Three months later.
The border was calm.
Too calm.
Preyajeet stood on the watchtower, wind hitting his face. Officially, he had been promoted for his role in preventing escalation. Unofficially, he was under observation.
Because he had worked with a foreign spy.
Because he had trusted her.
Every night, he checked secure channels.
No message.
No signal.
Nothing from Akanksha.
But he knew her.
Silence didn't mean absence.
It meant planning.
Across the border.
In a secure intelligence facility.
Akanksha sat in a dimly lit interrogation room.
Not as a prisoner.
Not fully free either.
"You disobeyed direct orders," her superior officer said coldly.
"You exposed internal networks."
She replied calmly, "I exposed criminals. Not my country."
The officer studied her carefully.
"You still communicate with the Indian soldier?"
She didn't blink.
"No."
Lie.
Clean. Controlled.
But her heart beat faster.
Because every night—
She typed a message.
And deleted it.
Meanwhile, global news channels buzzed with a new threat.
An unknown cyber group calling themselves "Phoenix Circle" had claimed responsibility for hacking multiple defense satellites across South Asia.
Governments denied involvement.
But tension slowly began rising again.
Preyajeet watched the classified briefing.
A familiar pattern appeared on the screen.
The same encryption style.
The same funding routes.
He clenched his fists.
"They're back."
Shadow Network wasn't fully destroyed.
Someone had rebuilt it.
And someone powerful was protecting it.
That night.
Preyajeet received an encrypted signal on a dead communication line — one only two people knew.
His heart raced.
He decoded it quickly.
One line appeared:
"Phoenix Circle is internal. Trust no one. – A"
His breath slowed.
She was alive.
And she was warning him.
Suddenly—
Gunshots echoed outside the barracks.
Emergency sirens blared.
Base under attack.
Masked infiltrators breached the outer perimeter.
This wasn't random.
This was precise.
Someone knew their internal layout.
Preyajeet grabbed his weapon and moved fast.
Explosions lit the sky.
Chaos everywhere.
Through smoke, he saw one infiltrator giving commands.
Efficient.
Disciplined.
Not a terrorist.
Trained military.
Preyajeet cornered one attacker and pulled off his mask.
His blood ran cold.
The man was wearing an official insignia—
From his own side.
Betrayal.
Inside job.
The warning was true.
Phoenix Circle wasn't foreign.
It was hidden within command.
Across the border, Akanksha saw the same news flash on her secure terminal.
"Indian military base under coordinated assault."
Her fingers trembled.
"No…"
She tried accessing deeper surveillance feeds.
Blocked.
Restricted.
Someone had locked her out.
Which meant—
The traitor was high-ranking.
Very high.
Her phone vibrated.
Unknown secure line.
She answered cautiously.
A distorted voice spoke.
"You should have stayed loyal, Agent Akanksha."
Her heart froze.
"You helped the wrong man."
The voice continued:
"Tonight was only a demonstration."
The line cut.
She stood up instantly.
Decision made.
Rules didn't matter anymore.
If Phoenix Circle had infiltrated military command—
Then Preyajeet was in danger.
And this time—
No government would officially help.
She whispered softly to herself:
"I told you to wait for me."
Then she began preparing for something dangerous.
Not as a spy.
Not as an agent.
But as a woman crossing a line no one would forgive.
The war they stopped…
Was just the surface.