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Chapter 13 - obsession and operation

🕸️ Scene 1: Zayyan – The Control Tightens

Location: Private Wing, Mahi's New Room – Next Morning

The luxurious room was now stripped of its warmth —

the windows sealed with steel, mirrors removed, cameras repositioned.

Zayyan stood in the doorway, watching silently as Mahi sat on the edge of the bed, her wrists red from being held back the night before.

He approached slowly, holding a cup of tea.

Zayyan (softly):

"No guards. No ropes. No tricks."

Mahi didn't even look at him.

Zayyan (placing the cup down):

"You scared me last night. I thought I lost you."

Mahi (cold, eyes distant):

"You never had me."

His smile didn't falter — but his eyes darkened.

He knelt beside her, gently brushing a strand of hair from her face.

Zayyan (whispers):

> "The world out there doesn't deserve you.

But I do. Only me."

Mahi (whispers):

"You're sick."

Zayyan stood.

Zayyan (to the guards outside):

"No one sees her. No one speaks to her.

If she tries to run again… break her legs."

He closed the door behind him, the lock echoing like a coffin shutting.

---

💣 Scene 2: Ahaan – Operation: Bloodline

Location: Hidden Safehouse – Nightfall

Ahaan paced the length of the room, the floor scattered with printed files, security camera screenshots, and satellite feeds.

Julika, bruised but standing, watched him.

Julika:

"You haven't slept in 72 hours."

Ahaan (gruff):

"She hasn't either. Wherever she is."

He stopped at a map — a red dot blinking near the coast.

Ahaan (pointing):

"That's where Zayyan's men last routed their comms. South Goa. Near a shipping port."

He turned to Officer Jack on a secure call.

Ahaan:

"We go in at 0400 hours. I want men on every entry point. We infiltrate silently.

He won't see this coming."

Jack (from speaker):

"You're risking your badge, Ahaan. If this goes wrong—"

Ahaan:

> "If I lose her, nothing else matters."

He closed the call and took a deep breath.

From his pocket, he pulled out something small:

Mahi's hospital access card — burnt around the edges but intact.

He pressed it to his lips for a moment.

Ahaan (whispers):

"I'm coming for you, Mahi.

This time… no one will take you from me."

---

🎬 Final Shot:

Split-screen:

🔹 Zayyan stands on a rooftop, watching the sea, whispering Mahi's name.

🔹 Mahi stares at the locked door, whispering Ahaan's name.

🔹 Ahaan loads his weapon, eyes burning with fury, whispering:

> "This ends tonight."

Location: Zayyan's Mansion – War Room

---

The room was drenched in low red light. A long table stood in the center, glowing with holographic blueprints of the mansion, escape tunnels, and weapon stockpiles.

Zayyan stood still, arms crossed, eyes fixed on one red blinking light on the security map.

His most trusted man, Faizan, approached.

Faizan:

"Boss… you asked for satellite interference reports.

Someone hacked into the relay towers last night."

Zayyan didn't blink.

Faizan (carefully):

"It was military grade."

A slow smirk curled on Zayyan's lips.

Zayyan:

"So... he's coming."

Faizan:

"Ahaan?"

Zayyan turned, his eyes hollow but burning.

Zayyan (calmly):

"Who else would burn half the world to find just one woman?"

---

🥀 Cut to: Mahi's Room (Monitored Feed)

Zayyan watched the screen.

She was curled in a corner, arms around her knees.

Silent. Pale. But still not broken.

And that drove him insane.

He leaned forward, touching the screen gently.

Zayyan (whisper):

"You still wait for him, don't you? Even after I gave you everything..."

His reflection on the screen was ghostlike — a man consumed.

> "I loved you more than he ever could.

But love... isn't enough anymore."

---

🔥 Cut Back to War Room

Zayyan's voice was ice now.

Zayyan:

"Lock down the mansion. Set mines near the east and west tunnels. If anyone enters… shoot to kill."

Faizan (hesitates):

"What about the girl?"

Zayyan (staring at her image):

> "She stays alive. But if I can't take her with me…"

"Then no one will."

Faizan flinched.

Zayyan walked to the corner, opened a drawer, and pulled out a small silver ring — a heart-shaped emerald in the center.

Zayyan (to himself):

> "I was going to propose to her... after all this."

"But now... maybe I'll be burying her instead."

---

Outside the mansion — dark clouds gather.

Lightning flashes.

And far in the forest hills, a silent figure watches the building through binoculars.

It's Ahaan.

He lowers the lens. His jaw clenches.

> "I see you, Zayyan.

And I'm coming for what's mine."

Setting: Mahi's Room – Just before the Rescue Operation

---

The door creaked open — slower than usual.

Mahi didn't move. She knew that walk by now.

The quiet, predatory calm. The faint scent of oud and danger.

Zayyan entered, wearing a black coat, gloves in one hand, a strange softness in his otherwise deadly aura.

He stood silently for a moment, watching her like he was memorizing her.

Zayyan (quietly):

"You look tired."

Mahi (flatly):

"Maybe it's the kidnapper keeping me locked in this golden cage."

He smiled, but it didn't reach his eyes.

He walked forward and sat on the velvet chair across from her, placing a small velvet box between them on the table.

Zayyan:

"I brought you something."

She didn't touch it.

Mahi:

"I don't want your gifts."

Zayyan (whispers):

"It's not a gift. It's a symbol…

of what could've been."

He opened the box. Inside was a delicate silver ring with a green emerald shaped like a heartbeat.

Zayyan:

"If things were different…

if you saw me before he ever did…

would you have loved me, Mahi?"

She finally looked at him — truly looked.

Mahi:

"No.

Because love doesn't grow from chains.

It grows from freedom.

And you never gave me that."

For the first time, his face flickered — pain, real pain.

But it vanished.

Zayyan (calm again):

"Then I won't let him have you either."

He stood and walked to the door.

Mahi (sharp):

"If you kill me, Zayyan… I promise you…

I will haunt your name for eternity."

He paused at the threshold.

Zayyan (softly):

"I don't want to kill you, Mahi.

But if I can't be your beginning...

I will be your end."

Click. The door locked behind him.

---

🎬 Cut to: Rooftop – 5 Minutes Later

Zayyan stands overlooking the forest edge.

Boom.

A silent mine is tripped.

The alarms light up red.

Zayyan pulls out his gun, eyes dark with fire.

Zayyan:

"Ahaan Shaikh… welcome to hell."

📍 Mansion Gates – 00:37 A.M.

Thunder cracks across the sky.

Ahaan crouches behind a rusted water tank, drenched in rain, his pistol cocked and breathing steady.

Julika's voice crackles through his earpiece:

> Julika (softly):

"North-East wall: 2 guards, one camera blind. 60 seconds to move."

Ahaan (coldly):

> "Got it. Initiating breach."

He rolls forward into the mud, takes one clean shot — pfft!

A guard drops.

The second turns — pfft! — gone.

He leaps over the wall and vanishes into the dark.

> He's inside.

---

🧭 Control Room – 00:41 A.M.

Zayyan watches the feed.

Guards falling. Cameras blacking out.

He clenches his jaw, whispering to himself:

Zayyan (muttering):

> "So you've finally come, Rawat…

urf Sahad…

urf Ahaan Shaikh."

He grabs his pistol and walks toward the hallway.

But first—

He presses the red button on the console.

> Mahi's room locks completely.

---

🧠 Mahi's Room – Same Moment

Mahi jerks awake as the metal shutters slam shut over her door and windows.

She rushes to the panel — locked.

Mahi (whispers):

> "What's happening…?"

And then she hears it —

A faint bang, somewhere in the distance.

Gunshots.

> Her heart races.

Mahi (eyes wide):

> "Ahaan…?"

---

🩸 Inner Corridor – 00:47 A.M.

Ahaan is a storm.

One guard tackles him — he flips him over and slams a knee to the chest.

Another fires — Ahaan ducks, shoots twice. Clean. Cold.

He keeps moving.

Room after room.

Wall after wall.

> Until—

He sees it.

A glowing nameplate: "B-WING: ISOLATION CHAMBERS"

He sprints toward it.

---

🪞 Inside Mahi's Room

She's banging the door, tears in her eyes.

Mahi (screaming):

> "Let me out! Please! Someone!"

Suddenly —

She hears footsteps on the other side.

Heavy. Rushed.

And then—

> BOOM!!!

The door is blasted open.

Smoke. Light.

A figure steps through the dust…

> Ahaan.

His shirt is bloodstained. His face bruised. But his eyes?

Only for her.

Mahi gasps:

> "Ahaan…"

He walks forward, eyes locked with hers.

She runs to him.

And this time—

> He doesn't stop her.

---

💔 They crash into each other — not just in a hug, but in relief, grief, longing, and fire.

Ahaan (whispers, voice trembling):

> "I told you I'd find you…"

Mahi (breaking down):

> "You came… you came…"

Ahaan (pulling her close):

> "Even if hell stood in my way."

But—

A click.

A cold barrel.

Zayyan stands in the broken doorway, pistol aimed.

---

🎬 End Scene Cliffhanger:

Zayyan's voice — venomous:

> "Touch her again, Ahaan… and I'll make sure you die with her name on your lips."

đź’Ą FIGHT SCENE

Ahaan stands in front of Mahi, shielding her.

Zayyan's pistol trembles slightly in his grip.

Zayyan (furious):

"You think you've won, Ahaan? You think saving her makes her yours again?"

Ahaan (calm but deadly):

"You never had her. You only stole her."

Zayyan snaps — he charges.

The gun falls.

Fists fly.

Punch. Punch. Blood. Crash.

They slam into the wall. Ahaan throws Zayyan across the room.

Zayyan grabs a metal rod and swings — Ahaan ducks, grabs his arm and snaps it back.

Zayyan screams.

But fights harder.

Like a man who has nothing left but delusion.

---

🩸 Then — Ahaan pins Zayyan to the floor, straddling him, about to strike the final blow.

Ahaan (rage in his voice):

"You touched her. You caged her. You don't get to live after that."

He lifts his arm to punch again — hard —

But a soft voice stops him.

Mahi (from behind, broken):

> "Ahaan… stop."

He freezes.

Mahi (softer now):

> "Don't become like him."

Ahaan looks down at Zayyan — bleeding, coughing, defeated.

He stands up slowly, still panting.

Ahaan:

"He'll come back. He'll try again."

Mahi walks forward. Her eyes are glassy but steady.

She kneels beside Zayyan, not to comfort — but to confront.

Mahi:

"You said you loved me.

But love doesn't chain, doesn't steal, doesn't kill.

It lets go."

She stands again and looks at Ahaan.

Mahi (firmly):

> "Let him go."

Zayyan laughs bitterly on the floor.

Zayyan (bloody smile):

"You're sparing me?"

Mahi (coldly):

"No. I'm sentencing you…

To a life where you'll never be able to touch me again.

Where you'll live with the fact that no matter what you did…

I never loved you."

Zayyan's face crumbles.

---

🔚 Final Moments

Ahaan handcuffs Zayyan and steps away.

Ahaan (to the team on radio):

"Target alive. Secure transport. Mission complete."

Zayyan is dragged away.

Mahi watches him vanish down the corridor, her hands shaking.

Ahaan walks to her quietly.

She leans into him, whispering:

Mahi (softly):

"Take me home."

---

🎬 Fade Out:

Ahaan and Mahi walking out of the burning mansion, into the dawn light.

Both bloodied. Both changed.

But together — free.

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