OPENING SCENE – THE VAULT (Varma Mansion – 11:11 PM)
The gasoline fumes sting Ishana’s unseeing eyes as her mother’s voice echoes:
MRS. VARMA: “Light it.”
Ishana’s thumb hesitates on the lighter. “You knew about the contract?”
Her mother’s hands—soft but lined with poison burns—close over hers.
MRS. VARMA: “I prepared for this day. The vault’s rigged to collapse on ignition. No evidence. No survivors.”
A beat. The lighter clicks.
ISHANA: “Then why are you still here?”
MRS. VARMA (smiling): “Because someone has to hold the door shut.”
THE BETRAYAL (Varma Mansion – 11:13 PM)
The explosion rocks Mumbai’s elite district.
From a safe house, Mr. Varma watches the flames on live TV—then dials a number.
MR. VARMA: “She took the bait. Activate Phase Two.”
The camera pans to reveal—Aryan’s father sitting beside him, pouring champagne.
RUDRA RAICHAND (toasting): “To obedient daughters and disposable wives.”
THE ESCAPE (Sewer Tunnels – 11:30 PM)
Ishana crawls through filth, her mother’s last scream still ringing in her ears.
ARYAN HAULS HER OUT. “Where’s your mother?”
ISHANA (blank): “Where traitors belong.”
Then—SHE SLAMS HIM AGAINST THE WALL, KNIFE TO HIS THROAT.
“Your father’s alive. And working with mine.”
THE TRUTH (Safehouse – Midnight)
TRISHA (reading files): “Project Ashes wasn’t Vikram’s. It was our fathers’ from the start.”
Security footage shows Mr. Varma and Rudra Raichand shaking hands over blueprints—with Vikram as just a pawn.
ISHANA (to Aryan): “You really didn’t know?”
ARYAN (shattered): “I was too busy hating you to see the real enemy.”
A phone buzzes. TEXT: “Check the news.”
THE FRAME-UP (Breaking News – 12:30 AM)
REPORTER: “Terror attack by disgraced heiress Ishana Varma and Aryan Raichand. Armed and dangerous.”
PHOTOS: Their faces splashed across the screen. MANHUNT DECLARED.
TRISHA (freezing): “That’s our safehouse address scrolling below.”
POLICE SIRENS WAIL IN THE DISTANCE.
THE PUPPET MASTER (Flashback – 5 Years Ago)
A younger Mr. Varma lectures Vikram:
“Rule number one: Always give the dog a false master to bite.”
PRESENT:
ISHANA (realizing): “Vikram was never in charge. Just the scapegoat.”
ARYAN (loading guns): “And now we are.”
CLIFFHANGER – THE OFFER
A knock at the door.
POLICE COMMISSIONER (through speaker): “Surrender now, we’ll make it quick.”
Then—A WHISPERED VOICE (unrecognizable):
“Or walk out the back. Join me. And burn them all.”
FADE TO BLACK.
END EPISODE 9.
