2025
Las Vegas
Crack! Bang!
Gunfire broke the night's silence.
Two men sprinted through a narrow alleyway, the cold wind biting their skin. One clutched his shoulder, his blood leaving a trail behind them. None of them spoke much—they already knew how tonight might end. Five of the men who came with them already died. This mission wasn't about survival. It was about distraction. About slowing him down.
They reached a dead end.
"Shit…" one hissed, eyes scanning the walls for escape, knowing there was none.
Their breaths were uneven, but their minds were made up. If their deaths could help their families live, that was the price they had accepted.
Footsteps echoed behind them. Calm. Measured.
Then came the voice—low, quiet, with a sharp edge.
"Seems like this is where it ends for you."
The man behind them wasn't shouting. He didn't need to.
They turned to see a figure in a black shirt and a coat, sleeves rolled to the forearms. He looked like he belonged in a boardroom, not a battlefield—tall, lean, with short black hair and sharp brown eyes. His expression wasn't angry. It was cold. Detached.
This was Adonis. Aarav Varma. The name whispered with fear in every corner of the underworld.
One of the men lifted his gun. A soft click of the safety being turned off.
Before the barrel even lifted, a shot rang out.
He fell without a sound.
"Who's next?" Aarav asked quietly, lowering his gun.
"We came to die in your hands," one man said. "That was the mission. Nothing more."
Something flickered in Aarav's eyes at the words, just for a second. Then they returned to that same terrifying stillness.
"Our real job…" the man continued, voice rough. "Was to distract you while someone else… found her."
Aarav's hand clenched. 'No...this can't be happening '
"…Your sister."
The words barely left his mouth before a bullet ended them.
Aarav didn't waste another second. He ran—no, raced—through the streets to the port. The place his sister had asked him to meet, just hours earlier.
She had been smiling when she'd called him. Her voice was light, teasing, like always. She called him her safe place. Her big brother. Her world.
When he arrived, the scene was eerily silent.
Blood, that's what greeted him.
Just blood.
Nobody.
No clue.
No sign of her.
His heart thundered in his chest—not from panic, but something far deeper. Something cold and consuming.
He pulled out his phone.
"Karthik."
"Yes, boss?"
"I need the port's security footage. I want the Alpha team on standby by the time I reach the base"
Then he climbed into the private jet.
.
.
.
Back at the base in India, everything was already in motion. His assistant, Karthik, greeted him at the entrance, but Aarav walked past him, straight to the briefing room.
"What do we have?"
Karthik hesitated. "The footage… we couldn't retrieve it. It's been wiped clean."
Aarav didn't flinch, but his jaw tightened.
He entered his office and flipped through the files laid out for him. Page after page. Nothing. No hint of a trail. It felt like she had vanished from the face of the earth.
His hand trembled, then slammed the file shut. He stared at the wall, eyes empty for a moment.
He had promised her she'd always be safe. That no harm would come to her again.
She wasn't just his sister, his angel,- she was the last piece of light left in his dark world.
He quietly overturned the desk. Not with rage. But because he didn't know what else to do with the growing storm inside him.
Aarav Varma - the man who didn't blink at a gun pointed at him, the man who built an empire out of ashes, was breaking.
He didn't know if his sister was missing. Or if she was already gone.
But he did know one thing:
Whoever had dared to touch her… would never see daylight again.
"Find out who Anya met yesterday," Aarav said, his tone sharp but composed.
Not getting any response right away. Aarav looked up from his papers.
Karthik stood frozen, brows furrowed.
"What is it?" Aarav asked, his voice firm.
Karthik hesitated, then said, "Boss… It's nearly impossible to trace her. Miss Anya left no trail."
Aarav leaned back in his chair, his eyes narrowing slightly. He already knew this. His sister was like a shadow—deliberate and untraceable. Only a handful of people knew her face, and fewer knew what she did.
She was the ghost of the digital world - 'Shadow' to some, a myth to others. "Keep trying. I don't care how long it takes," Aarav said quietly.
Once Karthik left, Aarav went to his room. He pulled out a cigarette, lit it, and just as quickly put it out. Her face flickered in his mind - mock frowns, arms crossed, scolding him for smoking. It made his chest tighten.
It had been over two days. He hadn't slept. He hadn't spoken to anyone except for giving orders.
He stared at his phone for a long second before finally calling.
"What's up, big bro?" Arnav's usual cheerful voice answered.
"She's missing," Aarav said, his voice low.
Silence. Then Arnav's voice turned serious. "What did you say?"
Aarav explained everything in short, clipped sentences.
"And you're telling me this after 48 hours?" Arnav nearly shouted. "If something happens to her..."
"I know."
"No, you don't. I'll burn down this world if she's hurt."
The call ended with Arnav giving rapid instructions to his assistant. Both brothers began working from different cities- tracking, digging, threatening-determined to bring her back.
And all their men could do was pray. Because when Anya Varma was involved, the brothers didn't care about the consequences.
.
.
.
Meanwhile, in Mumbai…
In one of the country's best hospitals, tucked away in a VVIP ward, a young woman lay still on a bed. Her body was motionless, machines keeping her stable.
She looked peaceful, almost too peaceful. Like she had simply fallen asleep and forgotten to wake up.
Yes it was Anya.
A man stood beside her, unmoving. His dark eyes were fixed on her face. Dark circles screaming his lack of sleep.
"I never thought you'd end up like this," he whispered, brushing her cheek softly. "I stayed away because I didn't want to pull you into my world. I thought I could protect you by loving you from a distance."
He paused, swallowing hard.
"If I'd known… I would've done anything to keep this from happening."
The doctor's words still echoed in his mind: She's alive, but her recovery depends on her.
He heard a knock and turned to see Manav at the door. A silent signal, it was time to return to the outside world.
He leaned down, gently pressing a kiss to her forehead.
"I'll come back. Just… wake up, okay?"
.
.
.
Three months later…
Beep… beep…
Anya stirred faintly. She couldn't open her eyes. Her limbs felt heavy, like stone.
Where am I? she wondered, her thoughts slow and foggy.
She tried to move, but her body wouldn't listen. The effort drained her. Moments later, she slipped back into darkness.