Chapter 21: The Longest Morning
The silence of the mansion was no longer peaceful; it was a physical weight, pressing against my chest with every tick of the grandfather clock in the hall.
7:00 AM. I paced the length of the drawing room. The servants moved like shadows, their faces tight with a shared anxiety. They knew what I knew: when the Architect went to war, the foundations of the city trembled.
9:00 AM. I tried to call Aman, but my thumb hovered over his name and froze. What would I say? That the man I was supposed to be leaving was currently risking his life to save the brother Aman couldn't find? I put the phone down. For the first time, the "safety" of my old life felt flimsy and small.
11:00 AM. A distant sound of a siren made me bolt to the window, but it was nothing. I sat on the edge of the sofa, clutching a pillow, my mind replaying the way Advik had looked up at my balcony—the cold, resigned look of a man who was doing his duty for a woman who didn't want his heart.
The Return
12:15 PM. The roar of engines finally broke the silence.
I didn't wait. I threw open the front doors and ran onto the portico. The three black SUVs drifted into the courtyard, covered in dust and grime. The lead vehicle stopped, its side panels peppered with what looked like bullet grazes.
The door opened, and Advik stepped out.
He was limping slightly, his tactical vest torn at the shoulder, a smear of dried blood across his forehead. But he wasn't looking at his injuries. He turned back to the car and reached out a hand.
A small, shaking figure emerged.
"Ishaan!" I screamed, my voice breaking.
My brother looked pale, his clothes oversized and dirty, but he was whole. He saw me and let out a sob, running forward. I caught him in my arms, sinking to my knees on the gravel, holding him so tight I feared I might break him. We wept together, a messy, frantic release of months of terror.
"It's okay, Ishu. You're home. You're safe," I whispered into his hair.
Over my brother's shoulder, I looked at Advik. He was standing by the SUV, watching us. He didn't move toward us to claim the credit. He just stood there, his arms crossed over his chest, his expression unreadable—until he moved to the back door of the second vehicle.
"There's one more thing," Advik said, his voice raspy from smoke and shouting.
A woman stepped out of the second car. She was older, dressed in simple clothes, her face etched with a lifetime of quiet strength.
My breath hitched. "Auntie Meera?"
Aman's mother. The woman who had treated me like a daughter since I was a child. She looked at me with tear-filled eyes, then looked back at Advik with a profound, confusing sense of gratitude.
"The Singhals didn't just have your brother, Ananya," Advik said, stepping forward, his eyes finally meeting mine with a flicker of that old, intense heat. "They were using Aman's mother as leverage to keep him from going to the police... and to keep him coming to you."
The world tilted. "What?"
"Aman knew where she was," Advik said, his voice cold and steady. "He knew where Ishaan was, too. But he was too afraid to tell you the truth, because he knew the moment you found out, you'd ask me for help instead of waiting for him."
Auntie Meera walked toward me, taking my hands. "He was scared, Ananya. My son is a good man, but he is a coward. He let you suffer in this house because he couldn't face the Singhals himself. This man..." she looked at Advik, "...this man came for us when no one else would."
I looked at Advik, my heart fracturing in a way I hadn't expected. He hadn't just saved my brother; he had unmasked the man I loved. He had brought the "surprise guest" not to hurt me, but to show me the truth.