Aarav didn't sleep that night.
He sat with a wooden stick near the front door, waiting.
Meera stayed close, her fear growing with every passing minute.
At dawn, Aarav took the note to the police outpost.
Inspector Dev, an old friend of Aarav's late father, read it and sighed.
"You should have come sooner."
"I came now," Aarav snapped. "Help me."
Dev rubbed his forehead. "There's more you don't know."
Aarav's jaw tightened. "Then tell me."
Dev hesitated, then pulled out an old file.
Inside was Meera's missing report.
But clipped to it was something shocking.
A death certificate.
Name: Meera Sen
Declared dead: 2 years ago
Aarav stared at it.
"This is fake."
"I know," Dev said quietly. "But it was filed legally. Signed by a private doctor and two witnesses."
"Who did this?"
Dev leaned in.
"A man named Vikram Malhotra. Powerful family. Business links. Political contacts. Dangerous people."
Aarav's anger turned to ice.
"I don't care who he is."
"You should," Dev said sharply. "Because if he knows Meera is back, he won't let her live."
That evening, Aarav and Dev secretly moved Meera to the abandoned station master's house near the old railway platform. It was hidden behind banyan trees and no one used it anymore.
But the house held memories.
It was where Aarav and Meera had once dreamed of running away together.
Inside, Meera sat quietly, tracing her fingers along the dusty window.
"I thought I'd die before seeing this place again."
Aarav stepped closer. "You won't die."
She gave him a sad smile. "You still make promises too easily."
He looked straight into her eyes.
"And I still keep them."
For a moment, the fear between them disappeared.
Then—
A loud thud hit the front door.
Then another.
Then a man's voice from outside:
"Meera! Come out, and the boy lives."
Meera's face went white.
Aarav grabbed the iron poker from beside the fireplace.
The voice laughed.
"You can't hide forever. We buried you once. We can do it again."
The door began to crack.
And then, from behind the house, another voice shouted:
"Police! Drop your weapons!"
Gunshots exploded into the night.