đź’” The Contract Groom
Rain hammered against the city like bullets from the sky.
Inside the shattered house, smoke still drifted slowly through the broken living room while pieces of glass reflected flashes of lightning across the floor.
Another sniper shot tore through the darkness.
Dr. Prem reacted instantly.
"Stay down."
Sasmita crouched behind the overturned table beside him, her breathing controlled despite the chaos around them.
But inside—
her mind was racing.
Everything had changed too fast.
Project Aryan.
The hidden truth.
The people behind Tiger Gang.
And now—
someone powerful enough to command assassins openly was hunting them.
A bullet slammed into the wall inches above them.
Concrete dust scattered across Dr. Prem's shoulder.
"They're trying to force us outside," he said calmly.
"You sound very experienced for a doctor."
Another sharp answer from her.
Even now.
Dr. Prem looked toward the broken window carefully, calculating angles.
"Three shooters minimum," he murmured.
"Different elevations."
Sasmita's eyes narrowed.
"How do you know?"
He stayed silent for half a second too long.
Then—
"Because they're trained military style."
Another truth hidden inside a simple sentence.
Before she could question him further—
the lights across the house suddenly died completely.
Darkness swallowed everything.
Only lightning from outside illuminated the room for brief seconds at a time.
Then—
silence.
No sniper shots.
No footsteps.
Nothing.
And somehow—
that felt worse.
Dr. Prem's instincts sharpened instantly.
"They're moving in."
As if proving him right—
a faint sound echoed from the hallway.
Slow footsteps.
Inside the house.
Sasmita slowly raised her gun.
Her finger steady against the trigger.
The footsteps stopped briefly.
Then resumed.
Closer.
Lightning flashed violently outside—
and for a fraction of a second—
a shadow appeared near the hallway entrance.
Sasmita fired immediately.
Bang.
The gunshot echoed through the dark house sharply.
But the shadow vanished instantly.
Too fast.
"Decoy," Dr. Prem said quietly.
Then suddenly—
movement behind them.
Another figure emerged silently from the kitchen entrance holding a suppressed weapon.
Professional infiltration.
The assassin aimed instantly—
but before he could fire—
Dr. Prem moved.
Fast.
Too fast.
He grabbed the assassin's wrist violently, twisting the weapon aside just as the suppressed shot fired harmlessly into the ceiling.
The attacker reacted immediately with trained precision, driving a knife toward Dr. Prem's ribs.
But Dr. Prem blocked it instinctively.
Like muscle memory.
Not thought.
Every movement precise.
Efficient.
Deadly.
Sasmita froze for a second.
Because this wasn't self-defense.
This was combat training.
High-level combat training.
The assassin tried attacking again—
but Dr. Prem slammed him into the wall hard enough to crack wood behind him.
The knife dropped instantly.
Another attacker rushed from the hallway.
Sasmita fired twice.
One missed.
One hit the attacker's shoulder.
The man staggered backward but didn't fall.
Armor.
"Not normal mercenaries," Dr. Prem said sharply.
Then—
he stole the first assassin's weapon smoothly and fired once.
Perfect shot.
The attacker collapsed instantly.
Sasmita stared at him briefly.
Shock flickering through her eyes.
"You've done this before."
Dr. Prem didn't answer.
Because right now—
he wasn't fully himself anymore.
Something buried inside him had awakened.
Instincts.
Training.
Memories.
The second attacker retreated quickly into darkness.
Then silence returned again.
Heavy.
Breathing.
Rain.
Thunder.
Sasmita looked toward the dead assassin carefully.
Then her expression changed instantly.
"Wait…"
She crouched beside the body and pulled aside part of the attacker's collar.
A symbol.
Burned into the skin near his neck.
A black circle with a silver line through the center.
Dr. Prem's eyes darkened immediately.
Another memory flashed violently.
A laboratory door marked with the exact same symbol.
He stepped backward slightly.
"No…" he whispered.
Sasmita looked toward him sharply.
"You know this symbol?"
His breathing became uneven again.
"It's connected to the project."
Before she could ask further—
a loud engine sound echoed outside.
Headlights cut sharply through the rain.
A black SUV stopped directly in front of the house.
The attackers outside immediately stopped firing.
As if responding to authority.
The driver-side door opened slowly.
A tall man stepped out holding a black umbrella.
Calm.
Controlled.
Powerful presence.
Lightning flashed—
revealing his face briefly.
Nandu.
Sasmita frowned instantly.
But Dr. Prem's expression changed completely.
Because Nandu never came personally unless the situation was critical.
Nandu looked toward the broken house calmly before speaking through a communication device near his ear.
"It's secured."
Secured?
The words sent danger through Dr. Prem instantly.
Then suddenly—
multiple armed men emerged silently from the darkness around the house.
Not assassins.
Professionals.
Organized.
Disciplined.
Sasmita raised her gun immediately.
"Who are these people?"
Dr. Prem already knew.
Nandu finally looked directly toward the shattered window.
Toward him.
And spoke calmly.
"Sir…"
A faint pause followed.
"…Tiger wants you back."
Silence exploded inside the room.
Because this time—
there was no hiding from the truth anymore.
Tiger knew everything.
And the terrifying part—
was that Dr. Prem still didn't know whether Tiger was his protector…
or his real enemy.