Captain Avinash Sharma was seventy-eight years old and lived in an old age home on the outskirts of Dehradun.
Aarya found him after three days of searching through army records. Retired. No family. Living alone with his memories and a walking stick.
He sat in a wheelchair when she met him. Garden of the old age home. Sunlight falling through trees.
"Captain Sharma?"
He looked up. Old eyes, but sharp. "Who are you, beta?"
"I'm Aarya. Satyendra Rawat's daughter."
The captain's face changed. Shock. Fear. Recognition.
"Satyendra's daughter? Sit down. Quick. Before someone sees us."
Aarya sat on the bench next to him.
"Beta, you shouldn't be here. You shouldn't be looking for me. It's dangerous."
"I know. My mother died three days ago. My father died three months ago. Raghav Khanna died the day I called him. Someone is killing everyone who knew the truth. And I need to know what truth."
The captain was quiet for a long time. Then he spoke.
"1984. I was young then. So was your father. And Raghav. And Karan."
"Karan?"
"Karan Singh Rawat. Your father's younger brother. Your uncle."
Aarya's heart stopped. Uncle? She had no uncle. Father was an only child. That's what mother always said.
"I see your face. You didn't know. Nobody knew. Karan was erased from family history. For good reason."
"What happened in 1984?"
Captain took a deep breath.
"Karan was always the wild one. Handsome, charming, dangerous. He had an affair with a married woman in the cantonment. Mrs. Sharma. Her husband was a nice man. They had two children - a son of seven, a daughter of five."
Aarya listened, frozen.
"One night, the husband found out. He confronted Karan. There was a fight. Karan... Karan lost control. He killed the husband. Then the wife came running. He killed her too. Then the son tried to protect his mother. Seven years old, beta. Seven. Karan killed him too."
Tears rolled down the captain's cheeks.
"Only the little girl survived. She hid under the bed. Saw everything. Her whole family murdered in front of her."
"And my father? And Raghav?"
"They arrived late. The girl had run away by then. They saw the bodies. They saw Karan standing there with blood on his hands. And they made a choice, beta. The worst choice of their lives."
"What choice?"
"They helped him hide the bodies. They helped him escape. They told everyone the family had moved away. Your father and Raghav became criminals that night. Not murderers, but criminals who protected a murderer."
"Why? Why would they do that?"
"Because Karan was family. Your father's own brother. In India, family is everything. Even when family is evil."
Aarya's mind was spinning. "And the little girl? What happened to her?"
Captain looked at her with strange eyes.
"She grew up, beta. She changed her name. She made a plan. A thirty-year-long plan for revenge."
"What plan?"
"She married the brother of the man who killed her family."
Aarya didn't understand. "Married whose brother?"
Captain's voice was barely a whisper.
"Your mother, beta. Sudha. She was that little girl."
The world tilted.
"Your mother watched Karan kill her family in 1984. She spent years finding him. But Karan had disappeared. Changed his name. Became a big businessman in Delhi. So she did the next best thing. She married his brother. Your father. To get close to the family. To wait for her chance at revenge."
Aarya couldn't breathe.
"My mother... married my father... to take revenge on his brother?"
"Yes, beta. And your father knew. He always knew who she really was. But he loved her anyway. That's the tragedy of your family. Love and hate mixed together. Blood and revenge mixed together."
"Where is Karan now? What is his name?"
"Karan Malhotra. Real estate king. Lives in Delhi. One of the richest men in North India. And he knows you're looking for him."
Aarya stood up, fists clenched.
"Then I'm going to Delhi."
Captain grabbed her hand. Weak, but urgent.
"Beta, listen to me. Karan is not just rich. He's dangerous. He has killed before. He will kill again. Don't go."
"I have to. For my father. For my mother. For that little girl under the bed in 1984."
Captain let go. He knew he couldn't stop her.
"One last thing, beta. The girl who survived - your mother - she wasn't the only one who wanted revenge. The Sharma family had relatives. The husband's brother had a son. He also grew up wanting blood."
"Where is he now?"
"I don't know. But if he's alive, he's also looking for Karan. And maybe for you too."
Aarya walked away from the old age home.
She had an uncle who was a murderer.
She had a mother who married her father for revenge.
She had a father who knew everything and loved anyway.
And somewhere in Delhi, Karan Malhotra was waiting.
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