The warehouse's dim light stretched long shadows across the walls, the only sound the distant hum of ancient machinery. Ava sat on the couch, her fists balled in her lap, her mind whirling. Every step, every choice from here on out seemed to be a step further into a maze of secrets with no apparent way out.
Aside from her, Anish was pacing, his restlessness evident as he looked around the cold, empty room. "I still don't trust him, Ava," he grumbled under his breath, although his eyes kept darting towards Rohit, who remained at the desk, his back to them.
Ava didn't reply right away. She longed to believe Rohit, but with each passing moment, her doubts grew stronger. She'd noticed the way he regarded her—like she was privy to a secret he was withholding. And she couldn't rid herself of the suspicion that it wasn't just about her uncle's research.
But she didn't have time to dwell on her doubts. She needed to focus. What was the truth behind this? What had her uncle discovered that had made them all targets?
Her thoughts were interrupted when Rohit turned around, his expression serious. "I've found something," he said, his voice low, almost as if he was afraid to speak too loudly. "But it's not going to be easy to digest."
Ava stood up, her eyes focusing on him. "What is it?"
He passed her a heavy folder, filled with copied pages and photos. "This is the missing link, Ava. I've been investigating your uncle's final days. He was investigating something—a project he'd been developing for years, something much bigger than I initially imagined."
Ava picked up the folder, her hands shaking as she flipped through the pages. The photos contained pictures of odd buildings, ancient maps, and some sort of code that meant nothing to her whatsoever.
"This resembles." Ava hesitated, glancing over one of the photos again. "This resembles something from my uncle's notes."
Rohit nodded. "It is. These are the last pieces of the puzzle. Your uncle was investigating something buried under the city—something from your family's history."
Ava's eyes flashed to him. "What do you mean, my family's history?
Rohit breathed deeply. "I know you haven't heard this before, but your family wasn't always part of the scientific community. There's something more to this. Something buried. Your uncle wasn't just doing science; he was attempting to find out the truth about the Malhotras."
Ava's chest constricted. The Malhotra name had ever been linked with achievement, with riches, but she never learned that much about her family's inner history. What was Rohit referring to?
"𝗠𝘆 𝗳𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗹𝘆?" Ava repeated, her voice barely above a whisper. "What do you mean?"
Rohit did not respond immediately. He appeared to collect his thoughts, but his eyes were faraway, as if recalling something hurting. When he finally answered, his voice was hardly more than a whisper.
Your uncle was the linchpin to it all," he told her, his voice full of significance. "But he wasn't the only one who knew the truth. Your parents… they were in on something much larger. Your whole family was involved in something that goes back generations. And it's all tied to this city.
Ava sat back, bewildered. She didn't know what Rohit was saying. The puzzle pieces didn't fit. Her family—her parents, her uncle—had always maintained private lives. But the way Rohit was talking, it was like there was some secret history, something she'd never even suspected existed.
"Why are you telling me this now?" Ava asked, her voice shaking a little. "Why not before?"
Rohit's face clouded. "Because it's too risky, Ava. You weren't supposed to know this. None of us were supposed to know. But your uncle. he was going to reveal everything. That's why they kidnapped him.
Ava's head whirled. They? Who were they? Who was responsible for all this? The same ones pursuing her now? Her hand closed tighter on the folder. She could sense it—there was something significant within, something that could untangle all she believed about her family.
Anish moved forward, his voice interrupting her thoughts. "What do we do now, Rohit? We can't just sit here and wait for them to come after us."
Rohit paused, looking at both of them. "We go quietly. We remain in the shadows. And we uncover the truth. But the truth… it's going to change everything."
Ava's head was reeling. This secret, this secret history of her family—it all dovetailed with the intrigue surrounding her uncle's vanishing. But how? Why? And who was responsible for it all?
It was as if on signal that her phone vibrated in her pocket. She snatched it out hastily, her heart lurching when she read the text.
"They know where you are. They're coming for you."
Ava's breath stopped in her throat. Who was sending these messages to her? How did they know?
She glanced at Rohit and Anish, her eyes wide with terror. "We need to go. Now."
Rohit nodded, his face grim. "It's too late to flee. 𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒚'𝒓𝒆 𝒂𝒍𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒚 𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆."