I wiped the sweat from my palms and forced my breathing to settle as I entered the apartment. The girls were still shaken, but their fear wasn't my biggest worry.
It was the look in Arun's eyes.
He hadn't been angry.
He had been terrified.
People like Arun don't get scared unless the thing they're hiding is bigger than them.
I sat at the dining table, flipping my notebook open.
Not writing.
Just staring.
My hand trembled slightly — not from fear, but from the pressure of secrets I wasn't ready to explain.
"Are you okay?" Priya asked gently.
I nodded.
Lied.
Because the truth was heavy.
I had seen Arun before.
Not the harmless, goofy persona he showed at family functions.
But the other version — the version that lurked near the port at midnight, exchanging packets with strangers. The version who met men with covered faces and never used the main roads.
And today, I saw something worse:
The men with him weren't locals.
They were professionals — the kind who worked in shadows, not in sunlight.
The kind who didn't hesitate.
I stared at my own reflection in the glass window.
My eyes looked different. Sharper.
More hollow.
There was a time I believed information made you powerful.
But today, information felt like a death sentence.
My phone buzzed.
Unknown Number:
Delete the picture.
My blood froze.
I typed back with stiff fingers:
I didn't take any picture.
The reply came instantly.
Good. Keep it that way.
My heart thumped painfully.
"Who is it?" Vaishali asked from behind me.
I locked my phone quickly. "Just marketing spam."
She didn't believe me — I saw it in her eyes — but she didn't push.
Good.
Because if she knew what I knew, she wouldn't sleep tonight.
While the others argued about dinner, I slipped away to the balcony. The wind whipped at my loose strands of hair; the sea was turning black under the night sky.
Someone was watching the building from the lane below.
A bike.
Engine off.
Helmet on.
Not moving.
My pulse sped up.
Were they waiting?
Was it for me?
Or all of us?
I closed the curtains quickly.
This wasn't a coincidence.
This wasn't a prank.
This was surveillance.
The girls thought Arun's threat was the problem.
But that was nothing.
There was a bigger network moving around us now — one that didn't forgive mistakes and didn't tolerate witnesses.
I swallowed hard.
I had dragged the four girls into this.
And I didn't know how to pull them out.
Inside the room, Vaishali laughed at something Maya said.
For a moment, I let myself watch them.
Their innocence.
Their warmth.
Their trust.
Things I had lost long ago.
And I whispered to myself—
Don't let them break because of you.
Whatever happens, protect them.
Even if it destroys you.