Chapter 1: The Awakening Nisha’s eyelids fluttered open to piercing dizziness. The room spun—high ceilings cracked with age, dust motes dancing in slanted light through arched windows. She lay on a velvet chaise in what felt like a forgotten wing of Dilkusha Kothi, the ruined colonial mansion on Lucknow’s quiet northeastern edge. Overgrown gardens pressed against broken walls; the Gomti River murmured faintly beyond. No memories anchored her. Who was she? A name surfaced: Nis
Riya Srivastava, momentarily detached from duty, her eyes scanning the palatial walls with both nostalgia and suspicion. The air buzzed with excitement
Lucknow, the regal city where tehzeeb flows as freely as evening chai, had always prided itself on its calm. But that calm was now unraveling—because death had taken the Metro.
