Day 4: Rohan broke down. “She didn’t jump. She was pushed. I saw hands. Two hands. From behind.”
Arjun froze. His face, already pale, turned grey.
Vikram signed. Priya signed. Rohan signed. Arjun refused.
That night, the judge summoned them one by one to his room. He gave each a choice: confess publicly to the police, or sign away their inheritance to a domestic violence shelter in Anjali’s name.
The family arrived at the crumbling Narsimhan estate—a Gothic monstrosity of black granite and creeping ivy. Inside, the air smelled of sandalwood and secrets. The old judge sat in his wheelchair, an oxygen tube curling like a silver serpent around his neck. His eyes, however, were razor-sharp.
“Then you will face my final wish,” the judge said.
The game was ruthless. The judge had installed hidden cameras and voice stress analyzers. Each night, he would review the footage and, in the morning, confront one child.