𝗦𝗨𝗗𝗗𝗘𝗡𝗟𝗬 𝗧𝗛𝗘𝗥𝗘 𝗪𝗔𝗦 𝗔 flash of blinding light in the room making everyone shut their eyes tightly. Hearing a groan, they slowly and hesitantly opened their eyes to see a woman lying on the ground while she caressed her head.

"What the hell? I swear I don't remember drinking last night and I still feel hungover." The unfamiliar girl mutters to herself, standing up, finally giving a clear view of her face. "Aadhya!" Reena exclaims, scrambling towards her younger sister with an apprehensive look.

"Reena? What–" The black-haired girl stammers, when her eye fell on the unfamiliar people in the hall and lets out a strangled sound of incredulity. Aadhya Desai, the youngest daughter of Rajendra Desai, blinks twice, listening calmly as her sister explains the recent events.

"You aren't surprised?" Reena mumbles with a knowing tone, she knew her little sister always did had the habit of accepting things quickly. "You and dad are here and you are safe. I don't think I am worried about that. Also, none of you seems to be lying." Aadhya curtly nods in response, her chocolate brown eyes looking around the room, scrutinizing the occupants warily.

"Can we begin now?" The long-haired hero drawls, boredly. Aadhya's lips formed in a scowl hearing his words, a part of her instantly detesting the man even if he hadn't done anything yet. Reena flashes him a fake smile before tugging her sister towards their father who nods at his youngest daughter, curt and distant as ever.

"𝐓𝐎 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐏𝐀𝐒𝐓 𝐌𝐄,

I wish you would never make the mistakes I did. I am sorry for letting go of the bright and cheerful girl you once were." 

A soft melancholic, soft voice could be heard as a voiceover before the camera gradually pans towards a lean silhouette of a woman, her slender fingers clasping the pen in her hand tightly while she attempts to write.

Aadhya bites her lips, nervously, recognizing the voice and uncomfortably shifts in her spot which her older sister notices and sends her an inquisitive look.

"I chased after a dream that was never mine. I wish I could have stopped myself from falling for him even though he was never meant to be mine." 

The chestnut-haired woman whose features were covered by the dim lighting of the room, chuckles ironically, a bitter and self-disparaging laugh escaping her lips. 

"I have heard people saying that when you are in love, you do all sorts of crazy things for the person you love which seems to be true for me."

"Is it just me or does the voice sounds awfully familiar?" Anand pipes up, others who thought the same nodding along but Aadhya's eyebrow creased at his words. 'Why are they watching her life?'

"I left my well-planned future for him." 

The screen briefly shows a woman standing before a few professional-looking people. The occupants were unable to see her face as the camera faces away from her, only showing her back.

"Are you sure about your decision?" One of the men questions, his stern eyes looking at the woman with a disappointed expression.

The chestnut-haired woman takes in a shaky breath before gradually nodding her head, not daring to look at them in the eyes. "I am sure." She murmurs, clenching her fists by her side. "If you don't mind me asking, why?" Another man inquires, crossing his arms over his chest and looking at her curiously.

"You are one of the best employees our firm has ever had, you have your complete life and future ahead, so why did you suddenly decided to let go of it?"

"Years. It took you years to reach this goal, to become one of the best-known attorneys we have ever had the pleasure of meeting. I hope you are aware that not everyone gets a chance to work for us." The older woman exclaims, looking extremely troubled and astonished.

Aadhya shows a proud smile at that which fades away recalling their latest disagreement about the same subject.

Mira raises her eyebrows, a little impressed with her achievements as do Garuda, Virat and Raghavan.

"You reached this point despite the prejudice, and downfalls you faced in a foreign country, persisted when the opposite gender looked down on you. You proved everyone wrong by reaching the highest pinnacle of your career and now you want to give up all of this."

"Why?"

"I would also like to know why?"

"I made a promise with a mother. A promise to protect and stay by her son's side, the same man I have been searching for over a decade. And it's time I fulfill the promise." The chestnut-haired woman replied, her voice firm and determined.

The man who had almost fallen asleep jerks awake hearing her words and sits up straighter. "Is this...?" And with hopeful eyes he stared at the screen, his heartbeat increasing with every passing second.

"He needs a woman protecting him?" One of the men ridiculed her, throwing his head back and laughing at his question while the others except the older woman snickered along.

Aadhya and Mira scoff in synch at his words, briefly looking at each other. The older girl was obviously aware of who Mira was due to Naira's official job in India. She was aware that somehow Mira had played a hand in the smooth flow of job transferring for Naira.

"You know her, don't you?" Aadhya mouthed, discreetly, inclining her head to a side but Mira simply smirked in response. "I don't know, do I?" The younger girl teased, a huff escaping Aadhya's lips at the childish response and scowled at her. It didn't take a genius to figure out where Naira's sarcastic and straightforward attitude came from.

"If you don't mind me asking, have you ever played chess?" The woman questioned, tilting her head to the side as if she was genuinely curious. The camera slowly moves towards the mysterious woman, focusing on her lips which curve up in a wicked smirk when the man nods. "Then I hope you know that it's the queen protecting her king and not the other way round."

Mira's lips curved up in an arrogant and somehow proud smirk hearing her words, a faint memory flashing past her mind.

• • • •

"And what if he never finds me? What if I never meet him?"

"Then you find him."

• • • •

"And I owe him my life. He had my life in his hands the day he saved me twenty-three years ago, the day I was thrown on the streets by my very own parents to die. No one owns my life but him, not even the god himself."

Rocky flinched hearing her words and inwardly chastised her, "That's not what I meant by saving you. You don't owe me your fucking life, no one but yourself does." He muttered, his eyes glistening with sorrow and remorse.

"I don't like the sentence, what is that supposed to mean? She would die if he does?" Reena chimed in, a little reluctant noticing her sister's pale face. Aadhya took in a deep breath and pinched the bridge of her nose while closing her eyes, "I fucking hope not. And if this he does die, I will bring him back from dead if I have to." The black-haired beauty muttered.

The long-haired man suddenly shivered, feeling a chill run down his spine.

"I did not reach this position for myself but for him, I needed connections and power to find him and now that I have, I am ready to fulfill my promise."

"I screwed up the relationships that meant the world to me." 

The camera catches one glimpse of the woman –

Everyone gapes at the screen in disbelief seeing the familiar face while Rocky's lips turned up in a wide smile knowing he had indeed chosen the right girl, the same girl he has been looking for over a decade and it also explained his strange and unexpected feelings for the girl but then shortly frowns in confusion.

"What the hell? I thought she was in 2018?" This time Aadhya frowns and glances at an unsettled Reena, "Wait, what? You know her?"

"Of course, the movie began with her interviewing some old guy about...KGF." Reena answers, eyes wide in surprise while an uncomfortable feeling surfaced in Aadhya hearing her words. "But you seem to know her, how?" The older girl interrogates, sternly.

"That's Naira." Aadhya calmly replies to the question but her sister merely stares at her with a deadpanned expression, "I know, and?" Aadhya rolls her eyes not understanding the situation at all, her head aching due to the loud whispers and chaos that was ensuing in the room.

"That's Naira Desai." Aadhya curtly retorts, emphasizing the surname which makes Reena's eyes widen in alarm. "What?" This time it is Rajendra Desai who asks, looking just as perplexed at the revelation. "Yeah, the same girl you spoiled and pampered when she stayed with us. None of us knew her surname and I wanted to keep her safe in a foreign country, thus, I gave her our surname and legally adopted her as my sister and your daughter." She nonchalantly explains.

"But then..." Reena begins with teary eyes, hesitantly glancing at the frozen screen that showed Naira with an uncertain look. "Why is she present in...the future? And why does she seem so lifeless and depressed?"

"Her eyes." A cold and calm voice drawled out making the trio look at Mira who was listening to their conversation. "Naira Desai has forest green eyes, unlike Naira Malik who has hazel-green eyes. That's the only difference between them." Mira smartly points out, Reena letting out a sound of acknowledgement. "Ah, so it's just similar faces." The brunette nods to herself finding the explanation satisfactory but Mira shakes her head, "I never said they weren't the same person."

"..."

"Are you saying...she is...reincarnated in that era..?" Aadhya, the first one to catch on to the double meaning, interrogates, her face scrunching up in a look of utter confusion. Mira just shrugs indifferently but adds, "They have similar personalities and Naira Malik has seen dreams about the past, she also has unknown feelings for an apparently dead guy, everything points at only one thing. Naira Desai was reborn in the 90s as Naira Malik with her memories locked."

Garuda lets out an impressed whistle at the deduction skills of the two girls while the others seemed just as impressed if not a little freaked out by their excellent thought process.

But Rocky was unable to discern anything, his thoughts freezing at the word 'reincarnated' which means...she dies. Naira, his best friend, his first crush and love, the most important woman after his mother just...dies.

– the scene changing and now shows two girls arguing with each other before Naira storms out of the room with blazing eyes while the back haired beauty stares blankly at her leaving figure, a lone tear escaping her eyes.

"Why are you doing this to yourself? Why can't you just let go of him?"

Khasim sends a worried look towards an unusually silent Rocky who was unable to understand why was he hurting her or was it someone else she fell in love with? His heart clenched painfully at both the thoughts but he would rather prefer someone else hurting her than being the reason behind her tears.

"I protected him from the shadows even though I knew he would never know." 

The scene once again changes, showing an emotionless Naira standing before an annoyed and baffled Ramika Sen.

Ramika perks up seeing her movie counterpart.

"T-This-" Ramika whispers, taking a deep breath as she stared at the papers lying on the table before glancing at a complacent Naira. "How is this even possible?" The woman hisses through clenched teeth, glaring at Naira who simply snickers.

Mira smiles at the younger girl's confident stance, it wasn't a secret that she liked anyone who could annoy or irk a reaction out of her egg donor.

"I had the help of a certain someone." The chestnut-haired girl drawls, lazily leaning against her seat and plays with the pen in her hand. "Sign this and take back your orders." She utters, coldly, motioning towards the authorized orders making Ramika slam her hands on the table harshly as she abruptly stands up while Naira unflinchingly stares back and merely crosses her legs on the table.

Ramika fumes staring at the screen, her eyes turning red due to the utter humiliation and resentment because of that insolent girl.

"How dare you?" Ramika sneers and opened her mouth to speak something when the entrance door is swung open revealing Mira. "Hello, mother dearest."

"You helped her?" Ramika bellows, glaring at her daughter who rolls her eyes, not even bothering to answer the older woman. "I would help anyone who takes you down." Mira mutters to herself.

"I watched him grow from a naive, powerless boy to the strongest man alive."

A young boy is shown holding a twelve-year-old Naira's hand as he wipes the blood off of her lips, clenching his jaw when the young girl winces.

Rocky lets out a shaky breath, the scene confirming his doubts and with a heavy heart he looks back at the screen. He knew nothing good was going to come out of this, not after hearing her thoughts.

"Isn't that boy...you?" Mira suddenly questions, identifying the young boy from the previous scenes catching everyone's attention. Aadhya finally faces the impudent man from earlier and subtly eyes him. "What does she even see in him?" The black-haired girl smiles hearing her older sister grumble and glare at the protagonist.

Reena was probably the most overprotective over the younger girl after Aadhya. The brunette had taken Naira under her wing, the second she had laid her eyes on her petite form.

"I am going to kill them." He mumbles, accidentally applying pressure on her lips making her yelp and instantly apologizes. "It's alright, I am fine." Naira softly tries to reassure him, making him huff, "No, you aren't. I swear I well-" He begins but is interrupted when Naira places a finger on his lips. "Not yet."

Rocky grits his teeth knowing he wasn't strong enough just yet and he would probably face dire consequences of going against those older boys and would drag her down with him. He could handle their hits but he wouldn't even be able to see a scratch on her.

His resolve to become the most powerful man hardens, swearing to make them pay for their actions.

The camera pans in towards his burning gaze before it zooms out and now the screen shows an older version of Rocky staring at the statue of goddess Kali as he swipes the blood of the sword and offers the sacrifice. He turns on his heel facing the crowd with the familiar burning gaze.

The occupants who knew what the place was, let out sounds of doubt and indignation. Garuda stiffens, his eyes hardening as the realization finally sets in while Kamal blinks in shock, closing his eyes remembering his previous jeers and taunts towards the man.

Aadhya scowls, also recognizing the place and distresses about the future, especially with the throne of KGF and Naira being in the centre of it.

While Ramika and the government officials narrow their eyes in suspicion at their reactions. Only one person cheers at the scene, everyone looking at the unusually delighted girl, "Rest in pieces, my lovely fiancé."

"I am ready now, aren't I? It's time they face the monster they made." He whispered to himself, a sinister gleam in his eyes as he remembered his promise of making those boys pay. He had patiently waited for this day, letting them live in fear of his vengeance. He had waited till he had his queen by his side and had her watch them beg for their lives just like how they had humiliated her eleven years ago.

"I watched him fall in love with someone who wasn't me and it hurt, it broke me apart but I swallowed back the cries of betrayal and hurt for him."

A very intoxicated protagonist is shown stumbling his way towards the alcohol box, the loud sound of music and cries of the helpless man echoing in his ears but he pays it no mind, concentrating on the bottle of alcohol and almost picks it up when the woman in gold dress suddenly turns around.

"Why the hell are you partying in the middle of the road?" Aadhya groans, not really surprised by her sister's wild and reckless escapades while Reena smiles sheepishly, rubbing the back of her neck in embarrassment. "Sorry?"

His hands slipped as his eyes fell on her neck –

"No, you fucking didn't just-" Aadhya curses, standing up and glaring at the equally startled and stupefied protagonist who recognized his movie counterpart's look.

– his lips parting open in surprise and disbelief seeing a silver moon pendant around her neck. He begins sauntering towards her with a dazed expression, eyes not wandering away from the pendant and circles around her with an awe-filled gaze.

"Wait, isn't that Naira's?" Aadhya interrupts herself, now looking at a flustered Reena. "I found it in the library after she left for the U.K and was planning to return it but she never came back. And it's...pretty, I swear I only wear it to match with my dresses sometimes." Reena sheepishly admits Mira, letting out an amused chuckle knowing how this might end.

Rocky groans hearing the girls, banging his head on the headrest and looking up at the ceiling with a resigned look, "Just...kill me." He mutters to himself with a helpless expression.

Reena, the girl dressed in gold, stares at him with arrogant eyes and clicks her tongue when he suddenly exclaims, "Congratulations."

"Why?" The three girls chorused together, the long-haired man flashing them his fakest smile, "I hate you." He answers, rolling his eyes in annoyance.

"Bold of you to assume, we like you." Again the three girls said in synchronization before looking at each other with weird looks. "Who doesn't like me? Like just look at me." He narcissistically questions, ruffling his hair coolly which made them scoff.

"Why?" The brunette questions, raising a perfect eyebrow. None of them notice  a certain chestnut-haired girl watching the interaction with furrowed eyebrows with Aadhya who nudges her, "What's wrong?" Aadhya whispers, her voice low and hushed, an apprehensive look plastered on her face seeing Naira's odd expression.

"And that's how it goes to hell~" Mira drawls out with a teasing look while Rocky lets out a string of curses. "Now that's one hell of a timing."

"Fate's a bitch to you, eh?"

"That's hi-"

"I love you." –

Rocky closes his eyes shut at his movie counterpart's words, his face scrunching up in sheer disgust as does Reena's. "What the fuck, man?" She snarls, her temper rising may be due to his guts of confessing to her or maybe it was the hurt that flashed past Naira's eyes.

"I am never fucking drinking again." He swore, Khasim chuckling at his words. "Now, that's a huge promise from you, shows how much she means to you."

"It's not his fault completely," Mira defends, the long-haired man perking up at her words and hopefully looking at her, "He was intoxicated and it's you who's wearing Naira's pendant. He obviously misunderstood."

"That's right! That's right! Why were you wearing my Naira's necklace? It's your fault!" Rocky rapidly nods his head, pointing an accusing finger at her making her gasp. "Why, you little–"

"Who's your Naira?" A cold voice interrupts the chaos, everyone collectively looking at an unamused and pissed Aadhya. "I-" He begins, his tone strained due to fear of his love's older sister, whom he couldn't possibly go against– "I was wrong, sister-in-law!" He is quick to correct himself, innocently looking at the black-haired beauty whose lips part in shock at his shamelessness.

"This man-"

"Is your future brother-in-law." He interrupts Reena, a little more polite towards the girl after knowing her relationship with Naira. Reena lets out a silent scream, almost storming up towards him but Aadhya stops her, "No violence."

"Can we watch?" Virat meekly questions, raising his hand in defence when the girls glare at him. "Just asking." He mumbles but it seems to quieten down the chaos as everyone looks back at the screen.

Aadhya sends the man in the leather jacket a warning look before she pulls Reena back and turns towards the huge screen.

The long-haired man interrupts her, confessing drunkenly to Reena whose eyes widened at his words before she sneers, enraged, "How dare you?"

Aadhya feels her heart drop seeing Naira's expression change drastically at his words, lips trembling as tears welled up in her eyes. She swore she had never seen the younger girl look this devastated, a gasp escaping her lips when Naira harshly places a hand on her lips, muffling her sob and ducking behind a car.

"I feel bad for her, the girl has literally been searching for him for eleven years and when she does meet him, he is confessing to another girl."

"You don't have to remind me again and again. I get it, alright?" Rocky hisses already pissed at himself for hurting Naira and everyone here was just adding salt to the wound. "You should have–" "Not you too, chacha."

"Naira!" The older girl immediately moves beside the girl, pulling her in her arms, the chestnut-haired girl whimpering and crying on her shoulder, trying her hardest to quieten her cries and sobs. "It's him." Aadhya's lips quiver at her words, the realization setting in and feels her heartbreak for the younger girl crying in her arms.

"No, this is not happening. I am going to-" She begins, standing up but Naira harshly tugs her down and rapidly shakes her head. "No, no, don't do this Aadhya. Please." Aadhya's eyes softened seeing her best friend in such a vulnerable state and sighs before pulling her away from the scene, whispering comforting words to her.

The black-haired girl briefly looks over her shoulder at Rocky who was currently fighting with her sister's bodyguards and sneers, she swore she would make him cry twice as much as Naira had, have him regret his actions and in her mind, Aadhya Desai placed the protagonist on her blacklist.

"I am probably already on her kill list."

"I cried and screamed behind the closed doors but never let him know about my feelings."

Naira is shown sitting on the window sill as she blankly stared outside, her eyes lifeless and dim, a single tear trailing down from the corner of her eyes while her hands clenched around the silver moon pendant.

"I quietly muffled my sobs when I first learnt about his wife's pregnancy. He was going to have a child, a family and it wasn't with me but I pretended as if everything was alright."

"What the fuck? You are kidding me!" Reena fake gagged, her lips curling up in disgust. Aadhya and Mira sighed deeply knowing that things will probably go south after this, he ruined any chance of him being with Naira.

Rocky felt bile rising in his throat, he just...betrayed her. He broke not only his mother's promise to keep her safe but also his promise. Tears welled up in his eyes as he clenched his fists, drawing blood because of how tightly he had clenched them.

"I heard from Reena." Naira looked up from the documents, removing her glasses when she heard Aadhya's voice. "How is she doing?" The petite girl questions with a soft smile, Aadhya gazed at the young girl in front of her and smiles weakly. "Naira," The black-haired beauty hesitantly glances at her, inhaling sharply before blurting out, "Reena is pregnant."

Naira's hands stop mid-way, the smile fading away as the words registered in her mind but she is quick to force a bright smile on her lips. "That's great news! I am sure she must be so nervous and happy, I mean she had always wanted to have a ch–" But her ramblings were interrupted when Aadhya abruptly pulls her in a warm embrace, softly caressing her hair.

"It's okay, you don't have to pretend in front of me. You have been bottling up your emotions for three years, Naira. Let it out, I am here." Aadhya whispers, a small sad smile curving up on her lips when she felt her shirt dampen due to the younger girl's tears before the small whimpers turned into loud cries of pain and anguish.

"I am so glad you were there with her," Reena whispered, her eyes glassy with tears. She knew she betrayed her little sister by snatching her love, even if it was due to a misunderstanding.

"I didn't blame him when he failed to protect me as he promised. He swore he would never let me cry but unfortunately, he became the reason for my tears."

The camera began zooming away as the older girl held Naira closely as if she was a piece of glass that could easily break while the chestnut-haired girl fell apart in her best friend's arms.

"But none of it hurt as much as the day I watched him give up on his empire, give up on himself because at the end of the day, he could have my blood on his hands and I would still fall for him, every single time. I would foolishly fall in love with him in every single life."

Rocky is shown drowning beside the gold bars, a certain amount of acceptance for his fate in his dark eyes before he closes them shut.

"Throughout the years, I have felt every kind of emotion, betrayal, hurt, unrequited love, anger and hatred but not once did I regret my decision of falling in love with him."

"They say to follow your heart but sometimes the heart can be unreliable when it tangles in the blindness of love."

And with that, the scene moves back to the dimly lit room where Naira was writing, a single drop of a tear falling on the page before she closes the book shut.