CHAPTER LXXI
The Fire Within Her
The moment I gripped the hilt of the sword — the one gifted to me long ago by the national museum for bravery — I knew it wasn't just a symbol of honor anymore. Today, it would draw blood. Today, it would end monsters.
I placed it gently on the seat beside me, as though acknowledging its purpose, as if whispering to it — "Be ready. We are going to war."
My heart wasn't calm, but it was focused. I wasn't a grieving lover anymore… I was a storm. A hundred innocent girls — frightened, silenced, drugged, beaten — were waiting in darkness, without knowing if help would ever come. If I failed now, it wasn't just a mission lost… it would be an irreversible wound on humanity. And I wouldn't let that happen. Not while I was still breathing.
I started the engine and drove like fire chased me. The city blurred around me, the car flying past lights and signs like a scream through the night. The streets had been locked down under emergency code — red alert. No traffic. No interruptions. Just the sound of my heartbeat and the engine's roar.
When I reached the port, the smell of salt, metal, and something darker filled the air.
The docks were eerily silent — almost too silent — as though the ocean itself was holding its breath. Then I saw it. A massive ship, disguised as a cargo freighter, anchored in the shadows. It looked ordinary from afar… but I knew what secrets it held.
I took a deep breath and reached for my earpiece.
"Target sighted. All units converge. Prepare for full breach."
Within minutes, my team appeared, weapons drawn, eyes steeled. We moved in, surrounding the ship from every angle. And then — chaos erupted.
Gunfire.
Screams.
The ship came alive with monsters trying to escape justice.
We fired back. Bullets pierced the dark like thunderbolts. Cries echoed through the metal halls as we fought tooth and nail. These weren't just thugs — they were part of a deep-rooted underworld network. Human traffickers. Organ smugglers. Murderers. And they had turned the ship into a floating hell.
I ran into the heart of the fight, my sword now unsheathed. The blade shimmered under the dim lights — and then it danced.
Slice.
Thrust.
Spin.
Blood splattered. I cut through them like shadows, my blade singing with every motion, like it, too, sought revenge.
The deeper I went, the stronger the resistance became. But I didn't stop — I couldn't. And then, in a locked cabin deep within the ship, I heard her voice. Mon.
I kicked the door open.
And there he was.
Jatin. No… Ashfak.
He had her pinned, forcing himself onto her like the predator he truly was — his face twisted, disgusting, void of humanity.
My soul shattered for a moment.
But before I could raise the sword — Mon fought back.
With all her remaining strength, she shoved him back, grabbed the nearest heavy object, and struck him with rage in her eyes. He fell to the floor — dazed, breathless, exposed.
I stepped forward.
He looked up at me. This time, there was no arrogance in his eyes. Just fear. Cowardly, pathetic fear.
I didn't ask him any questions. Not about the girls. Not about the gang. Not even about Mon.
He had spoken enough with his sins.
Without a word, I raised my sword.
And then — I brought it down.
The blade sliced clean through his neck.
The room went silent… except for Mon's quiet, shaking breaths.
I turned to her — blood on my face, hands trembling. She looked at me with tears in her eyes, not of pain, but of relief.
She was safe.
He was dead.
And for the first time in weeks, I felt like we had taken something back — not just justice, but hope.
We had bled, we had lost, we had burned…
But we were still here.
And we were not done yet.
A Promise in the Storm
The moment I laid eyes on Mon, something inside me cracked again. A wave of grief surged up — raw and aching — as if every wound I had carefully bandaged suddenly tore open.
Without a second thought, I rushed forward and wrapped my arms around her, pulling her into me like I'd never let go again. And she… she clung to me just as tightly — her arms circling around my back, pressing into me with everything she had left in her trembling body.
It wasn't just an embrace.
It was two broken souls trying to hold each other together.
Her touch wasn't hesitant. It was desperate. It was real. Her hand covered my entire back, gripping my spine like she was afraid I'd slip away again… like maybe she still couldn't believe I was really here. And my arms? They locked around her as though I was anchoring her to this world — to safety, to warmth, to me.
I buried my face in the curve of her shoulder, eyes closing, breathing her in — the scent of salt, tears, and the faint trace of jasmine that still clung to her skin. In that moment, I didn't want to move. I didn't want time to tick forward. I didn't want anyone to come between us.
My heart whispered the words it had carried for so long in silence:
"Stay a little longer, love... please."
"My heart is never full of you. My eyes never get tired of looking at you. No matter how hard I try to hold back the days, they keep slipping through my fingers. I can't stop them… but maybe, just maybe, you could stay for a little while more..."
I didn't speak those words aloud. But I knew — deep inside me — she felt them in the way I held her. In the way I refused to let her go. In the quiet tremble of my chest against hers.
For that one moment… in the middle of the wreckage, the blood, the ruins of what we'd survived — there was only her and me. And the desperate prayer that time would freeze right there, with her heart beating against mine.
I gently cupped Mon's face with both of my hands, my thumbs brushing away the tears clinging to the corners of her eyes. Her skin felt warm beneath my palms — real, alive, and safe — and I let myself breathe for the first time in what felt like forever.
Softly, I whispered, "Mon, you're safe now. I need a little more time… just a little. I've come back to you after saving everyone. I promise — I'll come back to you again."
She clung to me with desperate strength, her arms wrapped around me like she never wanted to let go. Her voice cracked with the weight of buried pain as she whispered into my shoulder, "Sam… so much has happened over the years. There were times I truly believed we'd never find each other again. That maybe… maybe we were never meant to."
I closed my eyes, pressing my forehead to hers. My heart ached at her words, but I refused to let the darkness take her again. With every ounce of truth inside me, I whispered back, "Mon, I'm the air that brushes against your skin. I'm in every breath you take, in every beat of your heart. I live inside you. You're not just a part of my life… you are my soul. My every breath, every pulse, every fragment of me belongs to you. You're not alone. You never were."
Tears streamed down her cheeks, and I wiped them away with trembling fingers.
"I will come back," I promised again, pressing a kiss to her forehead — a silent vow carved in the spaces between our broken years. "No matter what lies ahead, I will return to you."
With a final, lingering hug — a moment that felt like we were trying to pour years of love into one desperate embrace — I stepped back. My hands were reluctant to leave her warmth, but I knew what had to be done. I turned to one of our trusted officers and nodded.
"Take her. Keep her safe. Don't let her out of your sight."
Mon looked at me with tear-filled eyes, her lips trembling as if she wanted to call me back. But she didn't. She was strong, even through her pain. That's who she was — brave, even in the face of heartbreak.
And then… she was gone.
I turned toward the rest of the ship, where danger still lurked like shadows waiting to strike.
The deeper parts of the vessel were a trap, and we knew it. But we had no choice. My team and I pushed forward, hearts pounding, weapons ready. We didn't get far before the ambush hit us hard and fast — bullets ricocheting in all directions.
The sound of gunfire roared through the ship like thunder.
Screams. Chaos. Blood.
Some of my team members were wounded in the very first strike — one man cried out as he fell, another clutched his leg as blood poured from a fresh wound. I dropped to the ground, returning fire, when suddenly I felt a sharp sting tear through my arm.
A bullet had grazed me, slicing the skin near my hand and sending a jolt of pain up my side. But it hadn't gone deep — just a flesh wound. I gritted my teeth and pushed through it.
I couldn't afford to fall now.
Not when lives still needed saving.
Not when I had promised her… that I would return.
Mon's voice echoed in my mind — broken, soft, filled with longing — and it gave me the strength I needed to keep moving forward.
This battle wasn't over yet.
But neither was my love.
And love like ours… doesn't surrender.
To be continue....