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******

"You are taking me for someone else," Shrikant was trying to fool Dhruv Kapoor who had researched about him. He could fool anyone but not the one who deals with such stuff on a daily basis.

"I am not mistaken otherwise why would you be here."

"Looks like you forgot, you were the one who invited me," Shrikant replied with confidence thinking he could trap Dhruv in the web of his words.

"And you came despite I had threatened you earlier. Why?" Shrikant had no answer.

"Why are you here, Sir?"

When Dhruv didn't receive answers to his questions he said, "Let me provide you the answers to the questions I asked."

There was no way to escape for Shrikant. He was worried thinking what Dhruv had to say to him.

"You came here to check up on your one and only daughter whom you had abandoned. You came here in guilt." Dhruv was furious thinking why did her father run like a coward.

"No..I...I didn't abandon her." Shrikant did come in guilt but the other reason was to see his daughter's smiling face before he steps into the dangerous battle.

"Then why did your confidence falter while answering?" Dhruv was not leaving any chance to make his father-in-law spill the beans of the past.

"I don't owe you an explanation," Shrikant replied.

"You might not owe me, but you owe her a lot. Do you have any idea what life she was living?"

Shrikant was able to comprehend the meanings of the words used by Dhruv. He understood that his daughter had not spent a happy life.

"What..what do you mean?" Shrikant stuttered. Fear of what was coming next engulfed him into its embrace.

"Leave it, you don't deserve to know."

"You have to tell me, what did you mean....." Shrikant couldn't complete his sentence and both of them stumbled when they heard the sound of an explosion.

Dhruv looked at his watch before muttering, "Shit! This was not supposed to happen this soon." The plan he had thought was executed way before the planned time indicating something wrong had happened.

"Sir, you need to leave," Dhruv said. He had panicked a bit but then prepared himself for the task.

"No, my daughter. She...she is inside." Shrikant was scared and the lines of worry had appeared on his face.

"Nothing will happen to her. I won't let anything happen to my wife." Dhruv tried to assure him but he was still very reluctant as he said, "No, I will not leave."

"You will have to." Dhruv gestured to his men who were hiding when the whole conversation was going on. They took Shrikant with them while Dhruv ran inside to save his loved ones.

******

The whole venue was covered in smoke decreasing the visibility to zero. Fear and panic had instilled in everyone. Composing themselves everyone started coughing. Fortunately, the four aces had worked beforehand. They had taken the necessary steps before.

Kiaan and Arjun hid every one of their close people in a separate room while making sure that few of them leave before all this happens. The ones who were vulnerable had been sent home earlier such as Adya and a few of the elders.

Namit was busy with the preparation of the safe departure of Dhruv and Saavi while Hredhaan on the other hand was the one who was behind the explosion. It was all their plan, they knew something will happen but before their enemies could act the aces played their cards.

Jai was ensuring everyone's safety along with the security team as after the chaos the real perpetrators had come out of the hiding to take action. The sound of gun firing and people screaming were scaring the one who was in hiding.

"What's going on?" Saavi asked while she was in a room on the second floor of the venue with Shruti and Dhriti.

"Nothing is going on," replied Shruti.

"But that sound. What...what was that?" Saavi asked as it wasn't the first time she had the sound. It was quite similar to those she had heard when she was in David's trap.

Looking at her fearful face Dhriti spoke, "Saavi, don't be scared. It was just fireworks." Saavi understood it was all a lie. She couldn't get why she was in the room with the two girls who had brought her there a few minutes ago saying Dhruv had asked them to do so.

Dhriti was pacing in the room being tensed while Shruti was checking her phone every second. When Saavi understood she won't get an answer she decided to leave. She was scared for him, for her Dhruv.

Before she could leave Shruti put her hand on the door's knob before asking, "Where are you going?"

"To Dhruv."

"Dhruv will come here."

"That's what I have been hearing from the last fifteen minutes. I know you all are hiding something from me. I need..." Dhriti didn't let her speak and put her palm over her mouth when she heard someone's footsteps. Shruti and Dhriti got alarmed.

While Dhriti hid with Saavi, Shruti took out her gun and stood beside the door. Dhriti hadn't removed her hand from Saavi's mouth confirming all the doubts of Saavi that indeed something big had happened and the sound was definitely not of fireworks.

The doorknob rotated hitching the breath of three girls. The door opened and the only thing visible was a silhouette figure. Shruti was about to attack when the guy who had entered ducked down and held her hand.

"Are you crazy?" whisper yelled Kiaan.

"Sorry, I thought it's...." Shruti stopped in mid and changed her statement.

"Wait! You came without the code." They had a code only to which the door was supposed to open but Kiaan didn't say it and had entered in a hurry.

"Things are getting messy. We need to hurry." Shruti nodded and Kiaan gave her the bag saying, "You all have ten minutes. I am leaving."

Kiaan left not before glancing at his marshmallow whose face was filled with fear. Shruti pulled out her casual clothes from the bag Kiaan left and switched off the lights before slipping out of the gown she was wearing.

"What's going on?" Saavi asked.

"We will tell you sweetie, but first listen, you have to change your clothes. We don't have much time with us." Shruti replied zipping her jeans. She switched on the lights and handed the bag to Dhriti.

"No, I need to see Dhruv. Where is he? Is he in some kind of danger?" Saavi started to panic. Her Dhruv's absence was affecting her.

"Saavi, he is fine." Dhriti tried but no explanation worked on her.

"No, I...I need to see him." Saavi tried to get out but the two girls held her back. Tears were spilling out of her eyes.

"I have to seel him. Why are you not letting me go?" the time was running out and the girls had no choice instead to execute the second plan.

The two girls had understood Saavi won't listen without listening to her Dhruv so they executed the next plan.

Dhriti pretended she was calling Dhruv but in reality, she played a voice recording of him. She didn't let Saavi see the screen and acted as if she had put the call on speaker.

"Muffin." Dhruv had paused for a bit to make it appear as a call.

"Dhruv...Dhruv where are you? What's going on? I...I am scared."

"Sweetheart, listen, do what the girls are saying, ok? I am safe so don't worry about me. I will see you in a bit and don't be scared, love. I Love You." The voice recording stopped.

Saavi called his name but there was no recording after that.

"Saavi, we are running out of time. Dhruv will tell you everything but you have to change, please." Dhriti pleaded to her friend.

She agreed only for her Dhruv. Both Dhriti and Saavi changed their clothes and there were still four minutes left.

"What should we do? Should we wait for the signal?" Dhriti asked Shruti.

"I don't think so. Kiaan had said things have gone messier. We need to do this."

Dhriti took deep breathes to calm her anxious self. This was the first time she had been on a mission with the aces, unlike Shruti who had helped the aces more than once in the past.

"Dhri, we can do this." Shruti tried to motivate her friend. Dhriti nodded smiling and turned towards Saavi. She gave a pocket knife to her and said, "Keep it, and don't hesitate to use it when you feel the need."

Saavi was getting scared with the passing time. Nevertheless, she took the knife and put it inside the jeans pocket. Shruti led the path while Dhriti and Saavi followed her.

******

Dhruv went inside but the smoke-filled room made him cough. Composing himself he connected the Bluetooth and took everyone on the conference call.

"What's going on guys?" he asked as soon everyone joined the call.

"We are taking Saavi to the third floor." he heard Shruti. He took a sigh of relief that his muffin was safe.

"What about others?" he asked particularly about his family and friends.

"They are safe, in hiding. I have sent a few of them to a safe place with some of my men," said Arjun.

"Terrace Number five is ready. My men are there. All you have to do is reach there in another twenty minutes. The chopper will be there." Namit informed his friend from the terrace.

"Jai what about the rest? Is anyone hurt?"

"Everyone is safe for now. Those who got injured Hredhaan and I have given them necessary medical assistance but few of them are still stuck with the men of David on the first floor." Jai replied.

"I am going there and will send them to you with Andrew," said Dhruv.

"Where is Kiaan?"

"Here only. I am on the second floor. Something is wrong, guys." Kiaan's voice didn't seem good to others.

"What do you mean?" Hredhaan asked.

"I don't know but I can't see anyone with a red rose."

"You meant they are gone?" Arjun questioned.

"No, they have thrown the roses. There is a room here on the second floor filled with them."

"Fuck!" cursed Dhruv. Their plan had backfired. Of course, it would have been anyhow as they were dealing with a dangerous mafia.

"Shruti" called Dhruv but Shruti didn't reply.

"I will go and check up on the girls," Arjun said before disconnecting.

"This girl will die herself and will take me along." Everyone heard mumbling Kiaan.

"Kiaan what's wrong?" Namit questioned but he was also gone and now only four were left, Dhruv, Namit, Hredhaan, and Jai.

"Okay, guys let's connect after exactly twenty minutes."

"Sure." the boys said in unison listening to Dhruv.

******

Kiaan saw Simran whose face was filled with lines of worry and she looked petrified. She was holding a vase trying to hide. Before he could reach her someone grabbed her hair from behind and all Kiaan could see was red.

"I will kill that bastard," he said to himself before he took long strides and the next moment that guy was lying on the ground wailing in pain. Kiaan punched him hard before making him unconscious with one of the syringes he was having.

He heard a loud shattering sound and when turned around found Simran had hit the guy who was trying to shoot Kiaan from behind with the vase she was holding. He still was standing there but Kiaan didn't let him come out of the shock and made him unconscious with another hit of his.

He left the guys and glared at Simran while asking, "What are you doing here?" He was angry but she was terrified.

"I got lost."

"Lost?Like seriously? I had taken you to the room in the basement a while ago. What the hell you are doing here?" he whisper-yelled dangerously. She was now getting frightened of him.

"I came to find, Di." her eyes had welled up with unshed tears but she stood there showing courage.

"She is fine," Kiaan replied curtly.

"But why is she not with us?"

"She is somewhere safe. Don't worry."

"I want to go to her."

"Simmi, don't be stubborn," Kiaan said sternly but she didn't listen and started protesting.

"No, I...." Kiaan put his palm over her mouth and holding her hid under a table when he heard footsteps. She was sticking to his body holding his shoulders without making any sound.

They saw two men standing near the table. Fortunately, the table cloth was long enough to cover them.

"Where did the girl, go?" one of them asked the other.

"I don't know. She came this way only. What to do now? She had seen me killing a man." The guy said. Kiaan's eyes widened who looked at the girl in his arms who had witnessed a murder yet was being strong.

"Leave it, she is not our priority for now. We need to find the other one. She might be on the second floor." the first guy said.

When they left Kiaan asked Simran, "You saw a murder." she nodded not meeting his gaze.

Kiaan cupped her cheeks and made her look at him. "Listen Simmi, don't tell anyone about this okay, not even the cops."

"But why?" She thought crimes like that should always be reported to the cops.

"I will explain everything later but we need to leave now and please don't spill this secret. It's between us." There was no way he could take her to the basement now so he hid her in the room where Nharika was. He glanced at her and smiled at her. It was a genuine one which she returned and Kiaan left to the second floor.

******

Shruti and Dhriti had successfully reached the fourth floor knocking out a guy on their way.

"Don't move." Shruti heard. When she turned around she saw a guy pointing his gun at Dhriti.

"Dhriti," yelled Saavi being more petrified than she already was.

"Leave her, please," she begged but was pulled by Shruti behind her.

"Don't act smart, girl. I am not here to shed blood. Give that girl to me and take this bitch." The man holding the gun said to Shruti.

Dhriti got furious hearing the term he used for her. She was prepared and trained for such kind of situation. She talked with Shruti with her eyes. Shruti when reading the action of her friend started with her act.

"Okay, okay. Don't harm her. I am putting the gun down and sending her to you." Shruti said making Saavi horrified but she didn't care. If she could save her friend's life then she was fine with it. Saavi had understood this is not any burglary. The girls had fed her with lies. It had to do something with her and her evil mother. What she didn't know the one from who she had been running was there as well to take her little bird back in his cage.

Shruti was bending down to put her gun. The man pointing his weapon at Dhriti was watching her every step. Shruti, when was about to put the gun, winked at Dhriti who used her stun gun to give a shock to the guy behind till then Shruti shot him in the leg. The man fell down and Dhriti stepped on his hand that resulted in a loss of grip over his metallic weapon. Dhriti took it and shot at his arm.

"Dare you to use those words for me or some other girl," Dhriti yelled at him. The girls locked the man in a room there and Saavi was a mute spectator of the crime.

She thought did she even know who these girls were who just shot a man.

"Saavi, come." Shruti said.

"No." saavi denied. At that point, she wanted an answer, and that too a proper one.

"What do you mean by No? We don't have much time." Dhriti panicked.

"I won't until you both tell me what...what the hell is going on." Saavi's voice quivered in the end.

"Saavi, you will have to listen to us. If not for us then for your Dhruv, please." Dhriti tried to make her understand. They didn't have much time as well to tell her everything and if she would have told her that David was there her condition would have worsened worsen.

"I want to go to him. I want to go to my Dhruv." Saavi said holding her sister-in-law's hand.

"We are taking you there, I promise we will take you there. Just come with us." Saavi nodded as she knew the girls were only protecting her. Shruti tried to know if everything was clear on the upper floor but she didn't receive any response from anyone.

"Saavi, if anything happens to either me or Dhriti remember you have to go to the terrace. Dhruv will be there."

"What do you mean if something happens to you both?"

"Nothing will happen to us, it's the least probability," Dhriti said to her. The girls took her to the fourth floor. They sensed something was not right as the floor was quite peaceful unlike they had anticipated.

Shruti gestured Dhriti and she pushed Saavi inside a room not before saying, "Follow the stairs, you will find Dhruv on terrace number five" and closed the door from outside.

Saavi shouted thumping the door but the girls had to do this for Dhruv and Saavi. Shruti took out the explosives and blew them in front of the door. Saavi had understood there was no point crying over the spilled milk. Praying for the safety of her loved ones she with her trembling figure started walking up the stairs.

Shruti and Dhriti used explosives to divert attention so that no one could approach the door which Saavi used. They started walking forward and were aware in no time something would happen to both of them.

"Do you think we did well?" Dhriti asked.

"We were awesome. I think we should do this often." Shruti replied feeling proud.

"You are crazy," commented Dhriti at her friend as she had witnessed how fearless she was all the time.

"Not more than you. By the way, you were great when you kicked him in his balls." Dhriti chuckled when she heard it. When they were locking the man who had cursed Dhriti, she kicked him on his crotch making him groan in pain.

"I Know Right!" Dhriti exclaimed and the girls giggled.

"Where do you think you both are going?" the girls heard someone's voice. When they turned around they found a man with two guns pointing towards them.

"Time for some real action?" Dhriti asked her friend.

"Perhaps," Shruti replied winking.

******

Dhruv reached the first floor where a few people were kept as hostages. He knew what were they doing there. It was for sure the last card of his enemy that they would have pulled if Dhruv would have reached Saavi.

There were five men inside. He could take only two at once and would have to distract the rest.

Dhruv shot one of the men from outside with his silencer gun. The four got restless and the people scared. There were kids as well that made him furious. Two of the men came outside when Dhruv used explosives. He used the situation to his advantage and made them unconscious before entering the room. His face was covered to hide his identity. He shot one of the men while punched the other who was standing near to him. The man he punched was strong as well and he hit Dhruv in his stomach.

Dhruv was on his knees but he pulled the man's leg making him fall and injected him with the medicine he was carrying.

He waited with the people until the men he had called reached there. As soon as Andrew with two of his men arrived he left from there to go back to his love.

Dhruv took the stairs and had received the message that Saavi would be on the terrace as Dhriti and Shruti did their work. He felt proud of his little one and his friend. The message reached everyone making Namit and Hredhaan run to their girls.

Dhruv was about to reach the third floor when he found Surbhi Ahuja. He was stunned to see her there because she should have been with his grandfather and the rest of the family.

"What are you doing here?" he asked.

"I..I..someone took me as a hostage but I...ran...ran away. Take