Chapter 25

Through the narrow lane, the hidden side of the hospital where no normal people can enter. She walked carrying the baby with her and carefully reached Innara's room.

Innara was awake when Nitya returned.

Her eyes snapped to the door instantly, fear flaring before hope could catch up. Her body was weak, trembling from blood loss and exhaustion, but the moment she saw the carrier in Nitya's hands, she made a sound- half sob, half broken breath.

"My baby." she whispered.

Nitya closed the door and locked it.

"She's here, She's safe. For now." she said softly.

Innara cried openly then, the sound raw and unrestrained as Nitya carefully placed the baby into her arms. The weight was light, but the meaning of it crushed and healed her at once.

"She's real. You're real." Innara whispered over and over, kissing her daughter's head.

The baby stirred, eyes fluttering briefly before settling again, warm and alive against her chest.

"They were coming for her, I couldn't let that happen." Nitya said quietly.

Innara looked up sharply.

"They'll come again, They won't stop." she said.

"I know." Nitya replied.

Silence fell heavy between them.

"Listen to me, If you stay here, they will take her. They will take you. Hospitals are transparent places. Power moves easily through them." Nitya said firmly.

Innara's grip tightened protectively around her child.

"Then what do I do?" she whispered.

Nitya didn't hesitate.

"You leave, With me." she said.

Innara stared.

"I live alone, No family. No staff. No one watching. I know how the system works- and how to make it forget." Nitya continued.

Tears streamed down Innara's face.

"You'd do that for me?" she asked incredulously.

Nitya met her gaze steadily.

"I would do it for you because of her." she said looking at the little baby girl in Innara's arms.

That was enough.

Nitya helped Innara to dress properly first because it was a mission for her now and she won't fail in it. She tied the baby gently with her chest in case, she stumbles or something while walking because she was still weak. And she can't carry the baby because she has to handle the situation around the hospital.

They didn't leave through the front.

Nitya signed discharge papers under a different name, used a back corridor reserved for staff emergencies, and bundled Innara carefully into a wheelchair with the baby hidden beneath layers of blankets and her coat.

No alarms sounded.

No one stopped them.

The city outside was loud and bright and terrifyingly normal.

Nitya helped Innara into her car herself, adjusting the seat, checking the baby's position, and handing her pain medication with clear instructions.

"You don't exist anymore, not on paper. Not in the hospital. Not anywhere that matters." she said calmly as she drove.

"Like I existed before." Innara said to herself with a mocking smile.

But she nodded weakly, clutching her child.

Nitya started driving towards her home while Innara sat silently looking at her baby's face as, if she would move her gaze away, te baby girl would disappear from her arms. Her small button nose, pink lips, soft lashes and chubby round cheeks, everything was so perfect. She looked like a small doll which would broke if she handles her harshly.

Soon they reached a building and Nitya parked her car in the parking. She got out of the car and helped Innara and the baby girl. The took the elevator and she presses ninth floor. Innara looked at her baby's face and then at Nitya.

"Thank you. You saved us today." She said meekly gaining Nitya's attention.

"It was my pleasure to save you." She said looking at the babygirl.

Soon they reached the ninth floor. Nitya unlocked the door and they both entered inside. The apartment was small but clean. Quiet. Warm. It smelled faintly of books and tea. No luxury. No guards. No shadows watching from corners. It was a two bedroom apartment with a living room, a small open kitchen and a balcony.

Nitya took her to the other bedroom which stays locked and settled Innara onto the bed immediately, checking her stitches, her vitals, and her bleeding. She moved with efficiency but also care- real care.

"You'll stay here, As long as you need it." she said.

Innara's voice broke.

"Why are you helping me?" she asked.

Nitya paused.

"Because I've seen what happens when people with power decide a woman is disposable, and I won't be part of it.":she said quietly.

She handed Innara the baby again.

"But I don't want to be a burden again." Innara said lowly recalling herself in Agustín apartment.

"You are not a burden. I live alone here. My family is in India. I also need someone to escape my loneliness besides you can help in household works when you are healed completely. Sounds good?" Nitya asked her. Her presence assuring.

"Yes." Innara nodded gently, at least she won't be a burden anymore.

She can help Nitya in household works, that's the least she could do.

"Sleep for now, I'll watch her." she said gently.

She was hesitant but somehow she trusted Nitya. Her instincts told her, she was good for her baby. As Innara closed her eyes, exhaustion finally pulling her under, her daughter's small hand curled instinctively against her skin. For the first time since Mexico, fear loosened its grip. Outside, the world kept spinning. But inside that apartment, for now- They were hidden.

____________

Somewhere far away in the dark the man stepped out of the shadows. He knew something was wrong before anyone spoke. The room was too quiet. Not the peaceful kind- this silence had weight, the kind that settled only when people were afraid to breathe wrong. The men standing along the walls kept their eyes forward, their hands behind their backs, their bodies locked into rigid obedience.

No whispers. No phones. No nervous movements. That alone confirmed it.

The third man sat at the head of the table, fingers steepled, posture relaxed enough to be misleading. The lights above cast clean shadows across the polished surface, reflecting his calm like a lie told convincingly.

"Start again." he said softly. The man standing closest to him swallowed.

"She was taken to the hospital as planned. Delivery went through without complications. The men were in position- inside and outside. Transfer orders were issued." he began. The third man's gaze never left him.

"And?" he asked. The man hesitated for half a second too long.

"And then… she disappeared." His voice trembled. Silence cracked.

"Disappeared. Explain that to me." the third man repeated, tasting the word. The man's voice trembled now.

"No discharge record. No transfer log. No body. No woman. No child. The hospital system shows no trace of her ever being admitted." He explained. A muscle twitched in the third man's jaw.

"That's impossible, Hospitals do not forget people." he said quietly.

"No, sir, but someone with authority rewrote the trail." the man agreed quickly.

The third man leaned back in his chair slowly.

"Where are the men I assigned to her?";he asked. Another man stepped forward reluctantly.

"They… aren't responding." That did it. The third man stood.

He wasn't tall in a way that demanded attention. He didn't shout. He didn't pace. He simply stood, and the room seemed to shrink around him, like oxygen itself had learned fear.

"Bring them." he said.

They were dragged in one by one immediately. Three men. Bloodied. Bruised. Still breathing. The third man watched them with detached curiosity, like a scientist observing failed experiments.

"You were given one task. One." he said calmly. One of the men dropped to his knees immediately.

"She vanished, sir, we followed protocol---" he said desperately.

"Did I ask for excuses?" the third man interrupted softly. The man froze.

"I asked for results." He said and stepped closer, stopping just in front of them.

"You were placed there because you were meant to be invisible, because you were meant to see everything and leave no mark." he continued. His eyes hardened.

"And yet, a woman in labor vanished under your watch." He said in his chilling voice. The men shook.

"We didn't touch her, we were waiting for confirmation---" one blurted out. The third man turned sharply.

"That was your first mistake." he said.

He lifted a gun from the table- not in anger, not rushed. Measured. He shot the first man cleanly between the eyes. The body hit the floor with a dull sound. No one screamed. The second man sobbed openly now.

"Please. We'll find her---" he begged. The third man knelt in front of him.

"No. You won't." he said gently.

He pressed the gun under the man's chin and pulled the trigger. Blood splattered the floor. The third man rose slowly, turning to the last man standing- paralyzed, urine pooling at his feet.

"You will tell me how she vanished." he said calmly. The man spoke in broken gasps, words tumbling over each other.

"There was a doctor senior staff. She overrode the system. Used internal access. The baby was taken before transfer. We were blocked at every step---" The third man listened intently.

"A doctor..." he murmured. He straightened.

"You failed because you assumed the threat would come from men. Power doesn't always wear guns." he said.

He shot the last man without another word. The room fell into absolute silence.

The third man handed the gun to one of his lieutenants.

"Clean this. Quietly." he said. He turned back to the table, eyes sharp, mind already recalibrating.

"A doctor. Female. Senior access. Alone." he repeated. His lips curved- not in amusement, but anticipation.

"Find her. Find the woman who thought she could steal from me." he ordered.

A pause.

"And find the girl." He completed.

Because somewhere in the city, a baby existed who was never meant to disappear.

And the third man never tolerated loose ends. Now he wanted that baby alive with Innara too but his mind was moving in another direction. He was thinking of good ways to use Innara against Zavier as well as Agustín became possessing her would bring nothing to him but pleasure.

But using to bring both men to their own death would give him power and authority over both the mafian clans. He smirked weaving a whole different plan until his men were out to find that doctor and Innara. He looked down at the papers in front of him at the table. They had all of his enemies pictures including Zavier, Agustín, Fernandez Family and Pierce Family. He would destroy all of them.

Nicholas Pierce was the man from where it all started and now it would end with Fernandez family's existence. Then he would be ruling Mexican, Spanish as well as the Italian mafia and he will become the most powerful man in the world. And Innara was the key to it. He was that golden bird who would bring all the wealth and power to him, without him doing anything. He just have to move his pawns cleverly and everything will happen on its own.

He smirked and tore those papers into pieces staring at the wall blankly in front of him.