The Name That Shouldn’t Be Spoken
Episode------- 35
The safehouse crouched between rusted warehouses along the Hooghly, half-hidden by ivy and rot.
Inside, dust floated in slanted dawn light, catching on old crates and cracked tiles. Rain dripped from broken beams, but the walls still stood — a fortress forgotten by the city.
Raian sank onto a battered chair, breath ragged, shoulder wound bleeding through makeshift bandages. Aria knelt before him, trembling hands peeling aside soaked cloth to check the damage.
"You'll need stitches again," she whispered, voice tight with fear.
His lips twitched — a ghost of grim humor. "At this rate, I'll be more thread than flesh."
---
Ayan leaned heavily on Lina by the doorway, leg shaking with each heartbeat. Lina's fingers brushed his arm, silent worry etched in every line of her face.
"You should let her rest," Ayan rasped to Raian, voice rough but calmer now. "She's been awake all night."
Raian shook his head, grey gaze locked on Aria. "She deserves answers first," he murmured. "Before she decides if she still wants to stay."
---
Aria's breath caught. "What do you mean?"
Raian exhaled, breath shuddering. "The truth, Aria. All of it. Before you see me as something worth saving… I want you to know what you'd be saving."
Outside, gulls cried over the river. Dust motes danced between them, fragile as the moment itself.
---
Aria swallowed hard, throat raw. "Then tell me," she whispered.
Raian's eyes darkened, haunted. "My father built this empire on blood. Extortion, smuggling, death — he called it protection."
"And you?" she breathed.
"I enforced his rule," Raian confessed, voice low and ragged. "At fifteen, I was ordering men twice my age to kill. At eighteen, I killed my father when he tried to murder Zayid's mother."
Aria's breath caught, but she forced herself not to look away.
"I thought saving her would redeem me," Raian rasped, guilt thickening every word. "But I kept the empire. Kept killing. Even after she died."
---
Silence settled, heavy as wet iron.
"And Zayid?" Aria asked softly.
"He blamed me," Raian whispered, voice cracking. "For killing Father… for failing to protect her. The boy I'd raised as my brother became my greatest enemy."
"And you fought him?" she breathed.
"I tried to save him," Raian murmured. "But hate was stronger than blood. In the end… I chose the empire over forgiveness."
---
Aria's chest ached. The man she'd saved — the man whose touch set her heart racing — had chosen power over family. And yet… here he sat, confessing with broken eyes.
"Say it," Raian rasped. "Say you can't love a killer."
"I won't lie," Aria whispered, tears spilling. "I'm afraid of what you've done. But… what terrifies me more is losing the man who regrets it."
His gaze lifted, hope and grief warring behind grey eyes. "And if you knew my worst secret?" he murmured.
---
Aria's voice shook. "What could be worse?"
Raian hesitated, breath catching. Then the words left him, low and bitter as old poison.
"Her name was Isha."
Aria frowned. "Who was she?"
"My first love," he whispered, voice rough with memory. "She tried to leave this life — to take me with her. And because of me… she died."
---
Aria's heart stopped. "Because of you…?"
"I refused to let her go," Raian breathed, guilt cracking each word. "My enemies found her. Used her to lure me out. By the time I reached her, it was too late."
His hand curled, knuckles whitening. "She died in my arms, begging me to leave the blood behind."
"And you didn't," Aria finished, voice raw.
"No," he rasped. "I built the empire larger than before. In her name. As if power could replace guilt."
---
Silence crushed the room.
"And even now," Raian whispered, staring at blood on his palm, "sometimes I dream of her. And hate myself for still wanting you."
Aria's breath trembled. "You think Isha's ghost makes you unworthy of love?"
"I know it does," he murmured.
---
Aria lifted his hand, pressing it to her chest where her heart thundered.
"I'm not Isha," she whispered. "And I don't ask you to forget her. Only to let me stay, even if the memory never leaves."
His jaw clenched, eyes wet though no tears fell. "I don't deserve forgiveness," he rasped.
"Then let me decide what you deserve," Aria breathed, tears sliding warm over bruised skin.
---
In the doorway, Ayan watched them, pain and memory darkening his gaze. Lina touched his arm. "What are you thinking?"
"That love doesn't erase blood," Ayan murmured. "But maybe it teaches us to live with it."
"And us?" Lina whispered, voice barely audible.
Ayan's hand tightened on hers. "If the darkness comes back… promise me you won't run."
"I promise," she breathed, voice breaking. "If you promise to fight it."
"I swear," he rasped, voice ragged.
---
A faint echo drifted through the warehouse — a door opening far below, the soft scuff of footsteps.
Raian's head snapped up, grey gaze sharpening.
"We're not alone," he hissed.
Ayan raised his pistol, though his leg trembled. Lina stepped closer, rod clenched tight. Aria pressed beside Raian, breath caught in her throat.
---
A figure stepped from the shadowed stairwell — a man draped in a dark raincoat, face hidden by a wide-brimmed hat.
Raian's breath froze. "Impossible," he rasped.
"Who is it?" Aria whispered.
The man lifted his head, shadows peeling away to reveal deep scars across his left cheek — old, twisted reminders of fire.
"Hello, Raian," the stranger drawled, voice dry as ash. "Miss me?"
Raian's voice cracked, horror bleeding into fury. "Rajveer," he breathed.
---
Aria's heart stuttered. "Who…?"
Raian swallowed, words heavy as stone. "The man who taught me to kill. And the one I failed to kill in return."
---
Rajveer's smile was a cruel cut. "Your brother is dead, your blood spilled," he murmured. "Now the empire you built will be mine."
Raian's hand curled into a fist, jaw locked. "Over my corpse."
"That," Rajveer said softly, "was always the plan."
---
Outside, dawn light paled to cold grey as clouds gathered anew — the city holding its breath before another storm.
Inside, ghosts walked again, and old debts sharpened into new threats.
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Teaser for Episode 36:
Rajveer reveals why he has returned — and a brutal ultimatum that forces Raian to choose between Aria's life and the empire he's spent a lifetime fighting to control.