As that sharp stone struck right in the middle of the boy's head, a heavy and terrifying sound echoed.
Without uttering a single word, the boy collapsed straight to the ground.
The stone had pierced deep into his skull, and the very next moment, a stream of blood gushed out rapidly and spread across the ground.
Seeing the flowing blood, Ishan's anger vanished in a single instant, and instead, a deep fear ran through his entire body.
Ishan stood frozen there like a statue, unable to understand what he should do.
Right then, Vikas and Arya reached the boy in a state of panic.
Arya bent down and checked his breathing and pulse with trembling hands.
Her hands were stained with blood, and the terror of death was clearly visible on her face.
In a grave and frightened voice, she said to Ishan, "Ishan... he is dead! You have killed him, his pulse has stopped!"
Hearing Arya's words, the ground slipped from under Ishan's feet, and he broke down completely from within.
On the other side, Vikas's condition was also deteriorating out of fear.
He was drenched in sweat from panic and immediately looked on both sides of the road to see if anyone was coming.
Silence prevailed all around.
Looking into Ishan's eyes, Vikas tried to steady himself and said, "Ishan, snap out of it! No one has come down this path yet, nor has anyone seen us. If we quietly slip away from here, no one will ever know. But if the police catch you in this condition, not only will your life be ruined, but all of us will also get trapped in this trouble."
Arya also agreed fearfully, "Vikas is right. We don't know this boy at all, nor did he know us. But if someone sees us with this blood-stained corpse, we will all be trapped on the charge of this murder. Wisdom lies in getting out of here."
Vikas continued, "Yes, it's better to leave from here, but first let's remove this corpse from here and keep it in that old hut nearby." Before putting him in the hut, Arya searched the boy's pockets to see if there was a phone or anything, but there was neither any money nor a phone in his pocket—nothing at all.
After that, both of them panicked, lifted the boy's corpse, and placed it inside the hut.
Ishan kept watching all this with silent eyes; it felt to him as if he had got trapped in a bad dream. After fleeing the scene, the three of them sat in Ishan's car and left straight for the city.
"Ishan was so terrified that he did not return home that night and instead stayed at his own shopping mall in the city."
When Ivan found out through a live call on his smartwatch at home that his father had killed that boy (Amaradeep), he felt very bad.
He was in a dilemma about what he should do.
Should he tell everyone, including his mother and the police, the truth?
Should he send his own father to jail?
He was lost in all these thoughts.
On the other side, Ishan's mental state was continuously deteriorating.
While driving, the thought kept recurring in his mind: should he kill his own son?
He was afraid that Ivan might kill him first.
Meanwhile, another question was troubling Ivan: where had the corpse disappeared from the hut that night?
And who was that boy planning to fight with?
The whole truth was still hidden.
Ivan decided that before doing anything, he had to find the answers to these questions.
A short while later, Ishan reached home.
The next morning, as he was stepping out of his room, he heard someone crying.
He stopped and began to listen closely.
That voice sounded like Ivan's.
Trembling with fear, he slowly moved towards Ivan's room.
As he got closer, the sound of sobs grew even louder.
Right when Ishan was about to enter the room in panic, Ivan quietly stepped out, and the crying suddenly stopped.
Ivan was leaving for his tuition.
Ishan stopped him and asked, "Son, were you crying?"
Ivan replied with surprise, "No, why would I cry early in the morning?" Ivan stared at his father for a moment and then walked away.
Ishan fell into confusion and thought, "Is Ivan trying to scare me? Is he just acting innocent?"
On the other side, as soon as he stepped out of the house, Ivan felt that his father had broken down so much out of fear that he was now suffering from hallucinations.
After his tuition, Ivan followed his daily routine.
After coming back from school and having lunch, he walked towards Vikas's house to get his smartwatch back.
On the way, he called Vikas's daughter, Tara.
When she picked up the phone, Ivan asked, "How are you, Tara? Who else is at home?"
Tara replied, "I'm fine. Mom and Dad are not home right now; I'm watching a movie alone."
Upon reaching Tara's house, Ivan saw that the car was parked outside and no one was around.
He tiptoed towards the car, opened the door, took out his smartwatch taped under the seat, and kept it in his pocket.
Then he went and rang the doorbell.
Tara was surprised to see him because Ivan hadn't informed her before coming.
Tara took him inside and offered him tea.
After returning home, Ivan had many questions regarding Amaradeep. He could have asked Twinkle at school, but he didn't want to take his friendship with her any further.
He felt that finding out on his own was much better.
Therefore, along with a friend of his from his own village, Raju, he set out towards the village where Twinkle's family used to live earlier.
When Twinkle had told Ivan about her brother Amaradeep, she had also mentioned that when her brother left home one day and never returned, they used to live in that same village, although they had now shifted to the city.
Ivan's village was neither too far nor too close to Twinkle's old village.
Upon reaching there, they stopped at a small shop.
The shopkeeper started looking at Ivan very closely, as if he couldn't believe his eyes.
Catching his gaze, Ivan started the conversation: "Uncle, I heard that ten years ago a boy used to live in this village who looked exactly like me. I think his name was Amaradeep?"
The shopkeeper took a long breath and said, "Yes, son, you are absolutely right. You look just like him."
Out of curiosity, Ivan asked, "I heard he disappeared suddenly. Do you know how all this happened?"
The shopkeeper replied, "Son, ten years ago, Amaradeep..."