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I moved closer to the edge of the debris as the wind blew and ash in my direction. My boots crunched against the glass and burnt wood. Kunal trailed silently behind more alert now.

“Captain Trisha,” a voice calling me out. I turned to find Inspector Ajay Rawat, the lead on to this case, a seasoned man with salt and pepper hair and eyes that had seen more than they wanted to.

“You shouldn’t be here,” he said crossing his arms, his jaw clenched.

“I need to be,” I replied straightening my posture. “I have leads.... thoughts. And this was personal.”

Ajay gesture to us to follow him. “Alright. But stay close and keep that brain of yours switched on.” We stepped over blackened beams and ashes. The smell around was unbearable.”

“I need the CCTV footage,” I said. “And a list of names. Whoever was inside who was supposed to be here that night.”

“Most of the footage is gone. The system was hacked. But we recovered a few frames before the fire spread. You’ll see them.”

As Kunal and I stepped out of the debris zone, we were greeted by Colonel Manveeer, our current special advisor to the investigation bureau. “Trisha, Kunal,” he greeted giving both of us approving nod. “You shouldn’t have come here but you two have been reckless.”

“Good to see you, Sir.” Kunal say, a bit too flatly.

“I had to come, sir. I need to know what happened.” I said softly. Kunal stood beside me nodding in greeting. “She wouldn’t stay away.”

Manveeer chuckled patting Kunal’s back. “She never did know how to follow rules. That’s what made her the best officer, I ever trained.”

My pride bubbling up, “I just something feel off about this explosion.”

His smile faltered for a microsecond. “It always does in the beginning. Let us handle the chaos first, alright? I’ll share what I can when the time is right.”

I nodded trusting him entirely. “Of course, sir.”

As he walked off into the restricted zone, I turned to scan the ruins again. I couldn’t shake the image of the man that night. The eyes. The intensity. The way he moved through the fire like he belonged to it.

Back at the mobile unit, I watched Manveer sir from a distance as he spoke to the forensic chief gesturing towards the scattered blueprints of the blast site. He looked calm. In control. Like always.

“He never panics,” I said almost to myself. Kunal’s voice was low. “Yeah. That’s the problem.”

I turned to him frowning.”You know not everyone’s faking it, Kunal.”

He gave me a look. “You believe what you want to believe. But don’t confuse admiration with immunity. People change. Or maybe...they were always that way and we just never looked closed enough.”

I open my mouth to argue but was interrupted by voices near the mobile investigation unit.

“Sir, Confidentiality code: Project Inferno. It’s gone.” The officer glanced around.

“Gone?” The younger man’s eyes widened. “But that project was locked under three-level security. Only Seethi sir and two other high commands had access.”

“What is Project Inferno? I don’t know about that.” I whispered to Kunal.

“Even I don’t have any idea about that. What the hell is happening inside our unit.” He whispered back to me.

“And sir we’re still unable to track the digital footprint after the second firewall breach,” an officer said to Manveer who now had his back to us.

He replied in his usual composed tone. “Then stop wasting your time on the trail. Focus on what’s in front of you. Whoever took Project Inferno is a ghost.”

“Okay sir, we’ll look into that.” The officer said politely to him.

Me and Kunal were staring at them like we were fools and we don’t have a brain inside. And Kunal’s phone buzzed sharply cutting through the confusing environment. He glanced at the screen, And just like that his expression shifted, his brows raising and tension draining from his face as a sheepish little smirk tugged at his lips.

I narrowed my eyes. “What?”

He cleared his throat too casually. “Nothing. Just...I gotta take this.”

“Oh?” I folded my arms. “Work call?”

“Kind of,” he said already turning away.

He had stepped off towards the far edge of the cordoned area, one hand already ruffling his hair, voice dropping as he answered with an overly soft. “Hey, I told you I’d call...”

I watched him go, then exhaled and dropped into the nearest folding chair sitting the tension hit me full force now that I was alone again.

Project Inferno.

The name echoed like a curse.

What was it? Why had we never heard of it before? Why had Manveer sir hide?

And who the hell was that guy from the night of the explosion? Then the system being hacked deliberately.

I leaned forward elbows on my knees staring blankly at the cracked cement below my boots.

“Someone knew exactly what they were doing,” I murmured to myself. “And we’ve been made pawns.”

Something about that intruder, something about Manveer sir’s eyes, the stolen file, the silence all of these shit was inside my head that I didn’t realise how tight my fists were clenched until I felt my nails dig into my palms.

This wasn’t just a case. This was a game. And we’d already been two moved behind.

I sat there staring at nothing trying to untangle a thousand knots in my head. My jaw clenched. My brain buzzed. Nothing made sense. I ran a hand through my hair in frustration.

And that’s when I heard it soft laughter, a familiar one. I turned my head. There, just a few feet behind the tent was Kunal. Still on that damn call.

But this time I saw him. One hand on the phone to his ear and the other was absentmindedly plucking leaves from a low branch near him smiling like a idiot.

My eyebrows shot up. Kunal freaking Malhotra the same guy who once scoffed at a rom-com playing and said, “Love is just a glorified distraction. Weak people need it. We don’t.”

And there he was. Soft eyes. Fidgeting like a teenager in springtime.

I leaned back in the chair arms folded across my chest. “Hypocrite,” I muttered under my breath. I wasn’t like I believed in love either. I had better things to invest in- myself, my career, the one thing that never betrayed you: ambition.

Lobe was chaos. Complicated. mEssy.

Exactly what I didn’t need. I shoved the thought away stood up and told myself one simple thing. Focus. You’re here to uncover the truth. Not fall into stupid distractions like he clearly has.

Then as the call ended, he came towards me like nothing happened. “You’re back,” I said leaning against the chair with arms crossed and give him a smirk.

Kunal arched a brow. “Obviously.”

I tilted my head. “Good call?” “What?” He blinked. “You now...” I made a plucking gesture, mimicking his earlier move. “Leaves...Blushing...giggling like a 90s heroine on Doordarshan?”

His jaw tightened. “I wasn’t-blushing.”

“No?” I teased. “You couldn’t fool me. Kunal Malhotra the man who called love a virus looked like he was two seconds away from writing shayari on the leaves.”

“Trisha yeh sab band karde.” He said clearly frustrated. I grinned. “Oh no no this is a moment. I want to savour it. Who is she? Tell me.”

He hesitated eyes flickering away. “No one.”

I narrowed my gaze. “Don’t make me pull out interrogation techniques. Call seedha aunty ke pass jayega.”

He finally sighed relenting. “Fine. There’s...someone.” my mouth dropped open in mock shock. “What? You’re in love? With a real, breathing, non-virtual person?”

He held up a hand. “I never said love. I said someone.” I smirked . “Same thing. Do I know her?”

He gave me that unreadable look. “Not saying more.”

“I will find out. Mark my words.” And we went towards his car. The ride home was quiet just the hum of the engine and my thoughts echoing louder than they should.

I learned my head against the window letting the cool glass soothe the dull ache in my shoulder. The bandage was tight and every bump in the road made me wince but the pain was manageable.

It felt like the ground has shifted beneath me and I didn’t know where I was standing anymore. “You okay?” Kunal asked breaking the silence.

"Only when I don’t breathe or think.”

“So basically never?” he replied a smile tugging at the corner of his lips. I let out a weak laugh. “Yeah.”

We reached my quarter and the second I stepped out of the car, I knew I was screwed. There, my mom was standing crossed armed waiting to scold be reallyyyy badly.

“Maa i can explain-“

“Oh now she wants to explain,” Maa snaped stroming down the driveaway like a hurricane with a duppata. “You were just acting like you don’t have a family who was already terrified out of their minds last night. She shouted.

Papa didn’t say a word but his eyes were worse than Maa’s yelling. He was disappointed and was standing stiff beside her.

And of course- of couse Aryan chose that moment to add ghee in burning fire. “Well, this is a fun sequel to last night’s drama,” he said with a grin. “What’s this once? ‘Mission: Self destructing- Trisha’s Untold Stupidity’?”

“Aryan,” Papa warned. “What? I’m just saying...if she was gonna sneak out with her arm dead, she could’ve at least taken me for moral support or popcorn.”

Maa threw her hands up. “You’ve encouraging up?”

“Na na I’m just pointing her bravery,” he said innocently. Saale ka muh tod dungi isko bich mein kyun bolna hota hai.

I groaned pinching the bridge of my nose. “Okay, enough. Can we all calm down?”

Papa spoke, “Can we go inside and talk?”

And then he saw Kunal who helped me to go there. He definitely wanted to run away from there. “Kunal beta tum bhi idhar aa jao.”

He smiled at him awkwardly. “Uncle it’s okay. I’ll go now. See you soon later. Bye aunty, uncle, Aryan and trisha.” How dare he leave me in this situation alone? Ab tu dekh beta kya karti hoon.

I went inside. “Oii bring me a glass of water.” “I am not bring khud lele.” He replied.

And then I lost my patience, I held my slipper and chase him. He ran really fast. “Haha catch me di.”

“I am not well today. Nhi toh beta chutney banna deti.” I sat down panting. Then I went to my bed and miracle happen.

My brother bought me a glass of water. “Lele moti.”

I smiled at him. “Thank you, Bandar kahi ka.”

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