🕯️ Scene: “The Dinner Table Isn’t Just a Table”

Setting: Malhotra Mansion, Lucknow – 8:15 PM

Weather: Slight drizzle outside; warm lighting inside

POV: Aarav Malhotra (Age 30)

There’s something sacred—and slightly suffocating—about the dining table in the Malhotra mansion.

It’s not just a piece of carved mahogany. It’s a stage. A courtroom. A shrine.

And tonight, like every other night, it’s also a quiet battlefield.

I slide into my usual seat at the far end, half-heartedly loosening my tie. My phone buzzes with unread messages—three directors, two models, and one influencer crisis waiting to explode. But right now, none of that matters.

This is family time.

Across from me, the general sits like he’s about to debrief us after a mission.

Rajendra Malhotra. 55.

Retired Army General. Founder of Malhotra Vogue, India’s most influential fashion empire—and the only man I know who can command silence with just a glance.

> “You’re late again,” he says without looking up from his soup.

“So is half the country,” I mutter, picking up my spoon.

To his right, already halfway through her wine, sits my mother, Prisha Malhotra. 53.

Ex-runway queen. Now reigning fashion designer. The force behind Anahita Originals—a label that once ruled Paris, Milan, and Dad’s patience.

> “Aarav,” she sighs, “your hair. It's giving post-breakdown CEO, not powerful tycoon.”

“Thanks, Ma. That’s exactly the aesthetic I was going for.”

She rolls her eyes, clicks her tongue, and goes back to her salad like she hasn’t just wounded me deeper than any PR disaster ever could.

Next to me, there’s an empty chair.

Still set. Still untouched.

It’s been two years, and no one’s moved Karthik bhaiya’s plate.

Not even once.

He was 35. CEO of Malhotra Vogue. The older son. The ideal son.

Then one rainy night, he left for a “quick meeting” in Delhi.

Never came back.

No ransom. No body. No goodbye.

Just a broken phone call. A scream. And silence.

Beside the empty chair sits his shadow—Raghini bhabhi. 35.

Award-winning author. Brilliant. Composed.

Still wears his ring. Still signs her books as R.K. Malhotra.

Still hopes. Even if she doesn’t say it aloud.

> “Kaira, darling. Just one more bite?” she says softly.

At the corner of the table, seated like a doll misplaced in a glass cabinet—

Kaira. Five.

Our niece. Our fragile heart.

She hasn’t spoken to a soul outside the family since that night.

Doctors called it selective mutism.

Ma calls it trauma.

I call it proof that she knows something.

Something none of us do.

She flinches when thunder cracks outside. Her little hand grips her father’s old cufflink like a charm.

She still wears it on a red thread like a bracelet.

Like it can protect her.

Like he’s still here.

She looks up suddenly—right at me.

And for a second, I think she might speak.

Might say something. Anything.

But instead, she gently shakes her head and hides her face in her bhabhi’s dupatta.

> “Nightmares again?” I ask quietly.

Raghini nods without looking at me.

I hate how helpless that makes me feel.

The room falls quiet again.

Only the clink of cutlery and the weight of things unspoken remain.

Then, Ma breaks the silence.

> “So, Aarav. Any updates on your marriage plans?”

“Any updates on your therapy sessions?” I shoot back, half-grinning.

Dad glares.

Ma gasps.

Raghini lets out the tiniest laugh.

Even Kaira...smiles. Just a flicker. But real.

> And just like that, the storm outside seems a little softer.

But inside... we all still sit in the shadow of a man who never truly left the table.

💫 Character Introduction Recap:

Character Age Role Personality

Aarav Malhotra 30 ML, CEO of Nova Entertainment & holder of Malhotra Vogue Witty, responsible, carrying hidden emotional weight

Rajendra Malhotra 55 Father, Retired General, Founder of Malhotra Vogue Stern, commanding, emotionally restrained

Prisha Malhotra 53 Mother, Fashion Designer Glamorous, dramatic, sharp-tongued

Karthik Malhotra 35 Missing elder brother, former CEO of Malhotra Vogue Ideal son, vanished mysteriously

Raghini Karthik Malhotra 35 Sister-in-law, mystery writer Calm, emotionally composed, quietly grieving

Kaira Malhotra 5 Niece, daughter of Karthik & Raghini Silent since trauma, only talks to close family, suffers nightmares

🍽️ Scene: “Goodbye, But Pass the Pickle First”

Setting: Khanna Residence, Lucknow – 8:35 PM

Weather: Cardboard boxes everywhere, fans whirring, and the comforting smell of dal tadka in the air

POV: Author Narration

If the Malhotra dining table is a shrine of silence and shadows, the Khanna family’s dinner is a comedy show that refuses to stick to its script.

Cardboard boxes line the corners, half-packed with framed memories and old sweaters that nobody wore but refused to throw. Tomorrow, they shift to a new house across town—a so-called “fresh start.”

But tonight?

Tonight, they are chaos wrapped in paratha.

Dr. Aarush Khanna, 56, cardiologist and doting father, is busy arguing with his wife over packing the pressure cooker.

> “Nisha, we don’t need three of these in the new kitchen!” “And we didn’t need your sister’s advice in our marriage either, but here we are,” she fires back.

Professor Nisha Khanna, 54, physics lecturer with a sarcasm sharper than her eyeliner, continues her lecture—not on string theory, but on who misplaced her turmeric box.

At the center of it all sits Amaira Khanna, 27.

A neurologist with a heart too soft and a laugh too loud.

She’s barefoot, in a hoodie, hair messy, helping Mayra butter the rotis while secretly texting a patient’s test result to a junior resident. She’s the kind of woman who giggles while holding scalpels—and cries during toothpaste ads.

> “Mayra, that’s the fourth roti you’ve burnt!” “They’re toasted! That’s a trend now,” Mayra defends, with flour on her nose.

Mayra Khanna, 25. The youngest, the softest, the dreamer. Currently working in Malhotra Vogue under Raghini Malhotra’s watchful eye. She still believes every heartbreak deserves a cupcake, and that love might just fix everything.

And then, like a well-timed villain cue—

Amar Khanna, 30, enters the kitchen.

Cold stare. Rolled sleeves. A man who treats silence like a sword.

To most, he’s the overachieving eldest brother.

To his sisters?

He’s that guy who once froze their Barbie dolls in a science experiment and never apologized.

> “Smells like someone’s trying to poison us again,” he remarks, glancing at Mayra’s roti. “It’s called cooking with love,” she huffs. “Then kindly exclude me from your affection.”

Unknown to his family, Amar is also the founder of Alectrona Corp—a secretive, cutting-edge tech and weapons conglomerate.

He’s never been seen at the company. He sends encrypted emails. His employees call him “Mr. Vox.”

Even more secretly, he’s a silent investor in Aarav Malhotra’s Nova Entertainment, which he claims is just “a side distraction.”

Amaira suspects something—but she lets it go. Everyone’s allowed one mysterious hobby, right?

> “You’re shifting tomorrow. Shouldn’t you girls be panicking already?” Amar asks, smirking as he sits. “Already did that. At 5 p.m. We’ve moved on to denial now,” Amaira grins.

The family finally sits. Sort of. Cutlery clinks. Voices overlap. Laughter blooms and fades.

Somewhere in the background, a packing tape roll spins lazily off the table. No one bothers.

🎭 Meanwhile… In Another Corner of Lucknow

Aarav Malhotra stares at his whiskey glass, letting ice melt slowly.

He thinks of the company board meeting he postponed.

Of the rumors about a hacker linked to his data breach last year—rumors pointing toward a ghostlike figure called “Mr. Vox.”

Of Karthik’s chair that still sits at his family table, untouched.

And of course, of his mother asking about marriage between gulps of red wine.

💡 The Invisible Thread

If Amaira met Aarav...

Her chaos would clash with his control. Her laughter would cut through his silence.

She’d find him brooding and dramatic. He’d find her annoyingly cheerful.

But both carry something no one sees:

> Loss they don’t talk about.

Secrets they keep hidden even from themselves.

And families they both love too much to ever escape from.

They don’t know it yet—but the storm that brings them together…

Will either drown them both.

Or clear the skies forever.

✨ Character Summary – Khanna Family

Character Age Role Personality

Amaira Khanna 27 FL, Neurologist Funny, warm-hearted, brilliant, messy

Amar Khanna 30 Eldest brother, secret tech/weapons CEO Cold, mysterious, protective, sharp

Mayra Khanna 25 Youngest sister, works at Malhotra Vogue Innocent, soft, passionate, emotional

Dr. Aarush Khanna 56 Father, Cardiologist Caring, calm, emotionally intuitive

Prof. Nisha Khanna 54 Mother, Physics Lecturer Witty, sarcastic, strong-willed