The rain had almost drowned the accident site.
Almost.
But not the silence that followed it.
Avir stood beside the wrecked car while the emergency workers moved around him.
The smell of petrol mixed with wet earth.
Broken glass glittered beneath the headlights.
Somewhere nearby, the ambulance doors slammed shut.
Avir watched as the paramedics tried to revive Arhaan.
One of them shook his head.
"Nothing."
Avir lowered his eyes.
He hadn't known the man personally.
Yet somehow, his death didn't feel like the death of a stranger anymore.
Because the man had given him his daughter.
His last piece of life.
A police officer approached.
"Sir, we need your statement."
Avir nodded.
"Inspector Patil."
"Yes."
Patil looked at him carefully.
"You were the first person to reach the vehicle?"
"Yes."
"Who else was with you?"
Avir looked toward the college bus.
"Her."
Patil followed his gaze.
Prisha was standing near the bus window, holding the baby.
"Who is she?"
"A student from the bus."
"Family?"
"No."
Patil looked at him.
"No?"
"We met today."
The inspector frowned.
"You met today?"
"Yes."
"And she has the child?"
"Yes."
Patil stared at him for a moment.
"This is going to be a complicated statement."
Avir almost sighed.
"It already is."
They moved a little away from the wreckage.
Patil opened his notebook.
"Start from the beginning."
Avir told him everything.
The car.
The rain.
The collision.
Finding the woman.
Finding the baby.
Arhaan being barely conscious.
Then—
his voice changed.
"He recognized me."
Patil looked up.
"Why?"
"He knew me from business."
"Did he tell you his name?"
"Yes."
Avir paused.
"Arhaan Raichand."
Patil's pen stopped.
"You're sure?"
"Yes."
"Did he say anything else?"
Avir looked toward the road.
"He said his daughter was the only thing that mattered."
Patil glanced toward Arosha.
"Then?"
"He asked me to take her."
"Why?"
"He said someone was trying to destroy his family."
Patil's expression became serious.
"What exactly did he say?"
Avir repeated as much as he could remember.
Then came the last part.
"He told me never to let the Raichands know she exists."
Patil slowly lowered his pen.
"The Raichands?"
"Yes."
Avir looked at him.
"He specifically said anyone connected to the Raichands must never know about her."
Patil was silent.
Avir continued.
"He asked us to protect her."
"Us?"
Avir looked toward the bus.
"He thought Prisha was my wife."
Patil raised an eyebrow.
"You're not married?"
"No."
Patil looked toward the young woman holding the baby.
Then back at Avir.
"And you barely know her?"
"We met today."
Patil shook his head slightly.
"Quite a day to meet someone."
Avir didn't answer.
His eyes returned to the baby.
Patil was about to continue when something caught Avir's attention.
A man stood several metres away.
He was dressed in a police-style rain jacket.
He wasn't doing anything.
At least—
he appeared not to be.
But Avir noticed the way he kept looking toward the ambulance.
Then toward the road.
Then toward the baby.
The man turned slightly away.
Pulled out his phone.
Avir's expression changed.
"Inspector."
Patil looked at him.
"The man near the tree."
"Which one?"
"Black jacket."
Patil turned.
The man immediately put his phone away.
"Do you know him?"
Patil frowned.
"No."
Avir watched him carefully.
"He isn't looking at the accident."
Patil's eyes narrowed.
"What do you mean?"
"He's looking at the bus."
The man started walking away.
Patil suddenly stiffened.
"Wait."
He looked again.
Then recognition appeared on his face.
"I know him."
Avir turned.
"From where?"
"Raichand Limited."
Patil's hand moved toward his weapon.
"He was part of their private security team."
Avir's expression hardened.
"Then why is he dressed like police?"
Patil didn't answer.
"Stop!"
The man began running.
Everything happened at once.
Two officers chased him.
The man pushed one aside and sprinted toward the darker side of the road.
"STOP!"
He kept running.
Avir took a step forward.
Patil raised his weapon.
"Drop it!"
The man reached inside his jacket.
Patil fired.
The shot cracked through the rain.
The man collapsed.
The officers rushed toward him.
Avir stood still.
His heart was beating hard.
Not because of the gunshot.
Because he knew what it meant.
Someone had come looking for the baby.
Already.
The officers searched the man.
A phone.
A concealed weapon.
A Raichand security identification card.
And several photographs.
Patil looked through them.
His face hardened.
The photographs weren't of Arhaan.
They were of the accident site.
The car.
The ambulance.
The college bus.
And—
Arosha.
Taken from a distance.
Avir stared at the photograph.
Something cold settled inside him.
They hadn't simply found the accident.
They had been waiting for it.
Patil looked at him.
"Sir."
Avir didn't respond.
"She's already being watched."
Avir's jaw tightened.
"How long?"
"I don't know."
"Then find out."
Patil looked at him.
Avir's voice remained calm.
But there was something dangerous beneath it now.
"I don't care who they are."
He looked toward the bus.
"I gave him my word."
Patil nodded slowly.
An hour later, the road had been cleared.
The body had been taken away.
The injured security man was being transported under police custody.
The remaining officers had left.
Only Patil remained.
He stood beside Avir.
"You should take the child somewhere safe."
"I know."
"Don't take her to a hospital unless absolutely necessary."
Avir looked at him.
"Why?"
"Because hospitals have records."
Avir understood immediately.
Patil continued.
"Don't use your regular staff."
"Why?"
"If someone has people inside the police department, they may have people elsewhere too."
Avir's expression darkened.
"Then what do I do?"
Patil looked at him.
"Disappear."
Avir almost smiled bitterly.
"That's difficult."
"Then make it difficult for them to find you."
A pause.
Patil extended his hand.
"I'll make sure my team says nothing."
Avir looked at his hand.
Then shook it.
"You have my word."
Patil smiled faintly.
"That's what Arhaan trusted."
Avir's expression changed.
Patil continued.
"And I believe him."
For the first time that night, Avir looked genuinely grateful.
"Thank you."
Patil nodded.
"Protect the child."
"I will."
When Avir finally returned to the bus, everyone had gone quiet.
Most of the students were asleep.
The professor was sitting near the front.
Prisha was still awake.
She looked up the moment he entered.
Her eyes immediately searched his face.
"What happened?"
Avir sat across from her.
"The police handled it."
"Is he...?"
Avir nodded.
"He's gone."
Prisha lowered her eyes.
She looked at the baby.
Arosha was asleep again.
"She doesn't know."
"No."
"She'll wake up and look for her mother."
Avir didn't answer.
Prisha's voice became quieter.
"What happens when she does?"
Avir looked at the baby.
"I don't know."
It was the first time Prisha had heard him say those words without trying to hide them.
She looked at him.
"You really don't know, do you?"
"No."
A pause.
"But I'll figure it out."
Prisha nodded.
Then she noticed the blood on his sleeve.
"You're hurt."
"It's not mine."
She stared at him.
"What?"
"It's Arhaan's."
She looked away.
Silence settled between them.
Then Prisha whispered:
"Did you tell the police everything?"
"Yes."
"Even about her?"
"Yes."
Her eyes widened.
"Then how can we trust them?"
"We can't."
"Then why did you tell them?"
"Because one of them was already looking for her."
Prisha's face paled.
"What?"
Avir looked directly at her.
"There was someone there pretending to be police."
She looked down at Arosha.
"Oh God."
"He's been arrested."
"Was he sent by them?"
"We don't know."
"Then they know about her?"
"Not yet."
Prisha's fingers tightened around the baby's blanket.
Avir noticed.
"Prisha."
She looked up.
"Don't be afraid."
She gave a small, almost disbelieving laugh.
"I'm holding a one-month-old baby whose parents are dead, someone is trying to kill her, and I'm sitting on a college bus with a man I met today."
She looked at him.
"I think I'm allowed to be afraid."
Avir didn't know what to say.
So he said the only thing he could.
"I won't let anything happen to her."
Prisha studied his face.
"You promised her father."
"Yes."
"You didn't promise me."
Avir looked at her.
"I know."
A pause.
"But I'm telling you anyway."
Something in her expression softened.
The bus started moving again.
Prisha looked outside.
The city lights of Mumbai slowly appeared through the rain.
Avir sat quietly.
Arosha slept between them.
Three strangers.
One secret.
And a promise that had been made beside a wrecked car in the middle of a storm.
None of them knew what would happen next.
But somewhere across the city—
a phone rang.
A man answered.
"Sir."
A pause.
"Yes Speak."
"Arhaan Raichand and Maahirah Raichand are dead."
Silence.
Then—
"Are you sure?"
"Yes, sir."
"How?"
"Car accident. The police have recovered both bodies."
Another pause.
"Have the bodies been identified?"
"Yes, sir. The police have sent them for post-mortem."
The man exhaled slowly.
"And the company?"
"Everything is still under control."
"Good."
The call ended.
Neither man knew that somewhere on the same road, a one-month-old baby was sleeping peacefully in the arms of a stranger.
Neither knew that Arosha Raichand existed.
And that was exactly what Arhaan had wanted.
For now—
his daughter was still a secret.
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