The Delhi Police car stopped outside Venkateshwar Hospital, as Abhijeet and Pasi rushed out to get inside the hospital immediately.

They came inside and immediately asked for Bani Khanna, only to be directioned to the second floor ICU, as they ran there immediately.

Only, then, did it happen, that they reached to a crying purvi, worried kavin, tensed dushyant, and a shocked ishita. But there was a man that they didn't recognize, a complete stranger, held by nihaal, as a puzzled abhijeet walked over to them.

"acha hua aap aa gaye.." commented dushyant, as he walked over to the suspicious stranger.

"yeh aadmi, isse mere bete ne ghar se bhaagte hue pakda, khoon se sane chaaku ke saath..." stated dushyant, as he handed over a knife that was wrapped with a cloth.

"yeh bhi gir gaya tha isse...bhaagte hue..." handed over ishita a lighter to abhijeet, as he glared at the two objects in his hand before looking at the three of them.

"hum bani ke bayaan ke bina kuch nahi kar sakte...chahe aap joh marzi karle..." stated abhijeet, still very suspicious off them.

Just then, purvi stepped in, teary eyed, weeping badly.

"uski bahaut buri haalat hai sir! Iss aadmi ne uska gala hi kaat diya...upar se woh aag....bahaut buri haalat hai uski...woh toh sarr bhi nahi hilaskati haan ya naa mein, bolegi kya...aap isse sach ogalvayi na..." purvi seemed quite melodramatic from her usual self, which was well, a little jarring to say the least.

Abhijeet stared at the man, who stood with his head down, as he looked over at all of them again, but when he looked a kavin, who clearly seemed like he was hiding something, was enough for him to know.

Unfortunately, the most unexpectedly tragic call was yet to arrive for Abhijeet. He excused himself from there, getting to a corner to answer the call from his Commissioner.

"ji sir." Received abhijeet the call, still keeping an eye on the khanna family and the unwanted stranger.

"kahan ho tum?" questioned the commissioner.

"sir, woh khannas ke ghar mein aag lagayi gayi hai aur bani khanna pe hamla hua hai, uske hi silsile mein hospital mein hoon." Informed abhijeet, as he was now paying his attention on the call.

"hmm, waise iss hi silsile mein tumse baat karne k liye phone kiya tha tumhe...uss sab ki ab zaroorat nahi padegi, seedha chowki aa jao wapas." Instructed the commissioner, confusing abhijeet.

"lekin, sir..." attempted abhijeet to argue.

"abhijeet, maine order diya hai." Stated the commissioner bluntly, as abhijeet did not see his place to argue any further, quietly hung up on the call, and turned to leave.

Abhijeet signalled pasi to come along with him, as even he was more confused now, but came along with him anyways. Meanwhile, dushyant had an odd smirk on his face, one that comes from the satisfaction of having things go exactly as one wanted to. But purvi and ishita shared an extremely wicked look, making it far from obvious, that they were not at all plotting against each other now. Kavin, though, seemed to be doubtful.

***

Abhijeet arrived at the police station, only to notice mr and mrs singhania, with their son, seated there. He was obviously left perplexed. He hurried to the commissioner's office, wanting answers so bad, not knowing the disappointment that lied ahead for him.

The door opened, as abhijeet just stormed into the office this time, after all, it was urgent.

"sir, yeh sab kya tha? Aap kuch bataiye toh hua kya hai?" questioned abhijeet, but the commissioner didn't even respond, just passed on a letter to abhijeet, as he was puzzled.

He opened the letter to read it up, only to find in bold the word, 'transfer'. Now, he didn't need to know any further.

"overnight?" asked abhijeet in an attempt of confirmation, only to receive a nod in disagreement from the commissioner.

"tum kal shaam jaoge, press ko ek final statement dekar, joh iss case ko close kardega." Replied the commissioner, making abhijeet just disgusted.

"ab aap kya chahte hain, main woh jhoot ko apni investigation kahoon, joh aap bikh kar sach bana rahe hain?" replied abhijeet with utter disdain, as the commissioner smirked.

"abhijeet kabhi bhi, kisi bhi maamle ka koi ek sach nahi hota, hum uss jhoot ko sach maan lete hain joh humein acha lagta hai...aur humare samaaj mein, sach uski baat maani jaati hai jiss par hum vishwas karne chahte hain.." contemplated the commissioner as abhijeet had a piercing glance on him.

"aur zyadatar, woh log bahaut hi ameer, aur bahaut powerful hote hain...unse ladoge, toh yahi samaaj se bahar jaoge." Concluded the commissioner handing over the letter to abhijeet, patting on his shoulder in consolation.

"maan lo baat abhijeet, parivaar hai tumhara, sukoon se rehne denge unhe aur tumhe." Advised the commissioner, as abhijeet was left to comprehend what had been just said to him.

***

A few weeks later....

The red flashes with big bold letters in white, along with the constantly shoved on the screen phrase, 'BREAKING NEWS', appeared on the television again, with the anchor telling another story to the masses.

"haal hi mein aayi hai ek khabar delhi mein missing ladkiyon ke case se...Jahan ek ki laash mili aur ek apne ghar pahaunchi, ek abhi bhi lapata hai....par khush khabri yeh hai ki iss kaam ko anjaam dene waala haivaan pakda gaya hai.

Yeh haiwaan aur koi nahi, balki real estate mogul, Gautam Singhania ke beta, Arjun Singhania hai.

Gautam Singhania bhi filhaal hi arrest hue the embezzlement aur fraud ke liye, jahan income tax department ne unke saare assets seal kardiye hai, ab bus unki ek biwi hi reh gayi hai jinhone apna naya ghar jail mein nahi paaya hai."

The news anchor stated the matter of the current affairs bluntly.

The TV was shut off by dushyant, as his glance fell on the clock that had struck 8 in the morning. He grabbed hold of his suitcase, when ishita too came along with her purse, still stuffing things in it.

"mujhe please drop kardo, kal petrol bharwana bhool gayi..." stated ishita, as dushyant nodded.

"sure.." replied dushyant, when his glance fell on a room on the first floor.

"ab kaisi hai woh?" asked dushyant, as ishita looked a little morose before replying.

"psychiatrist ne toh kaha iska ilaaj lamba hi chalega, but kuch mahine lagenge before she can adjust to normal life." Replied ishita, as dushyant too started to feel a little heavy.

"i hope yeh time bhi jald beet jayein." Expressed dushyant his wishful thinking, as ishita too sighed along, hoping for the same.

***

"purvi jaldi karo! Late ho raha hai!" exclaimed kavin as he was packing some stuff in a bag.

Purvi opened the door of the bathroom, as bani came along outside her. there were clear burns around her neck, that were slow to heal, but the slit in her throat was thankfully healed already.

"ointment laga diya hai iska...ab chalte hain." Stated purvi, when there was a sudden knock on the door.

All three of them looked up to find nihaal on the door.

"woh, main bhi aa sakta hoon aap logon ke saath....equm ko dekhe hue bahaut time ho gaya hai...wait nahi ho raha uske aane ka." Stated nihaal, as purvi smiled, and nodded in agreement.

"jaldi chalna padega, chachi ki tarah late mat karna bas..." remarked kavin, as purvi rolled her eyes, and bani chuckled. They all were ready to leave.

***

Abhijeet stood in front of all the agitated and hasty media reporters, ready with their mikes to attack with their words. He couldn't believe he had given in, as he sat down with a paper, a statement written by else, far from his beliefs, would still be coming out of his mouth.

He cleared his throat, before starting to read out the press release. He didn't even look up, knowing very well he won't be able to face anyone.

"kuch hafton pehle, hamare paas ek missing case aaya, jasmine khanna ka. Zara sa bhi samay nahi beeta tha ki deepika sachdev aur anuska kalra bhi gayab ho gayi. Yeh ek bahaut hi uljha hua case banta gaya jab tak humein saumya singhania ke closed case ek kadi mili, joh inn sab cases ko joh baithi, arjun singhania. Arjun Singhania, ek bigdi hui ameer aulad nikle, joh nabalik ladkiyon ko drugs bechte the, aur unka galat faydaa uthate the. Unn ki behen ne ek din unhe ek ladki ke saath zabardasti karne ki koshish karte dekh jab unhe rokne ki koshish ki, toh haata-paayi mein arjun singhania ke haathon saumya singhania ki maut ho gayi. Yeh maamla unke pitaji ke haathon dabaya gaya tha, unhe bachane ke liye. Yeh baat jab unki dost Jasmine Khanna aur Bani Khanna ko nahi manzoor thi, aur jab unki saheliyan Deepika aur Anushka iss baat ko jaankar arjun ke khilaaf complaint karne ko taiyaar ho gayi, toh arjun singhania ne unka apaharan karke unhe maarne ki koshish ki. Bani khanna ke maamle mein toh unke ghar mein hi. Hamare paas ek gawah hain jisne kubool kiya hai arjun singhania ne unhe inn jurmon ke paise diye the. Aur baaki sabooton ko court mein pesh kiya jayega, aur arjun singhania ko uske berehem jurmon ke saza zaroor milegi." Abhijeet was done reading the release aloud, as he looked over to the reporters.

He couldn't take it anymore, as he just got up from his seat and left, leaving dozens of reporters in a complete frenzy.

***

Dushyant was about to enter his office, when he passed by the M.D Office, that displayed Kavin's name on it.

He opened the door to his cabin, only to be left completely off-guard at rashmi's prescence.

She got up from his seat that she was seated on.

"pata hona chahiye tha mujhe....tum jab tak apna badla nahi lelete mujhse, tum shaant nahi baithte.." stated rashmi, her eyes moist and furious at the same time, but dushyant remained unmoved.

"mujhe jaana hi kahan tha tumne ya tumhare baap ne...warna jaan jaate, ki singhania jaise aadmi ko ghotnon pe le aana koi badi baat nahi hai mere liye...aur waise bhi, ab uss hi baap ke ghar jaane waali hona? Woh bhi dekh le, ki itna chota samajhte the apni beti ko, ki yeh hi uske layak laga unhe..." replied dushyant, remaining stoic throughout.

Rashmi just scoffed.

"tumhara pati itna bewakoof tha, mujhse itni badi real estate deal sign ki, woh bhi jisse woh ghutala karna chahta tha, aur mere baarein mein kuch pata karne ki bhi zimmat nahi ki...mushkil nahi tha uski kartooton ke sabot ekhatta karna." Explained dushyant, as he opened his bag on his desk, and took out his files.

"now if you'll just get out, i actually have a business i know how to run." Dushyant showed her the way out, with the utmost of scorn, as she was about to leave, but turned again.

"mera beta kyun, dushyant?" questioned rashmi.

"main toh kuch nahi karpaya tha tumhare baap ke saamne...par ab toh ek singhania bhi meri beti ko haath lagane ki kimmat bhooktega." Replied dushyant coldly, as rashmi knew now, he was no longer the guy she loved, she had aided in creating a monster.

***

author's note: hey guys, so finally the longest story i've ever written time wise and length wise, is finally over. i know i said it'd be over by july and i finished it on 10th august, but it is simply because i needed a bit of time to work on the new stories a bit before finalising their drafts. 

now, tomorrow i'll update the first chapter of the supernatural story and there i'll reveal the other story that it will be written along with. i know kal festival hai toh agar time na mil payein i understand, par friday tak zaroor dekh lena, kyunki phir dusri story bhi toh hai. 

so till then, bye!