The godown smelled of rust, oil, and rain-soaked cement.

Mareena stood in the middle of it, unmoving, the gun still trembling in her hand. Her ears rang—not from the sound of the shot, but from the silence that followed. A silence so complete it felt like the world itself had stepped back in horror.

Manav lay on the ground.

Her brother.

Blood darkened the floor beneath him, spreading slowly, like something alive.

Mareena’s knees finally gave way. She sank to the ground, the gun clattering from her fingers, her breath coming in short, broken gasps.

“I didn’t want this,” she whispered, staring at her hands. “I didn’t—”

Footsteps echoed.

She looked up sharply, panic slicing through her grief.

Abhinav.

He stood at the entrance of the godown, chest rising hard, eyes scanning the space—until they landed on Manav’s body.

The color drained from his face.

For a moment, neither of them moved.

“Mareena…” His voice broke on her name.

She shook her head violently. “Don’t come closer.”

He ignored her.

Each step toward her felt heavier than the last. When he reached her, he crouched slowly, his gaze flicking between her face and the body behind her.

“You killed him,” he said quietly—not as an accusation, but as disbelief.

Tears streamed down her face. “He was going to kill you. He also killed your sister Asha who lives abroad."

Abhinav felt remorseful and said," You know Asha was my half sister?"

Mareena replies,"No I didn't know that".

Abhinav said,"Asha was m-my father and your mother's daughter. Your mom got pregnant and gave birth to her. After your mom disappeared she was brought here. But I and my mom we couldn't tolerate her. That time I didn't know who's daughter she was but I could understand my father was the one but I was unaware of who the mother was. When the Commissioner revealed everything I could put everything in place. We sent Asha to abroad and we never cared for her. She is the half sister of both of us."

Mareena said," Wha-at? That's why Manav couldn't tolerate her and had sent goons to kill her. But why did Bhaiya kill her, we shared the same blood with Asha."

The words shattered something inside him. Abhinav said," Not the same blood if i say exactly so. She had the Roy dynasty’s blood, my father's blood which your bhaiya couldn't tolerate ".

“He had the gun first,” she continued, her voice cracking. “He said… he said you were the last loose end.”

Abhinav closed his eyes briefly, absorbing the weight of it.

Then he did something Mareena didn’t expect.

He pulled her into his arms.

She froze.

“I’m here,” he whispered against her hair. “You’re not alone.”

She pushed at his chest weakly. “No. No, Abhinav—this is wrong. I killed my brother.”

“You saved my life.”

Her sob turned raw. “That doesn’t make it better.”

He pulled back just enough to look at her. Her face was streaked with tears, her eyes hollow with shock.

“We’ll take care of this,” he said, voice steady now. Too steady. “We’ll hide the body. Cremate it. No one will ever know.”

Mareena stared at him.

“What?”

“My family owns half this city,” he said. “Roy Industries doesn’t just build empires—we erase problems.”

Her heart clenched.

“No,” she said immediately. “I won’t do that.”

“Mareena—”

“I’m going to surrender.”

The word hit him harder than the gunshot.

“No.”

“I have to,” she insisted, pulling away from him. “I won’t live like them. Like your father.”

His jaw tightened.

“This isn’t justice,” he snapped. “This is you destroying yourself for a man who tried to murder me and also who murdered our innocent half sister.”

She stood up, swaying. “He was still my brother.”

“And I am still here,” Abhinav said fiercely. “Alive because of you.”

She laughed bitterly. “Alive because I became a killer.”

He grabbed her wrist—not painfully, but urgently. “Listen to me.”

She looked at him then, really looked—and saw fear beneath his control.

“I will not let you go to prison,” he said. “Not after everything.”

Her voice dropped to a whisper. “Then you don’t know everything.”

His brows knit together.

“Manav sent those chits,” she said. “Every warning you ever received.”

Abhinav stiffened.

“And the proof?” she continued. “The evidence against your father and mother?”

His throat went dry.

“He gave everything to the Commissioner,” Mareena said. “Documents. Witness statements. Bank transfers. He paid them to make sure Devraj Roy is punished for killing my father… and your mother for killing her sister.”

The world tilted.

“You’re lying,” Abhinav whispered.

“I wish I were.”

Silence swallowed them whole.

Far away, thunder rolled.

On the other side of the city, Priya sat across from Aryan, her hands folded protectively over her stomach.

“I’ll come back,” she said softly. “After the baby is born.”

Aryan’s eyes darkened. “And until then?”

“I’ll divorce Abhinav,” she said. “Only then.”

Back in the godown, Mareena stepped away from Abhinav.

“Leave,” she said. “Before you ruin yourself for me.”

He didn’t move.

“I lost you once,” he said hoarsely. “I won’t do it again.”

She met his gaze—fifteen years of love, pain, and unfinished promises burning between them.

“This time,” she whispered, “staying will cost you everything.”

He took her face in his hands.

“Then I’ll pay it.”

The rain began softly outside the godown, tapping against the tin roof like a warning that time was slipping away.

Mareena wiped her face with the back of her hand, but the tears kept coming. They weren’t loud anymore—just silent, relentless. The kind that hollowed you out from the inside.

Abhinav stood there, torn between two instincts that were tearing him apart:

protect her

or

do the right thing

He chose her.

“We can’t stay here,” he said finally, his voice low but firm. “Someone will come.”

She shook her head. “Let them.”

“No,” he snapped, then softened immediately when she flinched. “I didn’t mean—” He exhaled sharply. “Mareena, listen to me. If you surrender now, they won’t see the truth. They’ll see a woman with a gun and a dead man at her feet. That’s all.”

“That is the truth,” she whispered.

He stepped closer. “It’s not the whole truth.”

She looked at him, eyes red, searching his face like she was trying to memorize it—like she already believed this was goodbye.

“You don’t understand,” she said. “Manav didn’t just try to kill you. He ruined everything. He tried to kill Priya. He killed Asha. He poisoned lives. And now—” Her voice broke. “Now I’ve become him.”

Abhinav reached for her hands. They were ice cold.

“You are nothing like him,” he said fiercely. “You protected someone you loved. That matters.”

“Does it?” she asked bitterly. “Because my father thought the same thing once. And he paid for it with his life.”

The name hung between them like a ghost.

Abhinav swallowed. “My father will pay too.”

She laughed—a short, broken sound. “You really believe that?”

“Yes,” he said, surprising even himself. “Because I won’t protect him anymore.”

That made her finally look at him differently.

“You’d turn against your own blood?”

He didn’t hesitate. “I already have.”

Sirens wailed faintly in the distance—far away, but close enough to make Mareena stiffen.

“Time,” Abhinav muttered.

He pulled out his phone, typing quickly, barking low commands. Names were dropped. Orders given. The kind of calls that only someone born into power could make.

Mareena watched him, horror and awe mixing uneasily in her chest.

“This is what scares me,” she said. “How easy this is for you.”

He looked at her then, really looked. “This isn’t easy. It’s just… familiar.”

That honesty hurt more than lies ever could.

Within minutes, headlights flashed briefly outside, then disappeared. Trusted people. Silent people.

Abhinav turned back to her. “They’ll take care of everything.”

She stepped back. “And then what? You pretend this never happened?”

“No,” he said quietly. “Then we survive it.”

She shook her head. “I don’t want your power, Abhinav. I want peace.”

He crossed the distance between them in two strides, stopping just inches away.

“Then let me be your shield,” he said softly. “Just this once.”

Her breath hitched.

For a second—just a second—she leaned into him, her forehead resting against his chest. He wrapped his arms around her carefully, like she might shatter if he held her too tightly.

“I can still feel it,” she whispered. “The recoil. The sound.”

He pressed his chin to her hair. “I know.”

“I’ll never be clean again.”

He pulled back enough to meet her eyes. “Neither am I.”

They stood there, bound not by innocence, but by shared ruin.

---

Meanwhile…

Priya lay awake, staring at the ceiling, Aryan’s words echoing in her mind.

Stay.

Her hand drifted to her stomach.

“I will,” she whispered to the unborn life inside her. “Just not yet.”

She had made her choice—but she knew choices always demanded payment.

---

Back at the godown

Mareena finally straightened.

“If I do this,” she said, voice steady now, “I do it my way.”

Abhinav nodded. “Tell me.”

“No running,” she said. “No hiding forever. When the truth comes out… I face it.”

His jaw tightened. “And if it destroys you?”

She met his gaze. “Then at least it will be honest.”

He stared at her for a long moment.

Then, quietly: “I love you.”

The words stunned her.

“You don’t get to say that now,” she whispered.

“I’ve waited fifteen years,” he replied. “I won’t wait another second.”

She closed her eyes, a single tear slipping free.

“This love,” she said, “might be the most dangerous thing between us.”

He brushed his thumb lightly against her cheek—not a kiss, not even a touch meant to comfort. Just presence.

“Then we’ll survive it too.”

The godown was quiet now.

Too quiet.

The people Abhinav had summoned were gone. The echoes of their presence lingered only in the faint smell of smoke and damp concrete. What remained was silence—and the weight of what they had just done.

Mareena leaned against a pillar, arms wrapped around herself, staring at nothing. The storm inside her had dulled, replaced by exhaustion so deep it felt bone-heavy.

Abhinav watched her from a distance.

He knew this moment.

The moment where power tempted him to take control. To decide for both of them. To shield her at any cost.

But this time, he didn’t move.

He waited.

When she finally looked up, her eyes met his—clearer now, steadier.

“You’re still here,” she said quietly.

“I told you,” he replied. “I’m not leaving.”

She swallowed. “Even after everything?”

He stepped closer. Not hurried. Not forceful. Each step deliberate.

“My family built an empire on silence,” he said. “On erasing truths. On protecting the wrong people.” He stopped in front of her. “I won’t do that anymore.”

Her breath caught.

“I choose you,” he continued. “Not because it’s easy. Not because it’s safe. But because it’s right.”

Her voice trembled. “You’re choosing me over your father. Over your name. Over everything.”

“Yes.”

The single word landed like a vow.

She shook her head slowly, disbelief flickering across her face. “You don’t know what that costs.”

“I do,” he said softly. “And I’m willing to pay it.”

For a moment, Mareena looked like she might crumble again.

Instead, she stepped forward.

Her hands gripped the front of his jacket, fingers curling as if grounding herself. She rested her forehead against his chest, breathing him in—not like a woman seeking comfort, but like someone reclaiming something she had lost.

“I never wanted to come back like this,” she whispered. “I wanted us to meet without blood between us.”

He rested his hands lightly on her back. “We didn’t choose the battlefield. Just the side.”

She pulled back just enough to look at him.

“Then stay,” she said. “Not as my savior. Not as a Roy. Just… as you.”

His thumb brushed gently against her cheek. “Always.”

She kissed him then.

Not desperate. Not rushed.

A slow, steady kiss—full of years, grief, and the quiet certainty of return. A kiss that didn’t erase the past, but accepted it.

When they parted, her lips lingered close to his.

“This doesn’t fix everything,” she said.

“I know.”

“But it’s a beginning.”

He smiled faintly. “That’s enough.”

---

Elsewhere

Priya sat across from Aryan, sunlight filtering through the curtains. For the first time in weeks, the room didn’t feel heavy.

Aryan watched her carefully. “You don’t have to do this the hard way.”

She looked down at her hands. “I was angry. Hurt. I thought if I accused Abhinav… if I destroyed him first… I’d feel stronger.”

Aryan’s voice was calm but firm. “That wouldn’t be strength. That would be damage.”

She nodded slowly. “You’re right.”

He reached across the table, not touching her—just close enough to be present.

“Get a mutual divorce,” he said. “After the baby is born. No lies. No revenge.”

Her eyes filled. “And if he refuses?”

“He won’t,” Aryan replied. “And even if he does—we walk away clean.”

She hesitated. “I didn’t want to rely on you anymore.”

He smiled then—soft, almost shy. “You won’t have to.”

She looked up.

“I got the job,” he said. “It starts next month.”

Her breath caught. “Aryan—”

“You don’t have to extract anything from anyone,” he continued. “Not from Abhinav. Not from me. We’ll build this the right way.”

Her hand drifted to her stomach.

“Thank you,” she whispered.

“For choosing peace,” he replied.

---

Back with Mareena and Abhinav

The sky outside the godown had begun to lighten. Dawn crept in slowly, pale and uncertain.

Mareena stood beside Abhinav, watching the horizon.

“This ends my old life,” she said.

He laced his fingers with hers. “Then we’ll write a new one.”

She turned to him, eyes fierce now—not broken.

“No more running,” she said. “No more lies.”

He nodded. “No more silence.”

They walked out together.

Not untouched.

Not innocent.

But unbroken.

---

SPOILER:

A BABY BOY IS BORN.........

PRIYA SAYS," THANK YOU ABHINAV THANKYOU FOR EVERYTHING "

MAREENA CUDDLES HIM AND WHISPERS," I LOVE YOU."

MAREENA IS BLUSHING, ABHINAV SAYS," NO MORE WAITING SWEETHEART.. I HAVE CONTROLLED EVERYTHING FOR 15 YEARS NOW ITS TIME FOR.........

.........

AUTHOR'S POV:

Finally all depressive and action packed chapters have come to an end... now we'll witness Mareena and Abhinav's love life and romance.

STAY TUNED!