AUTHOR’S POV
The underground server room beneath the Navora Law Library felt colder now.
Not because of the machines humming softly in the darkness.
But because every person inside that room had realized something terrifying.
This was not just a spy hiding inside a university.
This was a network.
A carefully hidden system operating right under the noses of professors, students, and government officials.
And somehow…
Ruhi Rai Singhania had already stepped into the center of it.
RUHI’S POV
The three attackers lay unconscious on the floor.
Rohan had tied them with electrical cables while Aaron searched their pockets.
Manan stood near the entrance quietly, watching everything like a silent observer.
Which irritated me more than I wanted to admit.
I turned toward the server system.
“Aalia.”
Her voice immediately came through the earpiece.
“I’m in.”
“How strong is the encryption?”
A pause.
Then she laughed softly.
“Strong enough to make someone feel important.”
Aaron grinned.
“Meaning?”
“Meaning whoever built this system thinks they’re smarter than everyone.”
Rohan crossed his arms.
“Are they?”
Her typing paused.
“Give me ten minutes and I’ll answer that.”
I exhaled slowly.
Ten minutes in enemy territory felt like ten hours.
I glanced at Manan.
He hadn’t moved.
Not once.
Just standing there with that calm, analytical expression.
Like a man watching a chessboard.
It annoyed me.
“You’re unusually comfortable for someone who just discovered a secret server beneath his own university.”
His eyes shifted toward me.
“Should I panic?”
“That would at least make you look human.”
A faint shadow of amusement appeared on his face.
“Disappointing you seems difficult.”
Before I could reply—
Aalia suddenly shouted through the earpiece.
“Ruhi!”
My focus snapped back to the laptop screen.
“What?”
“I just accessed the internal files.”
Aaron leaned closer.
“Anything interesting?”
Aalia didn’t answer immediately.
Which was strange.
Very strange.
Then she spoke slowly.
“There are hundreds of encrypted files.”
“About what?”
“Defense data.”
Rohan’s expression darkened.
“That confirms it.”
But Aalia continued.
“And… something else.”
My instincts sharpened.
“What else?”
She hesitated.
Then said quietly—
“There’s a personal file here.”
My heartbeat slowed.
“Whose?”
A pause.
Then Aalia whispered.
“Yours.”
The room went silent.
Aaron blinked.
“Wait… what?”
I stared at the screen.
My own name appeared on the encrypted document.
RUHI RAI SINGHANIA
My fingers moved before my mind could process it.
“Open it.”
Aalia unlocked the file.
The screen filled with documents.
Photographs.
Old mission reports.
And then—
A childhood photograph appeared.
My breath caught.
I hadn’t seen that picture in years.
It was from a training camp.
Two children stood in the rain.
One girl.
One boy.
The girl was me.
But the boy’s face…
had been erased.
The file description read:
PROJECT GARUDA — CHILD OPERATIVE PROGRAM
My chest tightened.
I whispered slowly,
“What is this…”
Aaron frowned.
“Boss… did you know about this?”
“No.”
Another file opened automatically.
SUBJECT 02 — TRAINING STATUS: ACTIVE
Then suddenly—
the screen flickered.
A new message appeared.
Not from Aalia.
Not from our system.
Someone had hacked into the server remotely.
The words slowly typed themselves across the screen.
“Hello, Ms. Singhania.”
My blood ran cold.
Aaron stepped back.
“Tell me that’s Aalia.”
Aalia’s voice sounded panicked.
“That’s not me!”
The message continued typing.
“You were not supposed to find this yet.”
Rohan whispered,
“The spy.”
The screen blinked again.
Another message appeared.
“But curiosity has always been your weakness.”
Anger burned inside me.
“Show yourself.”
The reply came instantly.
“Not yet.”
Suddenly—
a loud gunshot echoed from the staircase above.
Everyone turned.
Another shot followed.
Manan moved first.
He pushed me sideways just as a bullet shattered the server monitor behind me.
Glass exploded everywhere.
Three armed men rushed down the stairs.
Professional.
Fast.
Assassins.
One of them aimed directly at Manan.
Aaron shouted,
“They’re targeting him!”
The assassin fired again.
Manan grabbed a metal chair and swung it upward, deflecting the shot just enough for it to miss.
My mind flashed with one thought.
A law professor doesn’t move like that.
The second attacker rushed toward me.
Knife drawn.
I kicked his knee, forcing him down, but he swung the blade upward toward my shoulder.
Before it could hit—
Manan appeared beside me.
He caught the attacker’s wrist mid-air.
Then twisted it with precise force.
The knife dropped instantly.
The man collapsed unconscious.
My eyes narrowed.
That move…
was military combat training.
Not civilian self-defense.
The third attacker pulled out a pistol.
Rohan tackled him before he could fire.
Aaron finished the fight with a swift punch.
Within seconds—
silence returned to the underground room.
But my mind was racing now.
I turned toward Manan slowly.
He brushed dust off his sleeve again.
Calm.
Too calm.
“You fight like a soldier.”
His gaze met mine.
“Observation again?”
“You knew the attackers were coming.”
“No.”
“You appeared exactly when the shot was fired.”
“Coincidence.”
My voice hardened.
“Coincidences don’t save lives that precisely.”
For a moment—
his expression changed.
Just slightly.
Then he said quietly,
“Sometimes the right person simply arrives at the right time.”
I stepped closer.
Close enough to hear his steady breathing.
“Or sometimes that person already knows the danger.”
Our eyes locked.
Electric tension filled the air.
Then suddenly—
another message appeared on the damaged monitor.
Everyone turned.
The spy was still connected.
The message typed slowly.
“Fascinating.”
Then another line appeared.
“The two of you work well together.”
Aaron muttered,
“Great. Now the psycho is giving relationship commentary.”
But the final message froze all of us.
“Tell me, Professor Rajput…”
My heart skipped.
The spy knew his name.
The message finished typing.
“…does she remember the rain yet?”
My mind went blank.
Rain.
A younger voice.
A training ground.
And that sentence again—
“तुम गिरोगी तो मैं पकड़ लूँगा।” [ tüm girogi toh mai pakad lunga ]
[if you fall I'll hold you]
My eyes slowly moved toward Manan.
He was staring at the screen.
For the first time since I had met him—
his calm expression had cracked.
Only slightly.
But enough.
I whispered quietly,
“Why does he think you know my past?”
Manan didn’t answer.
The monitor flickered one last time.
The spy typed his final message.
“The past always returns.”
“And when it does…”
“…even hunters become prey.”
Then the connection terminated.
The underground room fell silent again.
My mind replayed everything.
The hidden file.
The erased child.
The rain memory.
And Manan’s combat skills.
Slowly, one terrifying realization formed inside my mind.
I looked directly at him.
“A law professor…”
“…with combat training.”
My voice turned cold.
“That’s suspicious.”
Manan looked back at me.
Unshaken.
But something in his eyes felt strangely familiar.
Then he said quietly—
“सत्यं कदाचित् विलम्बेन प्रकटते।”
Truth sometimes reveals itself late.
Our eyes remained locked.
Enemies.
Allies.
Or something fate had already decided long ago.
Because somewhere deep inside my instincts—
one impossible thought had begun to grow.
What if the anonymous teammate…was standing right in front of me? or what if he is the intruder leaking information ?
Thank you
Gratitudes,
Author✨
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