From the look of uneasiness in Augustin's face, she understood what he was thinking.
"Don't be worried, you are capable of it. Just excuse yourself as obeying my fathers orders if questioned to any suspicious activity."
He nods before grabbing the cash and leaving room, closing the door behind him.
…
It was now evening in New York. Archie sat on her bed looking over the list in her hands, expecting her father to return any moment.
Tanvi was in her bathroom, washing her face. She looked up at the mirror before her. She was also expecting Raj as she had some very important things to tell him about before it was too late.
Silence crept over the mansion. Just the cluttering of dishes in the kitchen. Tanvi and Archie decided to make their way downstairs at once to greet their father, when they walked into each other's view. Tanvi looking down at her feet and Archie as usual, looking straight ahead, without a flaw in her stance.
Just for a moments pause, they continued down the stairs, Tanvi letting Archie lead the way. Just as they were reaching the bottom of the stairs, they heard the telephone ringing. One of the guards answer while Tanvi and Archie stood still to listen to the conversation.
"Good evening, sir."
"Oh, you won't be back until the 27th?"
"Yes sir, I will arrange the needed."
The worker turned his way towards the sisters and said,
"Mr Krishna unfortunately has been caught up in a business trip and will not return until the 27th."
Archie couldn't help the smirk which escaped from her lips before answering,
"That's fine, we can manage."
This was the first time Raj had left the sisters alone as Archie's plans were just falling into place way too conveniently.
She looked around to find Augustin leaning beside the pillar already staring at her smirking. They exchanged a nod of understanding before Archie made her way back up, refusing to give Tanvi her attention.
Tanvi then ran to upstairs to her room and searched around for her phone. She couldn't wait until he came back as it was obvious that her plan was in the time frame of his absence. To her surprise, the phone was gone, and she was certain that she hadn't taken it outside of her room. As she was still fiddling around in desperation, Archie's words quickly came to her mind,
"Either way, it's not my concern anymore. I have planned what to do next. Neither of you can stop me now"
She straightened her back in realisation and kicked the night lamp beside her in frustration making it fall to the ground with a loud bang.
That night, Archie slept soundly with Tanvi's phone locked in her bedside table meanwhile Tanvi lay awake, thinking of Archie as a cold sweat made its way down her forehead.
~
That morning, Archie woke up suddenly. She had another memory. It seemed so close yet so far. The man in her memory held her on his shoulders, and walked through a pathway in the middle of a paddy field before turning around to face the royal blue house that she had seen in the photo. She thought hard about the man's face. She had definitely seen him before. After a few moments of trying to recollect and sitting on the edge of her bed, she froze in shock. Without thinking twice, she ran outside her room and past the hallway, into her father's bedroom. She found the secret room and after taking a long breath, she twisted the knob open and turned on the lights to her left. She finds the pole with the head of a man. Though it was in a glass casing, she could see through the fog. The face was deformed quite a bit but the more she looked at it, the more she was certain that this was the man in her memory.
She couldn't understand. She was getting frightened the more she thought about it. She looked around for the leg piece but couldn't remember where she had left it as she leaned down under the shelf. She put her hands underneath and waved it around, collecting dust and spider webs before her hand hit something smooth. She grabbed it and pulled it from under the shelf. It was a passport.
She picked it up in her hand and sat down on the floor with her legs crossed. She slowly turned the page to see her mother's photo. Her eyes escaped to the ID to find what her name was. She couldn't believe her eyes.
She could just hardly make out the words which said...
Name: Aafira Ahmed
Religion: Muslim