Dedicated to zarashah28 💜💜

I've sent you the ticket to my country long ago. What's taking you so long? 👀

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"I've already lodged a complaint for the assault. I don't see why you felt the need to bother a law abiding citizen like me, officer." Vikram talks calmly, a threat hidden under the sugar-coated words, making the officer gulp in fear. 

The officer dared to bother one of the most reputable businessmen in their country who contributes a lot to the total development of the country. The officer found his hands tied. He got entails that led him here, at the doorstep of the powerful businessman. He knows it's a bad idea to come here without proper evidence but he couldn't ignore his duty as a police officer who vowed to bring justice. It's obvious that he is new to his job.

Vikram heaves a sigh of relief. It was wise of him to lodge a complaint to the police commissioner regarding Ravi last night. He has his physical wound as the evidence of his incident with Ravi. Simple robbery is what he wants others to view it as. When Karan showed the picture of Vikram hitting Ravi in that dark alleyway, he was about to have a panic attack. However, he realized he had a plan already in his mind. He was just trying to save himself. Self-defense was the answer.

"I'm sorry, sir. It wasn't in my knowledge." The officer admits, looking at the dominant businessman who looks anything but amused.

"That shows your incompetence, officer." 

"Why is my brother here?" Sanjay asks suddenly, glaring at his brother who has his head ducked down and is sipping on a cold coffee made by Nilay. 

"Mr.Sharma, we have already mailed you last night that Mr.Sharma won't be able to go home. We got caught up with work and then he got drunk. It was advisable for him to stay the night here as I was in no shape dropping him to his home, he wasn't in any state to go home alone. I couldn't give his responsibility to anyone else for the same reason you are here. I advise you to look through your emails before accusing someone of kidnapping your brother." Vikram says firmly. 

Sanjay shares a look with Karan before looking at the man again. Vikram understands that Karan must be the one who convinced Sanjay of the accusation. He has finally found the gut to present his past in front of his friends it seems. He will have to deal with Karan later. First of all, he will have to handle his little secretary who is looking like a deer caught in headlights, sitting between him and Nilay. For some reason, he refused to sit beside his brother. Vikram can understand the reason now. Sanjay seems impatient and angry.

"I didn't receive any mail." Sanjay confirms, stealing a glance at his brother who is still looking like the culprit. 

Nilay takes his ipad and shows the email to Sanjay, the officer and Karan. 

" [email protected] …. This isn't my email address." 

"But that's what Mr.Sharma wrote when we asked him for an emergency email address while doing the hiring process." Sanjay now finally understands the situation. 

He was scared to death. When Karan came to his door late at night and showed him the pictures and roughly told him the story about his past, he was losing his shit. He went to the venue but didn't find his brother there. He couldn't contact Mr.Arora. When Karan advised that Mr.Arora might have done something to Kairav, he ran towards the police station. No one took him seriously. They didn't have the courage to take complaints against the rich businessman until morning rolled in and they found an officer who finally listened to their words and promised to bring his brother back. 

Anger is something Sanjay isn't familiar with. He views it as a vice, a vice that can destroy everything. His father's anger was what ruined their family. Therefore, he always tries to refrain from getting angry. But now he can't help himself. The relief of seeing his brother in good condition is now gone, what remains in his vein is anger. 

"What is this, Kairav?" He asks, trying his best not to lose his cool in front of strangers. 

He can see Kairav visibly shaking at his tone. Good, he should be afraid. He will learn a lesson today. 

"Bhaiya…….I just didn't want them to trouble you…." He mumbles softly. 

Which is true. It won't be a lie to say that he was forced to accept the job, his boss even threatened to hurt his family if he disclosed something to someone. He didn't want to drag his brother into this. He didn't want to give his boss an easy access to his brother. That's why he typed in a random email account. But he knows his brother won't believe it as he has pulled this kind of act before when his college asked for guardian's information and he gave random details so that they couldn't contact his brother if he created some problems. 

Sanjay closes his eyes to control his anger. He will have to deal with his brother when they are home. He can't discipline when several pairs of eyes are watching. 

"I'm really sorry for the misunderstanding, Mr.Arora. I hope you understand my situation. I wasn't thinking straight." His voice sends waves of sympathy to Vikram. 

Vikram nods his head in understanding before saying, "No need to apologize, Mr.Sharma. I perfectly understand you. I would have done the same if I were in your place." Sanjay feels his guilt slipping through a little at that. 

"However, don't you think it's a little suspicious that someone took pictures of that exact moment and sent the photo to Mr.Agarwal, officer?" Vikram says, looking at Karan with an accusatory glare while Karan stays frozen in his place the entire time. 

"You mean someone is trying to frame you?" The officer questions. 

"Isn't it obvious, officer?" The man nods his head. 

He knows the police won't be able to find anything. The killer is too ahead of the police. It's just a strategy to get the blame off his shoulder and make them suspect Karan. He should have a pretty good reason to kill his twin. Comes to think of it, what if Karan is the mastermind behind it? The sender did name themselves as K. 

Before things escalate more, Sanjay requests to take his leave with his friend and brother. 

"If you don't see me tomorrow, there's a very good chance that you won't see me ever again. Please send my salary to my brother if that's the case and please add some extra for my funeral. You have tons of money, that shouldn't matter." The boy whispers to them before going towards his death, his older brother. 

Vikram and Nilay both chuckle at that. 

"I will have a suit ready to attend your funeral, clown." 

"Don't be too happy. I will dethrone you from being the most annoying ghost once I die, ghostie." He says before his brother literally drags him out of the house. 

The boy looks back at them with fearful eyes. 

"Save me. It's your fault!" He mouths to Vikram. 

Vikram understands Sanjay's emotions right now. He remembers once when Veer had one of his episodes and ran away from home without telling anyone. That was one of the most stressful nights of his life. If Sanjay loves his brother as much as he loves Veer, Kairav will be in grave trouble. But that's a brother's concern, Care and love. He shouldn't interfere even though Kairav's puppy doe eyes almost made him want to jump in and save him from Sanjay's anger. 

******* 

"You know why there is an "r" difference between a bat and a brat?" Sanjay asks Kairav to which Kairav shakes his head. 

"Bhaiya, please put the bat down. I'm getting scared." Kairav murmurs, giving his brother his best puppy eyes. 

But Sanjay is unfazed by it. This won't work on him now. 

"Because bats R to beat the shit out of brats like you." Sanjay says, ready to strike with the cricket bat. 

It's the same damn bat with which Tani hit Kairav's head when they were 11 because Kairav was cheating. He still remembers how he had to go bald and get 7 stitches in his head. From then Tani stopped being violent towards Kairav. Though it took time for Kairav to trust Tani again, eventually they became best friends again. He doesn't know how many stitches he will get this time. 

"Please bhaiya, slippers look better in your hand than the bat." He runs away as soon as he speaks because his brother is ready to strike. 

"Karan, get away. Let me deal with this brat. How dare he scare me that way!" Sanjay almost yells, trying to get Kairav who is using Karan as a human shield. 

When Kairav realizes Karan will throw him into the den of a lion soon, he runs away from there too. The scene goes for around 15 minutes. Sanjay gets tired of the cat and mouse chase. 

"Bhaiya, I'm sorry." Kairav runs to his brother and hugs him once he sees Sanjay getting emotionally drained. 

"I'm really sorry. I won't drink again. I won't even drink water! Bhaiya, please don't cry. I won't worry you anymore." Kairav cries on his shoulder. 

Sanjay finds it hard to control his tears. It's really rare for him to cry nowadays. It was like his daily chores when he suddenly had Kairav's responsibility on his shoulder and no one else was there to support him. But he stopped crying in front of Kai because that boy cried more when he saw his brother crying, blaming himself for his brother's sufferings. Kairav isn't dumb. He knows how much his brother sacrificed for him. He knows what his brother went through to bring food to the table. Though those memories are now distant, they aren't totally erased. 

It wasn't easy to raise both himself and his brother. He was only 15 at that time. He hated Kairav at some point because he hated to take care of him, he hated that whatever he earned he had to use to feed his brother, leaving little to nothing for himself. But Kairav is just too sweet to hate. When Sanjay came home after a long day of work, a tiny little Kairav came forward to massage his body, bringing water for his brother to drink. As days passed by, Sanjay felt less burdened and more loved to be taking care of Kairav because that boy never failed to show how much he loved his brother, how much he adored and respected him. His bitterness for losing this childhood to labour got replaced and he adorned his role as Kairav's older brother. 

At the end, whatever he went through in life was worth it, Kairav was worth it. So, he doesn't dare to cry in front of Kairav. God forbid, he never wants his brother to feel like he is the reason behind his suffering. 

He missed his parents and his carefree life but Kairav's one little smile brought heaven to his doorstep.

Words aren't enough to describe how fear gripped his heart last night. It felt like a thick wire of fear was squishing his heart until it bled. Kairav is his only family. He can't imagine his life without his brother. They have been together through thick and thin. Kairav is a fool to think Sanjay doesn't see what he does for him. That boy always tries to be subtle, he never likes to let it show that he cares. According to his stupid psychology, it lessens the importance of his love and care so he loves to stay in the shadows and take care of people he loves. Who will love him if something happens to Kai? He knows there's no one in the world who loves him more than Kairav, there won't be anyone in the world who can love him more than that.

"I was so scared." Sanjay admits which is barely audible as he is crying hard, hugging his brother back with the same desperation. 

"I'm so sorry, bhaiya." Kairav apologies, crying hard. 

"I won't ever do that again. I will never leave you alone, bhaiya." Kairav promises, trying to calm his brother down. 

It hurts his heart that his brother is crying so much because of him. He is a bad child. He makes everyone's life difficult. Were his neighbors correct when said he was a bad omen and that's why his parents died and Sanjay was ruining his own life because of him? 

"I'm so sorry for hurting you, bhaiya. I will never do that again." He cries harder, thinking about all the things he did wrong in life. 

Kairav is a cheerful soul to say the least. He loves to smile and spread happiness. He is a human nonetheless. He has flaws in his character as well, he has fears and insecurities like any other human. His biggest fear is to hurt someone, especially his brother. Growing up, he heard a lot of scary and bad things from his neighbors who loved to pass their judgment on a child who didn't even understand why he couldn't eat everyday like before, why his brother was always angry and sad. Those words affected him for the longest period of time. He blamed himself for every bad thing that happened in their lives until he grew up and started to understand things. But insecurity is permanent. It never goes away totally. When an adverse situation arises, those feelings grow with a newly found force. 

"Hey, Hey, Hey, you little idiot. You never hurt me. I know it wasn't your fault. Everyone drinks when they attend a party. It's not your fault. I was just scared, scared of losing you. What would I do without you, Kai? I can't live without hitting you with my slippers, don't you know?" Kairav laughs through the streams of tears at the last line. 

"I swear bhaiya, I didn't give them your email address because I didn't want them to annoy you." Kairav says, breaking the hug. 

Sanjay wipes his tears away while a fond smile adorns his face. 

"I know. I believe you." Sanjay replies. 

"If you know that none of these are my faults then why were you running with a bat behind me?" He pouts, already forgetting all the hurtful words in his mind, looking at his brother's smiling face. 

"You deserve it for worrying me." Kairav sticks his tongue out at his brother which earns him a smack. 

It's not easy to trigger Kairav to think low of himself but it's an easy task to bring him back from the state. You just need to be Sanjay Sharma. 

"If you both are done, can we eat some lunch? I don't know about you two but I'm hungry. Watching your drama won't fill my stomach." Karan tries to joke but it's obvious that he cried too. 

Last night Karan shared his past with Sanjay. Sanjay was too afraid for his brother's safety to offer a shoulder to his best friend to cry on, to give him assurance that he will be fine. It must be hard for him to watch them bonding while he had to go through hell because of his twin brother. 

Sanjay and Kairav walk up to him and bring Karan to a group hug, both brothers making it hard for him to breathe. But Karan doesn't complain, he can feel their love oozing for him. 

"Thank you for saving me, bhai. Without you I would have to get 7 more stitches in my head." Kairav jokes to lighten up the mood which works wonders. 

They share their lunches, talking and laughing their hearts out though none of them are truly happy at the moment. Sanjay and Karan know they need to talk it out, whatever is bothering Karan is bothering Sanjay too. He can't let his best friend go through it alone. While Kairav is bothered because he can't remember what the hell he did last night before cuddling with Vikram thinking of him as his Sanjay bhaiya. 

****

Vikram has surrounded himself with work. His mind is going haywire thinking about all the stuff going around, he needs to focus on something before he loses his mind. Work is perfect for that. 

"You should rest, Vik. The doctor advised you to take rest for at least a few days." Nilay says, taking a seat on the chair in front of Vikram.

"You know I can't afford that luxury." Vikram says nonchalantly, without taking his eyes off the file. 

He looks up when he hears Nilay sighing loudly. 

"What's bothering you?" Vikram asks, seeing Nilay's restless face. 

"I need to share something with you but I don't know how to." Vikram arches his eyebrow at that. 

When did Nilay become so formal with him? It must be something big for him to act this way. 

"What happened, Nil?" 

"I actually remember something from that night." Vikram gets more scared hearing that. 

"Don't beat around the bush, Nil. Tell me what happened." 

"You remember that we both were about to go to Paris for some work?" 

"Of course. Come to the main point." Vikram says sternly, making Nilay huff. 

"I don't know if you remember but I took your phone as mine ran out of battery. I was talking to one of the hook ups but before that I got a call from Mr.Agarwal." 

Vikram's heart is beating faster at this point. 

"What did he say?" 

"He said he was sick so he would send his son to give Nora instructions and help her with taking care of Veer." 

It takes a few seconds for Vikram to register what he just heard. How couldn't Nilay remember it before? This is such a big lead. They could have gotten to Ravi before if he talked about this incident before. How does he remember it now? Is Nilay somehow related to the case? No, Vikram is getting out of line. Nilay will never do that, will he? They have been best friends since their school days. Nilay can't do that. 

Was it Ravi? He knows Ravi was present there as he seemed to be the blackmailer but what if Karan was present there as well? Mr.Agarwal knew Ravi wasn't a good company. Why would he want to send him to his house? His mind is going in every direction. 

"I'm sorry, I didn't remember that before. When we got a frantic call from Nora and found her dead body when we reached home, everything was just going over my head. I don't know how I could forget such an important detail." Nilay mutters. 

Vikram can't blame him totally. The situation was scary. Veer was covered with blood, blood of his girlfriend. The girl he loved a lot, with whom he wanted to build a future, was dead and his brother was holding the knife. 

There was signs of struggles in her body. Someone tried to force themselves on her. He didn't know what to do. Veer was too innocent to do something like that. He knew it. Now he knows who's behind it. He wishes he could be the one who killed that fucker. Vikram wishes he could do something. It's because of him that Nora didn't get justice. Her murder case has remained as a cold case. 

"He…. He forced himself on her…… I promised to protect her and love her…. But I couldn't even bring justice to her." Vikram says to himself, guilt making its way to the core of his heart. 

"I'm sorry, Vik. I know it's hard but you had the responsibility to save Veer as well. We both knew he wouldn't do something like that. We did that to save an innocent soul. But now we can bring justice to her by catching the culprit. I don't mind going to jail for altering some evidence." 

"How….. How did you remember it now?" Vikram asks, finding it hard to even make coherent sentence. 

"The same girl called me today. When I talked to her that memory suddenly hit my head." Vikram nods his head. 

He doesn't know whom to believe totally now. He can't help but suspect Nilay a but even though it feels immoral to him but whatever happened is immoral to begin with. Her death still haunts him. Now that he is walking closer to the case, it feels like she is lingering around, accusing him for doing injustice to her. 

He has his hands on his hair, racking through them as worry, disdain and agony pump through his veins. 

And then his eye fall on a file. It's a file written by Naina. She always complained about the printer. Once all the printer in the whole office stopped working so she had to write the whole file down. 

Vikram hurriedly takes the note from his drawer and matches the handwriting with the handwriting of Naina. Shock is an understatement when he finds uncanny resembles between the two handwriting. 

How could he not recognise Naina's handwriting? 

Because she hardly wrote notes, it was always printed. His subconscious mind replies to him. 

Why would Naina write that letter to him? He has known her for years. She is a family oriented individual who even left her job for her family who doesn't have anything  against him. Or does she? Vikram doesn't know much about her personal life. He only knew her professionally. It is as if he is looking at everyone in a new light where everyone is suspicious. He doesn't know what to do, whom to believe. 

A/N: I'm kind getting scared ngl. The plot is getting more and more different than the original book and idk if this version will make sense later on💀
Plot holes scare me T~T

Anyway, I actually loved this chapter. Did you guys like it? 😁