Note - This is the flashback of what happened 4 years ago. It started from chapter 5 (Karan Ahuja) and will go on till a few more chapters. Please don't get confused.

_________________________________________

Priya's POV:

"You did," Arjun replied, his gaze fixed on mine.

Oh my goodness, this can't be true! Was I thinking out loud this entire time? No way! I snuck a look at Arjun. He just nodded as if he knew exactly what I was thinking.

'Damn, Priya. Now he's gonna start insulting you again,' I warned myself weakly, waiting for the impact of his words to hit me.

"It isn't what you think it is. I..." I started but I couldn't really find a good enough excuse to explain myself. My heart was pounding out of my chest as he searched to meet my gaze.

"Don't worry, Mehra," Arjun started laughing. "I was just fooling around with you."

Wait, what? He was teasing me, and I was about to reveal the truth to him. I was an utter moron. But some part in me was pained at the idea of my feelings being a joke to him.

"That was a bad one," I said quietly.

"I am sorry," Arjun said, stretching his hands above his head. "Okay, then. I'm tired so I'm leaving." Arjun yawned. I just nodded as he walked out of the house.

I had placed the sleeping little girl in my room and tucked her under the blanket. My room was on the second floor, separate from the first floor which had a living room, a dining area, a kitchen, a storeroom, a guest room and my study. My room was spacious, modern, and sleek, with mostly white features such as the wall and curtains. I had converted the wall adjacent to the balcony door into a built-in bookshelf because, given how much I enjoyed reading, I considered myself a book hoarder.

I put on my nightdress and lay beside the girl, staring at her. She snored soundly, looking innocent and small. I couldn't bear thinking about what she had gone through. Those assholes were sick to their stomachs for messing around with these helpless children. They had to be punished, and I would see to it. I fell asleep after the promise I made.

(The next day morning)

The Mumbai sun shone through the window and jolted me awake. I cooked breakfast for us after finishing my morning workout routine. The girl hadn't awakened yet.

'I'll go to work later today. I'll talk to her first,' I thought to myself.

While making bread-pizzas, I played Blackpink. I swayed my hips gently in tune with their songs. Huh! I love them. I was so engrossed in cooking that I didn't notice the little girl coming down and standing next to me. She was standing on her tiptoes, trying to see what I was doing.

"Good morning," I said gently as I picked her up and placed her on the kitchen island. I thought she wouldn't wish back but then, I heard a small voice.

"G-good m-morning," she stuttered as I messed with her smooth hair. After I finished my master chef duties, I served us the bread pizza and orange juice for breakfast. She continued to stare at it.

"Do you have a problem?" I asked, frowning. "Do you not like it?"

"Can I eat it?" she asked carefully.

"Of course! I made it for you. Here you go," I fed her and she took a big bite with her tiny mouth.

"Can you tell me your name?" I asked.

"What is a name?" she asked back, amazed. My heart reached out for this poor girl.

"Don't you have a name?" I asked sadly. She made a shaky motion with her head.

"What did they call you back then?" I tried but when she tensed up, I immediately stopped pushing.

"It's fine. I'll give you a name," I assured her. After pondering for a minute, I suggested a name. "What about Nila?" I asked her excitedly, and I could tell she was pleased. Her big doe eyes twinkled with delight.

"Do you have any idea where your parents are, Nila?" I asked carefully, hoping that I wasn't treading dangerous waters. She shook her head, looking down.

"I-I grew up in a p-place with a lot of k-kids like me," she whispered and flinched as if she'd just remembered a bad memory. I knew that she was referring to an orphanage.

"How old are you?" I pushed on.

"5," she replied.

"Would you like to return to that place?" I tried asking. She gave me a horrified look. She was absolutely scared.

"No!" she replied, shaking her head violently.

"All right, relax. I'm not going to send you there. I promise," I amended quickly as I noticed the absolute rigidness in her posture. She relaxed a little.

"What makes you afraid of that place?" I asked curiously.

"T-They used to h-hit me and other kids," she said slowly.

Fuck!

She was going through all of this at such a young age. I couldn't understand how they could do such a thing to such small children. Even demons had been known to spare their children.

"Do you recall anything about that place? Like something which people used to call it?" hoping to find something about this orphanage to shut it down for illegal activity.

She paused for a moment to reflect.

"M-Maryland Child Care O-orphanage" she finally said. I felt the sudden need to reach out to her and comfort her. I wanted to tell her that she could stop stuttering with fear because I wasn't going to hurt her.

"Okay, Nila," I smiled. "Thank you so much. How was the breakfast?"

"It was great!" she said, her eyes lighting up as if she had never had anything as delicious as my bread pizza which I usually made once a week.

"All right, let's get started," I said, clapping my hands together. "Today, I'll drop you off at the child care centre. Come," I urged as I stood up to leave but she stopped me.

"Can't I just stay with y-you?" she asked, her eyes welling up with tears. "I don't want to leave, I feel safe with you." Seeing her cry made me feel like crying.

"But that isn't possible unless I adopt you," I countered desperately.

"T-then please adopt me," she begged. My heart stilled for a minute.

"There are r-rules for that..." I started hesitantly, trying to ignore the twitching in my chest.

"P-please." she sobbed. That little breaking of her voice did it for me. I stopped fighting myself.

"Okay, I'll try," I said but quickly stated, "-but promise me you won't be sad if I can't adopt you. Promise?" She gave a nod to that.

"Then let's do the pinky promise," I showed her how to do it and she learnt with amazement in her delicate eyes.

I dropped Nila off at the centre afterwards. She reluctantly let go of me, despite my promise to come and see her every day until the adoption was completed.

When I arrived at the station, I noticed Arjun discussing something with the commissioner. I wanted to thank him for helping me yesterday. Somewhere in me, I had the urge to tell him about Nila too.

'Let them finish their conversation. I'll thank him later,' I decided. I went into my office and called Ajay in.

"I want you to look for a 'Maryland Child Care Orphanage,' Ajay. The name sounds unique, so it won't be difficult to find. Arrest them for child abuse. We can get evidence from the kids over there," I immediately stated as I wanted this abusive place off the maps as quickly as possible.

"All right, ma'am. Allow me one day," he saluted and walked out of my office. Just as he did, Arjun burst the door open, looking excited.

'Couldn't he just knock?' I thought to myself, annoyed.

Even though I knew he wouldn't listen, I still tried, "Arjun, knock before you come in."

"I have fantastic news for you, Mehra," he said, completely ignoring what I'd just said. "We got permission to question the minister and that tattoo guy," he said proudly.

"What?! That's amazing!" I exclaimed. Now I could handle them my way.

"They're in the interrogation room right now. We have them for two days," Arjun stated.

"Okay, we can start the interrogation in the afternoon," I suggested. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't excited.

"By the way, what about the girl?" Have you dropped her back?" Arjun asked suddenly as if he'd just remembered about it.

"About her..." I started slowly and he frowned. I didn't know why I cared so much about what he thought of my decision. "I am thinking about adopting her," I finished in a rush. His eyebrows shot up to his hairline in surprise.

"What? Are you sure?" he asked, clearly flabbergasted. I was sure that he would've had his jaw on the floor if he didn't have as much self-control as he did. Although, I didn't approve of his reaction. What was wrong with me adopting her? I was mature enough to care for a child.

"What's the problem with that?" I asked, scowling at him.

"Don't be offended," he amended quickly. "I was simply taken aback," he explained. That was a good response. Otherwise, if he'd uttered anything related to my immaturity, I would have given him a lecture and kicked him out of my office by now.

"Of course! I promised her that," I explained. "She didn't want to leave me and I feel comfortable around her."

"I had no idea you had Mother Teresa inside you.," he smirked. I glared at him.

"I was just joking," he started laughing. "All right. I'd better get going. I have some important files to review," he said as he approached the door.

"Arjun," I said, remembering why I had wanted to speak with him in the first place.

"Yeah?" he asked as he turned to face me. There was a foreign expression etched across his face. Happiness? Excitement?

"I'd like to thank you for yesterday," I said in a business-like manner. His eyes softened.

"That's all right, Mehra. Let's meet in the interrogation room," he winked and walked out of my office.

'This man confuses the crap out of me,' I thought helplessly. His behaviour was giving me a damn whiplash.

"May I come in, ma'am?" Swati's voice said. She was standing at the door, holding a file. She worked in the cyber department. Arjun was present behind her too.

"Yes, Swati. Please take a seat," I responded. "What happened Arjun?"

"No, Ma'am. I actually asked sir to come here. I think this is important," she said. She extended the file so that I could look at it.

"Ma'am, this is the call list of Rover, the child trafficking leader we arrested yesterday," she said.

"The tattooed guy?" I asked for confirmation.

"Yes, ma'am," she said. "There is something very suspicious about this list."

"What exactly is it?" Arjun inquired, his voice serious.

"This number, sir. He has called this number approximately 20 times in the last 10 days and possibly more times in the past. When we looked into the number, we discovered it belonged to someone named AK," Swati finished.

"Who is that?" I asked. AK? Sounded like a somewhat familiar alias.

"We couldn't find any other information, ma'am. The number is highly secure," Swati said regretfully.

"It's alright, Swati. Thank you for the information," Arjun said as he pondered. I knew he was thinking about a new name. Swati left the office, but Arjun stayed.

"Who could that be?" I asked him for wild guesses.

"Let's ask Rover," he said finally. I nodded. The only person who was going to be able to give us the facts that were required was Rover.

"Yes," I murmured.

"Let's get started with the interrogation.

_________________________________________