The ReD RosE--A Wangxian/ Yizhan RomancE!

CHAPTER 3-- ThirteeN YearS LateR....

Chapter 3- Thirteen years later

"You," she whispered.

"Me," he said.

Her hand rose. Shariq looked down at it. She was pointing her revolver at his heart.

"Going to kill me, sweetheart?" he mocked, looking at her without any trace of fear. Her eyes narrowed. "Don't call me that," she snapped through gritted teeth. "You're a traitor. You betrayed us. All of us. Niya died because of you!" Her voice rose to almost a shriek. Aniket said nothing. "Why did you do it? Why, Shariq, why?"

He smiled slightly. "I made my choice."

"To sell us out."

"To keep you alive."

Diya shook her head. "No," she said. "You are a traitor. I hate you. I hate myself for ever having loved you!"

"I know," he said, smiling slightly. "Kill me, if you want. Better than being captured and tortured. I don't want to betray anyone else."

She lifted her chin. One simple movement, and he would die. "One last thing," she said. "Did you ever love me?"

His lips lifted in the ghost of a smile. "I never betrayed you."

"And what's that supposed to mean?"

"This is a war going on, sweetheart," he said softly. "They selected me because I had no attachments which would influence me. They never knew that this assignment would influence that. You would do the same, wouldn't you?"

The hand remained steady. "Maybe."

"They found out about the blasts you engineered," he said. "The killings you directed. They would have killed you if I didn't give someone else's name, don't you see?"

A distant noise. The engine of a car.

"Kill me, sweetheart," he said softly. "I need it to be quick. You cannot save me. Don't give me to your pals to be tortured. "

Her hand shook for the first time. "I cannot," she whispered.

"You must."

They stared at each other, for what felt like a lifetime. And then- the sound of running footfalls in the forest.

"Now."

The forest reverberated with the shot.

Diya watched as he fell on the autumn-yellow grass. She did not cry; instead she turned around to face the rest of her team.

"Get him in."

She paused only long enough to look at the sky. "I'll see you around, Shariq," she said softly. "later. You understand, don't you?"