**Episode 5: The Watchers**
The tension after Elina's revelation lingered in Ayaan's chest like smoke after a fire. But he didn't confront her again. Not yet. She had her secrets, just like him.
But while he wrestled with emotions, a darker storm was quietly brewing.
It started with a photograph.
One morning, Ayaan found an envelope slid under his door. No name. No note. Just a single photo — grainy, zoomed in, but clear enough:
**It was him and Elina, sitting on the garden bench.**
The angle suggested a long lens, likely taken from a distance. He flipped the photo over. Scrawled in red ink were three words:
**"WE KNOW YOU."**
His blood ran cold.
He glanced around, stepped outside — nothing unusual. Just the usual street vendors, students, and passing rickshaws. But now everything felt… watched.
Later that day, in the computer lab, he noticed a man he'd never seen before. Dressed casually, reading a newspaper — but he didn't turn a page for twenty minutes.
The next day, a sleek black car began parking across the street from his rental house. Always at dusk. Engine off. Windows tinted.
Then came the message.
On his phone — a number he didn't recognize.
**"Run all you want, Prince Ayaan. But your empire casts a long shadow. We're in it."**
Ayaan clenched his jaw.
Someone had tracked him down. Someone who knew not only who he was — but where he was.
That evening, he sat alone, staring at the skyline again.
He had come here to escape, to find love on his own terms. But the legacy of the Ahsan Group — his name, his bloodline — had followed him.
And now, it wasn't just about Elina.
It was about survival.
**To be continued…**