The rain had been relentless that night—heavy, violent, unforgiving.
It lashed against the old estate like it wanted to wash away everything that had happened inside it.

Saanvi lay on the narrow hospital bed, breath uneven, fingers trembling as she stared at the tiny bundle placed beside her.

So small.
So warm.
So alive.

Her chest tightened.

A baby's cry filled the room—sharp, fragile, real. The sound pierced straight through her heart, settling somewhere deep and permanent.

Her baby.

She reached out slowly, as if afraid the moment would vanish if she moved too fast. Her fingers brushed the infant's cheek.

Soft.

Perfect.

Tears slipped silently into her hairline.

"This is not how it was supposed to be," she whispered, voice breaking.

The door creaked open.

Kabir stood there—blood on his sleeve, exhaustion carved into his face, eyes alert even now. He didn't speak at first. He just looked at her... and then at the baby.

His jaw tightened.

"They're still looking," he said quietly. "We don't have time."

Saanvi shook her head, panic flooding her veins. "I can't leave her."

Kabir stepped closer, lowering his voice. "If you stay, they'll find her. And if they find her—"

He didn't finish.

He didn't need to.

Saanvi pulled the baby to her chest, curling around her protectively. Her tears soaked the tiny blanket as she pressed a kiss to the baby's forehead.

"I don't even know how to be a mother," she whispered. "But I already know how to love her."

Kabir looked away.

"Veer Adhrit Singhania," he said after a pause. "He's the safest place for her."

Saanvi froze.

That name.

It struck something deep inside her—warmth, pain, longing. A man with quiet eyes and a storm behind them. A night that had felt like comfort... and goodbye at the same time.

"He doesn't even know," she said hoarsely.

"He doesn't have to," Kabir replied. "He'll protect her. With his life."

Saanvi looked down at her daughter.

"My little light," she whispered, brushing her lips against her hair. "You deserve a world without fear."

Her hands shook as she loosened her hold.

Every instinct screamed against it.

But love isn't always holding on.

Sometimes—
It's letting go.

Outside, Veer stood in the rain, unaware that his life was about to change forever.

Inside, Saanvi turned her face away as Kabir gently lifted the baby from her arms.

The cry that followed shattered her.

"Take care of her," Saanvi sobbed. "Please."

Kabir nodded once. "I swear."

And just like that—

A mother disappeared.
A father was born.
And a little girl became the light between two broken souls.

The rain washed the ground clean.

But it couldn't erase fate.

Six years later, the light would find her way back.

And when she did—

Nothing would ever be the same again.