Someone Is Watching
Najma woke with a sharp intake of breath.
Her room was dark.
Too dark.
She lay still, every sense alert—not as a wife, not as a daughter, but as someone who had learned how danger breathed.
The heart monitor beeped steadily.
Hospital, her mind registered.
She exhaled slowly.
Ranveer was asleep in the chair beside her bed.
His jacket lay folded neatly on his lap, his hand unconsciously gripping the armrest—as if ready to stand at the slightest threat.
Najma watched him for a long moment.
Then she whispered, "Ranveer."
His eyes snapped open instantly.
"You're awake," he said, already on his feet.
She nodded. "How long was I out?"
"Two days."
Her lashes fluttered.
Too long.
Outside the room, a nurse passed.
Najma's gaze followed her—and narrowed.
Something was wrong.
The footsteps were too light.
The pause outside her door too deliberate.
"Ranveer," Najma said quietly, "lock the door."
He didn't question it.
The click echoed softly.
"What is it?" he asked.
Najma swung her legs off the bed despite the pain.
"Someone found me."
Miles away, a man studied a screen filled with fragmented data.
Blank spaces.
Erased records.
A ghost.
"So you're alive," Arya Khan murmured, lips curling slightly. "Still perfect."
He leaned back.
"Find her," he ordered. "But don't touch her."
A pause.
"She belongs to me."
Back at the hospital, Twinkle burst into the room.
"She's awake!" she cried, relief spilling over her face.
Najma smiled faintly. "You're loud."
Twinkle laughed through tears and hugged her carefully. "Don't you ever do that again."
Najma's smile faded.
"I can't promise that."
That evening, the doctor returned with files.
"There's something unusual," he said hesitantly. "Your patient's records… before age fifteen, there's nothing."
Ranveer's jaw tightened.
Najma met the doctor's gaze calmly. "I wasn't anywhere worth recording."
The doctor left, unsettled.
Ranveer turned to her. "They'll keep asking."
"I know."
"Are you in danger?"
Najma hesitated.
Then nodded.
"Yes."
That night, the lights in the corridor flickered.
Security cameras glitched.
For half a second—
Najma's reflection disappeared from the glass window.
Her fingers curled slowly.
"They're testing the waters," she murmured.
Ranveer stepped closer. "Who?"
She looked at him then—really looked.
"The people who taught me how to survive," she said quietly.
"And who want me back."