The arrest of his father, the threatening notes, Priya's mysterious disappearance and reappearance (she had returned at dawn with a flimsy excuse)—Abhinav’s life had become a maelstrom of fear and confusion. He barely slept, the image of Mareena's ghost intertwined with the chilling threat to "lose her."

His phone buzzed. It was the Commissioner.

"Abhinav, I need you at the station immediately. We've unearthed something far more disturbing than a simple cover-up." The Commissioner's voice was grim.

Abhinav arrived at the precinct, the sterile environment a stark contrast to the opulent lies of Roy Mansion. He was led into a small, windowless interrogation room. The Commissioner stood there, holding a dusty, yellowed file.

"This is an old file, Abhinav. Twenty years old. It was buried, officially closed, but the new investigation into Mareena Sharma's disappearance led us down a very dark path." The Commissioner opened the file. "It concerns your father, Mr. Devraj Roy."

Abhinav felt a cold dread in his stomach. "My father? What about him?"

"Twenty years ago, a man named Paritosh Sharma was found dead in an industrial warehouse owned by Roy Enterprises. The official verdict was an accident—a fall from scaffolding. Case closed almost instantly." The Commissioner looked at Abhinav, his gaze piercing. "But there were irregularities. Witnesses silenced. Forensic evidence suspiciously minimal."

Abhinav felt a chill that had nothing to do with the room's temperature. "What does this have to do with Mareena?"

The Commissioner leaned forward, his voice dropping to a low, grave tone. "Paritosh Sharma, Abhinav, was Mareena's father."

The words hit Abhinav like a physical blow. He staggered back, crashing into the metal chair behind him. Mareena’s father. Dead in a Roy Enterprises warehouse. Twenty years ago. The pieces of the terrifying puzzle began to click into place, forming a monstrous image.

"No," Abhinav whispered, his voice hoarse. "This can't be."

"It appears, Abhinav, that Mareena was not just an innocent girl who stumbled upon some financial discrepancies. She was pursuing something much older, much darker. A vendetta, perhaps. Or justice for her father." The Commissioner closed the file with a decisive snap. "Your father, Mr. Devraj Roy, is now being questioned in connection with the murder of Paritosh Sharma."

The shock was absolute. His own father, a murderer? And Mareena, his love, the daughter of his father's victim? The beautiful, passionate Mareena he adored had been carrying this unspoken grief and hidden agenda. The betrayal cut deeper than any knife.

Abhinav left the police station in a daze, the city lights blurring into an incomprehensible mosaic of pain and deceit. He returned to Roy Mansion, which now felt less like a home and more like a tomb filled with secrets.

He found Priya in the drawing-room, her face unusually bright, a confident, almost triumphant smile playing on her lips. The strange coldness he had noticed in her after Mrs. Roy's arrest seemed to have vanished, replaced by an almost giddy excitement.

"Abhinav! There you are!" she exclaimed, rushing towards him. "I have the most wonderful news. After all this family drama, something truly joyful!"

Abhinav braced himself. He felt too raw, too broken by the revelations about Mareena's father.

Priya took his hands, her eyes sparkling. "Abhinav," she breathed, her voice filled with an almost theatrical happiness. "I'm pregnant. We're going to have a baby."

The words struck Abhinav like a thunderbolt. Pregnant. With his child. The heir his mother had demanded. The heir Priya had so desperately wanted.

A wave of nausea washed over him, far worse than anything he had felt at the police station. He looked at Priya, her face beaming with what appeared to be unadulterated joy, but all he could see were the shifting shadows behind her eyes. He remembered the night, the alcohol, the confusion, the memory void, and the chilling conviction that nothing had happened.

This wasn't joy. This was a trap. A final, devastating move in a game he was only just beginning to understand. The Khandelwals, his mother's cover-up, his father's murder, Mareena's secret agenda... and now, a child, conceived under the cloud of deceit and manipulation.

Abhinav felt a scream building in his throat, but no sound escaped. He was utterly, completely trapped.

Abhinav said," We were never that close Priya".

Priya replied,"Maybe you don't remember. But we did. Do you think I'm deceitful ?"

Abhinav recalls that night, when Priya had offered him a drink and he was dazed. He doesn't remember anything want happened that night but he trusted Priya. He knew Priya wouldn't lie and that it was his fault. Abhinav is now in a fix.

END OF CHAPTER 10

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