Kunal's POV
The gunshot echoed through the rain-soaked street.
For one horrifying second, everything froze.
The flashing neon lights outside the club flickered violently against the wet roads while people screamed somewhere behind us. Vishal collapsed to the ground, clutching his leg as blood spread beneath him, mixing with the rainwater flowing across the pavement.
And then-
A sharp pain exploded through my shoulder.
I staggered backward instantly.
"Ah-!"
It felt wrong.
Not like a bullet.
Worse.
Like something sharp had ripped through flesh and muscle with deliberate force.
My breathing hitched violently as I grabbed my shoulder. My fingers instantly came back stained red.
Blood.
Warm blood.
"What the hell..." I muttered through clenched teeth.
The pain spread through my entire arm like fire crawling beneath my skin.
Jenny rushed toward me first.
Behind her, the others came running through the rain.
"Take Vishal to the hospital. Now!" I shouted immediately at Naveen and Rhea before anyone could panic further.
Rhea nodded quickly while Naveen silently grabbed Vishal from one side. Vishal groaned in pain, rain dripping from his hair onto the street as they dragged him toward the jeep.
Then Jenny's eyes dropped toward my shoulder.
Her expression changed instantly.
"Kunal..." she whispered. "Your arm..."
I looked down again.
The sleeve of my shirt had turned completely dark with blood now. The wound burned violently beneath the fabric. Every small movement sent sharp pain through my spine.
It didn't feel like a normal injury.
It felt torn.
Deliberately.
Like someone had attacked me with something razor-sharp during the chaos.
Jenny grabbed my arm carefully.
"Come. I'm taking you to the hospital."
"No" I hissed immediately. "Home. I wanna go home."
"You're bleeding!"
"I said home."
Typical.
Apparently even while half-dying my brain still prioritized stubbornness over survival.
Jenny looked at me for two long seconds.
Then without another argument, she practically shoved me toward her jeep.
Her own car was still in service.
The rain crashed heavily around us as she opened the passenger seat.
"Sit."
I exhaled sharply from the pain and got inside.
The moment she started driving, silence filled the jeep except for the sound of heavy rain hitting the windshield.
Streetlights blurred past outside.
Jenny gripped the steering wheel tightly.
Too tightly.
"How did you not notice someone attacking you?" she asked suddenly, anger slipping into her voice. "Who did this?"
"I..." I winced slightly. "I don't know."
And that was the terrifying part.
I genuinely didn't know.
She glanced at me briefly before looking back at the road.
"You're unbelievably careless."
I leaned back against the seat slowly.
"Take me home," I repeated quietly.
This time she didn't answer.
The jeep kept moving through the wet streets in silence.
Minutes later, she suddenly stopped the vehicle outside an apartment building.
I frowned immediately.
"That's not my house."
"It's mine" she replied simply. "Come."
I blinked once.
"Are you sure?"
She nodded lightly.
"I have proper medical equipment there. Antibiotics too. If the wound gets infected, it'll get worse."
She stepped out first before extending her hand toward me through the rain.
I stared at it for a second.
Then grabbed it.
Her hand still felt the same.
Warm.
Steady.
Dangerous for my sanity.
We entered the apartment building together and took the elevator upstairs.
Neither of us spoke.
The elevator lights reflected softly across her wet hair while rainwater still dripped from the sleeves of the hoodie she wore.
My hoodie.
That detail alone nearly destroyed my remaining emotional stability.
The elevator doors opened.
She unlocked the apartment quietly and walked inside first.
The room instantly smelled faintly of coffee and lavender.
Soft warm lights glowed across the apartment while the city skyline shimmered beyond the glass windows. Everything inside looked organized. Calm. Comforting.
Very Jenny.
Bookshelves stood near the walls. A soft beige couch sat near the center table. Small fairy lights glowed faintly near the curtains, giving the room an oddly peaceful atmosphere.
For a moment, it didn't even feel real.
"Sit," she said softly, pointing toward the couch. "I'll be back."
I sat down slowly while pain continued throbbing through my shoulder.
A few minutes later, she returned carrying a first-aid kit.
She placed it beside me before kneeling slightly near the couch.
"Roll up your sleeve."
I obeyed quietly.
The moment she saw the wound properly, her eyebrows pulled together.
"It's bigger than I thought."
She looked up at me.
"You'll have to remove your shirt."
I glanced at her instinctively.
Meanwhile she looked completely calm.
Unbothered.
Professional.
Like my existence wasn't actively ruining her emotional balance.
"...What?" she asked after noticing my stare.
"N-Nothing."
I slowly removed my shirt.
The second I did-
She froze.
Just slightly.
But I noticed.
Her eyes flickered across my chest before she immediately looked back at the medical kit pretending nothing happened.
Cute.
"Hmm?" I coughed faintly.
"Uhm-" She grabbed the cotton quickly. "Stop talking."
I almost smiled.
Almost.
She gently pressed the cotton against the wound.
Pain shot through my shoulder instantly.
I flinched hard.
"Sorry," she muttered quietly.
Her fingers moved carefully now, cleaning the blood with slow precision while strands of wet hair kept falling near her face. The entire room had gone silent except for the distant sound of rain outside.
"It doesn't look too deep," she whispered after checking carefully. "But something definitely cut through the skin badly."
After applying antibiotic ointment, she finally wrapped the wound properly with fresh bandages.
"There," she said softly. "Done."
But the moment she tried pulling away-
I grabbed her wrist.
She looked startled.
I slowly stood up despite the pain and moved closer.
"What's wrong with you?" I asked quietly. "Why are you acting like nothing happened between us?"
Her eyes instantly turned glassy.
"Kunal..." she whispered weakly.
"No seriously," I continued. "You act like we're strangers now."
Her lips trembled slightly.
"It doesn't matter anymore," she said softly. "We reunited because of a case. Once this case ends... I'll leave again."
Something about hearing that hurt more than my shoulder.
"Jenny-"
"No." Her voice cracked suddenly. "You could've told me the truth."
Tears filled her eyes now.
"But you didn't."
I stared at her silently.
"You listened to other people," she whispered shakily. "You believed strangers over me."
Her breathing became uneven.
"You listened to those people who were never yours..." she said painfully, "and lost the person who actually was."
Guilt crashed into me instantly.
"I know," I admitted quietly. "I know I was wrong."
"You should've trusted me!"
"I wanted to-"
"But your ego mattered more!" she snapped suddenly.
Her voice echoed through the apartment.
"You believed those campus rumors saying You was only with me because I am rich!"
I clenched my jaw painfully.
"And then you left me because it was hurting your reputation."
She stood up from the couch immediately, wiping her tears angrily.
I grabbed her wrist before she could walk away.
"That's not the full truth."
She turned toward me instantly.
Eyes red.
Heartbroken.
"Then what is?" she demanded.
I exhaled slowly.
For years, I had buried this.
For years.
"When I finished my lecture that day," I began quietly, "you were busy with your friends."
I stepped closer carefully.
"And I waited near your car because I wanted to explain everything."
My throat tightened.
"But before you came..."
I looked down briefly.
"Your mother came instead."
Jenny froze completely.
"She told me if I really loved you..." I swallowed hard, "...then I needed to leave you for your own good."
Silence.
Absolute silence.
Jenny stared at me like the world had suddenly tilted beneath her feet.
"What...?"
I nodded slowly.
"She said staying with me would ruin your future."
Jenny's breathing became uneven.
Then suddenly-
The pieces connected inside her head.
"That's why..." she whispered shakily. "That's why she kept forcing me to move on..."
Her expression darkened instantly.
"To be with Vihaan..."
I stepped closer carefully.
"Jenny, your mother isn't a bad person-"
"She's not my mother!"
Her voice shattered through the apartment.
"She's my stepmother, Kunal!"
I froze.
"She has no right to control my life!"
Tears streamed down her face now.
"That woman already destroyed enough!"
"Jenny calm down-"
"She ruined everything!" she shouted, holding her head. "First my parents... now this..."
I immediately pulled her into a hug.
This time she didn't resist.
The moment my arms wrapped around her, she broke completely.
"You should've told me..." she cried against my chest. "You should've told me before..."
I closed my eyes tightly.
"I know."
"You have any idea how many nights I spent thinking you left me because you were ashamed of me?"
"I could never be ashamed of you."
"Then why did we suffer like this!?"
Because humans are idiots, apparently.
That's why.
She slowly pulled away from the hug, wiping her tears awkwardly.
Then suddenly looked embarrassed by how much she'd cried.
"I'll..." she sniffed softly, avoiding eye contact, "I'll make coffee."
I nodded quietly.
She disappeared into the kitchen.
I sat back down on the couch slowly, staring at the city lights beyond the window.
Life really was strange.
One moment you're chasing a serial killer through a nightclub.
The next you're sitting half-shirtless in your ex-girlfriend's apartment emotionally reconstructing five years of damage.
Twenty minutes later, she returned carrying two mugs.
Her face looked calmer now. Freshly washed.
But her eyes were still swollen from crying.
"Drink," she said softly while handing me one cup.
I accepted it carefully.
"And if you want," she added awkwardly, "you can sleep in my bedroom tonight."
I shook my head.
"No. The couch is fine."
I took a sip from the coffee.
Then suddenly remembered.
I grabbed her wrist gently again before she could walk away.
"Wait."
She turned toward me.
"Vishal got shot tonight."
Her expression shifted slightly.
"You didn't even ask about him."
"Tanish, Rhea and the others are with him," she replied quietly. "He'll be okay."
I stared at her silently for a second.
Then finally spoke.
"There's something else."
She frowned slightly.
"What?"
I looked directly into her eyes.
"I shot Vishal on purpose."
And just like that-
The color disappeared from her face completely.