Going on a date, a day before an interview wasn't a bright idea. Aashi knew that. But for some reason, she felt bolder than she ever did back home.

Maybe it was Mumbai's air.

Also the large physical distance between her and her parents now...

And the knowledge that neither of them could walk into this restaurant and ask her what the hell she was doing with a man...

Tanmay looked way out of her league. Aashi thought the same for any man. Because she always felt herself to be lacking...

Don't get your hopes up.

The place was quiet and upscale, with soft lighting and minimalist decor. Only a few tables were occupied. Aashi chose one tucked away for some privacy and picked up the menu.

She was dressed in a short white kurti, and faded blue flared jeans. Her dark brown hair fell neatly past her shoulders.

A waitress approached with a polite smile. "Would you like to start with anything, ma'am?"

"Uh... just tea for now," Aashi smiled.

Of course. She'd come somewhere new and immediately ordered the one thing she could have made in her room.

The door opened. Someone very familiar walked in, right on time. Afternoon light framed him as he entered, highlighting his messy brown hair and easy smile. He looked better than his photos, relaxed and approachable. Awfully handsome, to be honest.

Aashi was too stunned to speak first. But Tanmay found her and smiled.

"Hey, Aashi!"

She stood too quickly, then hoped he hadn't noticed. "Hey!" She replied with a smile, although her heart had started racing.

His handshake was warm. He waited until she'd sat before taking the chair opposite.

"So, how are you finding the city so far? Still feels like a lot?" He asked.

"It does. Everything's faster here." She smiled. "I like calmer places. I'm just hoping I don't get lost every day."

"You will. I still do sometimes." He laughed, and some of the tension left her shoulders. Her smile appeared more natural now.

"What about the interview? Tomorrow, right?"

"Yes... My final round." She turned the teaspoon between her fingers. "If I get it, everything changes. If I don't... I'll be back to square one. In a city where I don't know anyone.."

"You know me now." His voice was soft.

Aashi looked up. For a moment, her heart stopped.

Tanmay's smile remained easy, as though he hadn't just given her something she would spend the rest of the afternoon thinking about.

"You'll do well," he added. "You've already made it through the other rounds."

She nodded, trying to believe him.

They placed their orders. Once the waitress left, the conversation became easier.

"So... your family? Are they okay with you moving here alone?"

"They're supportive. Worried too. Especially my mother." Aashi gave an awkward smile. "Sometimes it feels more like pressure than care, you know?"

"I know. Mine worry too. Parents, right?"

Aashi laughed lightly. "Exactly. It's annoying but kind of sweet." She made herself laugh at the last part. She didn't want to explain her family fight over a first date... He might think she was ungrateful. Or difficult.

Tanmay watched her for a moment. "You have a really nice smile, by the way."

Aashi forgot what she'd been about to say. Then he continued.

"It makes you easy to talk to."

Aashi felt her cheeks warm instantly. "T-Thank you.. you too."

He smiled wider, and she immediately wished she'd come more prepared... Her heart hadn't calmed down ever since he stepped in.

The food arrived, and they continued chatting between bites. They spoke about films, the places she wanted to visit and how much of Mumbai she'd actually seen. Tanmay listened without making her feel as though she was being interviewed.

Even the silences became comfortable.

When they stepped outside, Aashi was smiling to herself awfully.

But just before they parted, something changed in his expression. A brief hesitation, gone before she could understand it.

It stayed with her all the way home.

Did I say something wrong?

Was I too nervous?

Her phone buzzed once she reached her apartment. It was him.

Tanmay: Hope you reached home safely. Call me if you need anything. I'm here for you❤️

She smiled at the red heart she had received. Relief arrived instantly.

Aashi: Sure ❤️

He had been texting her for a month straight... Although most of the conversation was from her friends.

She'd read through them all before meeting him. He seemed genuinely interested. Aashi couldn't lie... He was charming, kind and very understanding.

Perhaps she could allow herself to like him a little. A little more than she imagined...

Maybe this was a sign...

Riya and Tani called together a few minutes later and barely let her finish one answer before asking another.

"He was sweet," Aashi admitted. "But I don't know... he's well off. He probably has better options."

"Don't you dare say that!" Tani scolded. "You're more than enough.."

Aashi smiled, looking down at the heart on her screen. "We'll see how it goes."

After the call, she couldn't settle.

She opened her interview notes, read the same answer three times and realised she'd been thinking about his smile instead.

Why did he have to be so cute?

She groaned. All she wanted was to get her mind off of it.

It was her first time away in a new, open city.... When freedom came suddenly for a girl like Aashi who never crossed lines, she didn't know how to taste it without losing control.

She flopped onto her bed and scrolled through movie listings, eventually booking a solo ticket at 10:30 night in a premium mall.. Her interview was in the afternoon.

Nothing to worry about.

A quiet thrill ran through her. After years of her family saying no, she was finally doing it. She grabbed a hoodie and smiled to herself.

For Aashi this was progress...

Needless to say, that was her second mistake in Mumbai.

✦•······················•✦•······················•✦

Lyra stepped out of the passenger seat and looked around. No familiar car. No familiar faces. She hoped that meant no one had followed her.

The argument at the mansion still sat heavily in her chest. As the daughter of Azaruddin Rawther, she was used to being watched and protected.

Arshad never seemed to have the same problem.

No one worried about him walking into danger. Because walking into him, was the ultimate danger.

"You alright, dear?"

Lyra looked at the man beside her. Jacob. A so-called director she had been tolerating for three days. Mediocre at best, but he had connections. That was all that mattered right now.

She hadn't told him her surname. She'd wanted one conversation about acting that didn't begin with her father or her late mother.

"Of course." She put on a smile and lightly swatted his arm. "Let's watch the movie."

He took her hand as they walked towards the entrance. Lyra let him, listening to his excited chatter with half her attention.

A few steps behind them, Aashi slowed down, her jaw slack.

The woman gliding up the stairs was stunning. Tall, confident, dressed in something effortlessly sexy, like she belonged on a magazine cover.

A celebrity?

Aashi glanced down at her own oversized hoodie and pulled the sleeves over her hands. A pang of self-consciousness hit her.

Tonight, she looked more like a cautious teenager than a young woman. It was safer this way. She wasn't taking chances at night in a new city...

They were watching the same film.

She found her seat a little behind and diagonally across from the couple, occasionally looking towards the woman before reminding herself to watch the screen.

Halfway through, the man's hand moved again.

This time, the woman caught his wrist. Even in the dim light, Aashi saw the warning on her face.

He withdrew immediately.

She can handle herself, then. Aashi tried to concentrate on the film.

But before the credits began, the woman stood and walked out. The man hurried after her. Aashi remained seated for a moment, stuffing the last of her popcorn.

Then she got up. Something didn't feel right.

Outside, their voices carried from the quieter end of the mall entrance, near the service road.

"You think you're special?" the man snapped. "There are thousands of girls like you. I was doing you a favour. Take it or rot."

Lyra stepped closer, her voice ice-cold. "I am Lyra Rawther. Even if I fail, I'll still have more than your entire bloodline could dream of."

His expression changed.

"Rawther? As in... Azaruddin Rawther's daughter? Deena's daughter?"

"Good night, bastard. " She walked away before he could finish apologising.

Aashi watched her go.

Only when Lyra was beyond his sight did her stride falter.

She'd come in his car. No driver, no security. And after that performance, she would rather walk home than get back into it.

She pulled out her phone, trying to book a cab as she moved along the service road. One driver cancelled. Then another.

Behind her, a car engine started.

Lyra glanced back, then stepped through a gap beside a shuttered workshop, out of sight of the road.

Old vehicles filled the parking yard beyond it. She stopped near the broken wall and tried again.

"Fuck."

Calling Arshad would mean admitting how she'd ended up here. Not yet.

From farther down the road, Aashi saw Jacob's car pull away in the direction Lyra had taken.

Perhaps he was only leaving. Perhaps she was worrying for nothing. Or maybe not.

She followed anyway.

The road grew quieter beyond the mall's lights. Aashi kept looking ahead for the woman, but she'd disappeared.

Then she heard it.

"Help!"

The cry was cut short.

It came again, muffled this time, from behind the workshop. Aashi's heart raced as she sprinted toward the sound. She hurried towards the broken wall, then slowed at the sound of men's voices. Light moved across the bushes inside.

She crept closer, staying low. Then, she saw the woman through a gap.. Mouth stuffed with a scarf, wrists bound, three men crowded around her.

She was struggling hard enough that one of them swore and tightened his grip.

"You'll fetch us good money," another said. "Even dead."

He held his phone before her face. A video played.

Whatever Lyra saw made her eyes fill with horror as she recognized it.

Aashi's stomach twisted.  He had a knife. She knew she should run. Call the police and stay hidden. But it would be too late. They'd kill that woman by then.

Then Aashi's phone chimed.

Every head turned. Aashi knew she was unlucky in every aspect of life... Just not this bad.

"Fuck it..." Aashi whispered as the men saw her already. Her fingers closed around a rusted iron rod lying near the wall.

"Now who the hell is this?" One of the men asked, now their attention off from Lyra.

"Don't you dare touch her," Aashi forced her voice deeper. Her hand had already begun shaking.

"I've already called the police. And I recorded everything." Aashi lied, just to get the men to run away. Didn't work.

But Lyra's eyes widened in a mix of shock and desperate relief.

The man holding the phone looked towards one of the others. "Amir, get him."

The man approached.

"Stay back..." Aashi warned first. But the man didn't stop.

"I said stay back!"

His arm swung for a punch.

Aashi struck before she could think.

The impact jarred her hands. The rod caught his shoulder, sending him sideways into a parked vehicle.

Her hood slipped back.

The man stared, then shouted, "It's a woman! She's probably one of her guards!"

"No!" Lyra forced the scarf out of her mouth. "Please, just run! They'll kill you!"

Aashi's heart pounded so hard she could barely think. Her medication was the only thing keeping her from freezing completely.

She shook her head. "I-I can't just leave you here!"

One man lunged with a knife. Adrenaline surged through Aashi. She dodged, swung the rod again, and caught him across the spine.

He dropped.

Aashi snatched his knife and pointed it at the man beside Lyra.

"Let her go."

He looked at her, then at the knife.

"You think you can take us, little girl?" He moved before she could answer.

Her swing caught his arm, but he shoved it aside. His boot struck her thigh.

"Ah!" She cried out, collapsing. The man pinned her down, grabbing her wrists and yanking at her hoodie. Tears stung her eyes.

Another man grabbed her hair, pulling the hoodie off completely.

"Let me go!" Aashi screamed. The men laughed darkly.

"Now you're scared?" Amir chuckled.

"Amir," the man with the injured shoulder said. "Her phone's ringing."

He pulled it from her pocket and threw it to the ground.

With a violent shove, he pushed Aashi toward the other two men like she was nothing more than a rag doll.

One of them immediately seized her arm in a crushing grip, his eyes gleaming with sick lust.

"What's your name, you little bitch?" He demanded, breath hot and foul against her face.

Aashi glared at him through tears.

The slap turned her face, reddening her cheek.

He yanked at her kurti aggressively.

"Answer me, damn it!"

"A-Aashi," she finally squeaked out, voice trembling.

The man pulled Aashi closer, so close. Disgust and pure rage exploded inside her. His fingers caught the front of her kurti. Fabric tore. She tried to pull away, but another hand forced its way beneath the cloth at her back.

"Get your filthy hands off me!" She kicked, catching him hard enough to loosen his grip.

Then she was on the ground again. The first kick drove the breath from her. She curled in on herself, trying to protect her head.

"No!" Lyra screamed.

The men only laughed louder at Lyra's distress.

"You wanted to play hero for that highness?" Amir crouched near Aashi. "You're not walking out of here. I'll make you pray for death."

"Who dies faster exactly?"

Amir turned around in confusion.

Lyra was standing. The cut ropes lay at her feet, beside the knife Aashi had dropped. Her phone was in her hand.

"My men will be here any minute," Lyra's eyes stayed on Amir. "Come take me if you can."

"Watch the little brat! I'll handle her!" Amir barked at the other two. He went for Lyra with his knife raised.

She moved aside.

There was nothing hesitant about her now. She slipped off one black block heel. A narrow blade flashed from it, and when Amir lunged again, she drove it across his back.

He cried out and fell against a car.

"Boss!" The two men shouted in pure terror.

Lyra let out a short, breathless laugh.

Aashi stared. How the fucking hell? Who is this woman? Her movements were trained, she could tell for sure.

Whatever it was, Aashi knew one thing. It was she who needed saving now.

One man rushed her. Lyra met him before he reached Aashi, turning his blade aside and striking hard enough to drive him back.

The other hesitated.

It gave her the second she needed.

She took a knife from the man in front of her and reached for Aashi.

"Let's run! Come on!" Lyra urged, grabbing her hand.

They had barely taken a few steps when a heavy wooden plank slammed into Lyra's left arm with a sickening crack.

"Ah!" Lyra screamed in agony, releasing Aashi's hand and collapsing to the ground. The knife fell beside them.

Something deep inside Aashi snapped. The man was raising the plank again...

She grabbed the fallen blade. Her arm swung before the fear could stop it.

The cut opened across his chest.

Blood struck her face and the front of her white kurti.

He staggered away, howling. "You piece of shit!!"

Amir was back on his feet, one hand pressed against his bloodied back. "We went easy because you're a woman," he snarled at Aashi. "Not anymore. You're just as rabid as that bitch!"

Aashi turned too late. His knife drove through the sleeve over her left arm.

"Aaaah!!!!" She screamed. The pain was so sharp that everything else disappeared for a second.

From the ground, Lyra struck at his leg with the blade in her shoe.

"Fuck!!" Amir stumbled back, swearing.

Lyra's phone began ringing nearby. She looked towards her discarded purse.

For the first time, hope broke through her expression.

"Come with me," Lyra pleaded, struggling up. Her injured arm hung close to her body. "We'll deal with them later. Please."

Aashi caught her with her uninjured hand, tears breaking loose. They moved towards the gap in the wall, stumbling together. Lyra was shaking now. Aashi could feel it through their joined hands.

Almost there.

Then her fingers were pulled from Lyra's.

Amir's rough palm clamped over Aashi's mouth. His other hand was about to drive a knife straight to her neck.

"No don't!!" Lyra screamed.

.

.

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