from his hand.
"Angad, what are you trying to hide? Why were you trying to burn this?"
Angad flinched, panic flashing across his face. "Kiara, please… give it back. It's nothing, just—just an old note."
But she took a slow step back, her gaze fixed firmly on him.
"Statue."
The word wasn't magic, just a command—sharp, cold, cutting through his excuses.
Angad stopped in his tracks, chest heaving.
"Kiara… sister-in-law… please don't read that," he begged softly.
But she already had.
Her fingers trembled as her eyes traced the ink. At first her brows knotted in confusion… and then her whole face broke—shock flooding her, tears gathering at the corners of her eyes.
She pressed a hand to her mouth.
"We… we can save Yuvaan," she whispered, voice shaking like something fragile.
Angad exhaled shakily, pained.
"That's all you see—the part where he can be saved. But Kiara…"
His voice strengthened, grief lacing every syllable.
"Didn't you see the rest? The sacrifice it demands?"
A tear rolled down Kiara's cheek, but she didn't look away.
"We don't have another path, Angad," she said softly.
"It's not just about Yuvaan anymore. If he takes the Dark Stronghold… the world will fall with him. Every soul, every life… gone."
She looked at the page again, her grip tightening.
"I won't let that happen. If something must be sacrificed… then I'll do it."
Angad's composure shattered instantly.
He stepped forward, gripping her shoulders as his voice broke.
"Why does it always come to you? Why must you be the one ready to give everything?"
Kiara blinked through her tears.
"Because I love him," she whispered, "and because this family has already lost too much."
Angad pulled her into a tight, trembling embrace.
"You're the strongest person I know," he said hoarsely, "and that's what scares me the most."
They stayed like that for a long moment, silent except for their unsteady breaths.
Finally Kiara stepped back, wiping her eyes.
"Promise me you won't tell anyone about this. Not Moti Baa. Not Dad. Not Mother-in-law. No one."
Angad hesitated—pain flickering across his face.
But he nodded.
"I promise."
Kiara folded the page carefully, tucking it close to her heart.
Then she turned and left the room with quiet determination—carrying a hope powerful enough to save Yuvaan…
and a secret heavy enough to break her.