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Chapter 44: The Files That Burned the Bed

The room was quiet—too quiet for what Meher was about to do.

She locked the door. Drew the curtains. Slipped the flash drive into Kabir’s encrypted laptop like she’d done it a hundred times before.

But this time…

It wasn’t his secrets she was protecting.

It was herself.

The screen blinked to life. Folders opened like mouths full of broken truths.

“SANA_REC”

“MARRIAGE_CONTRACT_KM”

“BHARDWAJ_PAYMENT_LEDGER”

“OPERATION: MEHER.”

Her hand froze.

Operation Meher?

She clicked.

Inside—footage. Photos. A full psychological profile. Her school records. Old voice recordings. Surveillance from years ago.

The truth hit her like a bullet.

Kabir had known about her long before the so-called “accident.”

Before the marriage.

Before the night he claimed to choose her.

She wasn’t random.

She was selected.

Designed.

For him.

Her knees gave way. She slid to the floor, staring at the screen as the first video played—Kabir watching her from a distance, voice on a call:

“She’s the perfect profile. Smart. Alone. Malleable. She’ll bend before she breaks.”

The world shattered.

Everything—the fire, the blood, the passion—it had all been orchestrated.

Her hands trembled, then stilled.

She stood. Wordless. Walked to the bed where they’d first kissed.

Where he’d first lied.

And she lit a match.

Watched the sheets curl into flame.

Because some truths don’t just break you—

They burn the love right out of your skin.

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