The Contract Groom
The rain hadn't stopped.
It grew heavier.
As if the sky itself was trying to erase the night.
Inside the house, no one moved for several seconds after the footsteps disappeared.
The silence left behind by the stranger felt worse than his presence.
Sasmita stood near the door, her fingers still wrapped tightly around the gun.
But her hand—
was trembling slightly.
Not from fear.
From memory.
Dr. Prem noticed immediately.
And that alone disturbed him more than the intruder's words.
Because this was the first time he had seen her lose control.
Even briefly.
"…Who was that?" he asked quietly.
No answer.
Sasmita kept staring at the door as if the past itself stood behind it.
Thunder cracked across the sky.
The sound pulled her back for a moment.
She inhaled slowly.
Forced herself to calm down.
Then finally—
she spoke.
"…Someone who should be dead."
Her voice sounded distant.
Like she wasn't fully inside the room anymore.
Dr. Prem studied her silently.
"You recognized the voice."
Again—
silence.
Then—
very slowly—
she nodded once.
The tension in the room deepened instantly.
"Who is he?" Dr. Prem asked again.
This time Sasmita looked directly at him.
And for the first time since he met her—
her eyes showed something raw.
Pain.
"Years ago," she said quietly, "before everything was destroyed…"
Her voice paused briefly.
"…there was a boy."
The rain outside intensified.
Almost drowning her words.
"He lived near one of Tiger Gang's old warehouses."
A faint pause followed.
"He used to help people there."
Dr. Prem listened carefully.
Not interrupting.
"One night…"
Her fingers tightened harder around the gun.
"…the warehouse burned."
A memory flashed across her mind again.
Flames climbing walls.
Smoke thick enough to choke.
People screaming.
Running.
Dying.
"I saw him inside," she whispered.
A pause.
"He should've died."
The room fell silent again.
Dr. Prem's instincts sharpened quietly.
Because something about this story felt wrong.
Incomplete.
"What was his name?" he asked softly.
Sasmita's expression hardened immediately.
Almost instinctively.
"…I don't remember."
A lie.
And both of them knew it.
Before Dr. Prem could speak again—
his phone vibrated suddenly.
One message.
From Nandu.
Leave immediately. You've been identified.
His eyes darkened instantly.
Too fast.
Everything was happening too fast.
Which meant the enemy already had movement inside the network.
He locked the screen immediately.
But Sasmita noticed the shift in his expression again.
"What happened now?" she asked coldly.
Dr. Prem looked toward the underground entrance briefly.
Thinking.
Calculating.
Then—
unexpectedly—
he stepped closer to her.
"You need to move her."
Sasmita's eyes narrowed instantly.
"No."
"If they know about this house, they'll come back."
His voice remained calm.
"Next time won't be a warning."
"I said no."
The tension between them sharpened immediately.
"She can't be moved carelessly," Sasmita continued.
"Her condition—"
"Will become irrelevant if someone kills her first."
That sentence hit harder than expected.
Because it was true.
Sasmita looked away immediately.
Her jaw tightened.
For the first time tonight—
she felt cornered.
And she hated that feeling.
Dr. Prem noticed the conflict in her eyes.
Fear mixed with calculation.
Not fear for herself.
For Sumitra Devi.
"…There's another safe place," he said quietly.
Her gaze snapped toward him instantly.
"How would you know that?"
A dangerous question.
One second passed.
Then another.
Dr. Prem realized too late—
he had revealed more than intended.
But before suspicion could deepen further—
the underground monitor alarm suddenly echoed from below.
Beep.
Beep.
Beep.
Sharp.
Urgent.
Both of them reacted instantly.
They rushed downstairs together.
The hidden room glowed red under emergency lights now.
The monitor readings had become unstable.
Neural activity rising rapidly.
Heart rate increasing.
Dr. Prem moved immediately toward the machine controls.
"What's happening?" Sasmita demanded.
But before he could answer—
something impossible happened.
Sumitra Devi's fingers moved again.
Stronger this time.
Then slowly—
painfully—
her eyes twitched beneath closed lids.
Sasmita froze completely.
"…Piusi…"
Another movement.
A faint breath escaped Sumitra Devi's lips.
And then—
very softly—
almost inaudibly—
she whispered something.
A name.
"…Aryan…"
Dr. Prem's hands stopped instantly.
Sasmita's eyes widened.
Because neither of them knew that name.
But somewhere upstairs—
inside the hidden surveillance room—
Aarav did.
And for the first time in years—
true shock appeared on his face.
Because Aryan—
was a name buried deep inside Tiger Gang's oldest secrets.
A name connected to a child who disappeared years ago.
A child who was never supposed to survive.
And suddenly—
everything began connecting in ways no one expected.