Jia's POV:
I was waiting for Ama, half concerned, half angry, because her hand is still healing, but this stubborn girl has to start her adventure.
"Let her come, I will show her how a sister in anger behaves," I muttered to myself.
After doing an apparent night walk for twenty minutes, I heard the doorbell ring.
"How dare you?" I was ready to burst out my anger on her, but the scene in front of me stunned the last nerve of mine.
Amara with Vihaan, or Vihaan with Amara. Whatever, they are together again.
For a second, my brain short-circuited. My anger was ready with a full speech — but what came out was just a very undignified, "You?"
Vihaan had the audacity to look calm, as if showing up at our door in the middle of the night with my half-broken sister was normal. Amara, meanwhile, had that soft, tired smile plastered on her face, the kind that said, I know you're furious, Jia, but please don't ruin this moment.
I folded my arms, tapping my foot. "Amara, your hand. And Vihaan, your nerve."
Vihaan's lips curved — just a twitch — and that made me snap. "Don't you dare smile! You think reconciliation is a magic eraser for all the worry?"
I planted myself firmly in front of them, the self-appointed guardian of Amara's still-healing hand. "Okay, you two. Sit. Now. And start explaining why my life has been a rollercoaster for the past… how long?"
Vihaan raised an eyebrow, trying that serious, brooding look, but I wasn't buying it. "This isn't a coffee date, mister. Start talking."
Amara gave me a helpless glance, like Please don't make it worse, but I ignored her. "Vihaan! You think vanishing without a word is cute? Do you even know how worried I was?"
He opened his mouth, then shut it, probably deciding that any explanation would be drowned out by my fury. "I—" he tried again. "I just…"
"Just what? Thought drama was fun?" I cut in, crossing my arms. "Ama, you too! Smiling like a fool! You're giving him an unfair advantage!"
Amara chuckled, leaning slightly against him, and I swear my scowl almost cracked. She looked… happy. Content. Not like before, when tension clung to her like a second skin.
I huffed. "Fine. Sit. Spill. I want the whole story, from the mysterious vanishing act to the heroic reconciliation."
Vihaan finally looked at her, then back at me. "It wasn't what it looked like… and I wanted to protect her."
I snorted. "Protect her by disappearing without warning? Genius."
Amara squeezed his hand gently, eyes sparkling. "Jia… he had his reasons. I know now."
I groaned, half exasperated, half relieved. "Ugh… you two are impossible. But okay. I guess I can let you off the hook. For now."
I sank onto the couch, pretending to sulk, while secretly letting myself relax. Seeing them like this — safe, together — was… okay, maybe a little heartwarming. Don't tell anyone I said that.
Amara's POV:
Vihaan had left the house after a few minutes of that rigorous questioning session with Jia, leaving the room feeling strangely empty. I turned back to my laptop, fingers flying across the keyboard, searching for anything — anything at all — that could get me closer to the truth.
After digging through financial records, company filings, and news archives, one thing became painfully clear: this murder was about money. My parents hadn't just been unfortunate victims — someone had wanted their wealth, their empire, and my family had stood in the way.
Everything clicked into place. The strange absence of relatives after my parents' death, the sudden takeover by Liam… none of them had cared to look for me. They had no reason to — the inheritance and power had already been secured by someone else.
A chill ran down my spine. The thought that those closest to my parents could remain so indifferent made the betrayal sting deeper. But anger sharpened my focus instead of breaking me.
I opened a folder I'd downloaded from Celine Ventures' internal leaks, tracing transactions, shell companies, and off-the-books accounts. Each entry, each ledger line, was a breadcrumb leading straight to the people who had orchestrated everything.
And then I froze. A single name — familiar, but I hadn't expected it here — appeared again and again, subtly hidden in the financial maze. Someone I had trusted. Someone who had smiled at me, spoken to me, even been part of our "family."
My pulse quickened. This wasn't just a quest for justice anymore. It was personal. And I knew, with a cold certainty, that finding this person would put me in danger — danger that Vihaan had tried to shield me from before.
"Vihaan, I sent you one folder. Can you check it now, and tell me if it's meaningful for our research?" I asked him on the call.
"I checked it. I want to meet you," he said, and I know he was already leaving his house.
"Okay," I nodded.
I got out of the house, waiting for him outside at the corner of the garden. I thought I would walk for a bit when a speedy car suddenly crossed me. It scratched the same hand's elbow whose wrist was fractured.
The impact jolted through me like electricity. My fractured wrist screamed in protest as I hit the pavement, grit digging into my palms. The car's taillights blurred in the distance before vanishing completely, leaving only the echo of its engine and a faint whiff of burnt rubber.
For a moment, everything was soundless except my heartbeat thudding in my ears. Then reality slammed back in. They knew. They knew I was digging too deep.
I pushed myself up slowly, my elbow throbbing where it had been grazed. I searched for my phone, lying just a foot away, and crawled toward it, hands trembling, heart hammering so fast I thought it might burst. The screen had cracked from the fall, spiderwebbing across the glass like a warning.
Then, as if on cue, Vihaan's car screeched to a halt in front of me. He stepped out, calm at first, but the composure vanished the moment he saw me. His eyes widened, and his hand shot out instinctively.
"Ama!" he called, rushing toward me. His voice was sharp and urgent, a perfect mix of fear and controlled anger.
"What happened? How… what just happened?" he asked, eyes scanning me, trying to assess the situation.
"A speeding car… it just overtook me. I wasn't alert, and I fell, but I'm fine," I said, though the blood trickling down my elbow told a different story.
"Fine?" Vihaan's brow furrowed, his hands carefully holding my injured arm. "Ama, you need to see a doctor. Now."
We made our way to the hospital. The staff quickly dressed my elbow and insisted I get an X-ray for my wrist as well. I tried to refuse, but with Vihaan watching intently, I had no choice — his determination left me no room for argument.
Sitting on the hospital bed, I huffed dramatically. "You know, for someone who's supposed to be a lawyer, you're really bad at arriving before trouble."
Vihaan's lips twitched. "I was negotiating with traffic laws. They don't take kindly to urgency."
"Fine, be a good citizen," I said, trying to keep my tone light, "but what if something had happened to me during this?"
The words barely left my mouth before I realized what I'd said.
Vihaan froze. His face went pale, eyes widening as the weight of my words hit him. For a moment, he said nothing, his jaw tightening, his mind racing. The casual humor, the teasing — everything vanished, replaced by raw fear and the sudden clarity of what he almost lost.
"I…" he started, voice low, thick with something he couldn't quite mask. Then he inhaled sharply and shook his head, as if trying to shake off the panic. "Don't ever say that again," he said, voice firm, but trembling just slightly.
I looked at him, a flicker of guilt mingling with my stubbornness. "I… I didn't mean—"
He cut me off. "You think you're invincible, Ama, but you're not. And the thought of losing you… It's unbearable. Not funny. Never. Understand?"
I swallowed, the bravado fading, replaced by a fluttering awareness of how deeply he cared. "Y-Yeah… I understand."
For a heartbeat, the world narrowed to just the two of us, the tension of the recent accident and the lurking danger outside replaced by something heavier, more intimate: fear, care, and an unspoken promise of protection.