Arora strode down the quiet corridor, her coat brushing against her legs as the cold hospital lights flickered overhead.
She didn't see Jack anywhere — but that didn't matter right now.
All she could see was her brother lying pale and motionless on the bed.
Her chest tightened.
Kelvin.
The only family she had left.
She stepped closer, staring at him for a long moment. His face was peaceful — too peaceful — like someone pretending to sleep through chaos.
It all made Arora remember the day her parents died.
It wasn't just a memory—it was a wound that never stopped bleeding.
She had been just a child, small enough to hide behind her mother's skirt, yet old enough to remember every sound, every scream.
It happened right before her eyes.
Her father didn't run.
He didn't even flinch.
He stood tall in front of Claire, broad shoulders squared like a wall of steel—trying to be a shield for his family.
But he forgot one thing.
He was human.
The woman in the burgundy dress didn't hesitate.
Her finger squeezed the trigger, and the sound cracked through the air like thunder.
Arora froze.
The smell of blood mixed with smoke, heavy and hot.
Her father fell forward, eyes still open, a red bloom spreading across his shirt.
Arora's scream tore through the air, but the woman's gun was already pointed at her mother.
Claire didn't move back.
She stepped forward, voice shaking but fierce.
"You want us?" she shouted. "Then leave my children alone. You know what will happen if you kill them."
Even with her husband lying motionless at her feet, Claire Winland stood proud—beautiful and defiant, a rose among ash.
Arora and Kelvin clung to each other, crying so loudly that it echoed off the walls.
"Dad!" Arora sobbed, trying to crawl to him, but Claire's arm shot out, stopping her.
"Kelvin, take your sister inside," Claire said. Her voice was steady, but her eyes were already shining with tears.
Kelvin obeyed, though his small hands trembled. He dragged Arora inside, both of them slipping on the cold floor, until they crawled beneath the dining table.
They crouched there, knees pressed to their chests, the sound of their own breathing filling the silence.
Then—
Bang.
The gunshot ripped through the air again.
Arora gasped, her hands clamping over her ears. Kelvin wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close as the echoes faded.
For two whole minutes, they didn't move.
Not even to breathe.
Then came the sound of screeching tires outside—the car speeding away, the rain starting to fall.
Kelvin crawled out first, his small hands shaking as he gripped the edge of the table.
"Stay here," he whispered. But Arora followed anyway.
They ran outside together.
The front yard was empty.
No bodies.
No blood.
Only the faint smell of gunpowder, and a single red petal from their mother's dress lying in the mud.
Their world had ended, yet the sky above them stayed calm—as if nothing had happened at all.
That was the night Arora learned what silence really sounded like.
Arora came back to her senses, "Nurse!" Her voice came sharp and sudden, slicing through the quiet.
The nurse stumbled into the room, eyes wide with alarm.
"I want you to find the best doctor in the country," Arora said. Her tone left no room for question. "I want to know exactly what's wrong with him. No delays."
Before the nurse could respond, she had already pulled out her phone. Her thumb hovered over a familiar contact — Edwin.
"Hello?" came his voice, rough from the background noise.
"Come to the hospital," she ordered. "I want you to stay here and protect Kelvin."
"Leader? What about tomorrow's mission—"
"I said come, Edwin. Since when did I start taking orders from you?"
There was a pause, then a sigh. "Yes, Leader. I'll be there in fifteen minutes."
Arora hung up and stood by her brother's bedside, brushing his hair gently from his forehead.
"wake up soon," she whispered, mostly to herself. "I'll be here when you wake up."
Her hand trembled slightly as she touched his cheek. Guilt and fury mixed together like oil and fire.
---
She turned away and dialed again.
The line clicked — Nick.
"Hello, Nick. I want you to gather all our men in headquarters in one hour. No questions asked.
Anyone who disobeys will have their post revoked — and it may not just be their post."
Nick froze on the other end.
Normally, he'd have made some sarcastic comment, maybe even teased her about her temper. But not tonight.
He still remembered what happened two years ago — the night she earned her title.
The night she walked into a warehouse filled with armed men and walked out alone, leaving every traitor crawling on the floor, begging for mercy.
After that night, no one questioned her again.
The underworld bent its knee to the woman they called The Black Rose.
"Yes, Leader," Nick said quickly, voice tight with respect — and fear.
---
Fifteen minutes later, Edwin burst through the door, slightly breathless. "Leader! I'm here!"
Arora didn't move right away. She was adjusting Kelvin's blanket, smoothing it over his shoulder as if it could protect him.
She turned to Edwin finally, and for a moment, her hard exterior cracked.
"Call me as soon as he wakes up. And make sure the doctor checks on him regularly."
"Yes, Leader," Edwin said softly. Then guilt flickered in his eyes. "I'm sorry. We couldn't tell you about Kelvin sooner, because of the rule you made before leaving six months ago."
The words hung between them.
That rule — no personal contact during missions — had been her own command. She made it to stay focused, to stay ruthless.
And now, it had cost her the one person she was trying to protect.
She clenched her fists so hard her nails scratched into her palm.
"Let's talk about that later," she said finally, her voice trembling with restrained anger.
She glanced at Kelvin once more — her heart aching as she remembered a small memory that came flooding back.
She was seven, sick with a fever that wouldn't go down.
Her mother sat beside her with wet cloths, whispering lullabies…
but Kelvin — just twelve then — refused to sleep.
He sat by her bed the whole night, watching her breathe, feeding her water when she woke up crying.
Her vision blurred for a moment. She blinked the memory away and straightened her back.
The anger was there again, sharper than before.
"Take care of him, Edwin," she said quietly. "I'll be back soon."
And with that, she turned and walked out.
---
At the reception, she stopped abruptly.
The nurse behind the counter flinched when Arora's shadow fell across the desk.
"Did you see the blonde man who came with me earlier?" Arora asked, her tone calm but cold enough to sting.
The nurse nodded nervously. "Y-Yes, ma'am. He asked for the nearby shops — said he wanted to buy some food."
Arora frowned.
Food? At this hour? its past 4am in the morning.
She nodded curtly and turned away, her steps echoing down the hall.
Maybe he really did go to buy food.
Maybe she was overthinking.
But after what happened with Jennie, and with the betrayal she could feel crawling under her skin, Arora didn't trust anyone anymore.
Not even him.
---
She pushed open the hospital's side door, the rain immediately hitting her face in fine, cold drops.
The alley behind the hospital stretched narrow and dark, a single flickering streetlight reflecting on puddles.
That's when she saw him — a familiar figure at the far end, his blond hair glinting faintly under the light.
He was talking to someone on the phone, his back half-turned, his voice low.
Arora slowed her steps, her senses sharpening.
She couldn't hear the words, but she could feel the tension in his body — the stiffness in his shoulders, the way he turned slightly away from the light.
She stepped closer, her boots splashing quietly through the puddles.
"Jack?"
He froze instantly.
Turning, he quickly shoved his phone into his pocket and forced a shaky smile.
"A-Arora?"
Arora's eyes narrowed. "Since when did you have a phone, Jack? Did Edwin give it to you?"
Her tone was calm, but her stare was cutting straight through him.
Jack swallowed hard, his heartbeat quickening. "Uh… yeah, Edwin lent it to me. I just wanted to check in—"
She tilted her head slightly, stepping closer, close enough to see the faint glow of his screen fade to black inside his pocket.
"Checking in," she repeated softly. "At midnight. In the rain."
Her words weren't angry — but they made the air between them suffocating.
Jack tried to laugh it off, but the sound died in his throat.
Arora's lips curved slightly — not a smile, not suspicion. Something between the two.
"Let's go," she said finally, turning away. "Kelvin needs us."
Jack nodded quickly, falling into step behind her.
But even as she walked ahead, Arora's mind kept replaying the way he hid that phone.
And behind her, Jack's hands clenched in his pockets — praying she hadn't seen the message that was still open on the screen.
And for the first time in years, the Black Rose hesitated-because the enemy might not be outside her walls, but right behind her.
To be continued...