Chapter 105: chapter 105

MADHAVI answer the phone call, feeling a drop in my mood. Of course. There’s always something to remind me I don’t live in some fantasy where, after confessing my feelings to the love of my life, everything magically becomes perfect. No. That’s not how real life works. In reality, there’s no such thing as a happy ending—just fleeting, happy moments that keep us moving forward. I’d been having one of those moments with Sruthi, and now this call was dragging me back to the mess that awaited.“Sir, your request to meet Vishnu has been approved,” the man on the other side says, his voice crisp and impersonal.“When?” I ask, pacing the room. The door isn’t fully shut. Sruthi is still in the hall, giving me privacy but not quite out of reach.“I suggest you come here in an hour.”I press my lips together, forcing a sigh back. “Alright. I’ll be there in an hour.”I pocket the phone and step out of my room. Sruthi’s sitting on the couch, flipping through a newspaper, her face still flushed from our kiss. Her eyes are glued to the page—though when I glance down, I notice the newspaper is upside down.A chuckle slips out before I can stop it. “I had no idea about your hidden talent.”She looks up, confused. “Hidden talent?”I point to the paper. “Reading the newspaper upside down.”Her mouth falls open as she realizes what I’m talking about, her face turning an even deeper shade of red. I love how easily I can fluster her.“I wasn’t reading the newspaper,” she admits, looking away, her shy expression making me smile.“Yeah, I figured,” I say, leaning in to catch her gaze again. When she meets my eyes, I wink, just to watch her blush deeper. She quickly averts her gaze. “You were thinking about the kiss.”She groans, burying her face in her hands. “God, Madhav, you’re making me shy! Why didn’t you have a girlfriend before? With flirting skills like this, you could’ve dated anyone.”I grin. She walked right into that one. “Because I was in love with this one girl. She made it impossible to think about anyone else. I tried going on a couple of blind dates, but... nothing worked.”Her hands drop from her face, and she clicks her tongue. “Okay, I get it. Stop.”I laugh softly, sitting beside her on the couch. “So, how was school today?” I ask, taking her hand in mine. Her fingers are bare now. A few months ago, they were always adorned with the ring Praveen had given her—the ring that used to remind me every time I saw it that she had chosen someone else. But now, she’s here. With me. Holding my hand, blushing at my words. She’s here, asking me to hold her when she sleeps.She starts talking about her day, but my mind drifts. It’s surreal, knowing how much has changed between us. For years, I imagined this moment—her by my side, her love not just a distant dream but real, tangible. I never thought I’d get here.“Madhav?”Her voice snaps me back to the present. I give her a sheepish smile. “Sorry. I wasn’t listening. I got distracted by your fingers... they’re beautiful.”She scrunches her face. “That is the cheesiest thing I’ve ever heard.”“Cheesy or not, I mean it,” I say, giving her hand a gentle squeeze.She studies me for a moment, her eyes narrowing slightly. “Are you hiding something from me?”Her question catches me off guard. My body tenses. Am I hiding something? Of course, I am. I’ve been hiding a lot from her. The fact that her life is still in danger. The threats that linger, waiting for the right moment to strike. I could tell her now, but—“It’s okay,” she says softly, sensing my hesitation. There’s a flicker of disappointment in her eyes, but it’s quickly replaced with understanding. “Tell me when you’re ready.”I pull her into a tight hug. “Just give me a day. I need to confirm some things before I tell you.”“Take your time,” she whispers, snuggling into my chest. Her lavender scent fills my senses, grounding me in the here and now. For a moment, everything feels right. Perfect, even.We hold each other in silence for a few seconds, and the world fades away. No dangers, no secrets—just us.Then she speaks again, her voice soft. “Don’t you have to be somewhere in an hour?”I grin, realizing how she knew. “So, you were eavesdropping on my call and not thinking about our kiss?”She blushes again but this time with a mischievous glint in her eyes. “Think of it as payback for you listening in on my conversation with Vikram.”I sigh, shaking my head. This woman. She’s full of surprises, and I don’t know what to do with her half the time. But I wouldn’t change a thing. I lean in and kiss her forehead, lingering for just a moment before pulling back.“When will you be back?” she asks, a quiet hope in her voice.“I’m not sure. It could be hours or minutes—I can’t say for certain right now. If I am not back by tonight ten, don’t wait up for me, alright? Go to sleep.”She nods, but then, without warning, she grabs mey short collar and presses her lips on mine in a fierce kiss. By the time I’ve registered it, she’s already pulling away with a cheeky grin on her face.I blink, staring at her, my mouth slightly agape. “What was that for?”“A goodbye-and-come-home-soon kiss,” she says, her eyes twinkling with mischief.I shake my head, laughing softly. This woman will be the death of me. Now all I’m going to think about is that kiss and how much I want to finish it.❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥“You have an hour to interrogate him, sir,” the officer says, pointing to the interrogation room.Vishnu was discharged from the hospital after the doctors stabilized him. The prison guard found him quickly after he cut his hand, so not much blood was lost. He wasn’t in critical condition, but he still insists he knows nothing.“We’ll be watching from the cameras,” the officer adds.“Is he on a truth serum?” I ask.The officer shakes his head. “The doctor advised against it. They’re still researching the drug found in his blood. Since truth serum is also a mind-control drug, they didn’t want to risk it. The doctor wants every trace of the drug cleared from his system.”I nod and walk to the room. It’s the typical interrogation setup, just like in the movies: four walls, a one-way mirror on one side, and a table bolted to the floor with two chairs. Vishnu sits facing the mirror, his left wrist bandaged in white. His right wrist is cuffed to the table leg, which leaves him barely able to move. “Who are you?” Vishnu asks as I sit down across from him. He looks rough—thinner, unshaven—but his eyes are sharper than before, more focused. I need to see if he’s still the same man who casually told me how he wanted to kill my wife to avenge his dead brother.I give him a slow grin. “I’m the reason you’re in jail.”As expected, my words hit him hard. His fists clench, his face tight with anger, but he stays still. He knows the police are watching, and a single outburst would send him right back to his cell with no one listening to his claims of innocence.“WHY?” he spits out, barely containing his rage.“You’re asking ‘why’?” I say, leaning forward slightly. “You tried to kill my wife. You shot three men dead because you wanted revenge for your drug-lord brother, a man who’s not even related to you by blood.”To my surprise, Vishnu sighs and slumps in his chair, looking utterly drained. “I’m so tired of hearing this story. I don’t have a drug lord brother, and I don’t know any drug lords, for the record. The last thing I remember clearly is going to a pharmacy to get some medicine for a headache, and someone approached me.”“Male or female?” I cut in, testing his new story.“I don’t know. They were wearing a hoodie and a mask. I couldn’t see their face, and their voice didn’t sound particularly masculine or feminine.”“What did they want?”He frowns, as if trying to drag the memory from somewhere deep. “I can’t remember exactly. This was months ago. All I know is they asked me something, and I agreed. After that, everything’s a blur. Next thing I know, I wake up in a jail cell, and the police are telling me I tried to assassinate someone. It’s confusing. I don’t remember who I was or what I did for the past few months.”“So, Vishnu isn’t your real name?”“It is. And I was training for a position with the defense minister. It’s true I’m an orphan, but as far as I know, I don’t have any living relatives. This whole story about me trying to kill your wife for my ‘brother’ is ridiculous.”Vishnu meets my eyes, and for a second, he looks completely different from the man I met before he went to jail. His story about being approached by someone sounds too convenient, but the drug found in his system complicates things. There are two possibilities. The first is that Vishnu is lying—if so, he’s a brilliant actor. The second is that he’s telling the truth, and the drug in his system made him live as someone else.I’m not sure what to believe yet, but the evidence I’ve gathered so far leans toward the second option. It makes sense. Gowtham, the drug lord, had no blood relatives, so Vishnu must have been brainwashed into believing he was Gowtham’s younger brother, twisted into targeting my wife, Sruthi.The real question is who’s behind this. And the answer is obvious: Raj, the man I met in the Noghot jail. I wanted to kill him when I saw him there, but I couldn’t. He was under government protection, and I couldn’t risk going to prison myself. So I had to walk away while he just smiled at me.But now, how is Vishnu still under Raj’s influence when Raj is locked away in one of the most notorious prisons?The simplest answer is that Raj has an ally on the outside, someone who’s been working for him, using the ‘Octopus’ ID on the dark web to hire people.Now, the million dollar question is,Who is it?❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥