Sam Nicole.
That name alone made Samira freeze.
Her breathing slowed. Her fingers tightened around the paper as disbelief filled her eyes. She never thought the man her father trusted the most could be involved in something like this.
"No…" she whispered to herself.
She immediately sat in front of the computer and started hacking into Sam Nicole's phone. Her fingers moved quickly across the keyboard, screen lights reflecting in her teary eyes.
One file opened.
Then another.
Suddenly—
The screen glitched.
Her system started lagging.
"What the—"
Then her computer got hacked itself.
A black screen appeared.
And a message slowly popped up in red letters.
'Don't do this or I will kill your entire family in minutes.'
Her heart dropped.
A loud knock echoed upstairs.
Then another.
BANG.
Samira quickly opened the security cameras.
Her blood ran cold.
A team of armed men stood outside the house, holding guns.
"They found us…"
She immediately ran toward everyone.
"Wake up! Now!" she shouted.
Sarthak instantly stood up. "What happened?"
"We don't have time, come with me!"
She rushed them downstairs toward an old painting hanging on the wall. Removing it quickly, she revealed a hidden gate behind it.
She unlocked it.
A dark slide appeared underneath.
"Go downstairs from here."
Sarthak looked shocked. "Sammy"
"Take Myra and go!"
He grabbed her wrist tightly. "You're coming with us."
She shook her head and handed him a walkie-talkie.
"Don't come out till I came downstairs and take this walky talky okay"
Then she moved closer and kissed him softly.
For a second, everything went silent.
His eyes filled with fear.
"I want to stay with you ,"
"Impossible Sarthak if I lost you I would die ,I lost manya not you this time"
Before he could stop her, she pushed him through the slide.
"SAMMY"
The gate shut.
Silence.
Samira stood there breathing heavily before walking toward the weapon locker hidden beside the stairs.
She grabbed a rifle.
Loaded it.
And hid behind the wall as footsteps echoed upstairs.
Then she quickly called Krati and Tina.
"Pick up…" she whispered nervously, gripping the rifle tighter.
The call connected after what felt like forever.
"Samira?" Tina's weak voice came from the other side.
Relief hit her for one second.
"Tina listen to me carefully, someone attacked the base."
"What?!" Krati's voice suddenly came from beside her. "Who?"
"I don't know, but they found us. They have guns."
A loud bang echoed from upstairs.
The main door had been broken.
Samira quickly switched off the lights downstairs and hid behind the wall, gripping the rifle tightly.
"Samira, where are Sarthak and Myra?" Krati asked nervously.
"I sent them down the emergency tunnel."
Footsteps echoed above her.
Heavy.
Slow.
Like they knew she was still there.
Tina's breathing became uneven on the call. "Don't fight alone. We are coming."
"No!" Samira whispered harshly. "You both are still recovering."
"Shut up," Krati snapped. "Manya is our friend too."
Samira closed her eyes for a second at Manya's name.
Pain stabbed through her chest again.
Another loud sound came.
Glass shattered upstairs.
One of the men shouted, "Search everywhere!"
Samira immediately muted the call.
Her heartbeat became louder than the footsteps.
She carefully looked at the camera screen beside her.
Four men upstairs.
One near the kitchen.
Two moving toward the office room.
One standing still.
Watching.
As if he already knew where she was.
Her fingers tightened around the rifle.
Suddenly
The walkie-talkie crackled.
"Sammy…" Sarthak's whisper came through. "They can't come down here, right?"
Samira looked toward the hidden gate.
"No. Stay there."
"You promise?"
She stayed silent for a second.
Then lied.
"Yes."
Another voice came through faintly.
Myra crying.
That sound almost broke her.
One of the men upstairs suddenly fired a bullet into the ceiling.
Samira flinched.
"Come out, Miss Samira," a man shouted. "We only want the pendrive."
Her eyes widened.
How did they know about the pendrive?
Then another voice came.
Deep.
Calm.
Dangerous.
"You're making this harder than it needs to be."
Samira froze.
That voice…
She had heard it before.
Not clearly.
But somewhere.
Somewhere close.
Very close.
Her breathing became uneven.
The man continued,
"You lost one sister already. Don't make your daughter lose her mother too."
Samira's eyes filled with rage.
She slowly loaded the rifle.
Then whispered to herself
"Try taking her from me."
And pulled the trigger.