Rohan was waiting in the car. He took one look at her face and started driving.
"What happened?"
"He wants me to kill Karan."
Rohan's hands tightened on the steering wheel.
"You cannot do that."
"I know."
"Then what are you going to do?"
She removed her mask. The night air was cool on her skin.
"I am going to find another way."
Kabir was awake when she returned to the estate. He stood in the doorway of her suite, still dressed, his face drawn with worry.
"Well?"
She walked past him into the room. She sat on the edge of the bed and removed her boots.
"The Chairman wants me to kill Karan Khurana."
Kabir's face went pale. "No."
"It is the only way he will trust me."
"There has to be another way."
"There is always another way." She looked up at him. "I just have to find it."
He sat beside her. His hand found hers.
"You are not a killer, Aarohi."
"I am The Architect. I have destroyed lives. I have ruined families. I have—"
"You have never taken a life." His voice was firm. "There is a difference. Do not pretend there is not."
She looked down at their joined hands.
"I do not know if I can do this," she admitted. "I do not know if I can be what the Council needs me to be."
"Then do not be what they need. Be what they fear." He lifted her chin with his finger. "You are The Architect. You built an empire from nothing. You brought the Syndicate to its knees. You can find a way to destroy Karan Khurana without becoming a murderer."
She looked into his eyes. The man who believed in her. The man who loved her.
"Help me," she said.
"Always."