After everything settles, Snehil explains the entire situation to General Roy. He tells him how the mission failed, how they could not find any solid proof of Eden's illegal activities, and finally how Vidhan, their best student, turned out to be a spy.
Roy listens quietly. Then he sighs and says, "I considered this possibility from the start. Vidhan was originally from that region. Eden controls that area now. His brother was living there too." He pauses before adding, "There was always a chance he was being blackmailed. His brother could have been used as leverage. But after everything that happened… it seems Vidhan chose this path himself."
Samarth is sitting nearby, silent, broken, barely reacting to anything. But the moment Roy mentions the hostage possibility, something hits him hard.
What if we got it wrong?
For the first time, Samarth realizes he never truly considered that Vidhan might have been forced. Vidhan had acted confident, yes, but he also gave Samarth multiple chances to run. He warned them. And Purnima, Jay, and Amrit had reached the gate unharmed, calmly, nothing like prisoners. That alone contradicts Vidhan's claim that they were captured.
Samarth suddenly stands up.
Without saying a word, he rushes back to the hostel and goes straight to Vidhan's room. He searches desperately, opening drawers, shelves, anything that might explain what really happened. Then he finds it. A diary.
His hands shake as he opens it and everything comes crashing down.
Vidhan had written it all. How Eden threatened his brother. How he was forced to cooperate to keep him alive. How every day he lived with the fear of betraying his friends. How the pressure was crushing him. And finally, how he planned the end.
Vidhan had never intended to win.
He wrote that he would play the villain completely, force Samarth and the others to fight him, push them to escape, even make them hate him if needed. If they believed he had truly turned, they would run without hesitation. He planned to die if that was what it took. His sacrifice, he believed, would guarantee both his brother's safety and his friends' survival.
Samarth sinks to the floor, the diary slipping from his hands.
Only now does he understand that Vidhan did not betray them but he carried the burden alone.
After reading every page of the diary, Samarth is broken even further. The truth hits him slowly and painfully. Vidhan had planned everything for their safety. Every decision he made was for them. And yet, Samarth is the one who killed him.
That leaves Samarth with only two choices. He can live with this guilt until he becomes a burden on everyone around him. Or he can become the version of himself Vidhan believed in. Samarth chooses the second path. He decides that he will keep getting better, stronger, sharper, again and again, until he reaches the position Vidhan wanted him to reach. Not to redeem himself, not to erase his guilt, but to make sure that every life Vidhan protected and every sacrifice he made does not go to waste. From that moment on, Samarth takes up the role Vidhan once carried and decides that he will protect everyone now.
From then onward, Samarth starts rising rapidly in rank. His improvement is relentless and driven by desperation. Aditya notices it immediately. He sees how hard Samarth is pushing himself, but he also sees the emptiness forming behind that drive. Aditya understands that if Samarth reaches the top alone, he will become hollow.
So Aditya makes his own decision. He will get stronger too. Not to surpass Samarth, but to rival him. To stay close enough to keep him grounded and make sure he is never truly alone.
Within three months, Samarth reaches second rank in the school, with Aditya standing at first. Samarth challenges him, and what follows is a competition. Most events end in ties. Physical drills, strategy, combat, endurance. In the end, it comes down to the firing test. Samarth's shots are just slightly more accurate than Aditya's, and that small margin is enough.
Samarth takes first rank and becomes the leader of Class 12. Most of the class accepts it.
Except Anaaya.
To her, Samarth is not a leader. He is a murderer. And everyone else around him is simply an ally who lied to the military to hide the truth.