Chapter 4 – Secrets Behind Blueprints
The next morning, Khurana Constructions buzzed with unusualenergy.
News of the previous day's accident had spread throughoutthe company. Some employees praised the courage of the new chief architect,while others whispered about the strange tension between their CEO and thewoman who had arrived from London.
Inside his cabin, Maan stood reading the preliminaryinvestigation report.
Cause of the accident: Unknown.
The report frustrated him.
Nothing added up.
The steel cable had passed inspection only two days earlier.Yet it had snapped as though someone had deliberately weakened it.
His phone rang.
"Yes?"
"Sir," the head of security replied, "wechecked yesterday's CCTV footage."
"And?"
"There are fifteen minutes missing."
Maan's eyes narrowed.
"What do you mean missing?"
"The cameras were disabled between 7:12 and 7:27a.m."
"Disabled?"
"Yes, sir."
"Find out who had access."
"We're trying."
"No."
Maan's voice became dangerously calm.
"I don't want you to try."
"I want answers."
"Today."
He disconnected the call.
Someone was playing a dangerous game.
At exactly nine o'clock, Geet entered the design studiocarrying a tube of architectural drawings.
The entire department fell silent for a moment beforegreeting her.
"Good morning, ma'am."
She smiled politely.
"Good morning."
The design studio was enormous, with long workstations,digital modeling screens, shelves filled with scale models, and a wall coveredin project timelines.
"This is impressive," she murmured.
A cheerful voice interrupted her thoughts.
"You haven't seen anything yet!"
Geet turned.
A young woman in a bright pink kurta hurried toward her witha wide smile.
"Hi! I'm Nisha."
She extended her hand enthusiastically.
"I'm one of the junior architects."
Geet shook it.
"Nice to meet you."
"I've admired your projects for years."
Geet laughed softly.
"I hope I don't disappoint you."
"Oh, impossible."
Nisha lowered her voice conspiratorially.
"Everyone's terrified of Mr. Khurana."
Geet raised an eyebrow.
"Everyone?"
"Except Adi sir."
She giggled.
"He somehow survives."
Before Geet could respond, Adi appeared carrying threecoffee cups.
"Talking about me already?"
Nisha smiled innocently.
"Always."
Adi handed one cup to Geet.
"Coffee?"
She accepted it gratefully.
"Thank you."
He studied the bandage on her forehead.
"Feeling better?"
"I've survived worse."
"That's exactly what worries me."
They shared a smile.
Just then, the studio fell silent again.
Maan had entered.
He walked through the department with his usual calmauthority.
Every employee straightened instinctively.
He acknowledged them with a brief nod before stopping besideGeet's workstation.
Without looking directly at her, he placed a thick blue fileon the table.
"These are the original blueprints."
She opened the file.
Hundreds of detailed drawings.
Road networks.
Residential zones.
Drainage plans.
Utility systems.
Her professional instincts immediately took over.
She forgot everything else.
She studied each page carefully.
After several minutes she frowned.
"This doesn't match."
Maan looked at her.
"What?"
She compared two drawings.
"The underground utility layout."
She pointed at one blueprint.
"The water pipeline runs beneath Building C."
Then another.
"But according to this structural drawing..."
She paused.
"...the foundation pillars occupy the same space."
Several architects gathered around.
One of the senior engineers frowned.
"That's impossible."
Geet placed both drawings side by side.
"It isn't impossible."
"It's happening."
Silence.
Adi leaned closer.
"Which means..."
"Someone changed the drawings."
The room became deathly quiet.
Maan immediately took the blueprints.
He checked the approval signatures.
Every page bore the official company seal.
His expression darkened.
"Who prepared these revisions?"
The engineering manager stepped forward nervously.
"Sir... these were submitted four months ago."
"By whom?"
He checked the records.
"Chief Engineer Prakash."
"Call him."
The manager hesitated.
"He resigned last month."
Maan slowly closed the file.
"Without notice?"
"Yes, sir."
Another coincidence.
First the missing CCTV footage.
Now altered blueprints.
Neither felt accidental.
Geet looked at Maan.
Someone wasn't merely sabotaging the project.
Someone had infiltrated the company.
That afternoon, Geet remained alone in the design studioafter everyone left for lunch.
The silence helped her concentrate.
She spread dozens of blueprints across the large draftingtable.
Something still felt wrong.
She compared the original survey with the revised plans.
Measurements.
Angles.
Elevation marks.
Everything seemed normal.
Until...
A tiny handwritten mark caught her attention.
A red triangle.
Barely visible.
Hidden inside the margin of one drawing.
She frowned.
Architects never used red triangles as official symbols.
She searched another drawing.
Nothing.
A third.
Another triangle.
This one pointed in a different direction.
Curious, she aligned the blueprints side by side.
The triangles...
Formed a pattern.
Her heartbeat quickened.
She grabbed tracing paper and copied every symbol.
When she connected them...
They formed a map.
But not of the construction site.
It was a map of...
Khurana Mansion.
"What...?"
She stared at it in disbelief.
Why would someone hide the layout of Maan's home insideofficial construction drawings?
Before she could examine it further, footsteps echoedthrough the studio.
She quickly covered the tracing paper.
Maan entered.
"I thought everyone had gone."
"I wanted to review the foundation plans."
He noticed the scattered drawings.
"You found something."
She hesitated.
"I'm not sure."
He walked closer.
Without saying a word, she handed him the tracing paper.
Maan studied it carefully.
His face lost all color.
"This..."
He whispered.
"...is impossible."
"You recognize it?"
He nodded slowly.
"It's the old layout of Khurana Mansion."
"But half of these rooms don't exist anymore."
Geet looked confused.
"What do you mean?"
"They were demolished..."
He stopped speaking.
His eyes widened.
"Five years ago."
The same year...
Geet disappeared.
Neither spoke.
Both understood one thing.
Whatever happened five years ago...
Had somehow been connected to the Khurana Mansion itself.
That evening, Maan drove home unusually early.
The tracing paper remained folded carefully inside his coatpocket.
As soon as he entered the mansion, Dadima smiled.
"You're home before sunset."
He kissed her forehead.
"I need to ask you something."
Her smile faded.
"What is it?"
"Do you remember the old east wing?"
She looked surprised.
"Why?"
"When was it demolished?"
"Shortly after Geet left."
"Who suggested it?"
Dadima thought for a moment.
"I don't remember."
"Everything happened so quickly after..."
Her voice softened.
"...after she disappeared."
Maan's mind raced.
Could someone have destroyed evidence?
Had the mansion itself been hiding secrets?
Just then, the family butler entered carrying a smallpackage.
"Sir."
"This was delivered for you."
"There was no sender."
Maan accepted the plain brown envelope.
Inside...
He found an old silver key.
And a handwritten note.
Only five words.
"The truth is underground."
The room fell silent.
Dadima looked at him anxiously.
"What does it mean?"
Maan stared at the key.
He had never seen it before.
But somehow...
It felt strangely familiar.
Outside the mansion gates, hidden behind a parked car, themysterious woman in dark sunglasses watched through binoculars.
She took out her phone.
"He received the key."
A cold voice answered.
"Good."
"The game has entered its second phase."
She smiled faintly.
"And Geet?"
"She's already following the clues."
There was a brief pause.
Then the voice replied,
"Perfect."
"Let them dig."
"They'll uncover exactly what I want them tofind."
The call ended.
The woman started her car and disappeared into the Delhitraffic.
Inside the mansion, Maan looked once more at the old keyresting in his palm.
For the first time in five years...
He no longer believed Geet's return was a coincidence.
Someone had brought her back to Delhi.
Someone wanted them to discover the past.
The only question was—
Would the truth reunite them... or destroy them forever?