The entire room was filled with paintings, yet Ira stood staring at just one of them—

  Evening was about to fall, but her expression didn’t change.

  Just then, she heard footsteps behind her.

  She turned around and saw Rivan standing there.

  In his hand was a paper bag filled with food. He stopped beside Ira and said, “Babydoll… come on, let’s eat something.”

  Without taking her eyes off the painting, Ira asked, “The thing I told you to do… did you do it?”

  Letting out a tired sigh, Rivan replied, “I did, Babydoll… but I still don’t understand what you’re hoping to gain from this.”

  Ira turned toward him, took the food bag from his hand, and said, “Use your brain a little… or have you made it as useless as you are, huh—idiot?”

  Saying this, she took out a cup of coffee from the bag, opened it, took a sip, and began walking away.

  Making a face, Rivan followed her and said, “Babydoll… you’re getting a bit too frank with me. Technically, I’m your boss—have some manners.”

  Ira stopped, looked at him, took a deep breath, and said, “What did you say… say that again.”

  Rivan leaned closer, smiling, and said, “Hey, you little drama-filled package… maybe you need to get your ears checked.

  Or should this innocent boss”—he pointed at himself—“take care of that treatment too?”

  Ira narrowed her eyes, puffed her cheeks in anger, and walked ahead.

  She entered the elevator, and like a puppy, Rivan followed her inside.

  This time, a slightly serious tone crept into his voice. “Ira… don’t keep your hopes too high about this plan.”

  Ira replied irritably, like an annoyed cat, “What do you mean?”

  Seeing this, Rivan smiled and placed a hand on her head.

  “I just don’t want to see you disappointed. The way all the CCTV footage was erased—it’s certain that Anamika is being held captive by someone very clever.

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

  Do you really think that painting would be valuable enough for them to come out into the open without hesitation?”

  Ira stomped her foot, walked out of the elevator, and said, “You walking statue of negativity!”

  Running after her, Rivan called out, “Hey, Babydoll… don’t walk so fast—!”

  As soon as he caught up, Ira asked anxiously, “Brother doesn’t know anything, right? Mr. Shah didn’t tell him anything… did he?”

  Rivan replied, “Mr. Shah hasn’t come to me since yesterday. Yesterday morning, Shekhar Uncle called him, and at night, Big Bro did. He hasn’t returned since.”

  “Brother needed Mr. Shah… that means he must have found some lead too,” Ira muttered to herself.

  Watching her, Rivan thought silently, " Both siblings are searching for the same person… but they don’t know whether that person even wants to meet them."

  While Ira and Rivan were trying to make their plan succeed, time flowed like water.

  It was nearly when Aditya, wearing a simple T-shirt, entered a bar.

  The smell of alcohol filled the air—something Aditya disliked deeply. The sight inside hurt his eyes.

  The bar, decorated with female waitresses, felt like a temple of lust. Drunk men were creating chaos in their intoxicated state.

  Aditya put on a mask and walked inside, sitting at a table.

  At a nearby table, a man slammed his bottle down angrily and shouted, “That bastard chick—who does he think he is? Showing off his money and power!

  He killed our man, and you idiots ran away with your tails between your legs!

  Now Mr. Lucifer has fired all of you. Because you were scared of that bastard, you’re jobless now!”

  One of the men replied, “What else could we do? Death itself was dancing in his eyes!

  And who would want to fight Milo anyway?

  Everyone knows he was trained by Mr. Lucifer himself!”

  Hearing this, Aditya’s ears perked up.

  He thought to himself,

  " Mr. Shah told me that Grin Reaper’s men often come to this bar, but I didn’t expect things to surface this quickly.

  And Mr. Lucifer… he’s the one through whom Grin Reaper takes assassination contracts.

  So did Milo really train under him?

  That kid… he’s capable, but putting him in danger like this isn’t right."

  Lost in thought, a woman approached him, sat close, placed a glass of alcohol in front of him, and said, “You haven’t ordered anything. Being alone isn’t good—have a drink.”

  Her voice carried enough intoxication to seduce anyone, but it only irritated Aditya.

  Forcing a fake smile, he tried to move away and said, “Miss, I’ll order something myself. You enjoy on your own.”

  Placing her hand on Aditya’s chest, she said, “Oh, I will enjoy.”

  Aditya grabbed her hand, about to shout— when he overheard those same men again.

  “I heard Milo has been personally called by the Grin Reaper Master for special training. But will Milo agree?”

  “Why wouldn’t he? Training under Grin Reaper means he’ll become his successor!

  Who knows how rich the Grin Reaper Master is, how much property he owns!”

  Aditya listened carefully, but felt the woman moving closer.

  He turned to her, unable to contain his anger, stared at her fiercely, and said, “Get away from me.”

  Seeing the hatred and rage in his eyes, the woman froze, stood up, and hurried away.

  When Aditya turned back toward the table, the men were gone.

  He stood up, looked around—and spotted them near the exit.

  Immediately, he followed them out of the bar.

  Keeping a small distance, hands in his pockets and head lowered like a stranger, he trailed behind them on the deserted street.

  Drunk, they cursed each other, laughed, and mocked Grin Reaper and Milo as they walked.

  Aditya thought bitterly, " How did Milo even work with people like these? Idiots."

  As he continued following them, one of the men said, “Do you think there was a woman at that site?”

  “Which site, man?”

  “That one… where we were hired for protection.”

  The others glared at him angrily. One of them hit him and shouted, “Bastard! That place where Milo humiliated us—and you’re still talking about it?”

  “Stop hitting me! I’ve got a way to take revenge on Milo! We can use that woman! We’ll say he came to kidnap her!

  Then Grin Reaper himself will kill Milo—and maybe we’ll get our jobs back!”

  They were still talking when Aditya stepped right in front of them.

  They all looked at each other… then at him.

  One man stepped forward angrily.

  “Hey! Why are you staring like that? Don’t invite death for no reason. Get lost—”

  Before he could finish, a powerful punch landed on his face.

  He flew back, hit the ground, and bounced like a ball.

  The others stood frozen, eyes wide open.

  Aditya raised his burning gaze and said, “How did you even think of using Anamika to kill a child for your own selfish motives?”