YASMIN'S POV

Crystal chandeliers scattered light across silk gowns, hijabs or not, Iranian abayas, and tailored suits.

I pulled my veil tighter and walked through the main doors, head lowered just another guest in the glittering crowd.

The security and organizers came to escort me to the auction floor.

"I can go myself," I said, and they left.

Hashim joined me, handing me my backpack before merging into the staff's work.

I found the washroom and went inside.

A few women were touching up their makeup before leaving.

My eyes caught a storage room door tucked in the corner, Under Construction sign dangling from it.

After everyone left, I put the sign outside the washroom.

Perfect.

I tugged it free and set it outside, blocking the washroom entrance. To anyone else, the space was off-limits now.

But to me, it was covered.

Silence thickened around me as I pulled out my laptop, the glow of its screen spilling across the tiles.

The heist had begun.

In minutes, I hacked into the CCTV system, erasing my trail from the moment I'd stepped through the entrance to the washroom.

No footprints Left behind.

Once inside my screen flickered to live with the auction feed.

Cameras gave me every angle of the glittering hall, the velvet curtains, the armed guards, and the glass case at the center.

I set my sights on the item, rare, priceless, locked in layers of security.

I opened the hotel map.

"Click the left button on the specs, Hashim," I said.

He did, and their location appeared on my screen.

"Let me guide you to the item," I said, showing them the route.

—---

"Target found," Mehzabin's voice came through the comms.

"Okay! I'm deleting the camera footage.... clear the site quickly."

My screen filled with cascading lines of code, every second stretched thin as a wire.

"Three... two... one..." My voice dropped with each count, adrenaline pulsing in my veins.

Delete.

The files vanished, their entrance wiped clean.

"Done. Cleared."

I exhaled once, sharp, pushing the laptop back just an inch.

The operation unfolded with precision, Hashim and Mehzabin moving like shadows through the backstage corridors to the safe.

My screens blinked with their progress.

My fingers flew across the keyboard, code streaming down the screen as I synced with the auction's security feed.

Hashim's voice crackled through the comms. Mehzabin updated from her end, her tone laced with focus.

We were in sync every move, every breath.

A sound bled in from the corridor outside.

Then I froze.

Not the casual shuffle of guests, not the hollow footsteps of staff.

Someone was out there.

I leaned closer to the door, straining to separate the muffled tones. My pulse drummed against my ribs.

My stomach started to knot up, making me out of focus. I took a shaky breath, shoving the laptop between the space of the two taps.

I forced myself back to the laptop.

I saw they reached the safe where the item was kept.

"The next door needs a security key to open," I said into the comms my voice clipped, "Just wait there."

Hashim muttered an acknowledgment, his breathing faint in my earpiece.

My hands flew over the keyboard, but my stomach tightened with a dull, aching cramp, an unforgivable betrayal.

Not now. Pleaseeeee

Every deep breath I drew only made me more aware of the sour, churning knot deep inside.

"Opened," I whispered into the comms "Move fast I'm deleting footage again..."

My right hand instinctively clutched my abdomen pressing uselessly against the cold, tight knot.

I couldn't breathe.

This is it. This is how I fail.

With my left hand fumbling wildly I yanked my small medical pouch from the satchel at my feet.

Through blurred eyes I found the little white bottle of strong painkillers.

I shook two into my palm and swallowed them down with a swig of water from my bag. The dry, chalky taste scraped down my throat a minor assault compared to the siege raging inside me.

Click. Click.

My fingers hammered the keys, every keystroke cutting through the silence like gunfire.

The cameras blinked once, then the feed went dark.

"Done. Cleared this site too,"

"Allahhuakbar" mehzabin whispered. I was about to respond when... The washroom door slammed open with a thunderous thud!

Four men stormed in, suits sharp, guns sharper. Four barrels aimed straight at me.

I froze, hands instinctively lifting in surrender the cold edge of defeat pressing against my ribs.

"Wait...." I began but the word barely left my lips.

"Cooperate with us" they said.

"Open the safe" mehzabin called me out.

"Open it" the one of the body guards said.

"...if you promise not to kill."

"What?"

"If you promise not to kill....I will open it."

"Don't worry. I will spare your life."

"I mean my colleagues"

I spoke again trying to negotiate with them... It was probably the quickest reply I had ever given.

A small hesitant sound came from behind him.

"Then can I kill you?"

Tak, the sound of fingernails tapping against the metal trigger.

"You guys need me," I said coldly, eyes flicking up. "You can't kill me. I know."

"All right," they said.

I exhaled slowly and entered the final code.

The safe clicked open, its metallic thud echoing like a victory drum.

Then black.

My screen went dead, everything wiped in an instant.

"You....!" they screamed, voices sharp with rage.

Pop. Pop.

A sting tore into the side of my neck, liquid fire racing beneath my skin. My breath caught, the room tilting violently as strength bled out of me.

My arms grew heavy, useless. Darkness swallowed me whole before I could even curse.

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TO BE COUNTINUE.....