Chapter 6

6 months ago

Anushkaa

@nushhkiee

Chapter 6

The grand chandelier overhead cast soft shadows over the living room, where Maan sat, his fingers tapping restlessly on the armrest of the couch. Geet, sitting beside him, could sense his unease. It had been nearly three days since Ranjit’s untimely death, and yet, the feeling of emptiness hung heavy in the house. A thick, suffocating silence seemed to have settled over Khurana Mansion.

Everyone was on edge, yet no one seemed willing to talk openly about what had happened. The family had gathered for breakfast that morning, but it felt like a formality...empty words exchanged between strained faces. The real conversations were happening behind closed doors, and Maan was becoming more certain with each passing hour that someone in his own home was hiding something.

"Are you okay?" Geet asked softly, her voice breaking through his thoughts.

Maan turned to her, offering a tight smile. "I will be. But this… it doesn’t sit right with me. There’s something more to this than just a simple murder."

Geet squeezed his hand reassuringly. "I know. But don’t let the unknown eat away at you. We’ll find the truth. Together."

Maan nodded, appreciating her unwavering support. But despite her calming words, his mind was a whirlwind of confusion. Every time he tried to piece together the events leading up to Ranjit’s death, he hit a wall. The police were no closer to identifying the killer, and yet, he could feel in his gut that the answer was right in front of him.

The first person Maan suspected was Dev.

---

Dev had been acting strangely ever since Ranjit’s murder. At first, Maan had written it off as grief...after all, Ranjit had been a father figure to Dev. But as the days passed, Maan began to notice things that made him uneasy.

The most telling sign was the way Dev reacted to the investigation. Whenever anyone mentioned the murder, Dev was always too quick to point the finger at others. First, it was his suggestion that Arjun might have had a hand in it, but Maan saw right through that. Arjun had nothing to gain from Ranjit’s death, at least not directly.

Dev’s own financial troubles, however, were another matter.

Maan had heard whispers over the years...rumors about Dev’s mounting debts. There were some who said he’d been reckless with his investments, others claimed that his gambling addiction had caused irreparable damage. If Ranjit had been planning to cut Dev out of the family inheritance, it would be a reason strong enough to kill.

The thought nagged at Maan.

Could Dev have killed Ranjit Chacha to secure his position in the family? Was the inheritance, or the fear of losing it, the true motive?

To get answers, Maan decided to speak with the family lawyer.

---

The lawyer, Mr. Malik, had been with the Khurana family for decades. His quiet demeanor and meticulous nature had earned him Maan’s trust over the years. When Maan asked him to meet in private, the lawyer’s face grew somber, as if he knew the conversation was not going to be easy.

"Maan," Mr. Malik began, "I’ve been going through Ranjit ji’s files, and there’s something you need to see. It’s about the will."

Maan leaned forward, his pulse quickening. "What about the will?"

"There was an amendment," the lawyer continued, his voice low. "Ranjit ji had made some changes to the will just a week before his death. He had planned to leave a substantial portion of the estate to charity, and Dev’s share… well, it was going to be smaller than he had expected."

Maan felt his breath catch. "So, you’re saying that Dev would have been left with less?"

Mr. Malik nodded. "Yes. There was also talk of Ranjit ji wanting to put a stop to some of Dev’s financial mismanagement. He had started looking into the accounts, and I believe he was planning to confront Dev about it."

Maan’s mind raced. Dev’s financial problems weren’t new, but the idea that Ranjit had been planning to expose them was. Could this have been the motive for murder? A last-ditch effort to secure his inheritance before everything unraveled?

Maan thanked Mr. Malik and left the lawyer’s office, his head spinning with the implications. If Dev had killed Ranjit, it wasn’t just about money...it was about his pride, his reputation, and his future.

---

But there was also Naina, Ranjit’s wife, whose grief was equally suspicious. On the surface, Naina appeared to be heartbroken over her husband’s death. She kept a low profile, mourning in private, but there was something in the way she carried herself that made Maan uneasy. She was too composed, too silent, and her behavior was starting to look less like genuine grief and more like guilt.

Naina had always been a bit of an enigma. Though she was devoted to Ranjit, there had been rumors over the years of her having an affair...first with a businessman, then with a family friend. Maan hadn’t put much stock in them at the time, but now, with Ranjit dead, those whispers seemed louder than ever.

If Naina had been unfaithful, could she have killed Ranjit in a fit of rage or jealousy? Or worse, could she have been involved in a scheme to eliminate him, either alone or with someone else, to secure her place in the family and her share of the wealth?

Maan needed to understand more about Naina’s relationship with her husband. The way she seemed to keep her distance from everyone at the funeral, avoiding eye contact and staying in the background, was only adding to his suspicions. But there was one person who might know more about her secrets...the housekeeper, Mrs. Desai, who had worked for the Khuranas for years and had seen many things from the shadows.

---

Later that evening, Maan sought out Mrs. Desai, hoping she might know something about Naina’s private life...anything that could explain her odd behavior. He found her in the kitchen, cleaning up after dinner.

"Mrs. Desai," Maan began, his voice gentle but firm, "I need to ask you something about Chachi."

The housekeeper glanced up, her eyes wary. She had always been a loyal servant, but Maan could tell she wasn’t eager to speak out of turn. Still, something in his tone made her hesitate.

"Is something troubling you, Maan sir?" she asked cautiously.

"It’s about Chacha's brutal death," Maan said. "I need to know if you’ve noticed anything strange in the house in the past few weeks. Anything that could suggest someone was hiding something...or planning something."

Mrs. Desai was silent for a moment before she spoke again, her voice barely above a whisper.

"Well, sir, I have noticed… Naina ji has been very distant these days. And there’s been some tension between her and Ranjit ji. I overheard them arguing a few nights before the murder. It was about something… something to do with Ranjit ji’s business decisions, I believe."

Maan’s heart skipped a beat. An argument? That was more than he had expected. "What was it about?"

Mrs. Desai shook her head, as if unsure. "I didn’t hear much, sir. But I did hear Naina ji say something about ‘getting rid of him’...it sounded like she was angry, maybe about the way Ranjit ji was treating her. I didn’t think much of it at the time, but now… now I’m not so sure."

Maan’s blood ran cold. "‘Getting rid of him’?"

"Yes, sir. But I don’t know more than that. I only overheard bits and pieces."

---

Maan left the kitchen, his mind spinning with new possibilities. The pieces were starting to come together, but the picture was still far from clear. Dev, Naina...both had the potential motives, both had the opportunity. But which one of them had the strength to go through with murder?

He couldn’t say for sure yet. But he was getting closer.