The place was unnervingly silent.No vehicles.No footsteps.No witnesses.Only the wind slipping through the abandoned stretch of land, carrying the smell of damp earth and something colder—inevitable.She stumbled back when she saw the knife.Her cousin stood a few steps away, fingers wrapped tightly around the handle, knuckles pale, eyes burning with something far more dangerous than hatred.“Why?” her voice trembled, breaking the stillness. “Why are you doing this?”For a moment, her cousin hesitated. Then she smiled—a smile that didn’t reach her eyes.“Because Atharva is mine.”The words struck harder than the blade ever could.“But he loves you,” her cousin whispered, disbelief flooding her chest. “Because of a man… you’re killing me?”Her cousin stepped closer, the knife catching the dim light.“You were never supposed to exist in his world,” she said quietly. “Every time he looked at you, I disappeared. I won’t disappear anymore.”The Manushi's back hit the cold wall. There was nowhere left to run.As the knife moved forward, her last thought wasn’t fear.It was betrayal.And somewhere deep in the darkness, as her blood touched the ground, fate took note—because this would not be the end.It would be the beginning.