Krish blinks. “What?”
I point at the bracelet. “This belonged to Shamsher Vardhaan. Siya told me it was one half of a matching set. Her mother still wears the other half… a matching ring. If Shamsher Vardhaan was even half as shrewd and protective of his family as people claim he was, then there’s a damn good chance he would’ve found a way to keep track of his wife if anything ever happened to her.”
Krish immediately picks up the bracelet and examines it before turning back towards his laptop. “If you’re right, and both pieces were modified as part of the same tracking system,” he mutters, his fingers already moving across the keyboard, “there should be something connecting them. A registration code, an identification signature, an encrypted frequency... something.”
I cross my arms, hopeful. “Then find it.”
He doesn’t even look up. Minutes pass. Then more. The room grows increasingly tense. Krish keeps digging through old records, encrypted databases, and private security archives. Then, suddenly, he freezes.
A map appears on the screen, showing a weak, blinking signal.
My pulse immediately spikes as Krish zooms in.
“Raghav, you are a genius,” Krish grins. “Your quick thinking helped us. Congratulations.” His grin widens as he points towards the blinking signal. “We just found Siya’s mother.”
The room springs into action. I move beside Krish as he zooms in on the blinking signal. It’s coming from somewhere inside Shivtara Valley, from a small abandoned house tucked away on a remote hillside, half-hidden among the rocky terrain. It’s exactly the kind of place Samarjeet would choose as a temporary hideout.
The signal weakens for a second before blinking back to life. I stare at that tiny dot. That’s it. We know where to hunt now. My fingers curl into fists as I look at Ayaan, who’s already loading his weapon. Trisha is on the comms, ordering the teams to get ready. Krish pulls up the approach routes and satellite overlays around the location.
I pick up my gun and slide a fresh magazine into place. I look at the blinking dot one last time and walk out to bring Siya’s mom home.
KRITI
Hideout – Shivtara Valley
I pace the room restlessly, unable to stay still. This old house feels suffocating, and the longer I wait here without knowing what’s happening at RK Estate, the worse it gets. I’ve tied Rukmini Aunty to a chair in the corner, her wrists bound tightly behind her back. I even gagged her to keep her quiet. But none of it stops her from glaring at me. She knows exactly who helpedbring her here, and I can see the accusation in her eyes every time I look at her.
So I don’t. My thoughts drift elsewhere. Back to RK Estate. To the gunfire I heard before leaving. To Raghav. Suddenly, the door bursts open, and I whirl around to see Samarjeet storming inside, alive. The relief hits me, but then I remember the gunfire.
I march straight towards him and grab his shirt. “What the hell did you do?”
His expression hardens.
“You told me you wanted your mother back.” I shove him hard. “You told me you wanted Siya out of Raghav’s life. But when I took your mother out of RK Estate, that place looked like a damn war zone.” My grip tightens on his collar. “Tell me Raghav is okay.”
And for the first time, I realise I don’t care about Samarjeet’s plan or the revenge he came here for anymore. I only care about one thing. Raghav.
Samarjeet’s eyes darken. He grabs my wrists and throws me away from him. I stumble backwards and crash beside Aunty’s chair, barely catching myself before hitting the floor.
“Enough!” His roar fills the room. “I don’t want to hear his name again.”
“You’ll have to.” I slowly push myself upright, glaring at him. “You’ll have to hear it because I helped you only because you wanted Siya away from Raghav, and so did I. But if I had known this was never about Siya...” I shake my head in disbelief, the truth finally hitting me. “If I had known you were coming for Raghav’s life too… I would’ve never helped you.”
Samarjeet stares at me, then he lets out a dark laugh. “You still don’t understand, do you, Kriti?” he shouts. “Raghav was always going to die.” My heart drops. “And you’re right. I didn’t come here only for Siya or my mother. No. I don’t give a damn whether either of them lives or dies. I came back forwhat Raghav took from me back in Cape Town. My dignity. My honour. My place in the underworld.” His voice rises with every word. “If he thinks he can just show up after years and become the hero in the underworld again, he’s wrong. I won’t let him win. Ever.”
The hatred in his eyes sends a chill through me. For a moment, I don’t recognise the man standing before me. Samarjeet and I go way back, to when I was studying winemaking in France. That’s where we met first and fell in love. Or at least, that’s what we thought. But I didn’t know at first that he was a son of a mafia kingpin and was about to inherit an empire built on blood and violence. And he’d also cheated on me too many times. So, I left him. He didn’t care either. Our two-year affair ended more amicably than I thought it would.
I moved on, returned to my hometown, and joined RK Estate as its sommelier. And then Raghav came into my life. Now, after years of obsessing over him, I found out that Raghav too was from the same world… the underworld. I know I shouldn’t want him as I left Samarjeet for that very reason. But it’s Raghav. He’s different, and I don’t want to lose him.
A few weeks ago, Samarjeet contacted me and claimed that Raghav, the man I worked for, had forcefully married his sister, Siya, and taken her away. He said all he wanted was to rescue Siya and their mother from Raghav’s grasp and bring them home. I wanted Siya away from Raghav too, so I agreed to help him. But after seeing the massacre back at RK Estate tonight, I’m beginning to realise that I’ve made a big mistake. Samarjeet never told me there would be a war and that he intended to kill Raghav. And if Raghav finds out that I’m the one who helped Samarjeet get inside his estate and take Rukmini Aunty... he’ll come after me too.
Just then, Samarjeet strides across the room towards his mother. Aunty is still tied to the chair, her wrists bound tightlybehind her back. The ropes have already left angry red marks across her skin, showing just how hard she has struggled against them. He stops in front of her and slowly bends down until he’s almost at eye level with her.
“I shot Siya,” he says, almost proudly.
My heartbeat stops. Aunty looks horrified as she begins struggling harder to free herself, all the while glaring at her son.
He lets out a sinister laugh. “I’m sure she’s dead by now.”
