"Go home."
Shawn's voice was steady.
His eyes weren't.
"I'm here. I'll stay."
Rohan looked at him. "No."
"Rohan—"
"I'm not leaving." His voice was quiet. Final. "Not until Raha and aunty are okay."
Shawn placed a hand on his shoulder.
"Look at yourself."
Rohan didn't look.
"You're covered in blood. Go home. Clean up. Come back. I'm not going anywhere — I promise."
Rohan shook his head.
Again.
And again.
Shawn stepped closer.
His voice dropped to almost nothing.
"Tell me the truth, Rohan."
A pause.
"Do you like Raha?"
The question landed softly.
But it hit like something much heavier.
Rohan went completely still.
Said nothing.
"I asked you something."
Silence.
Rohan looked away.
"I'm going home to clean up," he said quietly. "Stay here. Call me if anything changes. Anything."
He walked out before Shawn could say another word.
Shawn watched him go.
There's something there.
I know there is.
Rohan drove home half blind.
He walked through the front door.
His father took one look at him —
Blood soaked into his shirt.
Face completely destroyed.
— and went pale.
"What happened to you? Is that—"
Rohan looked at his father.
His eyes filled. Immediately. Helplessly.
His father crossed the room in two steps and grabbed him by both shoulders.
"Talk to me. Why are you crying? What happened?"
Rohan didn't say a word.
He just leaned forward.
And held on.
Mr. Watson held his son.
Asked nothing more.
After a long moment, Rohan pulled back. Wiped his face roughly. Went upstairs without speaking.
In the bathroom.
Water running.
No one to hear him.
Rohan pressed both hands flat against the wall and let it come.
"I love her."
The words came out broken and certain at the same time.
"I love Raha."
He pressed his forehead against the wall.
"I love her so much."
The words had never existed before this moment.
Now they were the only ones he had.
Shawn paid for the surgery.
No hesitation.
He signed what needed signing, handed over what needed handing over, and watched them wheel Raha's mother away down the corridor.
Then he went back.
To Raha's room.
She hadn't moved.
Oxygen mask. Eyes closed. Hands still.
He pulled a chair to her bedside.
Sat down.
Took her hand — carefully, the way you hold something you're terrified of breaking.
He sat there for a long time.
Not speaking.
Just holding on.
Then —
Quietly.
Eyes full.
"I never told you," he said softly. "I should have. I kept waiting for the right moment."
His voice cracked.
"There never was one."
A breath.
"I love you, Raha. I really do."
He tightened his grip on her hand.
"I won't let anything happen to you."
"I promise."
Paris.
Subin sat at his desk.
Notebook open.
Words refusing to come.
The door burst open.
His grandfather — out of breath, face wrong.
"Subin—"
Subin was on his feet before the sentence finished. "What's wrong? Are you—"
"Raha—"
The notebook hit the floor.
"What happened?"
"An accident. Her and her mother. They've been admitted."
The floor tilted.
Subin grabbed his phone.
Called Shawn.
Didn't even think about it.
"Hello?" Shawn's voice came through shaking.
"What happened to Raha?"
Something on the other end — halfway between a breath and a sob.
"She hasn't woken up. The doctors don't know when she will. And her mother is in surgery."
Everything went very quiet.
"How did this happen?"
"I don't know. Rohan admitted them. He was there first."
"Of course he was." Cold. Immediate. "He did something. And now he's playing concerned so no one looks at him."
"Subin, that's not—"
"I'm coming back." No room for argument. "And when they're better — I'm taking Raha and aunty back to Paris with me."
A pause.
"Is there something going on between you two?"
Subin didn't answer.
"Call me the moment she wakes up. The moment, Shawn."
"Okay."
He ended the call.
His grandfather stood in the doorway.
"I'm booking the ticket," Subin said.
"Go," his grandfather said simply.
Subin looked up.
His eyes were red.
"She hasn't woken up. And her mother is in surgery." His voice broke on the last word. "What if something happens? What if—"
His grandfather crossed the room.
Placed a hand on his shoulder.
"Nothing will happen."
"I'm scared," Subin said quietly. "I'm really scared."
"I know."
A squeeze.
"Go anyway."
Mr. Lee arrived at the hospital.
Stepped into Raha's room.
Found Shawn — seated beside her bed, her hand still in his.
"How did this happen?"
Shawn looked up. "Mr. Lee?"
"Tell me."
"I don't know." Shawn's voice dropped. "I was supposed to take her. She didn't come with me. If I had just waited—" He stopped. "If I had just waited, none of this would have happened."
Mr. Lee sat down heavily.
"This morning I went to her house. Her mother said Raha was going to tell everything. On my way back—" His voice went fierce and low. "I ran into Rabina. Bella. Grace."
Shawn looked at him.
"They told Rohan," Mr. Lee said. "And Rohan made sure she couldn't talk."
Shawn said nothing.
But the thoughts came anyway.
Rohan threatening her.
Rohan forcing her to stay silent.
Rohan — always there. Always watching.
What if they're right?
What if he did this?
I won't let it happen again.
The door opened.
Rohan.
Fresh clothes. Face still raw. Eyes going straight to Raha the moment he stepped in.
"Has she woken up?"
Shawn looked at him.
Said nothing.
Rohan noticed Mr. Lee.
Stopped.
"You're here."
"Yes." Mr. Lee's voice was barely above a whisper. "And so are you. Come to finish what you started?"
"What?"
Shawn stood.
"Don't," he said. "Don't play innocent. Raha was going to talk. And now — this."
"I didn't—"
"Rabina found out," Mr. Lee said. "She told you. And you made sure Raha couldn't say a word."
"That's not—"
"Don't." Shawn's voice cracked through the room. "Don't stand there and pretend."
Something rose in Rohan's chest —
Frustration.
Grief.
Helplessness.
All of it at once.
All of it too much.
"I don't know!" His voice broke open. "I don't know anything about this — why won't anyone listen—"
Shawn grabbed his collar.
"The same way you killed Meena," he said through his teeth. "That's how you did this."
"Let go—"
"Get out. Stay away from Raha. I mean it."
Rohan grabbed his collar back.
The corridor filled.
Nurses. Visitors. Doctors. Everyone watching.
And then —
Rohan said it.
Not quietly.
Not carefully.
Not the way he'd planned — not the way he'd rehearsed it alone in a bathroom with the water running and nobody listening.
Loudly.
Completely.
Without thinking at all.
"I LOVE HER."
The corridor went silent.
Completely, absolutely silent.
"I love Raha," he said, voice cracking wide open. "Do you understand? I love her. I would never — I could never—"
He let go of Shawn's collar.
His hands were shaking.
He said it one more time.
Quieter now.
Like saying it again might make them believe it.
Like saying it again might make it feel less terrifying.
"I love her."
Shawn stood completely still.
Mr. Lee stood completely still.
Everyone stood completely still.
The only sound in that corridor —
Was silence.