The crowd's laughter still rang in her ears, each chuckle a sharp blade against her silence.
Maira stood frozen, the projection of her humiliation still flickering behind her on the screen. Her mind reeled, trying to catch up with what had just unfolded. Her hands were cold. Her throat dry. Her thoughts spiraled.
Why would Mihir do this?
What had she done to deserve such public disgrace?
Then she saw him step toward her.
Mihir leaned in with a smirk tugging at his lips. His voice dipped just low enough that only she could hear.
"You must be wondering why I did this, right?"
He paused, cruel amusement flickering in his eyes.
"Just wait."
Maira stared at him, stunned.
Urvi suddenly appeared beside him, holding up a sleek black nose mask-the kind worn during travel. "Here, baby," she said sweetly, "you forgot this."
Mihir took it without a word, slipped it on, and then pulled it off with a flourish-as if to reveal a magician's trick.
Maira's eyes locked onto it.
The mask.
The car.
The voice.
The man she had argued with... the one whose windshield she'd shattered.
It was him.
Her heart sank.
Mihir met her gaze now, triumphant.
"This... is a fitting reply to what you did to me-" he gestured to himself, then smirked again, "-and to my girlfriend."
Urvi snorted, looping her arm through Mihir's. "She thought she was important," she scoffed. "Thanks, baby, for teaching this down-market girl a proper lesson."
Mihir chuckled and pulled Urvi closer. "Anything for you."
Then he turned to Maira, his voice laced with venom.
"Now be a good girl and come up to my hotel room after the party."
He leaned in again, eyes mocking.
"I'll pay well. And tomorrow-you're done. Fired."
The words hit harder than the laughter.
Urvi laughed beside him like it was all a joke. But Maira-
-Maira wasn't laughing.
Not anymore.
Her hands slowly curled into fists at her sides. Her eyes, no longer wide in shock, narrowed.
She took a step forward.
And without a word-slapped him.
The crack of palm meeting cheek silenced everything.
Mihir's face snapped to the side. A hush spread across the pool area. All eyes turned to the three of them.
Maira stood tall, the sting of humiliation still burning-but now joined by something sharper. Something stronger.
"You think this makes you powerful?" she said, voice low but firm.
"Using a screen and a microphone to tear someone down doesn't make you superior, Mihir. It makes you small."
She turned her eyes to Urvi next, calm and sharp.
"You both wanted to break me. But here I am... still standing."
Silence reigned.
Then Maira turned and walked away, not looking back even once-shoulders squared, dignity intact, even as the weight of everything she'd endured pressed down on her.
Mihir stood speechless, one hand on his cheek, the smirk gone.
Urvi's smile faltered.
And though no magic flared, no pendant pulsed-
the fire in Maira's heart had just begun to rise.
The echo of Maira's slap still lingered in the stunned silence. All the laughter had vanished. Only eyes - dozens of them - now watched in stunned disbelief.
Mihir stood still, his cheek slowly reddening, his pride stung more than his face. Urvi's arm slipped away from his.
But Maira didn't wait.
She stepped closer, voice low and sharp - slicing through the tension like glass.
"Revenge?" she said, her eyes burning.
"You wanted revenge for something so petty?" Her voice trembled - not from fear, but fury. "I didn't know you were that small, Mihir."
He didn't speak. Couldn't.
"You humiliated me... in front of everyone," she continued, her chin lifted. "Over what? A roadside encounter? One you started - when you almost ran me over!"
Mihir's nostrils flared. "How dare you-"
"Shut up!" Maira snapped, her voice cutting through his like thunder.
Gasps erupted around them. Even the DJ flinched.
Mihir staggered a step back - as if slapped again - but this time by her words.
Maira's voice dropped into something colder, deadlier.
"I never expected you to stoop this low. A man in your position-respected, admired... and this is who you really are? A vindictive, insecure, filthy-minded human being."
Mihir stood frozen, his hands trembling with barely controlled rage.
Urvi, trying to salvage some pride, stepped forward. "What's your problem, huh?!"
Maira's eyes shot to her like lightning.
"You."
Her finger pointed, unwavering.
"You and your stinking attitude."
Urvi's face twisted with rage.
But Maira wasn't done. Her voice was steady, thunderous in its restraint.
"The two of you deserve each other - wallowing in your own pathetic sense of power. But don't think this ends here."
Mihir clenched his jaw.
"This slap? That's for every woman you thought you could treat like a toy."
And with that, she turned and walked away.
No tears.
No shame.
Only thunder in her stride.
The crowd parted wordlessly as she passed, stunned by the storm they'd just witnessed.
And behind her, Mihir stood - not just slapped...
But exposed.
Goa Resort - Private Lounge, Moments Later
Mihir sat alone in the dimly lit lounge, jaw clenched, his hand still burning from where Maira had slapped him. The chatter outside the party had resumed, awkward and forced - but in here, there was only silence, thick with his rage.
He had never been humiliated like this. Not in public. Not by a girl.
Urvi paced before him, arms folded tightly, her heels tapping in agitation.
"Are you going to let her get away with that?" she hissed, bending down beside him. "She embarrassed you. Us. In front of everyone."
Mihir said nothing, but the fury in his eyes deepened.
"She should be ruined," Urvi added, voice venomous. "She thinks she's untouchable? That she can walk away after disrespecting you?"
He looked up slowly.
"I won't forget this," he said under his breath.
Urvi smiled-satisfied.
---
Goa Beach - Midnight
The silver waves whispered secrets to the night sky as Maira walked along the shoreline, her heels long forgotten somewhere behind her on the cobblestone path that led down from the resort. Each step into the wet sand grounded her, but inside, she was adrift - tossed violently between pain, anger... and something far deeper.
She hugged herself against the ocean breeze, the remnants of Mihir's words echoing in her mind.
"Be it a PA... or a casual hook-up... she's extremely talented-especially when money's involved."
The sting of humiliation still throbbed beneath her skin. Not because she cared what the others thought. Not even because of Mihir's words.
But because she had respected him.
Because something inside her had begun to believe he was more than what he pretended to be.
And he had shattered that illusion in front of everyone.
She paused at the edge of the water, eyes staring into the darkness where the sea met the stars. Her chest rose and fell sharply, her fists tightening.
"I should hate him."
The words were barely a whisper. But they hung in the air like a curse.
She wanted to walk away. Wanted to leave him drowning in the same venom he had spat. But her heart refused.
And then... the voice returned.
Not from the ocean.
Not from the past.
But from deep within her soul.
A Reevavanshi does not choose who is worthy of saving... she simply saves.
She closed her eyes, tears stinging the corners. She didn't need her pendant to glow. The warmth was there, just beneath her collarbone-burning like truth.
Mihir didn't know it.
Maybe he never would.
But Maira was bound to protect him.
Because he had been marked.
By darkness.
By her.
By fate.
And because Mohana's evil had already begun to cast its shadow over him.
Even if he saw her as an enemy. Even if he tried to destroy her in front of the world.
She would protect him.
Because that was the duty of a Reevavanshi.
Because she was the barrier between light and night.
And Mihir...
Mihir was standing at the edge of the abyss.
She looked back toward the resort-its golden glow dim in the distance.
Wiping a tear from her cheek, she exhaled deeply.
"Whether you deserve it or not... I'll fight for you," she whispered. "Not for your sake. But because I was born to fight her."
The wind wrapped around her like a silent vow.
Girls' Hostel - Corridor, Late Evening
The hallway stretched out ahead, long and dimly lit, the flickering ceiling light casting strange, jerky shadows on the pale walls. The muffled hum of distant traffic was the only sound outside. Inside... it was silence.
Teju stepped quietly onto the cold floor, barefoot and alert.
She had been studying in her room when she heard it again-her name, softly whispered like a breath, floating through the crack beneath the door.
"Teju..."
This wasn't the first time. She had heard it the night before too. And now, again. Persistent. Inevitable.
Her brows furrowed.
She wasn't one to run from a voice in the dark. Not anymore.
She tightened her shawl around her and stepped out, her eyes scanning the corridor on either side. Nothing. Not a single girl in sight.
"Who's there?" she called, trying to sound firm, but her voice echoed back too lightly. "Is this some kind of prank? Because it's not funny!"
Silence.
And then-creeeak-a faint sound, like movement behind one of the older pillars near the fire exit.
Teju glanced that way, frowning. "I swear, if this is someone trying to mess with me..."
Her footsteps drew closer. She moved slowly, cautiously, heart thudding beneath her ribs.
Behind her, high up on the pillar's edge-unseen, upside down like a reptile clinging to stone-Sunehri watched. Her glowing eyes narrowed, her long limbs pressed tightly against the surface like a predator coiled before a strike. The faintest twitch of her hair slithered in the air, but Teju didn't notice.
Not yet.
Teju reached the end of the hallway and peered around the corner. Empty.
No one.
No laughter. No whispers.
Her shoulders dropped slightly, lips tightening in irritation.
"This place is seriously creepy," she muttered, turning back toward her room.
Still above, Sunehri remained perfectly still, frustration rising behind her hollow eyes. Teju had come so close... so close.