Khushi's grip on the letter tightened, her knuckles pale.
Mama's face had gone stiff as stone as he peered through the curtain.
His shoulders tensed, his breath uneven, as if the sight outside confirmed every fear he had buried deep.
"They're here again,"
he muttered, his voice bitter, heavy with years of exhaustion.
"Every day, they come.
Sitting outside like vultures.
They're waiting for me to slip, to hand this over.
Sanjay never let go of his greed."
Khushi's stomach dropped.
So it wasn't coincidence… they hadn't been followed.
These men were stationed here, watching, circling Mama like prey. The weight of their presence pressed through the walls, even without a single step taken inside.
Ron moved closer to her, his eyes sharp but his voice low.
"They don't know us, right?"
Mama shook his head slowly, though his jaw remained clenched.
"No.
They only know I have something Sonali left behind.
They think I'll surrender.
But I never have."
His eyes softened as they flickered toward Khushi, before hardening again like steel drawn in fire.
"And I won't.
Not when I see who it truly belongs to."
Karan tugged the curtain carefully, letting only the smallest sliver of night through. His gaze lingered on the dark silhouettes by the gate, still and watchful.
"They're not moving.
Just waiting.
Patient."
The thought sent a chill through the room.
These weren't ordinary men… they were hunters.
They didn't need to barge in; their presence itself was pressure, a reminder that Sanjay's shadow stretched even here, years later, like a hand refusing to let go of what was never his.
Khushi slid the letter into her bag, her movements sharp with decision. Her voice, though steady, carried the storm raging inside her chest.
"Then we leave quietly. If they see me with it, they'll report back. But if we vanish before they notice…"
Mama hesitated, guilt flashing in his eyes. "I should have given it to you sooner. I thought waiting would protect it.
But all I did was paint a target on myself."
Khushi reached out, her fingers folding gently over his trembling hand. "You protected it for eight years.
That's enough. Now it's my turn."
The decision hung heavy in the room. None of them argued not Ron, not Karan. They all knew this was no longer a choice, but a path carved by destiny.
Mama exhaled, long and weary, before nodding. "Then you must go tonight." His voice was barely a whisper, but it held the strength of surrender and resolve.
Ron glanced at Mama. "You're coming with us. No arguments."
Karan was already moving, pulling down the small metal trunk from the top of the cupboard. The old lock creaked as Mama opened it with a trembling hand. Inside lay a handful of clothes neatly folded, a faded photograph of Sonali, and a few relics of the life he had once lived before fear became his companion. His fingers lingered on the photo, tracing Sonali's face as though the memory of her touch still lived in that frozen image.
Khushi's chest tightened at the sight. She had never seen Mama this fragile, torn between memory and survival. Yet even in that fragility, there was strength because he was choosing to move, to trust them, to escape the cage Sanjay had built around him.
Ron helped lift the trunk, muttering under his breath, "It's lighter than it looks. We'll manage."
Mama gave a weak smile, the kind that held more pain than joy. "I never imagined I'd see the day I'd pack to run with Sonali's children at my side. Perhaps… this is what she wanted all along."
Khushi pressed her lips together, fighting back the sting in her eyes. She couldn't afford tears now.
Not when the world outside was waiting to swallow them whole.
The house fell into hushed chaos shadows moving, belongings gathered, shoes pulled on with the quiet urgency of hunted prey.
Every creak of the floorboards felt too loud, every breath a risk.
The silhouettes outside remained still, patient as wolves, unaware their quarry was slipping from the trap.
When the last of the bags were strapped shut, Mama took one last look around the small home he had lived in for years.
The walls, damp and crumbling, had been his prison and his shelter, the place where he had hidden Sonali's last gift.
His throat tightened, but he didn't speak. Some goodbyes were too heavy for words.
Karan stepped forward, steady and firm. "We'll take the back lane.
The car is hidden there.
If we move quickly, they won't notice."
Ron took the lead, scanning every corner before signaling the others to follow. Khushi stayed close to Mama, her arm threaded through his, steadying him as they slipped into the night.
The cool air was thick with silence, broken only by the faint chirping of crickets.
Each step felt like walking a tightrope....one wrong move, one loud noise, and the men outside would descend. Khushi's heart pounded, but her grip on Mama never loosened. She wouldn't let him fall behind. Not now.
Finally, they reached the narrow lane where Karan's car waited, tucked into the shadows beneath an overgrown neem tree.
The sight of it felt like salvation, fragile yet real.
"Quick," Karan whispered, opening the back door.
Ron helped Mama inside first, steadying him as he lowered into the seat.
Khushi slid in beside him, still clutching her bag close, the letter burning like fire against her chest. Ron climbed in after, while Karan slipped behind the wheel.
The engine hummed to life, low and careful, as they rolled away from the house without headlights. The silhouettes by the gate didn't move, not yet.
But Khushi knew...it was only a matter of time before they realized their prey was gone.
Mama leaned back, his breathing labored but his eyes fixed forward. "Where are we going?"
he asked, his voice a fragile thread in the darkness.
Karan's hands tightened on the wheel. "Somewhere Sanjay won't think to look. We'll keep moving until we find it."
Khushi rested her head lightly against the seat, her hand still holding Mama's. "You're safe with us now. Whatever happens, we'll protect you."
Mama turned to her, his eyes glistening in the faint moonlight slipping through the car window. "No, child," he murmured, his voice breaking yet certain. "It is I who must protect you. For if Sanjay ever learns the truth of what's written in that letter, the hunt won't just be for me...it will be for you both. And I cannot… I cannot fail Sonali again."
The car sped into the night, leaving behind the crumbling house and the shadows that had haunted it for years.
Ahead lay only uncertainty, but within that uncertainty, for the first time, there was also hope.
For they were no longer running separately, burdened by secrets.
They were together, bound by blood, memory, and the letter that carried Sonali's voice across time.
And no matter how dark the road ahead became, Khushi knew this much was true: they would not abandon Mama.
Not to Sanjay, not to fear, not to fate itself.
The night swallowed them whole, but in their hearts, a quiet fire burned....
unyielding, unbreakable, unstoppable.