Agasthya chewed a small piece of that dry-dusted bread with great effort. It tastes like paper and was hurting his throat but at least gave him the energy to breathe.

That was all Agasthya was trying to do in those days- to breathe... to survive... to live long enough so that he could meet his brothers once again... So that he could be held by them one more time...

Why is it so hard? He just wants to go home.

"Looks like you love it..." smirked Varun peeking at the food and mocking the boy in front of him.

Agasthya didn't reply. Varun was towering over him and it made him feel so small. But this time he didn't crawl back.

Agasthya was afraid of Varun. He knew that the man would hurt him in every way, torture him till he hit the bottom, and maybe kill him if his brothers couldn't make it in time. But the boy became too much familiar with the misery that he didn't panic the way he used to. His body was shutting down and his mind was a pretty mess but Agasthya choose to fight till the last moment. That quality of his even surprised Varun.

Varun wanted Agasthya to suffer, to break, to fall apart. He wished to find solace in revenge, a way to end the unbearable agony that he have been dragging along for the past 18 years in silence. It has to die off. And Agasthya wasn't making it any easier.

Agasthya finished the slices of bread that Varun gave him blaming himself for never appreciating the food Aaryan made for him just because they blocked his way to Macdonalds. And again the urge to go home covered him like anything.

"You want more?"

"What? This dry Rottie or did you mean the never-ending torment you gave me for something I do not fault in?"
Hissed Agasthya under his breath.

"Perhaps both!"

"Go to hell..."

"Already been there..."

"Yeah. You are the devil..."

Varun grabbed Agasthya by the collar and shook him violently till the boy lost his balance and fell to his knees.
"I know what you told Diya about me..."

Agasthya's eyes dilated in horror. Diya was his only friend and now Varun might hurt her too. All because she tried to help him. That can't happen...

"How did you know that?"

"This is my place Agasthya. What were you two kids thinking?"

Now Agasthya is confused. If Varun knew, then why didn't he stop her?

"I didn't stop her because I want her to know my truth..." said Varun. "How your father ruined my happiness again and again. How he destroyed both of my families... The one I was born into and the one I was trying to bring in... How her elder sister died in the streets of London just because she was in love with me..."

Agasthya couldn't believe what he heard.

"My papa would never..."

"But he did." Screamed Varun, a single teardrop threatening to fall from his eyes.

Agasthya felt his world turning upside down. He knew his father more than anyone. Agasthya was raised by a generous and rightful man. And he, Rajeev Thakur was nothing like the monster Varun talks about.

There are some misunderstandings... Some terrible ones.

"Varun believe me... My father would never do anything like that. I know him. He wouldn't even hurt a fly."

Varun scoffed at Agasthay's stupidity.
"Then you don't know him at all..."

Memories flashed into Varun for a moment. The day he met Rajeev Thakur after 18 long years. How he just walked past Varun in the courtroom, clearly not recognizing him, after winning the case against his company.

"Neha's death was unbearable to me that I had to take a break from service and when I was back the case was already in the court. It was your father's men who caused the accident. The company truck, the driver... Your Father owned it all... It was like the past repeating. Blood of my loved ones everywhere and The Thakur name is written all over init again..."

"But that doesn't mean Papa did it... It can be a coincidence... "

"Seriously? Then why did your papa offer a huge amount of money to the relatives of the victims as compensation and closed the case file instead of letting us have an investigation and find out the real motive? What was he trying to hide?"

Agasthya didn't know what to say.

"He didn't recognize me but I would never forget his face. The face of a coward who ran away the day after my parent's death. Why would he do that if he was innocent? And why would he keep his exile for 18 years if he was all clean?"

"I don't know the answer to your first question" replied Agasthya, eyes cloudy.
"But I think it was because of me that he never came back. He had to leave his family behind so that his illegitimate son will at least have a father... "

Agasthya bit his lips and tried not to cry but ended up sobbing. He rubbed his eyes like a little kid and looked so fragile. That made Varun remember his little brother who died in his arms. Children might not deserve this but he was a child too.

Varun also was a child, a fifteen-year-old boy who returned from a school trip to find out that his entire family is gone. No one answered his questions and no God heard his prayers. Laying on the orphanage floor, helpless and terrified, Varun felt a part of himself burning alive along with his home.

"I am sorry for your lost," said Agasthya composing himself. Even though he hated Varun he didn't believe that Varun deserved such an ill fate.
"But I still think that there is an explanation for my father's departure. Maybe you need to connect the dots..."

"I have been doing that for long enough and I need answers. I need to know what was my mother's fault that she had to pay with her life. How could they take my twin sister away from me and slaughter our dreams of growing up together... Why did my Neeraj die in my arms calling out my name, making me the worst and most worthless brother...and..." Varun's words shivered a bit."What sin did my youngest brother do that he had to die even before entering this world... I never got a chance to meet him. I lost him even before having him..."

"I... I don't understand..."

"My mother was pregnant when she died..."

Agasthya felt sick. As they say, Monsters truly are made not born... And can you blame Varun for being the person he is now?

Agasthya was pretty sure that he would never survive a night like that. It took him forever to accept the fact that his father is dead and he can't even think about losing his brothers. The wounds just bleed and bleed again and if Varun's story is true then his wounds are a lot deeper than anyone else.

'And if his father, Rajeev Thakur was really a friend then why did he run away?'

'Why did his Ani bhaiya never share anything about F4 MEDICARE with him, even though he promised that it has nothing to do with Agasthya?'

'Why did his father keep Agasthya as a secret and didn't come to India even after Maithili Maa's death?'

These questions fired up Agasthya's mind. He couldn't realize who is right or who is wrong here. Along with that the most forbidden mystery of his life also began to eat him alive.

'Who is his birth Mother?'

Varun snapped his fingers making Agasthya come back to the moment with a jerk. The softness that was present a minute ago in Varun's face was now replaced with the madness that called rage.

"I will kill you Agasthya... Just like I killed your father. And when your brothers finally understand my pain, I will finish Aaryan too... Your hero Anirudh and this villain will have the final battle after that... We would be equal then. No human but two monsters who has nothing to live for... That's the justice I believe I deserve."

Varun walked away but he turned back before closing the door.

"Until then you sleep well..."

**************

Precap

"Hello?"
Anirudh answered the phone as his heartbeats get faster and faster. This was the second time he was getting a call from that number.

He expected that deep devilish laugh, but there was nothing but silence.

"Hello?"
He answered again.

A tiny sweet voice replied this time.

"Is this Agasthya's brother?"

**************

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