Episode 3: The Mystery of the Red File
Riyansh's eyes narrowed.
Reya clenched the phone in her fist. The screen had gone dark, but the message from the unknown number was still burning inside her—Aarav's death wasn't an accident. Find the red file. Alone.
"Nobody's," she said again. This time, there was less fear in her voice and more stubbornness.
Riyansh studied her face for a few moments. He looked as if he wanted to catch every word hidden behind Reya's lashes. Then his gaze dropped to her hand.
"You curl your fingers when you lie."
Reya immediately opened her fist. "And you spy on every person?"
"Only the ones who live under my roof while plotting against me."
"So you already know I'm against you."
"I didn't know," Riyansh said calmly. "Now I'm certain."
A shiver ran through Reya, but she kept her face hard. "Believe whatever you want."
"Very good. At least you aren't ashamed of your lies."
He came toward her and held out his hand, asking for the phone. Reya pulled it behind her.
"Give it to me."
"No."
"Reya."
When her name left Riyansh's mouth, his voice wasn't raised, yet it sounded more dangerous than an order.
"You imprisoned me, bought my life, and held my brother hostage. Now you're going to take my phone too?"
"Your phone is the door to your life through which danger can enter."
"The danger isn't outside. It's inside your house."
The air between them suddenly grew heavy. For a moment, the same old darkness that had appeared before Aarav's portrait returned to Riyansh's eyes. He lowered his hand.
"Get ready to come with me this afternoon."
"I'm not going."
"You are."
"What if I try to run?"
"There are doors, cameras, and people to stop you."
"And what if I still get out?"
Riyansh bent very close to her. "Then I'll find you and bring you back."
"Why? Am I your property?"
"No." His voice dropped. "When a man loses property, he buys something new. I don't have the option of losing you."
Reya looked at him. There was possession in that sentence, but beneath it was a restlessness she couldn't understand. She quickly looked away.
"Don't try to scare me with your words."
"I don't try."
He turned and walked away. When he reached the door, he stopped and said, "And yes, stay away from the color red."
Reya's heart stopped for a moment.
Riyansh didn't look back. He walked out as if he hadn't said anything at all.
Reya stood in the room for a while. Then she took out her phone and tried to screenshot the message. It was gone. Only an empty chat window remained.
Her breath caught.
Someone had sent the message and then deleted it. Or someone had already gotten into her phone.
She locked the door and began searching the room. Under the bed, behind the wardrobe, in the desk drawer—nothing. Standing before the mirror, she looked at her face. It was as if she had aged several years overnight. Fatigue darkened the skin beneath her eyes, but beneath that exhaustion was a decision too.
She wasn't going to stay here and cry.
She would save Rohan.
And she would uncover the truth about Aarav's death.
The mansion was unusually busy until noon. Servants moved back and forth through the hallways. Black cars were parked outside. Saroj brought her the same white outfit she had rejected that morning.
"I'm not wearing this."
"Sir said you have to stay with him in front of the guests today."
"I'm not something to be put on display."
Saroj said quietly, "This house doesn't consider anyone something to display, child. Everyone here is someone's shield."
Reya looked at her. "You too?"
Saroj's eyes dimmed for a moment. "I have been for a long time."
Before Reya could ask anything else, Saroj left. This time Reya didn't put on the outfit. She pulled out a simple blue sari, tied her hair back, and put on her old shoes. As she went downstairs, she felt as though she were heading toward a battlefield.
Instead of the dining room, Riyansh met her today on the vast front veranda of the mansion. A middle-aged man stood with him. An expensive suit, silver hair, and a blade hidden beneath his smile.
"This is Dev Malhotra," Riyansh said. "My business partner."
Dev looked Reya up and down. "So this is the girl Riyansh made a deal worth fifty crore rupees for?"
Reya's face flushed. "I'm not a deal."
Dev laughed. "I like her. Most girls who enter the Khurana family go quiet during the very first meeting."
"I didn't enter the Khurana family," Reya said. "I was brought here."
Riyansh's eyes fixed on Dev. "Enough."
One word, and Dev's smile disappeared.
For the first time, Reya saw that Riyansh's influence didn't merely inspire fear. People changed even the way they spoke in front of him.
When they reached the car, Riyansh opened her door. Reya didn't thank him. She wanted to sit on the other side, but Riyansh sat beside her in the back seat. Dev sat in front, and the driver silently sped down the road.
"Where are we going?" Reya asked.
"Khurana Foundation."
"Why are you taking me there?"
"Because starting today, you'll work there."
"I never agreed to that."
"Did you read clause seven of the contract?"
Reya glared at him. "You didn't give me time to read it."
"Then who are you complaining to?"
"Not you. I'm complaining to myself for trusting anything you said."
Riyansh's face tightened. "You trusted your brother. Not me."
"Rohan got me into trouble, but you turned that trouble into your right."
Silence filled the car. Dev glanced at them in the rearview mirror but said nothing.
The foundation's building was a tall structure of glass and steel in the heart of the city. As soon as the car stopped, several employees bowed to greet Riyansh. Reya felt everyone's eyes on her. Some watched her with curiosity, some with fear, and some as if they had already heard a story about her.
Riyansh tried to put a hand around her waist. Reya immediately stepped away.
"There's no need to touch me."
"They'll assume you're my wife."
"I'm not your wife."
"Not yet," he said so quietly that only she could hear.
Reya clenched her teeth. "This is an act."
"Then act well."
As soon as they entered, a young woman approached them. She was holding a red file and looked nervous.
"Sir, the board meeting documents—"
Before she could finish, Riyansh took the file. He glanced at it and immediately closed it.
The red file.
Reya's heartbeat quickened. She looked closely at the file. Written across the top in white letters were the words—A.K. Project.
Aarav Khurana.
Riyansh looked at her. He had probably caught her staring. He handed the file to Dev. "Put this in my private office."
As Dev took the file, he looked at Reya. "In the private office?"
"Didn't you hear me?"
Dev walked away. Taking the opportunity, Reya asked, "Does A.K. stand for Aarav Khurana?"
"Why do you see Aarav in everything?"
"Because you're afraid of his name."
Riyansh grabbed her wrist. This time, the anger in his grip was unmistakable. "Don't use my brother's name to satisfy your curiosity."
"Then tell me the truth."
"You can't afford the price of hearing the truth."
"I didn't have my freedom, and you bought that anyway. Don't talk to me about price."
Riyansh released her wrist. Hardness returned to his face. "Go to your office. Your work is ready."
"I'm not going to do any work."
"You have a good understanding of architectural projects. The foundation is building a hospital. You'll review its design."
Reya stared at him in surprise. "How do you know about my work?"
"It wasn't difficult to learn about you."
"You had me investigated."
"I tried to understand you."
"That's not understanding. It's surveillance."
"The distinction matters a great deal to you. It doesn't to me."
Reya was sent to a small office. Her education records, certificates, and copies of her past work were already arranged there. Everything was so meticulously organized that it disgusted her. Someone had spread her entire life open on paper.
A hospital plan was mounted on a drafting board. Reya glanced at it without thinking. The emergency exit was far too narrow, and there was a dangerous turn in the hallway designed for patients. She picked up a red pencil and began marking the flaws.
About an hour later, Riyansh entered. His gaze went to the board.
"You changed it?"
"I didn't change it. I improved it."
"Who told you to?"
"I don't have a habit of staying quiet when I see a faulty design."
Riyansh came to the board. He examined the marked sections. "Our chief engineer designed this plan."
"Then your chief engineer can make mistakes."
"You think you're better than him?"
"I think anyone honest enough to look at this plan would say the same thing."
Riyansh said nothing. He took out his phone and ordered someone to bring the chief engineer immediately. A short while later, a nervous man arrived. Riyansh asked him the same questions Reya had written on the plan. The man had no answers.
Riyansh gestured for him to leave. Then he looked at Reya.
"Starting today, you're the lead inspector on this project."
"I haven't accepted the job."
"You like the work."
"Liking the work and working for you are two different things."
"Do you feel the need to oppose everything I say?"
"When you're the one in front of me, yes."
A very faint smile touched his lips. It was the first time his smile held genuine amusement instead of victory. The smile irritated Reya even more.
"You know," Riyansh said, "most people agree with everything I say just to please me."
"I'm not most people."
"I'll remember that."
"Is that a threat?"
"No. A promise."
Reya was kept busy with the foundation's work until evening. She realized Riyansh had placed her there not only to imprison her, but also to keep her inside his circle of control. Every move she made was being recorded. But the work kept her mind so occupied that, for a few hours, she forgot her fear.
On the way back, Riyansh asked, "What did you think was the biggest flaw in the hospital plan?"
"Yours."
"Mine?"
"You gave the responsibility to the wrong man."
He looked out the window. "Aarav used to say the same thing."
Reya fell silent.
"He questioned everything," Riyansh continued. "He thought asking for the truth could change it."
"Was he wrong?"
"The truth doesn't change. People do."
"Because of you?"
Riyansh looked at her. "You deliberately put your life at risk."
"You deliberately frighten people."
"Fear sometimes saves lives."
"And sometimes it destroys them."
This time, he gave no answer.
After they returned to the mansion that night, Reya asked Saroj, "Where is Riyansh's private office?"
Saroj's hand stopped over the tray. "You shouldn't go there."
"Why?"
"Because people aren't the same after seeing what's kept in there."
"Have you seen the red file?"
Saroj's eyes widened. The next moment, she lowered her gaze. "You should rest."
"Saroj."
"Child, some truths are the kind you should decide whether you have the strength to bear before learning them."
"I have no choice but to bear them."
Saroj said quietly, "Then wait until the third hour of the night. Sir won't be in his room then."
Reya felt the ground shift beneath her feet. Was Saroj helping her—or sending her into a trap?
At two fifty-five in the morning, the mansion fell quiet. Reya opened the door. The hallway lights were dim. She slipped off her sandals, held them in her hand, and moved forward barefoot. To avoid the cameras, she stayed in the shadows along the walls. She stopped when she reached Aarav's portrait.
There was a small scratch beneath the frame. Reya pressed it with her finger. A thin section of wood opened. A small key was hidden inside.
She picked up the key.
Who had Aarav left it for?
Or had someone deliberately placed it there?
Riyansh's private office was at the end of the hallway. Her hands trembled as she unlocked the door. The click sounded unnaturally loud in the silence of the night.
It was dark inside. Reya turned on her phone's flashlight. The room looked like a museum—books, old files, maps on the walls, and a photograph on the desk. Two brothers stood in the photograph. Aarav was laughing. Riyansh had a hand on his shoulder, but his eyes were on Aarav instead of the camera.
Reya picked up the photograph. Written on the back in pencil were the words—"I had to fear the very person I was supposed to save."
Her throat went dry.
The third desk drawer was locked. The red file was inside. Reya pulled it out. The same letters were printed on the cover—A.K. Project.
The first page contained construction project documents. The second listed bank accounts. The third held several photographs. In them, Aarav stood outside an old warehouse. Dev Malhotra was with him. In the final photograph was another man—Reya's father.
The file nearly slipped from Reya's hands.
Why had her father and Aarav been in the same place?
She read on. One report bore her father's signature. Beneath it, in red ink, were the words—"Accident before testimony."
Reya stopped breathing. Had her father's death not been an accident either?
Then she heard the door close behind her.
Reya turned. Riyansh stood in the doorway. There was no surprise on his face, as if he had been waiting for her for quite some time.
"I told you to stay away from red."
Reya backed away, clutching the file to her chest. "Who killed my father?"
For the first time, a deep shadow of fear appeared in Riyansh's eyes.
"Give me the file."
"Answer me first."
"Reya, give me the file."
"Did my father work with Aarav? Did Aarav know he was going to die? And did you try to save them both—or destroy them?"
Riyansh suddenly moved forward. Reya backed into the desk. The file trembled in her hands.
"You have no idea what you're touching."
"I know enough to know my father's death was a lie."
"Your father's death was not an accident."
Reya's eyes widened. "Then tell me the truth."
"I didn't kill him."
"I didn't say your name."
"But that's the question in your eyes."
"Because every road leads back to you."
Riyansh planted both hands on the desk and leaned over her. "Not every road leads back to me, Reya. Some roads lead to the man who used both my brother and your father against each other."
"Who?"
"Dev Malhotra."
The air in the room seemed to stop.
"He's your partner."
"He was."
"He was still with you today."
"Because keeping an enemy far away isn't always wise. Sometimes you have to keep him close, with your hand around his throat."
Reya opened the file. "Your signatures are here."
Riyansh looked at the file. "They're forged."
"And this photograph?"
"Your father was going to testify against Dev. Aarav had gathered the evidence. That night, a fire broke out in the warehouse. Your father was killed. Aarav disappeared."
"But you said Aarav died."
"I said his death wasn't an accident."
"Is he alive?"
Riyansh didn't answer.
Reya slammed the file against his chest. "Is he alive?"
Riyansh caught the file before it could fall. His face turned to stone.
"What if I say yes?"
Reya stopped breathing. "Then where is he?"
"Very close to you."
At that exact moment, something fell in the hallway outside. Riyansh immediately moved Reya behind him and looked toward the door. His hand started toward the pistol hidden at his waist, but Reya caught it.
"Who's there?"
There was no answer.
Riyansh opened the door. The hallway was empty. A small black envelope lay on the floor. He picked it up. Only one word was written on the front—"Sister."
Riyansh's expression changed. He opened the envelope. Inside was a photograph. Rohan was sitting in a dark room. Behind him, the same mark Reya had seen on one of the pages in the red file was drawn on the wall.
Written on the back were the words—"If you want the file, let the girl go."
Reya snatched the photograph. "Where is Rohan?"
For the first time, Riyansh didn't stop her. His eyes were no longer cold. Controlled anger burned in them.
"He's not safe."
"You said he was safe!"
"He was then."
"So who took him now?"
Riyansh dialed Dev's number. The phone was turned off.
Tears filled Reya's eyes. "You took him away from me. You said you could protect him."
"I will protect him."
"Did you try to save my father too?"
Riyansh looked at her. This time, he had no hard answer.
"I got there too late."
For the first time, Reya saw remorse in his eyes. It was so deep that Riyansh's face seemed buried beneath it.
"Why did you hide all this from me?"
"Because the truth would bring you closer to me."
"And you didn't want me to come close to you?"
"I didn't want you to descend into the same darkness where I became trapped while searching for Aarav."
"Then why did you imprison me?"
Riyansh didn't answer.
Reya understood. He had an answer, but he was afraid to say it.
"Because you thought that if I stayed under your watch, Dev couldn't use me?"
"Because if you stayed outside, he would kill you."
"And in your house?"
"Here, he has to get through me before he can reach you."
"You think I'm safe because of you?"
"No," Riyansh said quietly. "You're in danger because of me. But I'm also the one who will protect you now."
Reya's heart twisted. She hated him. His captivity, his control, his touch—everything about him stirred rebellion inside her. Yet in that moment, he seemed like more than a predator for the first time. He seemed like a man reaching into the ashes of an old crime to uncover the truth about his brother and her father.
"If anything happens to Rohan," Reya said in a trembling voice, "I'll never forgive you."
"I don't need your forgiveness."
"Then what do you want?"
Looking into her eyes, Riyansh said, "I want you to stay alive."
Suddenly, all the lights in the mansion went out. Darkness flooded the room. At that exact moment, a gunshot rang out from downstairs.
Reya screamed. Riyansh pulled her toward him and dropped her to the floor. A second bullet shot through the door and lodged in the wall.
Footsteps thundered through the hallway. Riyansh drew his pistol and motioned for Reya to stay behind the desk.
"Stay here."
"Where are you going?"
"To get Rohan."
"I'm coming too."
"No."
"He's my brother."
"And you're my responsibility."
"I'm not your responsibility!"
Riyansh looked at her through the darkness. "Tonight, you may be my weakness. So don't follow me."
He went out through the door. Reya waited a few moments. Then she picked up the red file and followed him.
Because this was no longer only about saving Rohan.
Now her father's death, Aarav's disappearance, and Riyansh's darkness were all tied together by the same thread.
And the other end of that thread was in the hands of someone who had already been inside the mansion.
As Reya went down the stairs, she saw a shadow in the darkness. It was Saroj. Her hands were covered in blood.
Reya stopped.
Saroj pressed a finger to her lips and whispered, "If you want to save Riyansh, don't give him the red file."
The ground seemed to drop out from under Reya.
There were tears in Saroj's eyes.
"Because it doesn't contain the truth about Aarav's death," she said. "It contains an order for Riyansh's death."