"Call your son." His voice dropped an octave lower, eyebrows became sharper.
For a moment, no one spoke.
The last time Vivaan used this tone was only when Rushaan's mother insulted badi dadi's authority.
"He's your brother too." She taunted him in disdain.
"After being your son." His stare fixed one her was enough to pause another array of taunts from the aged woman.
"I-I'll call him." Ayesha spoke softly, stepping in between before the situation could get any worse.
"On speaker." He told Ayesha with the same tone.
She nodded. The silence was intruded by the ringing of call, echoing in the hall. The security continued their search.
One ring
two rings
three rings
"The person you are contacting is not receiving the call. Please, try again later."
His relaxed hand slowly curled into a fist.. Suddenly, he turned around and rushed upstairs.
Ayesha exhaled slowly.
She couldn't handle that stare, that anger. Not even close.
"Arre, pata hi chal gaya hoga usse ki tumne kya kya gul khilaye hain. Accha hai chali gayi." Rushaan's mother shouted from downstairs as soon as he went.
(She would have come to know what deeds you have done. It's good she left you)
The silence was punctuated by a dark step. Rushaan's father gripped her arm tightly, glaring at her.
"Are you mad? Can't stay silent for a moment?"
A rush of footsteps descended down the stairs.
"Found her?" Naina asked the security worriedly.
"No, ma'am." One of the guards bowed politely in front of her. "Vivaan sir sent us downstairs to continue the search. The cameras already suggest she hasn't stepped out of the house."
"T-then where?" Naina's eyes teared up. Her knees felt weak. Kruthi was the only one she could have trusted, who became important to her in a small span of time. And sudden absence? strange.
The security scattered around the mansion, searching from ever room to every corner. This was too suspicious.
But beneath the entire chaos, someone was becoming his worst.
Vivaan.
He rushed in their shared bedroom and started searching for her belongings.
It was there. Her sarees, jewellery, belongings. Everything was there. No suspicion, nothing missing.
But still, he wanted confirmation.
He searched her drawers and dressing room.
He turned his head to the dressing mirror. Her phone was there.
Her clothes were there.
Her jewellery.
Her documents.
Her suitcase.
Nothing suggested she had left.
Then...
Something tugged at the back of my mind.
The pendant.
P-pendant...
The thought crossed his mind faster than a bullet.
His gifted red pendant. She never removed it ever since he symbolised it as his belonging on her.
He unlocked his phone in a hurry. Typed the password with clear precision.
And yes, his effort did work.
He located her right there, present in the mansion.
My thumb froze above the phone.
Mirhaan's words resurfaced without invitation.
"You really want to gift her something, Vivaan?"
"Not gift." I said while working on my folders. "Belonging."
"That's really toxic." The other person poured water in the glass and forwarded it to Vivaan.
"If you have an idea, good. If not, leave."
"Cheer up, brother." He patted on his back in friendly manner. "Mirhaan, is here for rescue forever. What about ring?"
"Given."
"Phone?""She has that."
"Necklace?"
"She doesn't wear that."
"What if you give?"
"Hmm..." He rubbed his chin with his index finger thoughtfully. "Perhaps."
A pause.
"We didn't do a traditional marriage. She doesn't have the nupital chain."
"That's your gift then. But do locate a tracker in that."
Vivaan squinted his eyes lightly.
"Interesting."
"Calling me toxic for giving my wife a symbol of belonging..."
"...and then suggesting I hide a tracker inside it."
"Your morality adjusts rather conveniently."
Mirhaan looked at me for a moment before scowling.
"Come on man. You don't know what can happen in life. Better stay prepared."
The memory vanished.
My thumb had already opened the tracking application.
The map loaded.
A blue circle flickered once.
Then stabilized.
I didn't breathe.
If she was inside...
Then where the hell had everyone been searching?
The application loaded almost instantly.
A black screen.
Then—
a blue dot flickered.
Once.
Twice.
Finally, it stabilised. My eyes remained fixed on the screen.
The signal wasn't outside.
It wasn't somewhere near the mansion.
It wasn't moving.
It was...
inside.
A muscle in my jaw twitched.
Impossible.
The guards had searched every room.
Every corridor.
Every balcony.
Every floor.
The CCTV confirmed she had never stepped outside.
Then where?
I zoomed in further.
The map adjusted itself.
A familiar section of the mansion appeared.
Not the living quarters.
Not the guest wing.
Not the office.
Lower.
Much lower.
For the first time since Naina's call...
I felt something.
Not relief.
Only one place existed beneath that section of the mansion.
A place no servant entered.
No family member knew.
No guard had permission to access.
A room...
built years ago.
Not because I wanted it.
Because every estate required somewhere even secrets could disappear.
Only three people had ever known of its existence.
My grandfather.
My father.
And me.
No one else.
Not even Mirhaan.
I lifted my head.
"Mirhaan."
He immediately looked towards me.
"I found her."
Every conversation inside the hall stopped.
Naina stepped forward.
"Bhabhi?"
I didn't answer.
Instead—
I started walking.
Not towards the staircase.
Towards the oldest corridor of the mansion.
The one everyone ignored because it led nowhere.
Footsteps followed behind me.
Mirhaan.
Then the guards.
"Sir?" one of the guards asked.
"Stay back."
He stopped immediately.
"This section isn't part of your search."
Mirhaan and I crossed the abandoned library.
Dust rested over shelves no one had touched for years.
Portraits of ancestors watched from the walls.
At the very end...
stood a wooden bookshelf.
Ordinary.
Old.
Forgettable.
Exactly how it was meant to look.
I stopped before it.
My fingers pressed against the carved edge of one wooden panel.
Nothing happened.
Then—
a dull metallic click echoed behind the wall.
The bookshelf shifted.
Barely an inch.
Mirhaan stared without speaking.
Behind the shelf...
a narrow stone staircase disappeared into darkness.
Before I could take the first step—
the mansion's main doors burst open.
Followed by the familiar sound of the main doors closing.
Heavy footsteps echoed through the hall.
"Why is everyone standing here?"
Rushaan.
He had just returned.
His eyes travelled across the gathered family...
The anxious faces.
The scattered guards.
Then...
it stopped.
For the first time...
the confidence on his face faltered.