Ishan Singhania, the wealthiest man in the village, was sitting outside his house in the morning, sipping tea while reading the newspaper.
A short while later, his son, Ivan, returned home from tuition on his bike.
When Ivan took off his helmet, Ishan was gripped by a deep, internal terror.
The boy standing before him looked exactly like the young man he had killed ten years ago.
At first, Ishan thought it might be a misunderstanding or an optical illusion.
He rubbed his eyes and looked again, but it was no mistake.
Ivan walked past him and went inside the house.
Ishan wanted to say something, but not a single word could escape his lips; it was as if his blood had frozen.
After a few moments, he composed himself and thought of his friends, Vikas Mehra and Arya Malhotra.
On the night they had killed that boy, Vikas and Arya were with him.
Aside from the three of them, no one in the world knew this secret.
Ishan's phone was kept on the bed inside his own room inside the house.
He immediately rushed inside and put both Vikas and Arya on a conference call.
The panic in Ishan's voice was clearly evident.
He told them everything—that the boy he had killed ten years ago, his son now looked exactly like that dead boy.
He had noticed this uncanny resemblance only today.
Hearing this, Vikas couldn't believe his words and said, "Ishan, have you gone mad? When you killed that boy ten years ago, your son Ivan was already born and was 8 years old. How could that dead boy return as your son?"
Suddenly, Arya interrupted Vikas and told Ishan that if he was speaking the truth, he should show Ivan on a video call.
Ishan immediately switched the call to a video call, turned on the phone's speaker, and started walking toward Ivan's room.
Frightened and walking slowly, Ishan's heart was beating heavily. Due to panic, Ishan suddenly felt as if he was falling sick.
Ishan reached his son Ivan's room and saw that the door was half-open.
Ivan was lying on the bed, using his phone.
As soon as Vikas saw Ivan's face on the video call screen, a terrifying scream escaped his mouth out of fear, which echoed from the phone's speaker.
Hearing that frightening sound coming from the phone's speaker, Ishan's fear grew even more.
Ivan looked at Ishan in surprise and asked, "Oh dad, what was that sound?"
Covering up the situation, Ishan lied, "Nothing, son. It's just Vikas and Arya Uncle. They both wanted to see how much you've grown."
After that, Ishan turned the phone screen toward Ivan.
Vikas asked in a trembling voice, "How are you, Ivan? You've grown up so much."
Ivan replied, "I'm fine, Uncle. How are you?"
Vikas replied, "I'm doing fine too." Meanwhile, both Arya and Vikas were extremely shocked upon seeing Ivan's face, and they couldn't believe how this was even possible.
Then Arya said to Ivan, "Ivan, hand the phone to your Dad."
Following that, Arya told Ishan, "Vikas and I are coming over to your house today at 2:00 PM."
Arya asked Vikas if he was coming along, and Vikas agreed.
With that, Arya disconnected the call.
Silence filled the room, and Ishan walked outside without saying a single word.
A little later, Ivan took a shower, got ready for school, and came downstairs where his mother, Myra, was serving breakfast.
Myra knew nothing about the secret shared among those three men.
Ivan finished his breakfast, grabbed his bike keys, and left for school.
After the first period ended at school, as Ivan was standing outside, his girlfriend, Zoya Mirza, approached him along with her friend, Twinkle Gill.
Twinkle was stunned to see Ivan standing right in front of her.
She said, "I had an elder brother who was 18 years old ten years ago. One night, he suddenly left the house and never returned. We even filed a police report, but nothing was ever found. I am so shocked to see you today because your face looks exactly like his."
Ivan asked, "What was his name?"
Twinkle replied, "Amardeep."