Episode 10 — "The First Lie"
1573 Words
Episode 10 — The First Lie
The night hadn’t ended.
Even as the city lights flickered outside the glass tower, Meera stood there — still, silent, shattered.
The sound of rain had long stopped, but inside her, the storm had only begun.
Rahul’s words echoed like a haunting refrain:
> You only know the part I wanted you to see.
Every breath she took felt heavier. Every memory — his touch, his care, his protectiveness — now carried the weight of a possible lie.
She looked at his desk — the faint trace of blood where his hand had rested, the broken glass from the whiskey he had thrown earlier.
The man she had trusted, maybe even loved… was he real? Or just an illusion carefully built to draw her in?
Her phone buzzed. Unknown number.
She hesitated, then picked it up.
“Meera Kapoor?” a voice said — calm, male, slightly mechanical. “You’re in danger. Leave that office now.”
Her grip tightened. “Who are you?”
“Someone who’s been watching you — for your safety. They’re coming.”
“Who’s coming?”
But the line went dead.
Her pulse quickened. The silence in the office suddenly felt… too quiet.
She could almost hear faint footsteps outside the glass walls.
Meera turned off the light instantly and ducked behind the large oak desk. The entire floor was now dim, only the moonlight slipping through the blinds.
Footsteps.
Closer.
Heavier.
Her heart hammered. She grabbed the only thing nearby — a letter opener. Pathetic, but something.
The door handle turned.
She held her breath.
The door opened slowly… and a familiar silhouette entered.
Rahul.
But something about him was different — slower, tense. His white shirt was half torn, his face shadowed.
For a moment, relief flickered in her eyes — then she saw it.
The blood.
Dark streaks of it running down his forearm.
“Rahul!” she gasped, standing up.
“Don’t—” he said sharply, raising a hand. “Don’t come near me.”
His voice was hoarse, heavy with exhaustion. “You shouldn’t be here.”
“You told me not to trust anyone. But I trusted you anyway,” she said, her voice trembling. “And now I don’t even know who’s trying to kill whom.”
He walked to the window, looking out at the night. “If you stay, you’ll die. That’s all you need to know.”
“I’m not leaving until you tell me the truth.”
He turned to her, eyes cold. “The truth will destroy you.”
“Then let it.”
For a moment, the silence between them was so deep it hurt. Then, finally, he spoke.
“Ten years ago, there was a project — Project Genesis. You’ve probably never heard of it. It was supposed to be a system that could predict human emotion. But it became something else — something uncontrollable.”
Her eyes widened. “What do you mean?”
“It started as research under your father. He was the first one to create it. I… was his assistant.”
She froze. “My father? That’s impossible. He was a surgeon, not a—”
Rahul interrupted, his voice low. “He was more than that. He was a genius in neural mapping. But someone used his work to manipulate people — to turn emotion into control. When he found out, he tried to destroy the program. That’s when everything burned.”
“The fire,” she whispered.
He nodded. “Your father saved me that night. And in return, I built everything I have — from his ashes.”
Tears blurred her vision. “You built your empire on his death…”
“I built it to find the people who killed him,” he said, his voice breaking for the first time. “But I didn’t expect you to walk back into my life.”
“Then why lie to me?” she demanded. “Why pretend we met by chance? Why send that invitation?”
“Because I thought I could protect you better if you didn’t know.”
Her breath caught. “And now?”
“Now it’s too late.”
---
HOOK (Mid-Episode):
The elevator dinged.
Both turned sharply.
“Were you expecting anyone?” Meera whispered.
Rahul shook his head.
The elevator doors slid open — and a woman stepped out.
Tall. Elegant. Dressed in black.
Her presence filled the room like the sudden drop in temperature before a storm.
“Still lying, Rahul?” she said softly. “You always had a talent for that.”
Meera looked between them. “Who are you?”
The woman smiled — slow and sharp. “The ghost he forgot to bury.”
Rahul’s jaw tightened. “Aisha.”
She walked closer, heels clicking like gunshots. “Oh, you remember my name. How sweet.”
Meera’s confusion deepened. “Rahul, who is she?”
But Rahul didn’t answer. His eyes were locked on Aisha — the same way a wolf watches another predator.
Aisha tilted her head. “You didn’t tell her, did you? About the accident? About what you did to me?”
“Enough,” Rahul snapped.
She smirked. “Then maybe I should.”
Before Meera could react, Aisha took out a small flash drive and placed it on the table.
“Play it,” she said.
Rahul’s expression hardened. “Don’t.”
But Meera, trembling, picked it up and connected it to the nearby monitor. The screen flickered — and a video began to play.
It showed a lab, engulfed in flames. People running. Alarms blaring.
Then — Rahul.
Younger, terrified, carrying a laptop and a small device — fleeing, leaving others behind.
Her eyes widened. “Rahul… you left them?”
He looked away, unable to meet her gaze.
Aisha whispered, “He didn’t just leave them. He locked the exit.”
“No,” Meera said in disbelief. “That can’t be—”
“It’s true,” Aisha said. “That’s why he’s still alive. And that’s why your father isn’t.”
The world tilted around Meera. Everything she believed about Rahul shattered in one brutal instant.
Rahul stepped closer, his voice desperate. “Meera, it wasn’t like that. I had no choice—”
“Stop!” she screamed. “No more lies!”
Aisha smiled coldly. “See, Rahul? I told you. The truth always destroys.”
Then, before anyone could react, she pulled a gun.
Rahul stepped in front of Meera instinctively.
But Aisha wasn’t aiming at her.
She fired — at the monitor.
The screen exploded in sparks. Smoke filled the room.
When it cleared — Aisha was gone.
---
Rahul rushed to the door, but she’d vanished into the dark hall.
“She’ll come back,” he muttered. “She never leaves things unfinished.”
Meera sat down, her hands shaking. “Why didn’t you tell me all this before?”
“Because I didn’t want you to see me as a monster.”
“But maybe you are,” she whispered.
That hit him harder than any bullet.
He turned away, silently walking toward the glass window, staring out at the city drowned in night.
“Do you think I wanted any of this?” he said quietly. “Every night I see that fire. Every scream. Every face I couldn’t save. Including your father’s.”
Her tears fell freely now. “Then save me, Rahul. Tell me everything before it’s too late.”
He looked at her — eyes tired, broken.
“Project Genesis wasn’t destroyed,” he said finally. “It’s still alive. And someone wants to finish what we started.”
“Who?”
“The same person who sent that invitation to you.”
Meera froze. “You didn’t send it?”
He shook his head. “No. Someone else did. Someone who wants both of us exactly where we are now.”
Before she could respond, the office phone rang.
Rahul picked it up — silent for a few seconds — then slammed it down.
“They found us.”
---
Alarms blared across the floor. Red lights flashed.
The building went into lockdown mode.
“Rahul!” Meera shouted. “What’s happening?”
He grabbed her hand. “We’re out of time. We have to move!”
They sprinted toward the emergency stairs as a mechanical voice echoed:
> “Security breach. Sector 9 compromised.”
Gunfire rang from the lobby below.
Rahul pushed Meera behind him, his eyes burning with determination. “Whatever happens, don’t stop running.”
As they reached the stairwell, a shadow appeared at the bottom —
Aisha, gun in hand, smirking up at them.
“Round two,” she said.
Rahul aimed his weapon, but before he could fire —
the glass wall behind him shattered.
A drone — small, fast, deadly — zipped through the air and locked its red light on him.
Meera screamed, “Rahul!”
A single gunshot.
And everything went black.
---
Is Rahul shot — or did he shoot the drone first?
Who really sent that mysterious invitation — Aisha, or someone even deeper in the shadows?
Meera opens her eyes in the dark, surrounded by silence — Rahul nowhere in sight, only the faint sound of the drone’s mechanical hum fading into the night.
---
- Writer
