Second Chance: A Dark Tale of Urban India-Chapter 100: Kavita’s Outrage

Rohit was about to sign the papers when a sharp voice intervened.

"Wait, Mr. Singhania."

The atmosphere turned silent. Everyone turned to the source.

A group of police officers appeared in the crowd. Their presence alone made all security hesitate — no one dared interfere.

At the front stood Senior Inspector Neerav Pandey. His expression was serious, unlike before.

Behind him, a woman broke down into sobs. It was none other than Akhil’s mother, Kavita Sharma, supported by a lady constable. She had a hateful gaze as she looked at everyone.

A murmur spread instantly.

Ragini approached her right away. "Kavita, what happened? Why are you like this?"

Kavita jerked her hand up. "Don’t touch me!"

Her voice cracked with rage and grief. "My son is missing! And you are doing a party here? Is this the type of people you are? Cold-hearted. That’s why your son came to me for love. You people only know money, money, and money."

Ragini wanted to say something, but her hands stopped. She seriously felt guilty and found no words to justify herself.

Everyone became tense. They all wanted to know who this lady was, why she came with police, and what authority she had to react like this toward the host.

Raj Singhania stepped forward like a responsible host, he projected. He knew they wouldn’t utter a word in his presence. "Inspector, she is a family friend. If you need any cooperation, don’t hesitate. We will help you any way you see fit."

Inspector Neerav had a paled expression. Individuals like Raj Singhania could make him vanish in the snap of a hand. Any disturbance to his public image wouldn’t be tolerated, but the evidence he got from the investigation was pointing toward Rohit, so he was very thoughtful about how to approach.

He kept his tone professional. "Mr. Singhania, the matter is indeed a little twisted..." He briefed him on the details of his findings in a low tone, and Raj’s expression froze as he looked at Rohit in disbelief.

"Are you sure about this? Because if you are not..." Raj threatened subtly.

Neerav folded his hands subtly. "Sir, nothing is certain. Maybe it’s manipulated, but if it comes to media, handling will be hard. We were forced to come here as she was making a scene in the station."

Raj scratched his chin in a thoughtful expression. He looked at Rohit trying to communicate with Kavita and then shook his head. "Whatever... don’t let it out. I will personally send him to the station tomorrow morning."

Neerav sighed in relief as he was able to get out of what he wanted.

Meanwhile, Rohit’s gears in his mind churned at full speed. He immediately figured something wrong had happened to Akhil and this interruption was somehow linked with him.

Kavita in his memories was always expressive and open to her thoughts. She didn’t play politics or power. Given how emotionally unstable Kavita was, things were going to get ugly. Maybe she was the broken puppet attached to the strings of his enemies from dark. Was it really too late?

He too approached her to calm her down but maintained his distance. "Aunty... what happened?"

The lady constable found it hard to control her. Kavita looked at him. "I want you to ask what happened. You boast as his true friend, right." She pointed straight at him. "He has been missing since two days. You told me that he will come sooner. Then why hasn’t he?"

She noticed the police leaving subtly and pointed out, "Where are you leaving? Why aren’t you asking questions?" She tried to point at Rohit. "You said he might know where my son is. Didn’t you say his last contact was with him? Ask him now— he is right here."

Neerav flinched. He blinked at the lady constable, who tried to calm her. "Madam, please behave yourself. We need to leave."

But Rohit stopped him. "Wait... I need to talk to her."

The lady constable reluctantly stopped, loosening her grip.

Kavita looked at Rohit and grabbed him. She sobbed uncontrollably. "Rohit... I want my son... please." She collapsed unconscious in his arms.

The party was abruptly ended and guests were requested to return. While Kavita was being taken under the wings of the Singhanias, her husband Kamalnath was informed but he couldn’t come due to an urgent session in court.

Murmurs rose in the crowd as they left. Wild theories ran.

"Did I hear it right... she did mention Rohit’s name?"

"What does she mean by last location?"

"Do you think he kidnapped him or something?"

The speculation was not certain but with every moment it became ugly. Jayesh, hearing the commotion, felt a little satisfied. He had planned everything — from sending the WhatsApp image of Akhil gagged to Kavita and giving a false tip to the police through their handlers as informers, leading to Rohit.

It was a shame she didn’t outright accuse Rohit, but the damage was done. With speculation running wild, dirt sure had been rubbed on the Singhanias’ face. One part of the plan done, another remaining for later. All he did was swim in the same stream that yielded an opportunity. His contractor wanted the judge’s sign on legal papers and Akhil happened to share common interest. Bad luck for Rohit — he faced the opposite current.

As he turned to leave, he saw Kalyani blocking his path.

She asked, "It didn’t happen as you said."

He smirked and extended his hand. "Have patience. At least he didn’t get to sign."

Finally she joined his smile and took his hand in a firm shake, only to be spotted and snapped by Akansha mittal from afar.

***

Meanwhile, the party ended abruptly. Rohit couldn’t sign the papers as he was forced to return. Right now he was alone in his room, deep in thought.

In front of him his laptop was open, all camera feeds interfaced and live. The corridors were empty, but one feed showed Ragini in her room, applying lotion in her gown.

Despite her beauty, his focus wasn’t on the feed. He was too invested in his thoughts. Where had it gone wrong? He had the best personal AI and unmatched hacking knowledge. He should be steps ahead of everyone, yet he kept getting trapped like a mouse.

A real hacker thrives on stealth, but the spotlight forced him into the open — a sitting duck waiting for the butcher’s knife to drop from behind at any moment.

There was always one thing after another, never giving him a moment of relief. Sure, he had his share of problems in his past life as a mercenary, but it wasn’t this intense.

First he transmigrated already shackled. Then his hand got bandaged. And now, as the situation looked, he might face legal troubles again.

More than that, he felt a slight guilt toward himself for his poor decision-making — dragging the case of Akhil’s missing message, was certainly a big mistake. But who would have thought Akhil would really get kidnapped and the police would come knocking at his door?

There is no man’s heart that can’t be moved by a woman’s intense tears. The same was true for Rohit. He still couldn’t forget Kavita’s tears, while in his past life he had hardly cared about such things.

Then he got a notification. Lisa alerted him to an image from Akansha — the smiling faces of Kalyani and Jayesh, shaking hands as everyone was leaving.

He slammed his fist on the desk, muttering, "I knew it, that fucking snake... he was behind this."

As he thought, the picture behind the scenes became clearer. He lacked hard evidence, but with Harsha’s gang pursuing Akhil and Jayesh’s influence, it wouldn’t be impossible.

Reaching Jayesh directly would be long waiting game, so he left that to Akansha. Harsha, though, he could deal with personally.

He called out, "Lisa, do we have any lead on Harsha?"

[No sir, not him nor any of his friends. But I got something from his Facebook profile.]

An image appeared — an old photo showing Harsha with DCP Divyani Chauhan a few years back.

Rohit immediately recalled the lady police officer who had visited him. What could be their relation? Didn’t she mention she had a nephew?

"Can you check her profile timeline from five years back?"

[No sir, her current account has limited information about her work and contact number.]

Rohit frowned. He could hack phones with numbers, but not without consent. Maybe he should hack the government voter registration site to trace the whole family root. That could be done later.

Then he remembered he still had metadata from all phone records. There had to be some hidden clue in there.

"Can you check the emergency contact or guardian contact list for this Harsha?"

[Yes sir, a number found. Want me to send the link?]

"No, get me his details first. What number is the SIM registered under? Get me all his current status data related to Harsha."

[Sir, it’s Balraj Tripathi, signed as guardian of Harsha. Job status: retired IAS officer, suspended for charges like malpractice, corruption, and currently admitted in hospital.]

Rohit narrowed his eyes. So many mishaps — it sounded unnatural unless someone was targeting him.

"Check his profile pic. See what we can find out."

A new image appeared — a bride and groom in a wedding photo. Lisa’s voice beamed. [Sir, we got the lead. He was the first husband of Divyani Chauhan and later divorced.]

Rohit smiled. "Finally. Let’s try again. Generate a temp number and send a direct link to connect to Divyani. Tell her it’s from Harsha and he wants to contact her through this link because he lost his phone. It’s urgent. If she’s really in touch with him, she’ll definitely connect."

[Good idea sir, sent.]

"Shouldn’t you be suggesting me?"

[Sir, we missed checking on Naveen Pandey’s phone. His phone is still hacked. Want me to put him in full-time surveillance?]

Rohit frowned. Currently only five people could be put in parallel mode, and he didn’t want to waste a slot. "No. Just keep checking his routine incoming messages. Any info from him, text or image?"

[Yes sir, but nothing too sensitive. Please check on this.]

His laptop screen interface automatically zoomed to one particular feed. It showed Raj Singhania sneaking downstairs, then knocking on one particular door.

The door opened. It was Ananya, the new lady, in a half-sleepy face, but he quickly stepped in, grabbed her, kissed her, and closed the door.

Rohit kept blinking for a while until he burst into laughing. "What a motherfucker..."

It makes much sense now, why he was hell bent on staying them.

Then he heard the door knock. The camera feed switched to his corridor thanks to Lisa’s automated skills. It was Ragini fidgeting in her gown, thinking whether she should knock or not.

Rohit smiled. "Good Job. Raj Singhania.. You take care of other’s wife. I will go and take care of your wife.. till their number comes."

He closed the laptop and went to open the door, putting on his serious face.

Ragini was surprised. "You aren’t asleep."

Rohit pulled her inside, closed the door, and pinned her against it. His vision lingered at her cleavage "I tried.. but couldn’t. "

Artwork.

Ragini averted her eyes. "Let me help you then..."