The car slowed and pulled over the side of the highway.

Engines off

Silence returned

"Time's up " Abhimanyu said, checking his watch

Everyone groaned at once

Aayan jumped out first

" Best ten minutes of life "

Shorav stretched dramatically

"I could live on highways "

Lakshya leaned against the car

" You'd last two hours. Max "

Aayan shot back " That's still impressive "

Their voices rose instantly

" You always exaggerated-"

"At least I don't live on my phone-"

"That's being informed--"

Karan shook his head dramatically

" Why are you all like this? "

Aavya laughed quietly, steeping little away from them

Then -

She stopped

Across the road, near the divider something small moved

White

Tiny

A puppy



( IMAGINE IT)

It sat there, confused, ears dropping slightly, tail barely wagging

Aavya's breath hitched

"Oh "

Before anyone could react

She ran

Straight towards opposite side

"AAVYA "

Karan shouted

Aayan spun around

"What-- Hey "

Shorav froze for half a second

"Is she serious?! "

Lakshya looked towards that direction

"She just ran "

All four of them bolted after her

" Aavya STOP -- "

"KARAN, GRAB HER -- "

" Watch the road -- "

From beside the car

Rudra straighten instantly

Abhimanyu's entire posture changed

They didn't shout

They watched

Alert

Focused

Calculating distance

Timing

Movements

Aavya reached towards the puppy.

She dropped to her knees without thinking

"Hey... Hey.. It's ok " She whispered chuppi him gently.

The puppy licked her finger

Behind her,

Boys skidded to stop.

Karan bent over, hands on his knees

" Are you insanse? "

Aayan stared at the puppy

"... Oh "

Shorav anger melted instantly

"It's tiny "

Lakshya exhaled slowly

"You have us a heart attack"

Aavya looked up at them, completely unapologetically.

" He was alone. "

Silence

Then shorav muttered

"Well......yeah..obviously we weren't leaving him "

Karan signed

"I hate that you are right "

Aavya get up taking to the puppy and again take some steps forward and right now she is in the middle of road

" Come here "

Abhimanyu call her

Aavya took one small step forward still holding puppy close to her chest

" Easy " She whispered "you are safe now "

That's when -

A low engine sound cut through the air

Too close

Too fast

Before anyone could turn -

A black van surged from the darkness

No headlights

No warnings

Just motion

"AAVYA"

Karan shout tore through the night

Everything happened in a blink

The puppy was suddenly gone from her arms, tossed roughly on the other side.

It landed near the divider, yelping in surprise-- but unharmed.

And aavya --

And then

She wasn't

One second

One breath

The van door slammed shut

Tires screeched

The black vehicle disappeared into the darkness as if it had never existed.

Silence crashed them

Heavy

Violent iin it's stillness

"AAVYA?! "

Aayan ran forward first, eyes wild

Shorav followed panic written in all over his face

Lakshya stood frozen, phone slipped from his hand

Karan turned slowly-too slowly

"No... No.... NOOOOOOO"

From behind them -

Footsteps

Fast

Controlled

Abhimanyu was already moving

Rudra was beside him, phone pressed to his ear

"Lock the highway s " Rudra said sharply

"Every exist now "

Abhimanyu's eyes scanned the road once -- calculating burning

No shouting

No chaos

Just cold fury

He reached at that spot where she had been stood 5 seconds ago

Empty

The puppy whimpered slowly nearby

Lakshya picked up it with one hand, his jaw clenched so tight it hurt.

"She was taken" Rudra said quietly

Abhimanyu didn't respond

He was already 10 steps ahead

"They didn't even hesitate " Rudra continued

"They knew exactly when "

Abhimanyu finally spoke

Voice calm

Dead calm.

" Then., this wasn't an attempt "

A pause

" It was a message "

--

--

Rathore mansion was no longer a house.

It was a command center

Lights dim on in every wing

Screens flashed live feeds

Phone rang once and answered immediately

Rajasthan didn't sleep at night

It locked itself down

Highways sealed

Borders monitored

Signal traced

Not by police

By the Rathore's

Barely 5 minutes taken

Whole force arrived

Abhimanyu giving orders

Rudra sealing every spot

Maan singh rathore

Rajveer

Ved

Abhiraj

Reach there

Rajveer veins popped

" WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED HERE? HOW CAN SOMEONE TAKE HER INFRONT OF YOU GUYS"

His voice making a chill down in every spine

Maan put a resurring hand on his shoulder

He spoke very calmly

That calm of voice which every one fear

" I want my granddaughter in front of my eyes in 1 hours do whatever you want "

Ved type one line in underworld chat group

"𝙂𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙗𝙖𝙘𝙠 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 1 𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙧 "

In which whole underworld tremble

Phones down

Dons reading message twice

Deals collapsed overnight

Men vanished from streets- not dead, just gone into hiding

Safe house emptied

A senior type in another group where rathore don't add

" Back off "

Another

" It is not a kidnapping it's a suicide attempt "

Another

" Whoever touched her... has signed there death "

𝘉𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘙𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘦'𝘴 𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺-

𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥 𝘱𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺.

--

--

The abandoned building stood silent

Too silent

Broken windows stared with empty eyes.

The wind moved through the corridors, carrying a smell of fear, blood and rage.

Shorav stepped out first

His face was unreadable

Aayan's jaw was clenched so tight as his side

Karan looked away just hardening his expression.

No one spoke

They didn't need to

What lay inside wasn't shown, wasn't describe it is worst... It is so horrible even they are not seeing after doing it

Shorav exhaled slowly

"This is a warning" He said coldly

"Who thinks touching was a mistake and they can survive"

Thundered rolled

Aayan nodded

"They are running"

Karan voice was sharp, his usual dramatic soft nature gone

" They should because hunters don't chase forever "

Shorav spoke again " Abhimanyu bhai said Burn everyone who dare to stop us today "

Karan saw the abandon building last time and put lighter on it and they leave...

The security leave behind them

--

--

In Rathore control room

Rajveer stand there his veins popped and can be seen clearly..

Ved put his hand on his shoulder

Rajveer stand still

He took out his phone and type a message and send in every group

"𝙄𝙛 𝙖𝙣𝙮 𝙨𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙡𝙚 𝙨𝙘𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙘𝙝 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙢𝙮 𝙙𝙖𝙪𝙜𝙝𝙩𝙚𝙧... 𝙔𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙗𝙡𝙤𝙤𝙙𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙚 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙗𝙚 𝙚𝙣𝙙 𝙗𝙚𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙪𝙣𝙧𝙞𝙨𝙚"

He put his phone back onto his pocket after making sure that whole underworld faintes.

His eyes are red

Not from tears

But

From holding his rage too tightly

His jaw clenched so tight

" I swear... My daughter... " He muttered under his breath...

Ved patted his back

" Bhai, calm down.. She will be ali--"

Rajveer firm voice cut him

" She has to be..

She's alive..

I can feel it "

No one argue

He straightened slowly

"My daughter needs calm " He continued

"So I will be calm "

His voice lowered

" And whoever did this--"

A pause

" --will wish had never learned her name "

And

That was it

Because

His message making everyone breath hitched

Phones dead

Meeting cancelled

Old kings stepped back into hiding

Because this wasn't a revenge yet.

This was restrain.

And 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘙𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘦'𝘴 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘧𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘭.

And the enemy not from underworld but from their business empire didn't choose loyalty

It choose 𝘀𝘂𝗿𝘃𝗶𝘃𝗮𝗹