The next morning, Vijayawada woke under a cloud of mourning.
Newspapers carried Lakshmi Rajyam's photograph on their front pages.
Television channels continued broadcasting tributes.
Across the city, people still spoke of the Chief Minister in the past tense.
Only two people knew she was alive.
Lakshmi herself...
and Sathyamoorthy.
Lakshmi unfolded a small handwritten note.
There is only one person we can trust enough to learn what happened after my disappearance.
My sister, Haripriya.
Sathyamoorthy looked at her.
If she sees you...
everything becomes emotional.
She might react without thinking.
Lakshmi agreed.
That is why I won't meet her.
You will.
She wrote an address on the paper.
A modest Kuchipudi academy on the outskirts of Vijayawada.
Haripriya often practiced there whenever she wanted to stay away from politics.
Sathyamoorthy folded the paper carefully.
How should I introduce myself?
Lakshmi thought for a moment.
Don't mention me.
Not yet.
Use your pen name.
Ashok Chakravarthy.
Not as the novelist.
Just tell her you are an archivist collecting memories of public figures and that you had worked with me personally on documenting community projects.
She respects honest work.
She'll speak if she trusts you.
Sathyamoorthy nodded.
An hour later, he reached the academy.
The sound of ankle bells echoed through the practice hall.
Young dancers rehearsed while a woman calmly corrected their movements.
It was Haripriya.
She carried herself with grace, but the sorrow in her face was impossible to miss.
When the class ended, Sathyamoorthy approached her politely.
Excuse me.
Are you Haripriya?
She turned toward him.
Yes.
He introduced himself.
My name is Ashok Chakravarthy.
I'm an archivist.
I worked with your sister personally on documenting several public welfare initiatives.
I came to pay my respects.
The name meant nothing to her.
Which was exactly what Lakshmi had expected.
Haripriya invited him to sit beneath a large neem tree outside the academy.
For a few moments, neither of them spoke.
Finally she asked,
You said you worked with my sister.
Did she ever speak about our family?
Sathyamoorthy smiled gently.
Many times.
She always spoke proudly of you.
Haripriya lowered her eyes.
She always encouraged my dance.
Even after becoming Chief Minister...
she never forgot to ask about my performances.
A quiet silence followed.
Sathyamoorthy asked carefully,
Before... everything happened...
did she tell you anything unusual?
Anything that seemed important?
Haripriya thought for several seconds.
Then nodded slowly.
The night before she disappeared...
she called me.
Her voice sounded different.
Calm...
but careful.
She continued.
She told me not to believe every piece of news.
She asked me not to search for her.
At that time, I thought she was only handling a political crisis.
I never imagined...
those would be the last words I would hear from her.
Her voice began to tremble.
Then came the next morning.
Nobody could contact her.
Government officials became nervous.
Security officers stopped answering questions.
By evening...
everyone was searching.
She looked into the distance, remembering.
The strangest part wasn't her disappearance.
It was how quickly everyone around her began acting as though they already knew something terrible had happened.
Almost...
too quickly.
Sathyamoorthy listened without interrupting.
A few days later...
people started asking me strange questions.
Whether Akka had spoken to me.
Whether she planned to travel.
Whether she trusted anyone outside politics.
The same questions...
asked by different people.
He quietly made a mental note.
Haripriya continued.
Then came the news of the accident.
I refused to believe it.
Not because I had proof.
Because something inside me felt wrong.
She looked at Sathyamoorthy.
Do you know what hurt the most?
He shook his head.
Nobody wanted to know what she had told me.
They only wanted to know where she might have gone.
It felt as though they were searching for information...
not for my sister.
A long silence followed.
Sathyamoorthy realized her instincts matched Lakshmi's own suspicions.
Someone had been collecting fragments of information from everyone close to her.
Before leaving, Haripriya spoke again.
Mr. Ashok...
If you truly worked with my sister...
tell me honestly.
Do you know anything...
anything at all...
about what really happened before her death?
Sathyamoorthy looked at her for a long moment.
He wanted to tell her the truth.
That Lakshmi Rajyam was alive.
That she was only a few kilometres away.
But one emotional moment could destroy everything they had planned.
He answered carefully.
I don't know the full truth yet.
But I believe the story isn't over.
Haripriya looked at him with quiet hope.
For the first time in days...
those words gave her something the news never had.
A reason not to stop believing.
As Sathyamoorthy walked away from the academy, he looked back once.
Haripriya stood alone beneath the neem tree, staring at the empty practice hall.
Still mourning.
Still waiting.
Unaware that her sister was alive and closer than she had ever imagined.