Six months later.
The city still stood.
But it felt lighter.
Rudra Khanna's empire had fallen piece by piece. Court trials dominated headlines. Old allies disappeared. Power shifted.
For the first time in years, fear no longer ruled the streets.
Aarav stood on the same rooftop where he once trained alone under cold skies. The air felt different now — quieter.
Healing wasn't loud.
It was slow.
His scars remained — some visible, some not. Revenge had driven him for most of his life. It had given him purpose.
But now that it was over…
He had to learn who he was without it.
Footsteps approached behind him.
He didn't need to turn.
"I knew you'd be here," Meera said softly.
She looked different too. Stronger. Not sheltered by glass walls and guarded halls anymore.
Her father had confessed. Fully. Publicly. Not to protect his empire — but to protect her from being dragged into it.
That was his final act.
Not power.
Not control.
Choice.
Meera stepped beside Aarav, looking at the skyline.
"It's strange," she said quietly. "For the first time, I don't feel watched."
Aarav allowed himself a small smile.
"You're free."
"So are you."
He looked at her.
"For years, I thought justice meant destruction," he admitted. "But maybe… it means ending the cycle."
Meera reached for his hand.
"And starting something new."
There was no dramatic kiss.
No fireworks.
Just peace.
And sometimes, peace was the rarest victory of all.
The boy who once fought in underground rings to survive had finally stepped out of the shadows.
Not because the darkness disappeared.
But because he chose not to become it.
As the sun slowly rose over the city, washing the buildings in gold instead of neon red, Aarav felt something unfamiliar.
Hope.
Love had not erased the blood in his story.
But it had rewritten the e.nding.
And for the first time in his life—
He wasn't fighting anymore.
He was living.