!!Story Time!!
Radhika P.O.V
I hadn't even finished processing what Dev and Justin had told me.
That secret wing.
That strange voice.
That name.
**Aarya.**
My sister.
My *dead* sister.
But she wasn't dead, was she?
Or maybe death had been a disguise all along.
I stared at the wall opposite me, not really seeing anything. The Italian sun poured through the villa's high windows, warming my skin — but I felt cold. Inside, I was shaking. Not visibly, not enough for anyone else to notice… but I felt like glass. Fragile. One wrong word and I'd shatter.
I didn't tell anyone yet. Not even Ishika.
If Aarya really was alive… and if she was the one behind all this — the mind games, the threats, the manipulation of Dev's father — then how much of my life was actually mine?
What had she seen?
What did she know?
Why me?
Why now?
---
We were all gathered in the garden that afternoon, trying to act normal. Sahil was pacing. Dev sat with his arms folded, eyes distant. Gulafsha and Ishika were flipping through some travel brochures, attempting to change the energy.
And then the front gate buzzed.
"Madam," a guard called. "Two people at the main gate… say they're friends of Mr. Justin."
We all looked up.
"Who?" Justin asked, stepping forward.
The guard held out the slip of paper. "They have this… an invitation. Flight tickets, accommodation details… signed by you."
Justin frowned. "I didn't send any invitations."
I stood up instantly. "Who is it?"
---
A moment later, I saw them.
**Karthik.**
**Akanksha.**
My eyes widened in surprise, and not the good kind.
They were dragging their luggage behind them, both looking confused, tired, and… anxious.
Akanksha waved at me hesitantly. Karthik gave a half-smile, that familiar mix of charm and discomfort.
I rushed forward. "What are you doing here?"
"We… got a letter," Akanksha said, glancing at Justin. "From *him*. It said you were planning a surprise reunion. That you wanted us here."
"Wait, what?" Justin blinked. "I didn't send you anything."
Karthik handed him the envelope. Justin opened it carefully.
It was… *perfectly* forged.
His handwriting.
His signature.
Even the *way* he writes his name — that little flair at the 'J' — matched exactly.
But Justin shook his head. "This isn't mine."
---
My blood ran cold.
So whoever did this — they wanted them here.
More players on the board.
More distractions.
More vulnerabilities.
"Did anyone follow you?" Dev asked quietly, stepping forward.
"No…" Karthik said slowly, then paused. "Wait. At the Rome airport… we thought someone was behind us. A woman. Blonde hair. Black sunglasses. She didn't talk to us, but… it felt strange."
I felt everything inside me freeze.
Aarya?
No. It couldn't be.
Or could it?
And then, almost as if someone had been waiting for that exact moment, *my phone buzzed*.
Unknown number.
Just one message.
> "You're still writing stories, aren't you Radhika?
> Let's see how this one ends.
> —A"
I didn't scream.
I didn't faint.
I just stared at the message and whispered softly to myself:
"She's here."
---
Perfect — here's the **next chapter** from the shared perspective of **Ishika** and **Gulafsha**, as tension rises with Kartik and Akanksha's sudden arrival and Radhika's unease begins to silently ripple through the group.
---
*POV: Ishika & Gulafsha*
**Ishika**
Something was off.
The moment I saw the way Radhika looked at the phone — the way her expression changed, went cold like marble — I knew it.
She didn't even say anything. Just locked her phone, stood up, and walked away slowly. No panic. No questions.
But I saw her hands tremble. I *felt* it.
I glanced toward Justin. He was still talking to Karthik and Akanksha, trying to figure out how they got a ticket here in his name. Sahil had already pulled Dev aside, their conversation sharp and low.
And Gulafsha… she was already reading the room like a hawk.
---
**Gulafsha**
Radhika may be a writer, but I'm a realist.
And right now? The story was starting to look like a trap.
I looked at the girl in front of me — Akanksha. Innocent, unaware, still holding her purse tightly like someone might snatch it in the next second. And then Kartik, awkward as ever, eyes flicking between faces, confused about why no one seemed *happy* to see them.
They didn't belong here. Not because they weren't family. But because this wasn't a vacation anymore.
Something bigger was happening.
And they just walked into it.
---
**Ishika**
"You're thinking what I'm thinking?" I whispered to Gulafsha as we walked toward the garden's edge.
"That they were sent here like chess pieces?" she said flatly. "Absolutely."
I nodded.
"Radhika knows something," I added, my voice low. "She's hiding it. And I think it's something *bad*."
"She got a message. I saw it," Gulafsha muttered. "She froze."
I bit my lip. "From *her*?"
"I'm guessing yes."
Aarya.
We hadn't said the name out loud in front of the others. Not yet. Radhika didn't tell me much — just that it was personal. And painful. And terrifying.
And now she was here.
In *Italy*. Watching us.
Maybe even closer than we realized.
---
**Gulafsha**
I stepped away from Ishika and went back inside the villa, under the excuse of needing water.
But I didn't go to the kitchen.
I went upstairs.
I went to Radhika's room.
The door was unlocked.
And on her bed, still open, was a folder. One I don't think she meant to leave out.
Inside: photos. Old ones. One little girls and older in matching dresses. Smiling.
One of them was Radhika.
The younger
The other?
Same eyes. Same face. But older. Sharper.
And on the back of the photo, written in faded ink:
> "Aarya & Radhika – Summer 2004"
I swallowed hard.
She wasn't just back.
She had *always* been part of the story.
---
**Ishika**
When Gulafsha returned, she looked different. Pale. Tight-lipped.
I didn't ask in front of the others. Just gave her a look.
She nodded. Slight. Grim.
Whatever she found, it wasn't good.
And as the sun dipped behind the Italian horizon and the garden lights flickered on, I felt it in my chest.
The calm before a storm.
Something big was coming.
And this time, I wasn't sure who would survive the next chapter.
---
Here is the next chapter — a deep, emotional moment shared between **Radhika** and **Justin**, blending **romance**, **support**, and a slowly building storm beneath their words.
---
*POV: Radhika*
The moonlight spilled into the villa's quiet corridor like a hush no one dared break.
My room was silent, save for the ticking of the antique wall clock and the whisper of the wind brushing against the curtains. I had tried to write. Opened my journal. Stared at the blank page.
Nothing came.
How could it? When the ghosts of my past were suddenly very real, and walking the same marble floors I did.
I didn't hear Justin enter — but I felt him.
Like gravity.
"Hey," he said gently, his voice low, familiar… safe.
I didn't turn around right away. I just sat at the edge of the bed, fingers lightly clutching the old photo I'd found of me and her — *Aarya*. The name still felt foreign on my tongue. Heavy.
"I shouldn't have kept it from you," I whispered.
Justin stepped closer, kneeling before me, looking up into my eyes. "You're allowed to keep pain to yourself, Radhi. Until you're ready."
"But it's not just mine anymore," I said, my voice cracking. "She's doing this. She's playing with our lives. And I don't know what she wants — from me — from any of us."
Justin reached for my hands, gently prying them from the photograph and holding them against his chest.
"You don't have to carry this alone," he said.
I looked into his eyes — warm, stormy, unwavering. He always had this way of grounding me, even when I was spiraling. But this? This wasn't just fear.
This was guilt.
"She died when I was five, Justin," I said. "Everyone said it was an accident. But what if it wasn't? What if I remembered something… and just buried it?"
Justin's expression didn't change. He didn't flinch. He just leaned in, resting his forehead against mine.
"I don't care what happened back then," he said softly. "Whatever truth you dig up — whatever this becomes — I'm with you. Always. Even if the world burns around us."
I closed my eyes.
For a moment, I let the world disappear.
There was no Aarya. No threats. No secrets. Just his hand in mine, his breath on my skin, and the quiet thud of his heart — steady, strong, *here*.
"I'm scared," I admitted. The first time I'd said it out loud.
"I know," he said.
And then, silence again. But this time, it didn't feel empty. It felt like peace. Like the eye of the hurricane.
Then Justin tilted his head, brushing a soft kiss against my temple, then my cheek. Gentle. Slow. Reverent.
"I'm in love with you," he murmured.
I leaned into him, fingers curling around his shirt. "Then hold me. Just for tonight. Just… hold me like we're not standing on the edge of something terrifying."
His arms wrapped around me like the safest place in the world.
And for a little while… the monsters stayed away.
---