The chill of that fateful morning clung to Meera's memory like a ghost, refusing to fade. She knelt beside Sameer, shaking his limp body as tears streaked her face, each sob heavier than the last. Her fingers, trembling and cold, gripped his shoulders with a desperation born of fear.
In her mind, she wasn't in the grand Mehra Palace, but back in her small apartment on the outskirts of a city she once called home. She was back to the day her world crumbled.
The phone had rung early, the sky outside still draped in the pale hues of dawn. Meera, half-asleep, had groggily picked it up, her voice barely a whisper.
"Hello?"
The voice on the other end wasn't Alef's—it was Sameer's. His tone was raw, hoarse, as if he had been crying for hours. His words came out tangled, drenched in disbelief and sorrow.
"He's gone, Meera. He's gone…"
"What? Who? Sameer, what are you saying?" she asked, the grogginess fading as alarm coursed through her veins.
Sameer's reply turned her blood to ice.
"Alef. He… he went out last night and…" Sameer paused, his breath hitching as he choked back a sob. "He jumped in front of a truck. There's no one who saw it happen, but… they found a note."
The phone slipped from her hand, clattering onto the floor. For what felt like an eternity, she couldn't move, couldn't breathe. Her mind refused to process the words. They echoed in her head, cruel and relentless, refusing to be silenced.
In the days that followed, she traveled to Alef's college town, her heart weighed down with unanswered questions. There, she met his friends—Sameer, Karan, Ishaan, and Arjun—for the first time at his memorial. The grief was suffocating, shared yet isolating. His friends had taken her in like family, just as Alef had asked them to in his note.
But no matter how kind they were, no matter how much they tried to help her heal, Meera knew a part of her had been buried with Alef that day.
"Sameer, wake up!" Meera's voice broke, dragging her back to the present. She shook him harder, her fingers digging into his jacket as tears streamed unchecked down her face.
His breathing was shallow, his body heavy and unmoving from the tranquilizer. Panic clawed at her chest. Every second that passed felt like an eternity. She pressed her forehead against his shoulder, whispering desperate prayers, willing him to open his eyes.
The distant echo of hurried footsteps and raised voices reached her ears, pulling her attention toward the commotion inside the palace.
Inside the Mehra Palace, the disappearance of Priya and the disruption caused by two masked intruders had thrown the wedding into chaos. Guests murmured in hushed tones, their excitement replaced by confusion and unease. Security personnel moved swiftly, their radios crackling with urgent updates.
Karan stormed through the hall, his face tight with worry as he scanned every corner. Ishaan and Arjun were close behind, their expressions equally grim.
"She's not in her room," Ishaan muttered, his voice low but urgent.
"Sameer and Meera are gone too," Karan said, running a hand through his hair. His usual composure had cracked, revealing the fear beneath.
Arjun's eyes darted toward the back of the hall, where security personnel had gathered. "Something's happening near the back door," he said.
The three of them moved quickly, their pace increasing as they reached the scene. What they found stopped them in their tracks.
Sameer lay unconscious on the floor, blood staining the collar of his shirt. Beside him, Meera knelt, her hands trembling as she tried to shake him awake. Her tear-streaked face was pale, her eyes wide with panic and pain.
"Meera!" Karan called out, rushing to her side. His voice startled her, and she turned to him with a look of such despair that it sent a chill down his spine.
"He's not waking up," she choked out, her voice cracking. "I don't know what to do."
Karan knelt beside her, his hands hovering uncertainly before finally resting on Sameer's shoulder. "He's breathing, call the doctor" he said, relief flickering across his face.
Far from the chaos of the palace, Kavya gripped the steering wheel of the sleek black car, her jaw set in a tight line. Envy sat beside her, silent and brooding. The faint hum of the engine was the only sound between them, a fragile barrier against the storm brewing in the confined space.
"What were you thinking?" Kavya's voice finally broke the silence, sharp and biting. "We had a mission. One job. And you…" Her grip on the wheel tightened until her knuckles turned white.
Envy remained silent, his gaze fixed on the road ahead.
"You revealed your face," she snapped, her voice rising. "And instead of killing the target, you abducted her. Do you have any idea what you've done?"
Still, he didn't respond. The quiet intensity of his presence only fueled her frustration.
"Look at me!" she demanded, her voice trembling with anger. "You've jeopardized everything. The Organization doesn't tolerate mistakes. Do you even care?"
Envy's eyes finally shifted to her, cold and unyielding. "I did what I thought was necessary," he said, his voice low and steady.
"Necessary?" Kavya let out a bitter laugh, disbelief etched across her face. "Since when is defying orders and blowing your cover necessary?"
"You don't understand," he said, his tone laced with an edge of warning.
"Then make me understand!" Kavya's voice cracked as her temper flared. The heat of the argument filled the car, suffocating in its intensity.
"I wasn't going to kill her," he said, his voice rising slightly. "She's valuable. Alive, she's leverage."
"And dead, she's a loose end," Kavya shot back. "You don't make that call. You don't have that authority."
Envy's fists clenched, the tension in his body palpable. "You think I don't know that?" he said, his voice rough with restrained anger.
"Then why—" Kavya's words were cut off as her frustration boiled over. She slammed on the brakes, the car jerking to a sudden halt.
The abrupt stop threw Envy forward slightly, but he barely reacted. Kavya turned to him, her eyes blazing with fury. Without thinking, she grabbed him by the collar, pulling him closer.
"You're reckless," she hissed, her voice trembling. "You're going to get us both killed."
For a moment, their eyes locked. The anger between them crackled like a live wire, raw and electric. But beneath the fury, there was something else—something neither of them dared to name.
Before she could stop herself, Kavya closed the distance, her lips crashing against his in a desperate, heated kiss. The world outside the car faded into nothingness as the moment consumed them.
When they finally pulled apart, both of them were breathing hard, their faces inches apart.
"This doesn't change anything," Kavya said, her voice barely above a whisper.
"No," Envy agreed, his voice low. "It doesn't."
Back at the palace, Karan and the others had carried Sameer to one of the private rooms, where a doctor from the guest list tended to him. Meera sat nearby, her hands gripping a glass of water she hadn't touched.
Ishaan paced the room, his movements restless. "Who were those masked people?" he muttered. "What did they want with Priya?"
"I don't know," Karan said, his voice heavy. "But I'm not letting this go."
Meera's gaze drifted to the window, her thoughts far away. The face of one of the masked intruders lingered in her mind, haunting and familiar in a way she couldn't explain.
"I think…" Her voice was barely audible, but it cut through the tense silence. "I think I know him."
Meanwhile, Kavya's phone buzzed with an incoming call. She answered it reluctantly, Ashutosh's voice immediately barking through the speaker.
"You and your partner have made a mess," he growled. "This will not go unanswered. Prepare for the consequences."
Kavya ended the call without a word, her grip tightening on the phone. She glanced at Envy, the weight of Ashutosh's warning hanging heavy between them.
The road ahead was dark, the journey uncertain. But one thing was clear—they were far from the end.