14-03-2026, 11:17 PM
(CHAPTER CONTD)
The next morning arrived with the quiet calm Sonarika had begun to cherish in the Janakpuri bungalow. Dew clung to the leaves in the small garden she had built in the backyard, the sunlight slowly warming the soil as she knelt beside the jasmine saplings. She was trimming a small branch when her phone buzzed in her pocket. It was a message from Ragini.
'Guess what? I’m coming to the concert'
Sonarika smiled and quickly replied.
'That’s great!'
But another message followed immediately.
'And guess who else is attending… Mrs. Sreelekha Naik'
Sonarika laughed out loud when she read the name. Sreelekha Naik was her new but very scary and strict boss. Sonarika typed back teasingly.
'Ms. Naik doesn’t look like someone who enjoys concerts'
A few seconds later Ragini replied.
'Should I tell her you said that?'
Sonarika immediately responded.
'Please don’t!'
Ragini sent a laughing emoji before typing again.
'Also… I’m not booking a hotel. I’m staying at your place'
Sonarika grinned at the phone.
'You’re always welcome'
She slipped the phone back into her pocket and walked toward the front lawn to share the news with her father. But when she stepped outside, she noticed something unusual. Jagjeet Sharma sat alone on a lawn chair near the veranda, staring quietly at the garden in front of him. His usually energetic presence looked subdued today.
Concern crept into her voice.
"Papa… what’s wrong?"
Jagjeet looked up slowly.
"Oh… nothing" he said softly.
"Just thinking"
She walked closer.
"You look sad"
He sighed.
"Samhita’s memorial is coming very soon"
The name settled heavily between them. Sonarika’s younger sister. Gone far too early or in other words taken from them in Nainital by someone evil they are unaware of. Even after all these years, the wound remained tender. Sonarika sat beside him quietly.
"I miss her too" she said.
Jagjeet nodded slowly.
"She would have been… what… twenty eight now?"
"Twenty-nine" Sonarika corrected gently.
They sat in silence for a moment, remembering the cheerful girl whose life had ended far too suddenly. But Jagjeet’s expression suggested something else weighed on his mind.
"That’s not the only thing troubling me" he admitted after a while.
Sonarika looked at him curiously.
"What else?"
Jagjeet leaned back in the chair.
"Soon I’ll be receiving a letter… one that was never meant to reach me"
"A letter?"
He nodded.
"From an old friend"
He spoke the name slowly.
"Manush Rustom. We were childhood friends" Jagjeet explained.
"Lost contact for years and then reconnected later in life"
Sonarika listened carefully as he continued.
"This was about a year before your head injury. Manush called me with a proposal"
"A proposal?"
"For marriage" Jagjeet said.
He smiled faintly at the memory.
"He wanted to unite our friendship through family"
Sonarika raised an eyebrow.
"You mean…?"
"He wanted you to marry someone"
Jagjeet paused before revealing the name.
"His adopted son, Michael. According to Manush, Michael had entered his life years earlier under unusual circumstances. He had initially been sent as a covert observer connected to the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). But things had changed over time"
"Michael became more than that" Jagjeet said.
"Michael confessed his intentions and pledged allegiance to Manush and his business and cause. Manush trusted him deeply. He managed his London businesses and acted as both strategist and protector. Manush had described him as loyal, intelligent, and fiercely protective of those he cared about. He had more than words to describe Michael , saying the gods send him to fullfill his wish for a boy"
"The letter he sent me was supposed to explain everything about Michael" Jagjeet continued.
"Because apparently ‘Michael’ wasn’t even his real name. He was actually an Indian origin man"
But the story had taken an unexpected turn.
"Before the letter arrived, Manush called again. He told me to ignore it" Jagjeet said quietly.
"Why?"
"Because Michael had fallen in love with his daughter. Ashnoor Rustom. And they were pretty serious about each other. And Manush had decided to make him his son-in-law instead"
Sonarika nodded slowly.
"That makes sense"
Jagjeet exhaled heavily.
"But the letter had already been posted. He said it might reach me anyway"
For a moment his voice grew heavier.
"Then came the news"
His eyes darkened with the memory.
"The entire family was murdered at their home in Azerbaijan"
Sonarika felt a chill run through her.
"That’s horrible"
Jagjeet nodded.
"That’s why I was so shaken when your accident happened later that year. I was still processing the shock of losing Manush and his family's gruesome murder"
He rubbed his forehead tiredly.
"And now… that lost letter is finally being delivered after all these years"
The timing made the grief heavier.
"Samhita’s memorial… and the return of a letter from a friend who is gone!"
Sonarika placed her hand gently over his.
"Bad times come and go, Papa" she said softly.
He looked at her.
"What matters is how we move forward"
She squeezed his hand lightly.
"We remember the people we lost… but we keep living in a way that would make them proud"
Jagjeet’s expression softened.
"You’ve grown stronger" he said quietly.
"Life forced me to" Sonarika replied with a faint smile.
For a few minutes they sat there together in the quiet garden. A father and daughter sharing grief that stretched across years—memories of a lost child, a lost friend, and the complicated paths life had taken since then. The morning breeze rustled the leaves of the small garden Sonarika had planted. And in that quiet moment, the two of them found a little comfort simply in remembering together.
The following morning felt heavier than usual in the Sharma bungalow. The sky above Janakpuri was pale and quiet, the kind of morning where the city seemed to wake slowly. Sonarika found her father sitting in the same lawn chair again, staring at the small garden she had built.
She walked toward him with a gentle smile.
"Papa" she said softly.
"We can’t keep living inside our losses"
Jagjeet looked at her.
"What do you mean?"
Sonarika sat beside him.
"What’s gone is gone. Samhita… Rustom uncle… all the people we’ve lost"
She paused before continuing.
"But life still has good things waiting for us"
She spoke about her own life, carefully choosing what to say.
"There was a time I thought my life was completely lost" she admitted.
"Then Hemant entered it"
She left out the truth of the present—the separation, the cheating, the looming divorce. Her father was already carrying too much grief. Adding another shock felt cruel. But Jagjeet didn’t smile. Instead, he shook his head slowly.
"You may think that" he said quietly.
"But I still believe you made a mistake marrying Hemant"
Sonarika turned toward him in surprise.
"What?"
Jagjeet’s expression was serious.
"Because Hemant hasn’t been honest with you"
The words landed unexpectedly.
"What do you mean?" Sonarika asked.
Jagjeet took a deep breath.
"You remember Reshma’s husband, Suresh?"
"Of course"
"His job as a government employee is only a cover" Jagjeet explained.
Sonarika frowned.
"He actually works for Research and Analysis Wing. R&AW"
The revelation stunned her.
"He’s part of India’s defense intelligence network" Jagjeet continued.
"When I reconnected with him recently, I asked for a small favor"
"What favor?"
"I wanted him to check something about Hemant’s past"
Sonarika felt her heart tighten slightly.
"You know Hemant always told us he served in the army" Jagjeet said.
"He claimed he was stationed in the Drass sector during his service"
He spoke the location carefully.
Drass.
"Suresh ran a preliminary verification" Jagjeet continued.
"And according to the records he checked…"
He paused.
"There was no officer named Hemant Kumar stationed there"
Sonarika stared at him.
For a moment she couldn’t process the sentence.
"Are you saying… Hemant was never a soldier?"
Jagjeet raised a hand.
"I don’t know that yet. This was only the initial check"
"Suresh is still working on the full investigation" he added.
"He promised to give the complete information tomorrow"
Sonarika felt a strange mixture of confusion and disbelief. Everything she knew about Hemant—his past, his discipline, his stories of army life—suddenly felt uncertain. Jagjeet looked at her carefully.
"When Suresh gives the final report tomorrow, I want you to come with me"
"To Reshma’s house?" she asked quietly.
He nodded.
"I want you to hear the truth for yourself"
Later that afternoon, Ragini arrived in Delhi. Sonarika hugged her tightly at the gate of the bungalow. Ragini had always been her emotional anchor through the last year of turmoil.
"Finally!" Ragini laughed.
"I thought you’d forgotten me after moving into this nostalgia palace"
But as they walked inside, Ragini noticed something unusual. Sonarika’s expression looked distracted. By evening they sat together in Sonarika’s room, the door slightly ajar while distant laughter from the living room echoed faintly. Ragini leaned back against the bed.
“Okay,” she said. “What’s wrong?”
Sonarika sighed.
"You can read me too easily"
"Of course I can"
After a moment of hesitation, Sonarika told her everything. About the conversation with Jagjeet. About the suspicious records regarding Hemant’s military service. Ragini’s reaction was immediate.
"What?"
She sat upright.
"You mean Hemant might have lied about being in the army?"
"That’s what the preliminary check suggests" Sonarika replied quietly.
Ragini looked deeply unsettled.
"I always thought Hemant was the most honest person in your life"
"Me too" Sonarika said.
The thought shook her more than she wanted to admit. For years she had blamed herself entirely for the destruction of her marriage. But if Hemant had hidden something this significant…What else might have been hidden? Ragini crossed her arms thoughtfully.
"If this is true… it changes a lot"
Sonarika shook her head.
"No. I don’t want to jump to conclusions"
Her voice was firm despite the uncertainty in her mind.
"I know Hemant. Something about this doesn’t make sense"
Ragini studied her face.
"You still trust him"
"Yes"
Sonarika looked down at her hands.
"I may have betrayed him… but I never believed he was capable of living a lie"
Ragini exhaled slowly.
"Well, tomorrow we’ll find out"
She placed a reassuring hand on Sonarika’s shoulder.
"You’re not going alone"
Sonarika looked up.
"I’ll come with you when you meet Suresh and Reshma" Ragini said.
"If there’s a truth hiding somewhere in Hemant’s past, we’ll uncover it together"
Outside the window, the evening sky darkened over Janakpuri. Inside the room, Sonarika sat quietly with a storm of thoughts forming in her mind. For months she had believed the biggest mistake in her life was betraying Hemant. But now a new question had appeared. What if the man she loved had also been hiding secrets all along? And if that was true…How much of her life had been built on things she never truly understood?
(TO BE CONTD)
'Guess what? I’m coming to the concert'
Sonarika smiled and quickly replied.
'That’s great!'
But another message followed immediately.
'And guess who else is attending… Mrs. Sreelekha Naik'
Sonarika laughed out loud when she read the name. Sreelekha Naik was her new but very scary and strict boss. Sonarika typed back teasingly.
'Ms. Naik doesn’t look like someone who enjoys concerts'
A few seconds later Ragini replied.
'Should I tell her you said that?'
Sonarika immediately responded.
'Please don’t!'
Ragini sent a laughing emoji before typing again.
'Also… I’m not booking a hotel. I’m staying at your place'
Sonarika grinned at the phone.
'You’re always welcome'
She slipped the phone back into her pocket and walked toward the front lawn to share the news with her father. But when she stepped outside, she noticed something unusual. Jagjeet Sharma sat alone on a lawn chair near the veranda, staring quietly at the garden in front of him. His usually energetic presence looked subdued today.
Concern crept into her voice.
"Papa… what’s wrong?"
Jagjeet looked up slowly.
"Oh… nothing" he said softly.
"Just thinking"
She walked closer.
"You look sad"
He sighed.
"Samhita’s memorial is coming very soon"
The name settled heavily between them. Sonarika’s younger sister. Gone far too early or in other words taken from them in Nainital by someone evil they are unaware of. Even after all these years, the wound remained tender. Sonarika sat beside him quietly.
"I miss her too" she said.
Jagjeet nodded slowly.
"She would have been… what… twenty eight now?"
"Twenty-nine" Sonarika corrected gently.
They sat in silence for a moment, remembering the cheerful girl whose life had ended far too suddenly. But Jagjeet’s expression suggested something else weighed on his mind.
"That’s not the only thing troubling me" he admitted after a while.
Sonarika looked at him curiously.
"What else?"
Jagjeet leaned back in the chair.
"Soon I’ll be receiving a letter… one that was never meant to reach me"
"A letter?"
He nodded.
"From an old friend"
He spoke the name slowly.
"Manush Rustom. We were childhood friends" Jagjeet explained.
"Lost contact for years and then reconnected later in life"
Sonarika listened carefully as he continued.
"This was about a year before your head injury. Manush called me with a proposal"
"A proposal?"
"For marriage" Jagjeet said.
He smiled faintly at the memory.
"He wanted to unite our friendship through family"
Sonarika raised an eyebrow.
"You mean…?"
"He wanted you to marry someone"
Jagjeet paused before revealing the name.
"His adopted son, Michael. According to Manush, Michael had entered his life years earlier under unusual circumstances. He had initially been sent as a covert observer connected to the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). But things had changed over time"
"Michael became more than that" Jagjeet said.
"Michael confessed his intentions and pledged allegiance to Manush and his business and cause. Manush trusted him deeply. He managed his London businesses and acted as both strategist and protector. Manush had described him as loyal, intelligent, and fiercely protective of those he cared about. He had more than words to describe Michael , saying the gods send him to fullfill his wish for a boy"
"The letter he sent me was supposed to explain everything about Michael" Jagjeet continued.
"Because apparently ‘Michael’ wasn’t even his real name. He was actually an Indian origin man"
But the story had taken an unexpected turn.
"Before the letter arrived, Manush called again. He told me to ignore it" Jagjeet said quietly.
"Why?"
"Because Michael had fallen in love with his daughter. Ashnoor Rustom. And they were pretty serious about each other. And Manush had decided to make him his son-in-law instead"
Sonarika nodded slowly.
"That makes sense"
Jagjeet exhaled heavily.
"But the letter had already been posted. He said it might reach me anyway"
For a moment his voice grew heavier.
"Then came the news"
His eyes darkened with the memory.
"The entire family was murdered at their home in Azerbaijan"
Sonarika felt a chill run through her.
"That’s horrible"
Jagjeet nodded.
"That’s why I was so shaken when your accident happened later that year. I was still processing the shock of losing Manush and his family's gruesome murder"
He rubbed his forehead tiredly.
"And now… that lost letter is finally being delivered after all these years"
The timing made the grief heavier.
"Samhita’s memorial… and the return of a letter from a friend who is gone!"
Sonarika placed her hand gently over his.
"Bad times come and go, Papa" she said softly.
He looked at her.
"What matters is how we move forward"
She squeezed his hand lightly.
"We remember the people we lost… but we keep living in a way that would make them proud"
Jagjeet’s expression softened.
"You’ve grown stronger" he said quietly.
"Life forced me to" Sonarika replied with a faint smile.
For a few minutes they sat there together in the quiet garden. A father and daughter sharing grief that stretched across years—memories of a lost child, a lost friend, and the complicated paths life had taken since then. The morning breeze rustled the leaves of the small garden Sonarika had planted. And in that quiet moment, the two of them found a little comfort simply in remembering together.
The following morning felt heavier than usual in the Sharma bungalow. The sky above Janakpuri was pale and quiet, the kind of morning where the city seemed to wake slowly. Sonarika found her father sitting in the same lawn chair again, staring at the small garden she had built.
She walked toward him with a gentle smile.
"Papa" she said softly.
"We can’t keep living inside our losses"
Jagjeet looked at her.
"What do you mean?"
Sonarika sat beside him.
"What’s gone is gone. Samhita… Rustom uncle… all the people we’ve lost"
She paused before continuing.
"But life still has good things waiting for us"
She spoke about her own life, carefully choosing what to say.
"There was a time I thought my life was completely lost" she admitted.
"Then Hemant entered it"
She left out the truth of the present—the separation, the cheating, the looming divorce. Her father was already carrying too much grief. Adding another shock felt cruel. But Jagjeet didn’t smile. Instead, he shook his head slowly.
"You may think that" he said quietly.
"But I still believe you made a mistake marrying Hemant"
Sonarika turned toward him in surprise.
"What?"
Jagjeet’s expression was serious.
"Because Hemant hasn’t been honest with you"
The words landed unexpectedly.
"What do you mean?" Sonarika asked.
Jagjeet took a deep breath.
"You remember Reshma’s husband, Suresh?"
"Of course"
"His job as a government employee is only a cover" Jagjeet explained.
Sonarika frowned.
"He actually works for Research and Analysis Wing. R&AW"
The revelation stunned her.
"He’s part of India’s defense intelligence network" Jagjeet continued.
"When I reconnected with him recently, I asked for a small favor"
"What favor?"
"I wanted him to check something about Hemant’s past"
Sonarika felt her heart tighten slightly.
"You know Hemant always told us he served in the army" Jagjeet said.
"He claimed he was stationed in the Drass sector during his service"
He spoke the location carefully.
Drass.
"Suresh ran a preliminary verification" Jagjeet continued.
"And according to the records he checked…"
He paused.
"There was no officer named Hemant Kumar stationed there"
Sonarika stared at him.
For a moment she couldn’t process the sentence.
"Are you saying… Hemant was never a soldier?"
Jagjeet raised a hand.
"I don’t know that yet. This was only the initial check"
"Suresh is still working on the full investigation" he added.
"He promised to give the complete information tomorrow"
Sonarika felt a strange mixture of confusion and disbelief. Everything she knew about Hemant—his past, his discipline, his stories of army life—suddenly felt uncertain. Jagjeet looked at her carefully.
"When Suresh gives the final report tomorrow, I want you to come with me"
"To Reshma’s house?" she asked quietly.
He nodded.
"I want you to hear the truth for yourself"
Later that afternoon, Ragini arrived in Delhi. Sonarika hugged her tightly at the gate of the bungalow. Ragini had always been her emotional anchor through the last year of turmoil.
"Finally!" Ragini laughed.
"I thought you’d forgotten me after moving into this nostalgia palace"
But as they walked inside, Ragini noticed something unusual. Sonarika’s expression looked distracted. By evening they sat together in Sonarika’s room, the door slightly ajar while distant laughter from the living room echoed faintly. Ragini leaned back against the bed.
“Okay,” she said. “What’s wrong?”
Sonarika sighed.
"You can read me too easily"
"Of course I can"
After a moment of hesitation, Sonarika told her everything. About the conversation with Jagjeet. About the suspicious records regarding Hemant’s military service. Ragini’s reaction was immediate.
"What?"
She sat upright.
"You mean Hemant might have lied about being in the army?"
"That’s what the preliminary check suggests" Sonarika replied quietly.
Ragini looked deeply unsettled.
"I always thought Hemant was the most honest person in your life"
"Me too" Sonarika said.
The thought shook her more than she wanted to admit. For years she had blamed herself entirely for the destruction of her marriage. But if Hemant had hidden something this significant…What else might have been hidden? Ragini crossed her arms thoughtfully.
"If this is true… it changes a lot"
Sonarika shook her head.
"No. I don’t want to jump to conclusions"
Her voice was firm despite the uncertainty in her mind.
"I know Hemant. Something about this doesn’t make sense"
Ragini studied her face.
"You still trust him"
"Yes"
Sonarika looked down at her hands.
"I may have betrayed him… but I never believed he was capable of living a lie"
Ragini exhaled slowly.
"Well, tomorrow we’ll find out"
She placed a reassuring hand on Sonarika’s shoulder.
"You’re not going alone"
Sonarika looked up.
"I’ll come with you when you meet Suresh and Reshma" Ragini said.
"If there’s a truth hiding somewhere in Hemant’s past, we’ll uncover it together"
Outside the window, the evening sky darkened over Janakpuri. Inside the room, Sonarika sat quietly with a storm of thoughts forming in her mind. For months she had believed the biggest mistake in her life was betraying Hemant. But now a new question had appeared. What if the man she loved had also been hiding secrets all along? And if that was true…How much of her life had been built on things she never truly understood?
(TO BE CONTD)
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