I love you, Alara.
My love for you knows no bounds-I would sacrifice everything for you!!
To...
Fuck you, Alara.
You think I killed your brother? You think I could ever hurt someone you loved?
You hate me now, and maybe that's worse than death.
But...
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I reached his hotel.
Knocked once. No response. Typical. He never answers right away.
I rang the bell.
A second later, the door creaked open.
He stood there, eyes a little tired, maybe surprised.
Without stepping in, I held up my phone.
"Who's he?" I asked, voice low, showing him the picture.
"Um... your boyfriend? Ex-husband? How would I know?" Rehan scoffed, rubbing the back of his neck. "Itti raat ko yeh poochne ke liye aayi ho tum? Theek ho? Kuch hua hai?"
My fingers tightened around the phone. His nonchalance only made it worse.
"Just answer me," I said, jaw clenched. "Do you know this person?"
"No, Tara," he said casually.
"Fine. Just answer me," I snapped, trying to keep my voice from shaking.
"Why should I, though?" Rehan leaned against the doorframe, arms folded.
My chest tightened. "You won't?"
He stared at me for a moment—long, unreadable.
"Um... alright, okay," he finally muttered.
But it wasn't the kind of okay that satisfied. It was the kind that came with silence and a hundred things unsaid.
"Did you kill Tej Pratap Malhani's son?" I asked, voice steady, but my heart was thundering.
Rehan didn't flinch. "Um... yes. But there were reasons."
My blood ran cold.
"There are no fucking reasons to kill anyone, Rehan Singh Rajput!" I screamed, the hallway echoing with the crack in my voice.
He ran a hand through his hair, jaw tight. "Alara, do you even know the context—?"
"How many people have you killed?" I cut him off, my voice barely a whisper now. Not out of softness— But out of fear. Out of knowing I might not want the answer.
"Three," Rehan replied, almost too easily. No hesitation. No shame.
He turned his back to me, walked across the room, and opened his laptop. A few clicks. A folder. Three files.
Three names appeared on the screen.
Surya Malhani Rajkumar Singh Harishankar Trivedi
My stomach twisted. The air felt heavier.
"These aren't just names, Alara," he said without looking at me. "They were monsters. I didn't kill them. I ended what they started."
I stared at the glowing screen, every syllable of those names echoing louder in my head.
