Arvi's pov:

I was in the middle of helping Jaya aunty in the kitchen when Vivaan's voice echoed through the hallway.

"Arvi! Come fast!"

Something in his tone made my heart skip. Urgent. Panicked.

I wiped my hands and rushed out, nearly bumping into him in the corridor. "What happened?"

His eyes were wide, face pale. "You... You're in the news."

My footsteps faltered.

"What?"

"Just come," he said, grabbing my wrist and pulling me toward the living room.

Everyone was there. Sulekha aunty, Shankar uncle, Aleesha, Vanisha, even Arekha. The TV was on volume loud, the channel switched to a news report.

And then I saw it.

"BREAKING: Girl Missing After Job Termination Incident. Is There More to the Story?"

My face.

My name.

My old job's name.

Frozen, I stared at the screen. My photo from the restaurant,the ID picture I thought I'd never see again flashed beside the news ticker. The voice of the anchor rang in my ears, but it was drowned under the roaring in my head.

I could hardly breathe.

"She's been missing for weeks, according to sources," the reporter said. "Seen last in a viral video where she was fired after an alleged mishap with a high-profile guest-"

The video.

The tray.

The drink.

Rayaan.

A familiar voice interrupted the segment a recorded statement.

"We don't know where she went. She never came home. She's not someone who disappears like this..." the voice cracked, laced with worry.

I choked.

Nia.

The news anchor continued, "This was her best friend Nia Kapoor who filed the missing report two days ago."

Everyone turned to me at once.

"I didn't know," I whispered. "She didn't... I didn't have a phone. I couldn't contact anyone after I was fired."

Aleesha stepped forward. "Arvi... that girl. She's your best friend?"

I nodded slowly, still staring at the screen.

"She thought you were missing?" Sulekha aunty asked gently, placing a hand on my back.

The room was quiet. Too quiet.

Until Aleesha broke it softly, "What are you going to do now?"

I looked around at all of them at the family who had taken me in.

"I need to talk to Nia," I said finally. "She deserves to know I'm okay."

Rayaan's pov:

Her face on the television screen made my blood run cold.

And then it boiled.

I ended the call with the journalist and stormed toward the center of the living room where Arvi stood silent, small, eyes wide with guilt.

I couldn't hold it in anymore.

"WHAT THE HELL IS THIS, ARVI?"

Everyone jumped. Even Riaan, who'd been lounging on the armrest, straightened instantly.

"WHY IS YOUR FACE ON THE NEWS? WHY ARE THERE HEADLINES CALLING YOU MISSING?"

She opened her mouth, but no words came out.

"DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT THIS LOOKS LIKE? YOU'VE BEEN LIVING IN OUR HOUSE, WORKING IN OUR OFFICE AND OUT THERE, PEOPLE THINK YOU'VE BEEN KIDNAPPED! BY US!"

She took a small step back. "I..I didn't know-"

"YOU DIDN'T KNOW?" I barked, laughing bitterly. "OF COURSE YOU DIDN'T. BECAUSE YOU DIDN'T THINK! NOT ONCE DID IT OCCUR TO YOU THAT DISAPPEARING FROM YOUR LIFE WITHOUT A WORD MIGHT WORRY SOMEONE?"

"She's my best friend..." she whispered. "I didn't know Nia would go to the media-"

"OH, SO THIS IS NIA'S FAULT NOW?" I threw my hands in the air. "YOU DIDN'T HAVE A PHONE? FINE. YOU COULD'VE TOLD MY MOTHER! ANYONE! INSTEAD, YOU STAYED QUIET AND LET THE WHOLE WORLD THINK YOU WERE DEAD IN A DITCH SOMEWHERE!"

Arvi looked like she was about to cry.

Good.

Maybe then she'd understand the weight of what she'd done.

"This is bad, Bhai..." Aleesha muttered under her breath, but I didn't even glance at her.

"DO YOU EVEN REALIZE WHAT THIS MEANS FOR THE OBEROI NAME? FOR MY FAMILY? FOR ME?"

I stepped closer to her now. "IF YOU WANT TO RUN AWAY FROM YOUR LIFE, FINE. BUT DON'T DRAG US INTO YOUR CHAOS!"

"Please-" she tried again, her voice barely a whisper now.

"NO. YOU FIX THIS. YOU CALL YOUR FRIEND. YOU TELL HER WHERE YOU ARE. AND YOU CLEAN THIS MESS UP BEFORE IT DESTROYS EVERYTHING I'VE BUILT."

The silence afterward was so sharp, it felt like the walls themselves were holding their breath.

I looked at her one last time.

She looked like she might break.

And maybe if I weren't this furious, I would've cared. But right now?

All I saw was a girl who had unknowingly turned my entire world into a goddamn scandal.

So I turned and walked out of that room.

Slamming the door behind me.

Let her feel it.

Let her really feel it.

Authors pov:

Rayaan's footsteps echoed like thunder as he turned to leave, fury radiating off him in waves. His jaw was clenched, hands balled into fists, and his eyes usually so unreadable were now burning with a fire no one dared stand too close to.

But Sulekha Oberio did.

"Rayaan!" her voice rang out, sharp, commanding.

He halted mid-step, breathing heavily. Everyone's eyes snapped to him, to her, to Arvi who stood frozen, a single tear slipping down her cheek.

"Don't walk away like this," Sulekha said, stepping forward, placing herself between him and the exit. "Not after saying those things."

He didn't look at her. His eyes were fixed on the door. "Mom, don't-"

"She's already shaken," she said quietly. "And she didn't know. You think she wanted this kind of attention?"

"She should have thought, Mom!" Rayaan shouted, voice raw. "She should have told us! Do you even understand what this can do to our name? To the board? To our entire reputation?"

"Rayaan-" Sulekha began again, but this time, he snapped.

"No, Mom. No. I have stayed quiet for weeks while she walked around this house like she belonged here, like none of this was a problem. But now? Now the entire country thinks we kidnapped her!"

"She's just a girl who had nowhere to go," Sulekha said softly. "You know that. I know that."

He turned toward Arvi for the briefest second enough to see the pain in her eyes, the way she hugged herself like she was trying not to fall apart.

And something inside him cracked. But only a little.

"She should've said something," he muttered.

"Maybe," Sulekha said. "But shouting at her like that won't change what happened."

Rayaan didn't reply. He stared at his mother, then at Arvi once more.

Then he pushed past Sulekha, ignoring her hand reaching out to stop him, and stormed toward the hallway.

"She needs to fix this," he growled.

And this time, not even Sulekha could stop him from walking away.

Arvi's pov:

I couldn't stop shaking.

My face burned from the heat of his words. My chest felt too tight to breathe. I sat on the edge of the couch, hands trembling, vision blurred with tears I couldn't even wipe away fast enough.

I had never felt so small.

"Arvi..." Aleesha's voice was soft, careful, like she was afraid one more word might shatter me completely.

I turned toward her with red-rimmed eyes. "Find Nia," I whispered. "Please, Aleesha look her up on Instagram. Call her. Tell her where I am."

Aleesha didn't ask a single question. She immediately pulled out her phone and began typing.

"I'll tell her everything," I choked out. "That I'm okay. That I'm safe. I never wanted to scare her like this..."

Before I could finish, warm arms wrapped around my shoulders. Sulekha aunty, She sat beside me, holding me close like I was her own.

"Shh, beta... it's okay," she whispered into my hair. "We're here, alright? I'm here. Don't cry."

And then Jaya aunty joined on my other side, gently taking my hand. "You didn't do anything wrong, sweetheart. You were just surviving. Anyone would've made the same choice."

"But now everyone thinks they kidnapped me," I sobbed. "I put you all in this mess. I made him-so angry."

Sulekha aunty's hand moved over my head soothingly. "He's angry because he's scared, Arvi. Not because he hates you. That boy he doesn't know how to handle it when his world spins without his control."

"Found her," Aleesha said gently.

Aleesha nodded, showing me the screen.

Her profile picture was the same as I remembered her in that red dress from our last college fest. But it was her bio that made my breath hitch.

Her bio

"If you see Arvi... please tell her to come home. I'm still looking."

My heart clenched. A sob escaped me before I could stop it.

"She never gave up on me," I whispered, covering my mouth as fresh tears spilled down.

Sulekha aunty sat beside me and wrapped her arms around me tightly. "Shh, beta... we're here. You're safe, okay? Don't cry."

Jaya aunty joined us too, gently rubbing my back. "You've been through enough, Arvi. You don't have to carry it all alone."

I leaned into them, overwhelmed by their warmth, by how quickly they offered comfort I hadn't even asked for.

Aleesha tapped the screen. "I'm calling her."

"No!" I said quickly, panicked. "I-I can't. Not like this. I can't talk to her right now."

Aleesha gave me a soft nod. "Okay. I'll talk to her. I'll tell her everything."

She stepped away and put the call on speaker. My heart pounded as the phone rang.

"Hello?" Nia's voice cracked on the third ring. "Who is this?"

"This is Aleesha," she said calmly. "I'm Arvi's friend. She's safe. She's staying with us at the Oberoi Mansion."

There was a pause... and then a sharp gasp.

"She's alive?" Nia whispered. "You're telling me she's okay?"

"She's safe," Aleesha confirmed. "But she's scared. She didn't know you'd gone to the media. She didn't have a phone, and-"

"I thought she was dead! Her landlord said she just vanished!" Nia cried on the line. "I was losing my mind-"

"I know," Aleesha said softly. "Come here. Talk to her in person. She needs you."

I curled into Sulekha aunty's side, still trembling.

But I wasn't alone anymore.

And soon, neither would Nia be.