CHAPTER 1

Seven Years Ago

One night was enough to change the Rayzada family forever.

The mansion was unusually quiet.

Everyone was asleep.

Everyone except Arnav Singh Rayzada.

He stood alone inside his room, staring at the documents spread across his desk.

His hands were clenched.

His breathing was heavy.

And his eyes…

They no longer carried the calmness they always had.

They carried disbelief.

Pain.

Betrayal.

Because tonight, Arnav had discovered the truth about his existence.

A truth his family had hidden from him for twenty-three years.

He wasn't their biological son.

Arnav was adopted.

But the identity of his biological parents remained a mystery.

His eyes moved over the documents once again, desperately hoping that somehow the words would change.

They didn't.

For years, he had believed that he was a Rayzada by blood.

He had believed that the empire waiting for him was his birthright.

He had believed that the people he called his parents were connected to him by blood.

But everything he believed about himself had been a lie.

Or so it felt tonight.

Arnav slowly stood up.

He looked around his room.

The photographs.

The awards.

The memories.

Everything suddenly felt unfamiliar.

He could have confronted his family.

He could have demanded answers.

But instead…

He chose to disappear.

He took out a sheet of paper.

His hand remained still for several seconds before he finally began writing.

---

The Next Morning

“ARNAV!”

Revti's voice echoed through the mansion.

She stood inside her son's room, holding a letter in trembling hands.

Tears streamed down her face.

Harshvardhan rushed into the room, followed by Atharv.

“What happened?”

Revti couldn't answer.

She simply handed him the letter.

Harshvardhan unfolded it.

His eyes moved across the words.

«I know the truth.

I know that I'm not your biological son.

I don't know why you kept this from me, and right now, I don't want to know.

I've decided to leave everything behind—the mansion, the empire, everything.

Don't try to search for me.

Because you may never find me again.»

The letter slipped slightly from Harshvardhan's hand.

For the first time in years, the strongest man in the room looked completely helpless.

“Arnav…”

Atharv stared at his brother's empty room.

“He wouldn't just leave…”

But he had.

And no one knew where.

---

For the next seven years, Harshvardhan Singh Rayzada used every resource available to him to find his eldest son.

Private investigators.

Law enforcement contacts.

Corporate networks.

International connections.

Every possible lead was followed.

Every possible location was searched.

But Arnav Singh Rayzada had vanished.

No phone.

No trace.

No confirmed sighting.

Nothing.

It was as if the heir to one of the most powerful families in the country had simply…

ceased to exist.

Revti blamed herself.

Harshvardhan blamed himself.

They both regretted hiding the truth.

But neither of them had ever considered Arnav anything less than their own son.

Blood had never mattered to them.

Arnav was their son.

Their firstborn.

Their heir.

Their family.

But the truth they had tried to protect him from had become the very thing that took him away.

Seven years passed.

Under Indian evidence law, when a person has not been heard of for the statutory period by those who would naturally have heard from them, the law can permit a presumption of death—subject to the circumstances and appropriate legal proceedings.

And after seven years without a trace of Arnav…

The Rayzada family was finally forced to face the possibility they had spent years refusing to accept.

Arnav Singh Rayzada was about to be declared dead.

But destiny…

Had other plans.

---

Two Months Before the Declaration

The massive gates of Rayzada Mansion stood closed beneath the afternoon sun.

A young woman stood outside them.

Alone.

She carried a leather folder tightly against her chest.

Her expression was calm.

Almost too calm.

One of the guards approached her.

“Who are you?”

The woman looked toward the mansion.

“I need to meet Mr. Harshvardhan Singh Rayzada.”

The guard frowned.

“Do you have an appointment?”

“No.”

“Then I'm afraid you can't enter.”

The woman slowly opened the folder in her hands.

“I think he'll want to see these.”

The guard glanced at the documents.

His expression changed.

Within minutes, the security team contacted the mansion.

---

Harshvardhan was in his study when the call came.

“Sir… there's a woman outside. She insists that she needs to speak with you personally.”

“About?”

There was a pause.

“She says… it's about Arnav Singh Rayzada.”

Harshvardhan froze.

After seven years, his son's name had become a wound no one dared touch.

He stood immediately.

“Bring her in.”

“No, sir. She says she will only speak to you.”

Harshvardhan didn't wait.

He walked out himself.

Revti and Atharv followed.

When they reached the entrance, Harshvardhan stopped.

The woman stood silently before him.

Young.

Composed.

And completely unfamiliar.

His eyes narrowed.

“Who are you?”

She looked directly at him.

“My name is Avni Sharma.”

Harshvardhan's expression remained cold.

“What do you want?”

Avni tightened her fingers around the folder.

“I came because I have something that belongs to your family.”

Harshvardhan's gaze hardened.

“What?”

Her next words shattered seven years of silence.

“I'm carrying Arnav Singh Rayzada's child.”

Silence.

Complete silence.

Revti's breath caught.

Atharv stared at her.

Harshvardhan's face became unreadable.

“Say that again.”

“I am two months pregnant.”

Revti's hand moved instinctively toward her mouth.

Atharv stepped forward.

“You expect us to believe that?”

Avni didn't answer.

Harshvardhan walked closer.

His voice dropped dangerously low.

“Listen carefully.”

The warmth had disappeared from his eyes.

“If you've come here looking for money…”

He stepped closer.

“…you chose the wrong family to deceive.”

Avni remained silent.

“If this is a lie,” Harshvardhan continued, his voice dangerously calm, “I will uncover every piece of it. And when I do, you will wish you had never walked through these gates.”

Not a single word of fear appeared on Avni's face.

Instead, she slowly extended the folder toward him.

“Then you should look at these first.”

Harshvardhan took it.

He opened the folder.

His eyes moved across the first document.

Then the second.

Then the third.

His expression changed.

Marriage certificate.

Four months old.

Legally registered.

Arnav Singh Rayzada.

Avni Sharma.

His eyes moved to the next document.

Pregnancy report.

Two months old.

Then another.

DNA test report.

Certified.

Verified.

Legal documentation.

Everything appeared legitimate.

Harshvardhan's fingers tightened around the papers.

For seven years, he had searched for his son.

And now, two months before Arnav was supposed to be legally declared dead…

A woman had appeared with documents claiming that she was his wife.

And carrying his child.

Harshvardhan slowly looked up at Avni.

“Where is my son?”

For the first time, something flickered in Avni's eyes.

Pain.

But it disappeared almost instantly.

“I don't know.”

Atharv's expression darkened.

“Then how are you his wife?”

Avni didn't answer immediately.

Harshvardhan studied her carefully.

There was something about this woman he couldn't understand.

Something she wasn't telling them.

But the documents were real.

And until he discovered the truth…

He couldn't afford to make a mistake.

Finally, he turned toward his family.

“She stays.”

Revti looked at him.

Harshvardhan's eyes remained fixed on Avni.

“We'll give her a room.”

Then, in a voice that left no room for argument, he added—

“And we'll find out exactly why she came here.”

Avni was welcomed into the Rayzada mansion.

But she wasn't trusted.

Not for a second.

Because behind the walls of the Rayzada mansion…

Everyone was watching her.

Observing her every word.

Every movement.

Every reaction.

Trying to discover her true intentions.

And none of them knew…

Avni Sharma was hiding something far more dangerous than a pregnancy.

END OF CHAPTER 1