Chapter 0028: The Shadow from the Past
The woman in the garden stood motionless, the moonlight casting an eerie glow on her face. Zara's heart hammered in her chest. She knew this person. She could feel the weight of years of memories pressing down on her. The silence between them was thick, suffocating.
Ryan stepped closer to Zara, his protective instincts kicking in, but Zara raised her hand to stop him. "Wait," she whispered, her voice trembling.
The woman turned slowly, revealing her face. Zara's breath caught in her throat. It was Mina. Her childhood friend—the one who had disappeared all those years ago without a trace. The one Zara had feared was lost forever.
Mina's eyes were cold, but there was something else there too. A sadness, a bitterness, and an unresolved anger that seemed to hang in the air between them.
"Mina?" Zara's voice was barely a whisper.
Mina's lips curled into a half-smile. "So you remember me, after all this time."
Zara took a hesitant step forward, her mind racing. "Of course, I remember you. But… why are you here? Why have you been hiding?"
Mina's gaze darkened, and for a moment, Zara saw the pain in her eyes—the kind of pain that only comes from betrayal.
"You left me behind, Zara. You chose your new life. You forgot about me. And I've had to live with that ever since."
Zara shook her head, trying to process the words. "I never forgot you, Mina. I—" Her voice cracked. "I thought you were dead."
Mina laughed, but it wasn't a sound filled with joy. It was sharp, bitter. "Dead? You wish. You're the one who killed me, Zara. You abandoned me when I needed you the most."
Zara took another step, now inches away from her former friend. She could see the pain that had marred Mina's life all these years. The guilt surged in Zara's chest, but it was mixed with something darker—fear. Fear of what Mina might do next.
Ryan reached out to gently touch Zara's shoulder, his voice low. "We need to be careful, Zara. This woman—she's not the same person you once knew."
Zara nodded, her mind still reeling from the revelation. Mina wasn't just angry at her. She was angry at the world, and it seemed that Zara was the focus of all that rage.
"I'm sorry, Mina," Zara said softly, her voice trembling with emotion. "I never meant to hurt you. But I don't understand… why are you here now?"
Mina's eyes glinted with something dangerous, something Zara couldn't quite put her finger on. "I'm here because I want justice. I want you to feel the pain I've felt all these years. You've built a new life, but it's nothing compared to the hell I've been through."
Zara's heart sank. "What do you want from me?"
Mina took a step closer, her voice steady, almost cold. "I want everything you have, Zara. And I'll make sure you never forget what you did to me."
Zara didn't sleep that night.
Even after Mina had vanished into the darkness with a chilling promise lingering in the air, Zara stood still in the garden—barefoot, trembling, and silent. Ryan stayed by her side, watching her closely, helplessness flickering in his eyes.
Back inside, the house felt colder. Every shadow seemed deeper, every creak more sinister.
"She blames me," Zara finally whispered, her voice cracking.
Ryan wrapped his arms around her. "She's not thinking clearly, Zara. She's wounded. But that doesn't mean she's right."
Zara pulled away, walking toward the window. "She was my best friend. We grew up together. I should have done something... I should have searched harder when she disappeared."
"You were just a teenager," Ryan said gently. "You didn't abandon her. Life happened, and she disappeared without a word."
"But now she's back… and full of hate."
Ryan sighed. "We need to find out what happened to her during those missing years. If we know her story, maybe we can stop whatever she's planning."
Zara turned to him. "What if it's too late? What if the damage has already been done?"
He stepped closer. "Then we prepare. And we protect what we've built—together."
Later that day…
Zara visited the old community center where she and Mina used to volunteer as teenagers. It had changed—new management, new paint, but still held memories. She approached the front desk, asking about any recent visitors.
"No one by that name," the receptionist said. "But…" She hesitated. "There was someone here last week. A woman asking about you. She left this."
She handed Zara a small envelope. Inside was a photo—two young girls, laughing in a field of sunflowers. On the back, in neat cursive:
"One of us never forgot. The other pretended to."
Zara stared at the photo, heart aching. The image was old, but the pain it carried was fresh. She felt the weight of the past pressing down, threatening to crush everything she'd built.
Mina hadn't just returned for revenge.
She'd returned for reckoning.
And the clock was ticking.
The house in Lahore was quieter than ever, almost unnaturally so.
Zara sat on the edge of her childhood bed, the sunflower photo still clutched in her hand. The weight of old memories had turned her limbs heavy. She hadn't slept properly in days—not since Mina reappeared like a storm from a buried past.
Ryan was downstairs, speaking on a call with a private investigator he had quietly hired. But Zara knew no investigation could uncover the truth better than the house itself.
Something about the sunflower photo kept pulling her back to one particular summer. A summer where she and Mina had promised never to let life separate them. A summer where they'd made a secret hideout in the attic… and buried things they swore never to reveal.
She climbed the stairs to the attic, the old wooden boards groaning under her steps. Dust clouded the air. Forgotten toys, photo albums, and boxes of old clothes surrounded her like ghosts from another life.
Then she saw it—a familiar corner, hidden behind an old trunk. Her breath caught.
Kneeling down, she pried open a loose floorboard. The scent of dust and age rose. Inside, wrapped in a faded scarf, was a small, rusted tin box.
Zara opened it with trembling fingers.
Inside were notes. Photographs. A diary. All belonging to Mina.
She opened the diary and began reading.
"July 14th — I saw something I wasn't supposed to see. I heard them talking about Mr. Baig. About the money. About the betrayal. I can't tell anyone. Not even Zara. I'm scared. They said if anyone finds out, we'll all suffer."
Zara's eyes widened. Mr. Baig… her father's business partner, the one who had died under mysterious circumstances all those years ago.
She flipped more pages.
"August 5th — I ran. I saw them watching me again. I think they know I overheard them. I can't stay here. I'm going to disappear. I won't let them silence me like they silenced him."
Zara's breath shook. All this time, Mina had been hiding because she'd uncovered something dangerous—something tied to her own family.
The final page was blank, except for one sentence.
"If I don't come back, tell Zara the truth isn't in the people. It's in the paper trail. Start with the Baig Foundation."
The Baig Foundation… her family's charity front. Now a multi-million-rupee operation.
Zara sat back, heart racing. This wasn't just a story of betrayal between friends.
This was a conspiracy. A cover-up. And Mina had been the collateral damage.
She climbed down from the attic, diary in hand.
Ryan looked up as she entered the living room. "Zara?"
She handed him the journal, her eyes fierce with resolve.
"Mina didn't just return to hurt me. She came back to expose everything."
The rain poured heavily against the windshield as Ryan drove through the narrow streets of Lahore. Beside him, Zara clutched Mina's journal like a lifeline, her fingers white from the grip. The pages had unlocked more than memories—they had uncovered a thread leading straight into the heart of her family's legacy.
The Baig Foundation was more than a charitable trust—it was a vault of secrets.
"We'll start with the financial records," Ryan said, keeping his eyes on the road. "If Mina was right, someone used the foundation to launder money or hide the betrayal she overheard."
Zara nodded. "And if she was silenced for it... we need to know who signed the checks."
They arrived at the foundation's central office, a sleek, modern building with glass walls and smiling receptionists. On the surface, it was polished perfection. But Zara knew appearances were often the most dangerous disguises.
They were escorted to the archives by a nervous junior manager who clearly had no idea why the founders' daughter had requested access to fifteen-year-old files.
"We keep everything backed up digitally now," he explained. "But the old records… they're stored in the sub-basement."
Perfect.
The room was cold and dim, metal shelves packed with thick files. As Ryan combed through account ledgers, Zara moved toward the legal correspondence folders.
Minutes passed.
Then Ryan froze. "Zara… look at this."
She rushed over.
He handed her a file. Inside were documents authorizing large transfers from the foundation to shell companies—companies that Mina had scribbled in her diary. But the most damning part was the signature on each form.
Ahsan Baig.
Her father.
Zara stepped back, as if the paper had burned her hands. "No. He always said he was helping people. That he built this to honor Mr. Baig after his death."
Ryan's voice was gentle. "What if that story was the cover-up? What if your father and the others didn't just build the foundation to help—they built it to hide?"
A soft sound interrupted them—a footstep.
Zara turned sharply. At the edge of the shelves, a man in a grey suit stood watching. Not staff. Not random.
He smiled. Cold. Familiar.
"I warned Mina to stay buried," he said. "Now you're digging too deep, Zara."
Ryan stepped in front of her. "Who are you?"
The man tilted his head. "The cleaner. The one who fixes the family messes."
He pulled something from his coat—a small device, blinking red.
A signal jammer.
Zara's phone went dead. So did Ryan's.
The man stepped closer. "I suggest you stop looking for ghosts. Some truths… should stay hidden."
He turned and walked away, leaving only silence and the quiet threat of what was to come.
Zara stared at the documents in her hands, her father's signature blurring in her vision.
This wasn't just a betrayal. It was a legacy built on lies.
And she was ready to burn it down.
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(To be Continue...)