CHAPTER 48 #3
But he doesn’t even look at me. His eyes never leave Samarjeet. And suddenly, both men move at once and launch themselves at each other.
RAGHAV
My fist connects with Samarjeet’s face, hard enough to snap his head sideways.
“Your first mistake was killing the man who meant everything to Siya.”
Samarjeet stumbles from the impact, and blood immediately appears on his lips. My second punch drives straight into his stomach with such force that he doubles over. I grab him before he can fall and drive another devastating blow to his jaw.
“Then you put a bullet in my wife.” I punch him again.
Samarjeet tries to strike back, throwing punch after punch at me, but I dodge most of them. The few that land barely slow me down. Then I hit him directly across his ribs, and a scream tears from his throat.
“And your final mistake...” I deliver another punch. “...was taking her mother.” I grab him by the collar and shove him backwards with another blow. “You dragged her through the mud. You hurt your own mother.” I hit him again. “You treated her worse than an enemy.”
Blood now covers Samarjeet’s face, but somehow, the madness in his eyes only grows stronger. Then, without warning, he shoves me so hard that the unexpected force catches me off guard and sends me stumbling backwards. I lose my balance and fall to the ground.
That single moment changes everything.
Samarjeet lunges for the gun I threw away earlier, grabs it, and points the barrel at me.
“You know what, Raghav?” A bloodied laugh escapes him as he raises the weapon higher.
“You’re right. I killed my father. I shot Siya, and I hurt my mother.
That’s because I hate every single one of them.
None of them ever gave a damn about me. They never trusted me enough to let me lead, never believed I was capable of making decisions for this family or this empire.
Every single one of them sidelined me, dismissed me, and made me feel like I was worthless.
” His finger tightens around the gun. “But not anymore. Anyone who stands in my way, I will kill them. Even if they are my own people. Like her.”
My blood turns cold as Samarjeet points the gun at his mother.
“Mom, it’s time for you to go to Dad.”
My world stops as I realise what Samarjeet is about to do. Everything around me disappears, except that gun, that trigger, and Siya’s mother. I can’t watch another mother being ripped away from me while I stand there powerless to stop it.
My arm scrapes across the ground, searching desperately for anything I can throw at him, anything that might knock the gun from his hand.
And then I feel it. My fingers brush against something cold and metallic half-buried in the dirt.
A gun. Samarjeet’s first weapon… the one that slipped from his hand when I kicked him away from Siya’s mother.
Instinct takes over. I grab the gun, raise it, and pull the trigger before Samarjeet can fire at Siya’s mother. The bullet tears through the side of his head. His body jerks, and the weapon slips from his hand as he collapses to the ground. Dead.
For several seconds, I don’t move.
Then a broken cry escapes Siya’s mother as she drops to her knees beside Samarjeet’s body.
Despite everything he has done, he was still her son.
I understand that. Because mothers do not stop being mothers simply because their children become monsters.
She stares at him through her tears for a long moment, then slowly reaches forward and touches his face.
“I wish...” Her voice breaks as another tear slips down her cheek. “I wish you had chosen a different path. Life could have been so different for all of us.”
She closes her eyes and cries again. I don’t even realise when I walk towards her and help her back to her feet. Her entire body trembles. Then suddenly, she grabs my arm.
“Siya?” The word leaves her mouth instantly.
I nod immediately. “She’s safe. The bullet hit her shoulder, but she’s out of danger. She’ll be okay once the surgery is done.”
A shaky breath leaves her lips as if thanking God. Then she steps forward and hugs me tightly. I wrap my arms around her automatically. My eyes drift towards Samarjeet’s lifeless body, towards the devil responsible for this entire nightmare.
I hear footsteps behind us and turn to see Ayaan emerge from between the trees, followed by Krish and Trisha. Dozens of GLEN operatives spread across the clearing, securing the area.
The war is over. Reports begin to come in almost immediately.
The remaining hostiles have been neutralised.
The hillside is secured. No major casualties on our side.
Kriti has been arrested. And every surviving man in Samarjeet’s network is either captured or dead.
The empire he wanted to lead by killing his own father has collapsed in a single night.
Ayaan’s gaze briefly shifts towards Samarjeet’s body and then towards me. Neither of us says anything. We don’t need to. Everything he needs to know is lying on the ground between us.
Samarjeet Vardhaan. Dead. Forever.