✦ Chapter 1 ✦

𝘠𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘴 𝘢 𝘭𝘰𝘵, 𝘉𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘴...

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𓍢ִ໋🌷͙֒ Author's POV ✧˚

“I hate you.”

It came out of her like a confession she never meant to make. Not loud, not dramatic, just broken enough to feel real. Like something inside her had finally snapped and chosen words as its last weapon.

And maybe that was the truth.

Because love and hate had started to feel the same that night.

The rain was falling too hard, like the sky itself was angry. Pratyusha stood in the middle of it, not moving, not blinking, just staring at him.

At Devvrata.

The man she trusted more than her own instincts. The man she would have followed anywhere without thinking twice.

But tonight, he didn’t feel like that man anymore.

He felt like a stranger wearing his face.

His eyes didn’t hold warmth. They didn’t even hold guilt. There was nothing in them she could hold onto. Just silence. Heavy, suffocating silence that made her chest tighten with every passing second.

She swallowed hard, forcing her voice to come out steady even though her hands were shaking.

“Tell me the truth,” she said softly, almost like she was scared of the answer. “Who are you?”

For the first time after meeting her, he didn’t respond.

And that silence said everything he refused to.

Because some identities…

Are better left hidden.

'𝙎𝙤𝙢𝙚 𝙩𝙧𝙪𝙩𝙝𝙨 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙢𝙚𝙖𝙣𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙗𝙚 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬𝙣…

𝘽𝙚𝙘𝙖𝙪𝙨𝙚 𝙤𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙧𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙖𝙡𝙚𝙙, 𝙣𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙧𝙚𝙢𝙖𝙞𝙣𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙖𝙢𝙚.'

A bullet hit him from her pistol.

_____

Months ago, the world felt different.

It was 8:36 p.m., and Amar had already lost his patience. He was pacing around the tent, running his fingers through his hair, his eyes constantly checking the entrance like she would magically appear if he stared hard enough.

“Where is she?” he muttered under his breath, more to himself than anyone else. “She didn’t even inform us… does she think this is a game?”

Kadam stood nearby, trying his best to stay calm, but even he looked tense. Everyone knew Pratyusha. She didn’t follow rules. She didn’t wait for permission. She just acted.

And that was exactly what scared them.

Amar’s phone rang and he picked it up immediately, his expression shifting the moment he heard IG Madhavan’s voice.

The conversation was short but sharp, filled with frustration and warning. By the end of it, Amar’s jaw was clenched so tight it looked like he might break his teeth.

[“Any update?”]

“No, sir. We’re still searching.”

A sharp pause.

[“Still searching?”]

His voice turned colder.

[“That girl is going to get herself killed one day, Amar.”]

Silence.

[“Report to the Commissioner office tomorrow. 9 a.m. With her.”]

The thing which can't be done - The IG had said before disconnecting.

Amar didn’t even respond properly after that. He just kept staring into space like the weight of everything had suddenly doubled.

The soil smelled like her.

And she arrived.

Right at the entrance.

Soaked. Wounded. Barely standing.

For a second, no one spoke.

And then Amar lost it.

“Are you insane?” his voice broke through the silence as he rushed forward. “Do you even realize what we went through? Nexalites were literally after your life and you—”

“Shut up,” she said weakly, cutting him off without even looking at him properly. Her voice wasn’t strong, but it was enough to silence him. Her eyes didn't even have the strength to open up completely. Her feet trembled above the cold marble.

"Call IG! " Amar called. "Sir! I'm safe. Don't need to worry about me. I will meet you as instructed. " Call ended. She tried her best to stand. But when she stood, her knees betrayed her ability. "Amar...

Call the doc-" She was going breathless. She couldn't complete. She fell in his strong muscle arms.

There was blood. The fresh wounded red blood near her spine. It was oozing continuously like it wasn't given permission to stop.

He noticed it only when she swayed slightly. And that was when everything changed.

Because Pratyusha, the girl who never fell, suddenly did.

Right into his arms.

And before the world could make sense of it, her voice dropped to something almost invisible.

“I think I’m going to die…”

☾⋆⁺₊🌷✧ Pratyusha's POV ✧🌷₊⁺⋆☽

When I opened my eyes, everything was white. Too white. It took me a moment to realize I was in a hospital. My body felt light, almost detached, like I wasn’t fully inside it.

For a second, I genuinely wondered if I had died and no one bothered to tell me.

The room was empty.

No Amar. No doctor. Nothing.

“Wow,” I muttered weakly, staring at the ceiling. “So this is death? Kinda boring.”

Then I heard voices outside.

Amar.

I recognized it instantly. Relief hit me before I even understood why. But the moment the door opened, I screamed anyway.

“AAAAAAHHH—”

“Are you mad?” Amar stepped in, clearly irritated. “Why the fuck are you screaming like that?”

“I thought it was a ghost,” I said honestly, but little did he know how much I was scared.

He stared at me for a second like he was questioning his life choices. “…Even ghosts would run away from you.”

Rude. Too rude!

“How are you feeling?” he asked after a moment of staring at me, like he stared at some Victoria models.

“Alive,” I mumbled, softly. But he noticed the exhaustion in my body before I could say something more. Then added, “Unfortunately.”

He sighed, clearly done with me already.

“You’ve been unconscious for hours. The doctor said you’re stable now. You’re leaving.”

“What?” I frowned. “I just got comfortable.”

“Exactly why we’re leaving.”

Of course.

"Here... " He threw my dress on the chair next to the bed. "... Change fast! "

Before he turned, I stopped him.

“Amar…”

“Hm?”

I didn't know if I could ask this to him or not. Because if I ask, he might just call me stupid again. “…Do I look pretty? In this dress? ”

He looked at me like I had asked the dumbest question on earth. Which, honestly, I might have.

"Are you serious? Fuck, Praya! "

But then his expression softened slightly, like he was going to seduce me with his charm.

“You look dangerously pretty in any way like trouble,” he said quietly.

Then, after a pause that felt a little too honest,

“…the kind I can’t leave alone.”

𓍢ִ໋🌷͙֒ Author's POV ✧˚

Outside, the air had already changed.

Not slowly. Instantly. Like something dangerous had entered the space without asking for permission.

Amar noticed it first.

Then Kadam.

Then everyone else.

“We found something,” Kadam said, voice tight. “A knife,” he added.

Amar frowned. “So?”

“There’s a mark on it.”

That was enough to shift the mood completely. Because in their world, marks meant something. And something meant trouble.

Before anyone could speak again, the wind picked up. Lights flickered. The corridor went unnaturally quiet.

And then footsteps echoed.

Slow.

Controlled.

Unbothered.

Everyone turned.

And he walked in.

Devvrata.

Dressed in black, calm as death itself, like chaos had never touched him in his life.

Amar stepped forward instantly. “Why the hell are you here?”

No answer. Not even a glance at him.

Devvrata’s eyes were fixed on one thing.

The ICU.

𝘏𝘦𝘳.

And that alone was enough to make the air heavier.

“Move,” Amar warned.

Devvrata finally looked at him.

Just once.

And that one look was enough to make Amar pause for half a second.

“Don't! Get the hell out of here,” Devvrata said.

Calm.

Low.

Final.

Something in that tone wasn’t just authority.

It was certainty.

Kadam swallowed hard. “Sir… the mark on the knife…”

Amar didn’t look away from Devvrata. “What about it?”

Kadam hesitated before speaking.

“It’s his.”

Silence dropped like a blade.

Amar’s eyes widened slightly.

“…What?”

Devvrata didn’t react.

Instead, he slowly turned his gaze back to the ICU again.

Almost like he was remembering something.

Or someone.

Then he spoke, voice quieter now but far more dangerous.

“Are you done standing in my way?”

A dangerous pause.

And then—

“Or should I remind you why you shouldn’t?”

Inside the ICU, Pratyusha’s heartbeat suddenly spiked.

Not because she heard anything.

But because somewhere deep inside her… something had just recognized her.

Outside, the storm had already started.

And none of them realized it yet.

Everything was about to collapse.

Outside—

Devvrata’s voice lowered one final time.

“Or should I remind you…”

His gaze darkened as ice.

“…𝙬𝙝𝙮 𝙄 𝙘𝙖𝙢𝙚 𝙗𝙖𝙘𝙠?”

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