Ruin In Royals (Royal #1: Book 2) | ✔

61

-• d-day •-

It's a possibility.

Inayat Rizwan still being alive is a possibility. But if this turns out to be true, it'll either put an end to everything we've dug up so far or open a whole new chest of secrets. And I'm down for both. No matter how wild, ridiculous and complicated this case gets, I'm never giving up. I want to get to the root of it.

"Ayush, take them to the library. I'll join you guys after grabbing my laptop from the room."

He nods, leading the group towards the library. I unlock the door to my room and push it ajar, flipping down the onward door stop with my foot to keep it open and move towards my desk. Pulling the drawer open, I take out my laptop and bend to look inside for the charger.

"Don't you think that's far fetched?"

I glance up to see Shourya leaning against the door jamb.

"What?" I ask. "That Inayat is still alive?"

He nods.

I grab the charger and close the drawer. "I thought so too. But I trust Dr. Khan. If he says he didn't make a mistake, that means he didn't make a mistake. And it's not because I know him as a person. But that man has dedicated two years of his life researching through and through, there's no way he wouldn't remember the last body he examined as a doctor."

"Makes sense," he mumbles. "But if it's not murder, what's the point? I mean, you were doing everything to give Inayat the justice you thought she didn't get. But if she's alive, it must be because she plotted this? Maybe we're just wasting our time trying to find a story that was never even written?"

"You think a sixteen year old orphan is capable of plotting her own murder, finding a body that's eerily like her, replacing it with her own, performing a fake autopsy, just to run away and start somewhere else with a new identity?"

He shakes his head. "That's not what-"

I walk up to him and place my hands on his shoulders. "Shourya, don't try so hard. I'm not giving up."

He steps inside the room and closes the door. I lock my hands on my back, waiting for him to say everything he's holding back.

"Tell me what's your plan," he leans against the desk.

"I want to reopen the case." I state.

He sighs.

"Why?" I tilt my head to the side. "You didn't think it was possible, right? That is why you were willing to help me? You thought I'd give up halfway. But now that we've found a solid lead, you're afraid this will reach your grandfather?"

"Your brother won't like this, Tara." He says, surprising me. "My grandfather has a knack at bending people according to his will. If he finds out, you'll get your brother in trouble. Forget the case, I don't think you'll be allowed to pursue this course any futher. Don't mock powerful people, Taranya."

"I'll be honest with you," I say, "this case is an excuse. I want to know what happened to the girl that was abducted from the orphanage and driven away somewhere in the ambulance. And I feel, no, I know, everything is somehow connected. Wait let me explain you," I pull my Canvas closer and grab a black marker from my art supplies. "Inayat jumped off the school rooftop on the last day of our board exams, they found a handwritten letter on the scene, addressing the Sunrise Orphan Home in which she said she can't do this anymore. Hence, the case was closed after being declared as suicide." I circle the word.

"Then during our visit to the orphanage, I meet Meera. She was supposed to take a scholarship in Toronto very soon. According to her, Inayat took that step because she couldn't handle her ex friend getting the scholarship she thought she deserved. And the same night, an unconscious Meera was carried to the ambulance. Miss Rose, who was abruptly fired from her position the next day, told me she was taken to the hospital. But when I checked at the hospital, she wasn't in the records. I take the same cab that drove me there safe and sound, and what happens? The brakes suddenly fail. Coincidence? I think not." I shake my head. "Now we know two different doctors performed autopsy on Inayat's body. First report says it was a murder, which was never submitted during legal proceedings. Second says it was brain hemorrhage. Both of them registered two different blood groups for one body. The original says it was o-, and the fake says it was o+. Either Inayat was murdered and disposed off, or she was equal participant in this crime. If she was murdered, she must have found out something they want to hide by any means possible. And if she is alive, I've a hunch she knows what happened to Meera. So either way, I'm finding out the truth."