The parking area lights had gone out completely.
Taking advantage of the darkness, Ruhi ran — but a gunshot split the silence, freezing her mid-step.
Her heart pounded as she ducked behind a car, breath quick and shallow.
From her hiding spot, she scanned the entire area — the man was standing at the only exit.
The beam of his flashlight swept across the lot, slowly, methodically, as if he had all the time in the world.
Ruhi shrank lower behind the car, clutching her phone.
Dead. The battery had long given up.
She rose carefully to peek over the car hood — and froze.
The man was right there.
He grabbed her by the throat, his grip iron-tight, and pressed the cold barrel of the gun against her temple.
Ruhi could have fought back. She knew she could break free if she tried — but the gun made it pointless.
Even if she escaped, he could pull the trigger.
Her strength drained away.
Faces of the people she loved flashed before her eyes — Aditya, Anamika, Saaniya, Aniket, Ira, Rudra.
And finally, her brother.
In her heart, she whispered just one thing: “I’m sorry, Bhai.”
She squeezed her eyes shut.
Another shot rang — but it didn’t hit her.
The bullet flew harmlessly into the air as someone twisted the man’s wrist at the last second.
Rahul
Behind him, Aniket, Aditya, and Rudra came running.
A few minutes earlier…
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They had been sitting in the mall’s resting area when Rudra suddenly went still.
No one else heard it — but he did.
The sound of a gunshot.
The resting area was closest to the parking lot, and Rudra’s sharp ears were rarely wrong.
He often trained at the firing range, and he could recognize the sound instantly.
Without wasting a second, everyone rushed to the parking lot — just in time to see the man strangling Ruhi.
Rahul reacted first.
He charged forward, tackled the man to the ground, and rained down punches with blind fury.
“How dare you touch my little sister!” Rahul roared, voice cracking with rage. “I swear, I’ll kill you!”
The madness in his eyes made everyone believe he meant it.
Aniket, using a handkerchief, carefully picked up the gun lying a few feet away.
Meanwhile, Rudra tried to pull Rahul back — but Rahul shoved him off.
Rudra glanced at Aditya, who was holding Ruhi, murmuring softly to calm her while dialing the police.
Seeing Aditya’s worried face, Rudra grabbed Rahul’s arm again.
“Rahul! Look at him — and think! The police are on their way. We can’t keep beating him like this!”
Rahul didn’t stop.
“I know who he is — and that’s exactly why I want to kill him! How could he do this?!”
Everyone froze — except Ruhi, whose tear-filled eyes stayed fixed on the man.
On his wrist was a watch — the same watch she and her brother had bought together as a sign of respect for their parents. Now, it was broken.
Later that night…
Everyone had gathered at Anamika’s house — everyone except Aditya and Rahul, who were still at the police station.
Aditya had sent Ira home too.
He didn’t want his little sister caught up in this storm, blurting out something that could make it worse.
Saaniya carefully dabbed ointment on Ruhi’s bruised neck before taking the medicine kit back inside.
Aniket and Rudra stayed with Ruhi in the hall while Anamika followed Saaniya to the room.
Inside, Saaniya’s hands trembled with anger as she put the box away.
“I should have broken that bastard’s bones the day I first met him,” she muttered.
Anamika frowned.
G“Why are you so angry?”
Saaniya turned sharply toward her.
“You really don’t feel anything?”
Anamika hesitated.
“I don’t know what I’m supposed to feel.
Ruhi’s father tried to kill her because she wasn’t the kind of daughter he wanted. That’s wrong. Of course it’s wrong.
But Ruhi could have stopped this a long time ago.
Why didn’t she? Why didn’t she tell the police the day she reported being stalked?
Why didn’t she even consider that her father could harm her, even if she suspected it?”
Saaniya gave a sarcastic smile.
“You already know the answer to that.”
She turned to leave, but Anamika’s next question stopped her in her tracks.
“What good did it do you… punishing your own father?”
Saaniya froze.
This was the first time Anamika had ever brought this up.
Avoiding her gaze, Anamika continued, “What is right, Saaniya?
The world says we can never repay the debt of the ones who gave us life — even by giving our lives for them.
So… does that mean our lives belong to them? That they have all the rights over us?”
“Don’t repeat your mother’s words, Anamika,” Saaniya said, her tone flat. “I hate them.”
Anamika stepped closer.
“Then tell me — who decides what a life is worth?
Why does the world think in two ways at once?
Why do we live by its rules when we don’t even believe in them?”
“Because people are cowards,” Saaniya replied coldly. “They can’t bear being rejected.”
Her words struck deep, leaving Anamika in silence.
Finally, Anamika caught Saaniya’s hand.
“If, someday, Ruhi wants to go back to her father… what will we do?”
Saaniya’s eyes hardened.
“I don’t care about anyone.
Until I am sure that man will never hurt her again, I will never let her go back.
Even if he is standing at death’s door, begging for Ruhi in the most pitiful voice — I won’t let him have her.”
With that, she stormed out, leaving Anamika alone with her thoughts.
The attack on Ruhi had confirmed Anamika’s suspicion — the man who had called her was telling the truth.
It was the hospital guard who had told her that Saaniya hid the news of Anamika's father’s surgery.
Anamika hadn’t believed it before.
But now she did — and she also understood why Saaniya had done it.
To outsiders, it might look cruel — a daughter kept away from her father during his final days.
But Anamika now saw the truth.
Saaniya wasn’t cruel.
She was afraid.
Afraid that the man would hurt Anamika again.
But the question still haunted Anamika —
