Outside the crude shelter, concealed by a jagged rock face, the **other kidnapper**—a man in dark winter gear—watched the reunion through a pair of powerful binoculars. His jaw was set, his gaze burning with focused hatred.

*His sister was weak.* He thought, the cold wind whipping his hood. *Fifteen years. Fifteen years of hiding, of training, of burning for the revenge that belonged to them, and she melted for his eyes.*

He lowered the binoculars, pulling a knife from its sheath. The plan had shifted. Mareena was now a liability. He had to use her weakness—her love for Abhinav—to complete the final objective: **destroying Abhinav, piece by piece, by using Mareena against him.**

Inside the shelter, the moment of shock had passed, replaced by the crushing weight of fifteen years of lies. Abhinav stood rigid, his hands gripping Mareena’s shoulders.

"You're alive," Abhinav whispered, the word tasting like ash. "You're alive, and you let me mourn you for fifteen years? You let me believe the police found your **skeletons**?" His voice escalated quickly, turning to a roar. "Where were you? **Why were you hidden from me?**"

Mareena flinched but met his gaze, her fierce eyes locking onto his. "It wasn't my choice, Abhinav. I was held captive."

"Held captive by whom? By your conspirators?" Abhinav released her, stepping back, his anger turning cynical. "The man who brought me here—the man who threatened me—who is he? Your handler?"

Mareena’s voice was low, heavy with pain. "He is my own brother, Abhinav. **He wants to destroy the Roys by using me.**"

Abhinav felt a chilling confirmation of the conspiracy. He paced the small room, his hands running through his hair. "I know everything, Mareena. I know about your mother, **Geeta Sharma, and her liaison with my father, Devraj Roy.** I know that your father died fighting him."

Abhinav stopped, pinning her with his gaze. "I need you to tell me, right now, was it all a lie? **Did you come to the mansion fifteen years ago purely for revenge?**"

Mareena remained silent, her eyes dropping to the floor.

Abhinav grabbed her shoulders, shaking her, his face contorted in pain. "Answer me! My mother was right? The love we had, the promise of marriage, that night of union—**was our love also a game?**"

Mareena shouted back, the frustration of fifteen years of isolation finally breaking free. "**No! My love was true, Abhinav!** It was real!"

She stumbled through the horrifying confession, connecting the dots that destroyed their past. "When my mother ditched my dad and went to your father, **I was five years old, and my brother was ten.** We weren't just two siblings; **we were three.** I also had a **twin sister called Zareena**."

"After our dad died and our mom disappeared, your grandfather tried to hide the murder. He didn't want three angry orphans running around. So, **we were sent to a hostile, remote hostel.** We grew up together, consumed by the same pain. Ever since, **we were burning for revenge**."

Mareena took a gasping breath, trying to control the rush of words. "My brother and sister were the architects. They told me to go to your mansion, to get close, to **blackmail your father** with the old evidence Paritosh had gathered, so in the meantime, we could gather information to destroy all of you."

"When I entered the mansion, my heart was full of pure anger and hatred... but the longer I stayed, the more I saw your kindness. I saw a man, not a monster. **When I left the mansion, my eyes were filled with love for you.** Not hatred for your family."

Abhinav’s grip loosened. "You never told me about your siblings."

"I was instructed to keep it a secret. It was the core of our plan." Mareena stepped closer, her voice dropping to a pleading tone. "My brother told me... he told me to **act** with you as if I loved you... but I fell for you in that process."

"You are a liar," Abhinav whispered, devastated. "You were acting!"

"No, no, I wasn't! **I fell in love with you! My love was true, Abhinav, it was!** We witnessed that night of union, when your mother tried to kick me off—all of it wasn't a joke, I was serious. I was ready to defy them all for you."

Abhinav didn't argue further. He simply placed his forehead against hers, the warmth and reality of her skin a fragile comfort against the terror of her words.

Mareena pushed back, her face resolute. She had to finish the confession.

"The day before our wedding, when your mother planned to dispose of me in her car and thought she was with Mareena... **it was actually Zareena.** My brother had intercepted me and sent my twin sister in the car instead of me."

Abhinav recoiled in fresh horror. "Then... the skeletons... it was Zareena?"

"Yes. My brother’s original motto was that Zareena, being ruthless, would kill your mother. But your mother acted first. She put chloroform on Zareena, thinking it was me, and administered the poison. **Your mother killed my sister, Zareena, and buried her in the ground.** Your mother is a murderer, Abhinav, but she killed the wrong person."

Abhinav was aghast. "But why did Zareena argue with Mother, saying Mareena wouldn't leave me? Why the defiance?"

Mareena’s eyes filled with despair. "Because my sister liked you, Abhinav. She thought if she argued with your mother and the confrontation escalated, she would instantly kill your mother with the knife she had hidden. But she failed. She lost her life, and your mother is a murderer now."

"My brother used both of us," Mareena continued, tears finally falling. "He used me as bait, and Zareena as the sacrifice. Now he wants to kill you and your..."

Mareena swallowed, unable to say the next word.

"Who?" Abhinav demanded.

"Your **baby**," Mareena finished, the word heavy with dread.

Abhinav was stunned by the depth of his father's betrayal, his mother's cruelty, and his wife's treachery.

"You know about my married life?" he asked, the question almost irrelevant amid the carnage.

"Yes, I do," Mareena confirmed.

Abhinav’s voice was desperate, pleading with the only person who understood the full depth of the hole he was in. "How should I escape? My parents are arrested. My father is a killer. **My wife is a traitor who wants a divorce and is using my child as alimony.** And now my your brother wants to murder me and my unborn baby."

Mareena looked toward the dark entrance of the shelter, knowing her brother was waiting. "You now have to disappear, Abhinav. **Now.** Before he comes back to finish the job."