Meera stood between them — her heart racing louder than the shattered glass beneath her feet.
"Stop this," she whispered.
Rudra's gun was still in his hand.
Aarav's fists were clenched.
One move.
That was all it would take.
"Move aside, Meera," Rudra said quietly. "This doesn't concern you."
"It concerns me more than anyone!" she shouted. "You killed his parents. You built an empire on blood. And now you want more?"
Rudra's expression hardened.
"I did what was necessary."
"For power?" Aarav's voice cut through the room. "Or for control?"
Silence.
Rudra looked at Aarav carefully — not as an enemy, but as a reflection of something familiar.
"You're just like me," Rudra said coldly. "Angry. Obsessed. Willing to destroy everything for revenge."
Aarav didn't deny it.
"Maybe," he replied. "But I won't hide behind excuses."
Meera turned to Aarav, tears in her eyes.
"If you kill him," she whispered, "you lose yourself."
Those words hit harder than any bullet.
For years, Aarav had imagined this moment. Rudra on his knees. Justice served.
But now…
Meera stood in front of that ending.
Rudra slowly lowered his weapon — not in surrender, but in realization.
"You think love makes you stronger?" he asked quietly.
"No," Aarav said. "It makes me different."
Suddenly, sirens echoed in the distance.
Police.
The building was surrounded.
Rudra glanced toward the window.
"You planned this?" he asked.
Aarav's silence was answer enough.
Evidence had already been sent anonymously. Files. Transactions. Proof of decades of crimes.
The empire was collapsing.
Footsteps approached from the hallway.
This was the final choice.
Run.
Fight.
Or accept the fall.
Rudra looked at his daughter one last time.
"I wanted to protect you," he said softly.
"You can still do the right thing," she replied.
For the first time in his life, Rudra Khanna raised his hands — not in dominance.
But in surrender.
As the police stormed in, Aarav stood still.
The revenge he had chased for years felt strangely empty.
Meera reached for his hand.
"It's over," she whispered.
But deep inside, Aarav knew something.
Wars don't end easily.
And consequences always follow.
The storm had passed.
But the silence afterward felt just as dangerous.