The gazes of the two captains remained entangled until Waseef turned around to face the abstract wall mural across the room. He had little to say.

Aanvik's impatience betrayed his initial plan to allow his friend to break the silence. "Are you there?"

"What do you want me to do?" Waseef's voice no longer held the coldness from minutes ago.

"I don't know. Can you go back in time and make things right?"

"You are too dramatic, Aanvik."

"Where's Lucian?"

"Didn't you just say he died in an accident?"

"I surely thought so when you told me that two years ago. I can't believe I couldn't recognize your voice. Shranav is right. I am an idiot from head to toe."

"Don't be too hard on yourself. I did a good job; that's it."

"So you are not even trying to deny your involvement."

"You have my diary."

Aanvik directed his eyes toward the bag that he left on the table. "Thought it would come in handy if you refused to admit anything."

"Nayif helped you with that one, I suppose?"

"Yes, but he didn't do it before until I told him the whole story. Don't question his loyalty, Waseef. You know why he helped us."

"Why?"

"You know the fear of losing. He knows the pain."

Waseef smirked. "As if I have never lost a single person in my life! I am not mad at him, though. From his perspective and yours, his action is an instance of humanity rather than disloyalty."

"You haven't answered my question yet."

"Which?"

"Where's Lucian?"

"Upstairs. Fast asleep."

"Fayzan Lucian Ahmed. What did you do with Martin?"

"It was never a part of his full name. The fake death certificate was the only place where I used it. Lucian was there in his name, but I dropped it after my aunt's, I mean, your mamma's, death. My uncle had always called him Fayzan."

"I was wondering why he took Mamma's surname. Of course, you didn't want me to have a clue, no matter how minor."

Waseef nodded. "That's why I covered Uncle's name with ink."

"Yes, it was covered, but that didn't surprise me much. He had always been a mystery man."

"The mystery man wanted me to tell you guys everything after his death. In fact, we had a mild argument regarding this issue. You see, he told Fayzan that he has a brother from his mother's side. He has been eating my head about this ever since."

"But I have a lot of questions," added Waseef. "Answer a couple of them before I tell you my side of the story. First, what gave me away?"

"Lucian's album. Mayank found Mamma's and your uncle's photographs in it. A little inquiry later on cleared all doubts. Shranav did suspect that the letter that we received from your uncle was written by you when he compared it to the piece of paper you accidentally dropped from your diary." 

"I was wondering where it went. And second, why haven't you read my diary?"

"How do you know that I haven't?"

Waseef laughed. "Because I see you are ignorant of the most interesting parts of the story."

"What?"

"Don't worry, boy. I won't keep you in the dark any longer. Hear me out."

"Go ahead."

The crippling discomfort that was adamantly sticking to Waseef's limbs even a while ago seemed to evaporate without leaving a trace behind. With his secret out in the open air, he was seized by ruthless courage; with his new-found freedom, he no longer felt the urge to deter the rebellious tide that was dying to break free. It was, at last, time to shatter the wall that stood between the two.

"Let's pick up from where she had to leave you two behind. Even after the divorce, Auntie did not return to Bangladesh. Her father had already passed away by then, and she had no family to come back to. Besides, being in the same country somehow made her feel closer to her children, though she could not see them. So, she moved in with a friend and continued her studies. Later on, they left for another town on account of a job that her friend had always wanted. Auntie had no problem accompanying her. Her friend got married after several years, but they continued to live in adjacent flats.

"Things would have continued to go well if her friend didn't have a jerk for a brother. That guy visited his sister whenever he could, and over time, he developed a deep friendship with Auntie. The friendship eventually turned into something else. You see, your mamma had a pretty bad taste in men. At least until she married my uncle."

"So, what happened with the guy?"

"I'll come back to that. Now let me enlighten you a little about my own life."

Waseef rubbed his palms against each other as he began. "You know that I am the only son of my parents. They were rich, and I... a little spoiled. Not that I was ill-mannered or anything of that sort. It's just that my demands were always taken care of.

"Well, almost always. I was quite lonely in my childhood. My father used to be busy all day; he had no time for me. My mother's health had been fragile since my birth, so I hardly had her company. I had no siblings either. There was a lady who used to look after me, somewhat like a governess, but I needed someone of my own age. Sajid, my uncle's son, never got along with me. I did have a few friends, but they weren't much of a relief. It wasn't possible for my parents to have another biological child, so my misery continued. I hated being alone. No matter how much my parents tried to keep me happy in every other way, it just didn't work. I had everything, Aanvik. Yet it felt like I had nothing. I know I sound ungrateful, but I can't tell you how terrible it felt to be lonely."

"I understand."

"I continued to grow, and with me grew my longing for a sibling. I would sometimes bother my parents to get me one, but in vain. I carried my pain into my teenage days as well. Every time I saw a boy my age, I used to wonder how it would have been if he were my brother. I couldn't entertain anyone in my thoughts for too long, but one day I met someone who seemed to be the perfect one for the role."

"Who?"

"You."

Aanvik raised his eyebrows. "Me?"

Waseef nodded. "I became so desperate that I began to get on every single nerve of my parents. I wanted them to adopt you."

"What?"

"I know I sound ridiculous. They would not have given their son away even if they had to beg for the rest of their lives, so they knew pretty well that you were not to be handed over either."

Aanvik shook his head. "For the sake of my sanity, I will assume that you have lost yours."

"Do what you please. Since my parents were not being much of a help, I turned to my uncle. And he actually came to some use. Alternatively, you can say that I came to some use as he was devising a plan."

"What plan?"

"It was not possible for them to get you, so Uncle discussed the issue with my parents and suggested an alternative: Mayank. He knew through Auntie, who was a very good friend of his, that Mayank was struggling with his abusive father, and he sort of wanted to help him out. A child would be saved, and his nephew would have a companion. His primary motive was something else, though. He liked, um, loved Auntie. He thought if he managed to get Mayank into the family, Auntie would accept his proposal in all possibilities."

"Wait, the man who wanted to adopt Mayank... So it was your uncle after all."

"Yes. But the plan failed. Thanks to you and Shranav."

Aanvik went scarlet. "No need to remind me of that. But I still can't wrap my head around the fact that you wanted to have Mayank in your family."

"I agreed to have him as I could not have the one I initially wanted. I was promised that you could come over as often as you desired once we had Mayank with us. I can be impulsive at times, but that does not necessarily mean my feelings are transient. I would have treated Mayank as my own flesh and blood, if not something more. Even though Mayank was to be adopted by my uncle, he was to stay with me most of the time. We lived in the same building, so that wouldn't have been a problem. I was the one in dire need of a sibling, and Sajid, my uncle's son, wouldn't have proved to be a great friend. Well, not that he stayed at home much."

"So, there was a brat to worry about after all."

"Not really. Throw him a bundle of cash, and he'll mind his own business till it lasts. He surely wouldn't have been elated about his father adopting a kid, but Uncle would have appeased him somehow. So, no, don't justify what you two did to Mayank. He would have been happy with us; I have no doubt about that."

Aanvik maintained silence.

"When I first met you two during the tour, I had no idea that he was the son of my uncle's friend. I developed deep affection for you within that brief period, but I also wished Mayank would talk to me. He was so quiet and mysterious; I used to wonder what was up with the guy. When I learned that he was struggling with his family, my curiosity developed into genuine concern. I decided to love him dearly because I believed none of us would ever be sad for long if we had each other. Maybe we could fight and stop talking to each other for three minutes sometimes. I really wish I had someone to fight with back in those days."

Aanvik sighed. "So, what happened to Mamma and the other guy you were talking about? And how did she end up marrying your uncle?"

"The other guy? Oh yes, to my uncle's disappointment, Auntie married this 'other guy' about a month or so later. Secretly. In a church. Very few people knew."

"Secretly?"

"Apparently the idiot's parents wouldn't have approved of it."

"Then?"

"He promised Auntie that he would come out clean about it to his parents. But he didn't. His sister knew about the whole affair, and she didn't quite appreciate how he was refusing to let their parents know anything about it. She refrained from telling them nonetheless. Auntie was annoyed too, but things didn't take a bad turn until..."

"Until?"

"She got pregnant."

"Pregnant?"

"The jerk wasn't happy about it. He wanted her to get rid of the baby, but Mamma refused. As he couldn't convince her to abort it, he decided to take things into his own hands."

"He told his parents?"

"You are too innocent, Aanvik. No, he didn't. That would have solved all the issues. Are you sure you want to know what he did?"

"Did he force her?"

"Tried to push her down the stairs, to be exact."

Aanvik gasped. "Wh-what?"

"Luckily, neither she nor the baby were hurt. Not too badly, at least. And she could see what an absolute craphole she married. Auntie left him for the sake of herself and her baby. She returned to Bangladesh soon after that and rented one of the flats belonging to my uncle; he did not want to charge her anything, but you know your mamma. My mother's health was pretty stable by then, and she visited her quite often to take care of her. The baby was born in due time."

"The baby..."

"Why, yes. Our Fayzan."