The London morning was bright, but the world around Poornima darkened in an instant. The exam hall had been crowded, silent except for the scratching of pens. Suddenly, a deafening crack echoed — a gunshot. Pain exploded in her head, and she fell to the floor, her vision blurring.

> “Veeresh…” she whispered faintly, her fingers reaching out instinctively as darkness threatened to consume her.

Chaos erupted around her. Students screamed, and someone called for help, cradling her fragile, bloodied body. Ambulances screamed through the streets, racing against time as life hung by a thread.

---

Thousands of miles away in India, Veeresh sat in the middle of a high-stakes syndicate meeting. Deals, threats, and power games filled the room, his mind sharp as ever. Suddenly, his guards burst in, panting, eyes wide with urgency.

> “Sir! Mam… Madam… she’s been shot!” one guard stammered. “She’s in the hospital! Critical condition!”

Veeresh froze, the words taking a fraction of a second to fully register. His dark eyes widened — shock, fear, and fury flashing across his face like lightning. The calm, untouchable king of the underworld was gone, replaced by a man whose heart now raced in panic.

> “What… how?” Veeresh growled, rising from his chair. The room went silent. “Tell me everything. Now!”

The guards rushed to explain, their words tumbling over one another. Simon’s betrayal, the shooting, the rush to the hospital — Veeresh’s mind barely registered the details. All that mattered was one thing: Poornima, lying in a hospital bed, fighting for her life.

His fists clenched, nails biting into his palms. The dark aura around him intensified, an ominous storm ready to unleash itself.

> “Prepare the fastest flight. I’m leaving… now,” Veeresh barked, voice low and lethal. “And find Simon. He will pay for this. In blood.”

---

Back in London, Poornima lay pale and motionless, monitors beeping around her, doctors and nurses working frantically. Life and death hung in a delicate balance, and the dark king of her heart was racing across continents, fueled by rage, love, and obsession.

Veeresh’s world had shifted — power, empire, control, none of it mattered anymore. There was only one thing that mattered: Ruby.