"To the world, he was Reyan Kashyap.
But in the shadows—
He was something else entirely."
Reyan sat alone in his room, back pressed against the headboard, a tablet glowing in his hands.
He wasn't reading.
He was watching.
A silent feed of school security footage flickered on the screen.
Every angle. Every corner.
He rewound it again.
And again.
The moment the ball hit her.
The moment she fell.
The way everyone ran.
The way he didn't.
His own stillness played back like a betrayal.
He stared at himself in that footage like a stranger.
Like the devil the world hadn't named yet.
He hated being watched.
But he always watched others.
He wasn't just Reyan Kashyap.
Not really.
In the underground, in encrypted threads and digital silence...
he was Ash.
A ghost in code.
A name whispered in deals no one dared speak aloud.
The one who fixed problems, silenced enemies, and erased mistakes.
And now?
He had become the mistake.
He opened a private server on his tablet.
Typed a single command:
FIND: ISHITA RYU JOSHI
ACCESS: Hospital records, CCTV, student files
The screen blinked.
Then:
MATCH FOUND.
Status: Admitted, Emergency Ward
Cause: Panic-induced collapse
Family notified. Friends present.
Condition: Stable.
He stared at the words.
His thumb hovered over the screen.
She collapsed... because of what happened on the field.
Because of him.
His mind began spiraling again — not with guilt.
But with something worse.
Obsession.
Why her?
Why couldn't he stop watching her?
Why did her silence feel louder than anyone's screams?
He gritted his teeth and punched the mattress beside him.
"She wasn't supposed to matter," he whispered to no one.
[Next Morning – Hospital Room]
Ryu sat up in bed, sipping warm soup.
Her aunt smiled gently beside her.
"You're much better today," she said. "You scared all of us."
Ryu blinked. "Why? What happened?"
Her uncle and aunt looked at each other.
Her friends entered the room just in time.
Kabir smiled. "You fainted. Just exhaustion, maybe?"
Avi nodded, playing along. "Yeah. Nothing major. You scared us though."
Ryu looked puzzled.
She rubbed her temple. "I... remember going home. I was upset. But... I don't remember fainting."
They all stayed silent.
She continued, "I feel like I cried. A lot. But that part's... foggy."
Her aunt nodded. "That's okay. Let it be foggy."
Ryu smiled faintly.
But something inside her whispered that not all was forgotten.
[Elsewhere – Reyan's Mansion, Underground Room]
Reyan stood in front of a large, encrypted screen.
Multiple tabs opened — maps, hospital photos, school files, lists of boys who were present on the field.
He wasn't protecting her now.
He was hunting the ones who actually threw the ball.
Because no one — absolutely no one — was allowed to touch what belonged to Ash.
He whispered to himself:
"She won't remember the fall.
But I will.
And they'll pay for it."
Reyan Kashyap may have watched her fall.
But Ash?
Ash would make sure it never happened again.
📖 END OF CHAPTER 9
🔥 What will Reyan do with the list of names?
🔥 What happens when Ryu remembers more?
🔥 And is her connection to Ash deeper than either of them knows?