**Episode 2: The Girl in the Rain**
The days in the new city were quiet — almost too quiet for someone like Ayaan, who had grown up amidst the buzz of London's never-ending rhythm. Here, time moved slower. The people walked with purpose, but never in a rush. It was strange… unfamiliar. But peaceful.
He enrolled at Northlight University, one of the city's most prestigious institutions, under a different name — *Rayhan Karim*. Only a few knew his real identity; anonymity was his shield.
Ayaan kept a low profile. He wore simple clothes, avoided attention, and steered clear of campus drama. But fate, as always, had its own plans.
It was on a rainy afternoon — the kind that soaked the city in silence — when everything changed.
He was walking back from class, bag over his shoulder, the drizzle turning into a downpour. Everyone scrambled for cover. But just ahead, across the empty courtyard, he saw her.
A girl. Standing still. Drenched, but unbothered. Head tilted upward, letting the rain wash over her like it was her only escape.
Her eyes were closed. Her expression — calm, yet quietly broken.
Ayaan was drawn in. Not by her beauty — though she had that too — but by something deeper. A sadness, maybe. Or a strength he couldn't define.
He didn't know her name. Didn't know her story. But in that moment, as she turned and briefly locked eyes with him — something shifted.
She walked away before he could speak. Left him standing there, heart strangely unsettled.
That night, he couldn't sleep.
"Who was she?" he wondered.
"Why did she look… like she was hiding something too?"
He didn't know it yet, but that fleeting moment — that single gaze — would unravel everything. His mission, his heart, and the world he thought he understood.
**To be continued…**