After reading page 20 of the diary, sleep became a stranger to Akash. The face of Pratap Chatterjee haunted him like a ghost. Was the man who had held his hand with fatherly warmth in the hospital the same man who had funded his parents' execution? If so, was this sudden affection a masterclass in acting, or a desperate attempt to bury a guilty conscience?
Akash decided he would not act on impulse. He needed clarity from the only person who had lived through that era: Rajanikant. Despite his body still aching from the attack, his resolve pushed him out of the hospital bed. One evening, without informing anyone, he took a taxi to the "Blue Mansion" in the old district.
Rajanikant was startled to see Akash in such a fragile state. But the burning question in Akash's eyes made the old man even more restless. When Akash directly asked about the mysterious 'P. Chatterjee' mentioned in the diary, the old man remained silent for a long time, the only sound being the ticking of an ancient clock.
"What you see isn't always the full truth, Akash," Rajanikant sighed heavily. "Your father and Pratap Chatterjee were once inseparable friends. But Sarfaraz was a devil. He created a situation where your father's shares were forcibly transferred to Pratap's accounts through a series of forged signatures and threats. At the time, Pratap didn't even realize he was being used as a shield by Sarfaraz to camouflage the theft."
Akash listened, breathless. Rajanikant added that once Pratap realized the depth of the betrayal after the deaths, he was paralyzed by fear of Sarfaraz. He remained silent to protect his own young family, but secretly, he had paid off many of Arian's creditors to keep them from going hungry. However, there was no documented proof of this silent penance.
To clear this fog, Akash realized he needed to see the internal ledgers of the Chatterjee Group. When he officially joined as a Director, his primary focus wasn't growth—it was forensic accounting. He spent hours in the archives, hunting for transaction records from twenty years ago.
Ananya, however, was growing increasingly disturbed. She saw that Akash was no longer just targeting Sarfaraz; he was dissecting her father's legacy. One night, while Akash was working late in the villa's library, Ananya walked in, her arms crossed and her eyes cold.
"Akash, are you investigating my father?" Her directness caught him off guard.
Akash regained his composure and said softly, "Ananya, I'm not investigating him; I'm protecting us. During the collapse of the Ariana Group, money flowed through the Chatterjee accounts. If I don't clear these records and find the truth, Sarfaraz will use this weak point to destroy your father and me together."
Ananya wanted to believe him, but a seed of doubt had been planted. Little did they know, the real danger was already inside the house. Sarfaraz Khan had learned of Akash's new position and decided to use Ananya as a weapon.
Chapter 9 ends with a mysterious envelope found in Ananya's dresser. Inside was proof of Akash's true identity as the heir of the Ariana Group and a venomous note: "Akash doesn't love you. He is only here to reclaim his father's property and take revenge on the man who 'funded' the hit—your father."
As Akash moved closer to the truth, Sarfaraz began building a wall of suspicion between the two souls that loved each other most.