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Chapter 36 : The Proof

The sky outside had already started to shift from black to a tired grey, but Enzo hadn't noticed.

He hadn't slept. Not even for a minute.

He had tossed and turned for hours, the weight in his chest never letting up. Every time he closed his eyes, it was the same loop again. Aaravi's face. His mother's. The photos. Her laugh. The silence. The ache.

Why?

That word had echoed in his skull all night like a dripping tap that refused to stop.

Why had she been left behind?

Why didn't they know about her?

Why did he get everything, while she got... crumbs?

He lay flat on his back now, arms flung above his head, eyes wide and bloodshot as they stared at the blank ceiling fan above him. The restlessness wouldn't leave his limbs. It was crawling under his skin, curling in his gut.

He couldn't do this alone.

He wanted to tell someone. He needed to.
His brothers. His father. His family. It was their right too, wasn't it?

If this was real-if Aaravi was truly his sister-then this wasn't just his story.

It was theirs too.

They deserved to know.

And yet-there was a voice in the back of his mind. Small, trembling. Stubborn.

What if it's not real?

What if this was just a spiral? What if this was nothing more than a heart trying to find patterns where none existed?

He shook his head.

No.

He'd seen the photo.

He'd seen her face.

This wasn't a maybe. This was a scream dressed as silence.

But still... the voice lingered.

What if you're wrong?

He clenched his jaw and tried to suppress it, bury it beneath the weight of the truth he felt in his bones-but the doubt slithered around the edges.

He needed more.

One photo wasn't enough. One resemblance wasn't enough.

He needed proof.

He sat up slowly, dragging a hand through his hair. His phone blinked weakly on the nightstand. He picked it up and stared at the home screen, as if the device could somehow hand him the answers.

If he could just... see a photo of Aaravi's grandparents. Her maternal grandparents.

And his mother's parents.

That would seal it.

If they matched.

It would all fall into place.

His fingers flew to the gallery, to every backup, every shared family album folder.

Nothing.

No photos of them.

He groaned, low and frustrated, dropping the phone onto his chest with a soft thud.

Of course. Of course there wouldn't be any. His family never had a good relationship with his mother's side. He'd heard that line a thousand times over the years.