After her father’s funeral, she was forced to leave home – and her stepmother took away everything she owned… But his father left something for him that he never expected…

After the funeral, she was forced to leave – and her stepmother took everything… But her father left something she would never have expected… 😲😲😲

The wind was whispering from the thorny branches above the Delhi cemetery, rattling the dried neem leaves like a warning. Asarohi didn’t move. She stood motionless in her thin woollen shawl, her eyes fixed on the fresh mound of mud on which all the rest of her world now stood.

Behind him, footsteps could be heard on the frozen gravel of the cemetery path, but he did not look back. The voices mingled with each other—hollow sensations in Hindi, written sympathy, murmurs of “so sorry” and “how young she was.” All meaningless. All irrelevant.

“Ascending, now let’s go. They don’t make a spectacle,” came a voice behind him, sweet, steady. Not cold, but hollow. She was well aware of that tone. Shalini was always adept at expressing concern.

Aarohi finally turned. Her stepmother’s face was slightly hidden by the black mesh veil, although Aarohi suspected that tears must have been hidden in it. “It’s time to go,” Shalini said softly, placing a gloved hand on Aarohi’s arm.

Aarohi nodded slowly. He had nowhere else to go. Not yet.

But as they walked towards the waiting white Ambassador car, a strange heaviness formed in his chest—apart from grief. Not too fast, not too soft. Just too heavy. It was as if a thread had been cut silently, and he did not know that it had been broken.

The journey home was silent.

And when they reached their old apartment in south Delhi, there was a slight change. The lock closed differently. The air inside the flat seemed colder than the outside. Then he saw them—two suitcases in the hallway, already full.

He doesn’t remember what he said before. Or what Shalini answered.

Just suddenly, the disgusting realization that the warmth she once called her home had disappeared that same week with her father. There is no room for negotiation. There’s no chance to resist. Not to say goodbye to the books, letters, or worn-out family photographic albums that she believed to be her own from memory.

Later, alone on that quiet street, she was sitting on a suitcase that did not belong to her. The winter sky was hanging down, and the snow-like fog was beginning to cover without a sound. No one passed by. No one asked.

But then… Someone asked.

A voice called out his name—a voice he hadn’t heard in years.

And that’s when the secrets began to unfold. Not of his grief, but of something very old. A secret written not in whispering warnings, but in signatures and safes. A truth that awaited, hidden behind silent corners and closed drawers. A truth wrought by love and foresight—by the very man who had ever truly known his heart.

He didn’t know it yet… But the story didn’t end there

Part 2 – Aarohi turned around and saw the letter
in a silk dupatta, her heart beating loudly. In the haze, stood Rajesh uncle – his father’s best friend from college days in Jaipur. He was wearing an old woollen coat, his eyes red.

“Aarohi son… You can’t stay out here. Come with me. ”

In Rajesh’s small room in the old Chandni Chowk neighbourhood, as the heat from the oil stove spread, he pulled out an old ebony box from a wooden cupboard. The lid had her father’s name – Vikram Sharma – beautifully engraved on it.

Rajesh opened the box, inside was a dark red silk scarf, smelling a faint of camphor. When he removed the cloth, an old yellow envelope sealed with red wax came out.

“Before he died, your father sent this to me. He told me… To give it to you only when he is not here to protect you. ”

Aarohi opened the envelope with trembling hands. Inside was a letter written in familiar slanting handwriting and an old brass key.

The letter began like this:

“Dear ascendant,

If you’re reading this, it means I’ve left you. But you have to know the truth: Shalini is not what you think she is. I was married to him not because of love, but because of a compromise… An essential security when I was embroiled in a property dispute.

I bought the old family mansion in Jaipur in your name. I didn’t tell anyone, not even Shalini. This key opens the back door – where no one will know. Inside, you will not only find a house, but also documents that prove that you are the sole heir to the entire property of the Sharma family.

But be careful… Shalini will find a way to get them.

I’m sure you’re strong enough to defend it.
– Vikram”

Aarohi looked up, tears rolling down her face.

“Rajesh uncle… He kicked me out of the house. I don’t have anything left. ”

Rajesh squeezed her hand:

“You have more than you think. And we will go to Jaipur. But all this has to be kept secret… If Shalini finds out, everything will be snatched away. ”

Outside, the sounds of rickshaw horns and night cries echoed from Old Delhi. Aarohi grabbed the keys in her hand. For the first time since the funeral, there was not only pain in her heart – but also a new fire: determination to get back what belonged to her.

Part 3 – Journey to Jaipur
Two days later, when the night was still dark, Aarohi and Rajesh quietly left Chandni Chowk. They boarded a long-distance compartment, avoiding trains for fear of being named. From her window seat, Aarohi looked at the sleeping streets of Delhi, the yellow light crashing against the old walls, a mixture of anxiety and hope.

Rajesh leaned in and whispered,

“On reaching Jaipur, we will get off at a small stop outside the city. From there, I have an old friend who can take us on a walk to the mansion. No one will know that you are back. ”

Asarohi nodded, her hand still holding the brass key in the sweater pocket. She knew that Shalini would not be let go easily. And she was right.

In a luxurious room in Delhi…
Shalini was sitting at an ebony table, the phone close to her ear.

“She’s gone. Someone saw Aarohi boarding a bus to Jaipur. Don’t let him get to that house. Got it?”

The man’s voice was heavy:

“I’ll take care of it. But it will cost more… My eyes and ears are not cheap in Rajasthan. ”

Shalini said with a cold smile:

“Until she steps into the mansion. ”

On its way to
Jaipur, when the bus stopped at a small resting place, Aarohi stepped out to get a bottle of water. As he looked back, his eyes fell on a man standing in the far corner of the parking lot, his eyes fixed on him. A white shirt, a Rajasthani-style scarf, but his eyes were sharper than the eyes of a passer-by.

She quickly turned back to her seat and whispered to Rajesh:

“Uncle… I think someone is following me. ”

Rajesh quickly looked out of the window, his face darkened:

“Don’t look back. The bus is about to leave, We’ll change course when we get to the stop. ”

As the sunset painted the walls of the ancient city pink, the bus stopped at a small stop. Rajesh took Aarohi through narrow lanes, avoiding the main roads. Eventually, they stood in front of a high, rusty iron gate hidden behind an old neem tree.

“That’s the back way your father told you about. Hurry up, before anyone finds out,” whispered Rajesh.

Aarohi took out a brass key and inserted it into the lock. There was a “click” – as if it had unlocked some hidden part of his memories. The gate opened slightly, revealing a stone path that led to an ancient mansion, whose tiled roof was covered with moss, but still radiating the glory of its glorious days.

But as soon as they entered the inner courtyard… A voice echoed from ahead:

“I thought you were wiser, Ascending. ”

Shalini stood there, in a bright red silk saree, her eyes shining in the sunset. Beside him were two stout men, with their arms crossed.

“This house… It will never be yours. Shalini emphasized every word, her voice as cold as a knife.

Aarohi held the keys tight in her hand, her heart beating like a drum. She knew that it was no longer a family affair – it was a war. And she wasn’t going to run away.

Part 4 – Night
in the mansion There was an atmosphere of tension in the courtyard of the mansion. The hoarse cawing of crows on the old tiled roof looked ominous. Rajesh took a step forward, stopping Aarohi.

“Shalini, the law has not given you this house yet. You have no right to kick us out. He said, restrained in his voice.

Shalini pursed her lips slightly.

“The law? In Rajasthan, it is not the law that decides, but the power. ”

One of the two men stepped forward with the intention of snatching the keys from Aarohi’s hand. But suddenly, a police siren sounded from the gate. Shalini quickly motioned for them to back off.

“This game is not over, Ascension. You don’t know who you’re up against. Shalini left, her red saree waving like extinguished embers in the wind.

It was night and
Aarohi and Rajesh stayed in the mansion. No electricity, no people, just the dim light of the oil lamps that Rajesh had found.

The house was so large that the sound of their footsteps echoed in the cold stone corridors. Photographs of the ancestors of the Sharma family hung on the walls, their faces grim, their eyes watching their every move.

When Rajesh closed the main door, Aarohi went into her father’s old studyroom. The light of the oil lamp was spreading on the dusty bookshelves, and then… He saw something strange: an oil painting slightly off the wall.

She went there and pulled the picture down. Behind him was a wall with straight grooves. Aarohi’s hand trembled when she went after him, and a section of the brick wall suddenly retreated, showing a crack. Inside was a small iron chest.

The copper key was still warm in his hand. Aarohi put it in the lock – she fit perfectly.

The lid of the
trunk opened, and inside there was not gold or silver, but a thick file and a USB. The cover of the file read, in bold letters:

“Sharma Property – Jaipur Property Deed and Contract – Waris: Aarohi Sharma”.

He turned it over quickly, his heart beating fast. All these legal documents were proving that she was the legal owner not only of the mansion but also of many other properties in Jaipur and Delhi.

At the bottom of the file was a handwritten letter from her father:

“Aarohi,
if you find this, it means you have the courage to enter the place I want you to protect. The attached USB has audio and video recordings – proof that Shalini had forced me to sign some forged documents in order to grab the property. If needed, give it to lawyer Ramesh Kapoor in Jaipur. They will know what to do. ”

Aarohi gripped the file tightly. It was more than just evidence – it was a weapon that could end Shalini’s power game.

In the night, the noise
Rajesh ran in, gasping:

“Aarohi, someone has just climbed the outer wall. We have to lock all the doors!”

Footsteps echoed in the distance in the courtyard, accompanied by the whistling sound of the wind coming through the cracks of the doors. Aarohi held the file close to her chest, her eyes no longer trembling with fear.

“No, no. We’re not going to run away tonight. Now it’s time to start the fight. Read Part 5 first.