đź’” The Contract Groom
Rain exploded across the ground as thunder cracked through the night.
Outside the shattered house—
guns remained raised.
Finger on triggers.
Dozens of armed men waiting for a single mistake.
But nobody moved.
Because Dr. Prem's hand was still locked around Professor Veer Malhotra's throat.
The founder of Project Aryan remained suspended slightly off the ground, yet the old man still smiled.
Calmly.
Proudly.
"…Perfect," he whispered again.
That word hit harder than any bullet.
Dr. Prem's grip tightened instantly.
"I should kill you."
The Circle operatives aimed immediately.
Red laser dots covered his chest.
His head.
His heart.
Nandu stepped forward sharply.
"Don't!"
But nobody knew who he was warning anymore.
Aryan?
Or the soldiers?
Professor Veer looked directly into Dr. Prem's eyes despite the pressure crushing his throat.
"Do you finally understand now?" he asked softly.
"Understand what?"
"That rage."
A faint smile returned.
"That instinct."
Another memory slammed violently into Dr. Prem's mind.
A training room.
Older teenagers attacking him together.
A child version of himself defeating them coldly.
Not emotionally.
Strategically.
Then applause behind glass.
"Aggression response successful."
His breathing became uneven again.
No…
Professor Veer noticed immediately.
"Yes," he whispered.
"You were trained."
Sasmita's heartbeat dropped instantly.
"What did you do to him?" she asked coldly.
Professor Veer slowly turned his gaze toward her.
"We enhanced what already existed."
"That's not enhancement."
Her voice sharpened.
"That's torture."
The old man chuckled softly.
"History remembers successful people differently."
Those words disgusted even the Circle soldiers standing nearby.
Yet nobody spoke.
Because fear controlled them all.
Dr. Prem suddenly released Veer violently.
The old man stumbled backward slightly but remained standing.
His guards immediately stepped closer protectively.
Weapons ready.
But Veer raised one hand calmly.
They stopped instantly.
Because he wasn't afraid.
That terrified everyone more.
Dr. Prem stared at his own trembling hands now.
What exactly had they turned him into?
He remembered things too quickly.
Calculated threats instinctively.
Reacted before thinking.
Even the combat earlier—
it hadn't felt learned.
It felt natural.
Like his body remembered training his mind had forgotten.
Professor Veer adjusted his collar slowly.
"You spent years pretending to be ordinary," he said quietly.
"But extraordinary things always reveal themselves eventually."
Sasmita stepped beside Dr. Prem now.
Not close enough to comfort him.
But close enough to stand with him.
"Stay away from him," she said coldly.
Veer looked at her carefully.
Then smiled slightly.
"You care about him already."
Silence.
Sasmita didn't answer.
Because dangerous people noticed emotions faster than words.
Veer turned back toward Aryan again.
"The Circle doesn't want to kill you."
"Then why send assassins?"
Dr. Prem replied sharply.
"Because some members fear you."
A pause.
"And others want to control you before you remember everything."
Thunder shook the sky violently again.
"Everything?" Dr. Prem asked quietly.
For the first time—
Professor Veer's smile faded slightly.
"You still don't remember the final phase."
Nandu's expression changed instantly.
"Stop talking."
Veer ignored him completely.
"At age ten," he continued softly, "you accessed restricted strategic systems accidentally."
Another sharp pain hit Dr. Prem immediately.
Screens.
Codes.
Adults shouting.
Emergency alarms.
Then—
a terrified voice saying—
"He breached the network in less than four minutes!"
Sasmita looked toward him slowly.
Impossible.
Professor Veer stepped closer again carefully.
"That day…"
His eyes gleamed with obsession.
"…the Circle realized your intelligence had evolved beyond prediction."
The rain outside intensified harder.
"They became afraid."
"And you?" Dr. Prem asked coldly.
Professor Veer smiled.
"I became proud."
That answer chilled everyone.
Because only monsters admired something powerful enough to terrify the world.
Then suddenly—
a voice echoed sharply from behind the Circle vehicles.
"Enough."
Every operative turned instantly.
A black car had arrived silently during the chaos.
Nobody noticed.
The rear door opened slowly.
And the moment the figure stepped out—
Nandu's face changed completely.
Shock.
Even Professor Veer's smile disappeared instantly.
Because the man walking through the rain calmly—
was Ravan.
No guards.
No umbrella.
No fear.
The storm itself seemed smaller around him.
Sasmita stared silently.
This was her first time seeing the real Ravan face-to-face.
Not a hidden king.
Not a rumor.
A man powerful enough to make both Tiger Gang and the Circle uneasy.
Ravan stopped beside the vehicles slowly.
Rainwater sliding down his black coat.
His eyes moved only toward Aryan.
Not Dr. Prem.
Not Aarav.
Aryan.
For a brief second—
something almost emotional crossed his face.
Relief.
Then it vanished instantly.
Professor Veer spoke first.
"You finally came."
Ravan's expression remained unreadable.
"You should've stayed away from him."
Veer smiled faintly again.
"He deserves the truth."
"No."
Ravan's voice turned colder.
"He deserves a life."
Silence exploded across the storm.
Because that single sentence revealed everything.
Ravan never saw Aryan as a weapon.
Never saw him as an experiment.
He saw him as a child he failed to protect.
Dr. Prem stared at Ravan silently.
Conflicted emotions tearing through him.
"You lied to me my entire life," he said quietly.
Ravan accepted the accusation without defending himself.
"Yes."
The honesty hurt more.
"But I kept you alive."
Another dangerous silence followed.
Professor Veer suddenly laughed softly.
"Alive?"
He looked toward Aryan proudly.
"You turned a king into a servant."
Ravan's eyes darkened instantly.
"He was never yours to shape."
"And yet…"
Veer smiled again.
"…he became exactly what I predicted."
Then—
Professor Veer looked directly at Aryan one final time.
"The final phase has already begun."
Before anyone understood what he meant—
one of the Circle operatives suddenly injected something into his own neck.
Then another.
And another.
Nandu's eyes widened instantly.
"No…"
The soldiers' bodies stiffened unnaturally.
Veins darkening beneath their skin.
Eyes becoming cold.
Empty.
Professor Veer stepped backward slowly into the rain.
Smiling calmly.
"Let me show you…"
A pause.
"…what Project Aryan was truly meant to create."
And then—
the Circle operatives attacked.