Chaos tore through the old station house.
Aarav pushed Meera behind a wall as glass shattered.
Inspector Dev and two constables fired warning shots while three armed men tried to flee into the trees.
One escaped.
Two were caught.
But the one who escaped was the one Meera feared most.
Vikram.
By morning, the town was in shock.
The police raid became the biggest news Chandipur had seen in years. People whispered outside shops, inside temples, at the bus stop.
Meera finally decided she could not hide anymore.
"I have to end this," she told Aarav.
Dev agreed. "Then we need proof."
Meera closed her eyes.
"There is proof."
"Where?"
She opened them slowly.
"Under the river bridge."
Aarav stared. "What?"
"The night I disappeared... Vikram's men forced me into a car. But before they took me, I dropped my mother's silver locket under the bridge. Inside it... there's a memory card."
Dev blinked. "A memory card?"
Meera nodded. "I recorded everything before the wedding. My father's deal. Vikram's threats. I was scared, so I hid it in the locket."
Aarav almost laughed in disbelief. "You planned that?"
She gave a faint smile. "You always said I was smarter than you."
That evening, under heavy clouds, Aarav, Meera, and Dev went to the river bridge.
The water below was dark and restless.
Using ropes and flashlights, they climbed beneath the wooden beams where rust and moss had swallowed years of silence.
And there—
Wedged between two broken planks—
A silver locket.
Meera's hands shook as she opened it.
Inside was a tiny memory card, still dry.
Dev immediately took it to the station computer.
The footage was blurry but clear enough.
Meera's father taking cash.
Vikram speaking:
"She belongs to us now. If she screams, make it look like an accident."
The room went silent.
Dev looked up.
"This is enough to arrest him."
But before he could call headquarters, the station lights went out.
Darkness.
A single bullet smashed through the window.
Vikram's voice came from outside.
"If I go down... all of you go with me."