The silence didn't last.
It never did.
By evening, the house had slipped back into its usual rhythm—
voices returning, footsteps echoing, doors opening and closing—
But something had changed.
Not visibly.
But underneath.
Like a crack no one could see—
Yet.
Sasmita stood in her study, eyes fixed on the laptop screen.
Numbers.
Reports.
Data.
Everything looked normal.
Too normal.
Her fingers paused mid-air.
Because instinct—
Was telling her otherwise.
A sudden glitch.
The screen flickered.
Once.
Then again.
She frowned slightly.
"That's odd…"
In the next second—
The entire system froze.
Not crashed.
Locked.
Every file.
Every tab.
Unresponsive.
Outside, a staff member rushed in.
"Ma'am, the security system just went down—CCTV isn't responding."
Another voice followed—
"The internal servers are lagging… something's wrong."
Sasmita stood up instantly.
"What do you mean 'something's wrong'? Fix it."
"We're trying, ma'am… but it's not responding to commands."
That word again.
Not responding.
Her jaw tightened slightly.
Because this—
Wasn't random.
Across the corridor—
Aarav stood still.
Not moving.
Not reacting.
But listening.
Every word.
Every detail.
His phone vibrated again.
This time—
He opened it.
A single message.
No name.
No number.
Just a symbol.
🐆
And below it—
"You took your time."
Aarav's gaze darkened slightly.
No surprise.
No panic.
Just recognition.
Black Cat.
He locked the phone again.
Because whatever this was—
It had already begun.
Back in the study—
Sasmita's frustration was rising.
"Get the IT team on call. Now."
"They're already trying, ma'am… but the system isn't accepting external access."
That made her pause.
Because that meant—
Whoever did this—
Was already inside.
Her eyes shifted unconsciously—
Toward the door.
And for a brief moment—
They landed on him.
Aarav.
Standing there.
Still.
Watching.
Their eyes met.
And something about that moment—
Didn't feel right.
"Did you notice anything unusual?" she asked suddenly.
The question was direct.
Unexpected.
Aarav didn't react immediately.
Then—
"Everything looks normal."
The answer came calm.
Controlled.
Too controlled.
Sasmita held his gaze for a second longer.
Because this time—
She wasn't just asking.
She was testing.
"Nothing about this is normal," she said.
Aarav didn't argue.
Because he knew—
She was right.
Minutes passed.
Tension built.
No progress.
No control.
And then—
Just as suddenly as it began—
The system came back.
Screens flickered.
Files restored.
CCTV live again.
Everything—
Normal.
The room fell silent.
Because that—
Was worse.
"No trace…" someone muttered.
"Logs are clean…"
Clean.
Too clean.
Sasmita's fingers curled slightly.
Because this wasn't a failure.
It was a message.
Outside—
Aarav stood alone now.
His phone still in his hand.
The screen dark.
But his thoughts—
Anything but.
Because Black Cat never attacked without reason.
And never left—
Without meaning.
His gaze lifted slightly.
Toward the window.
Toward the world outside.
"…You've started again," he murmured under his breath.
Inside—
Sasmita stood in the middle of the restored room.
Everything back in place.
Everything—
Except certainty.
Her eyes moved again.
Searching.
And once more—
They stopped at him.
Because somehow—
Every time something went wrong—
He was there.