Vanya walked into the room to find a fuming Rishi, She took a deep breathe to brace herself for the impact she would have to go through. "You knew" Rishi spoke in a deep tone that made her stop in her track. The accusation was already formed and the verdict already delivered.

She didn't respond, she thought about that best course of action. "You let lawyers act, papers circulate, You let my son dismantle a marriage under my roof and you said nothing to me" accused Rishi and Vanya couldn't say anything because it was the truth. She slowly turned towards him, "it wasn't my thing to say" she said in a whisper.

Rishi's mouth curved faintly, "Everything that happens in this house is my thing" he proclaimed. "I didn't hide it, I simply didn't announce it" Vanya muttered slowly in a low tone. His jaw tightened and Vanya started to fidget with her fingers, "That is hiding" he accused.

"This is Parth's decision, you can't force your decision over his" said Vanya and Rishi gave his signature smirk. "Vanya, you're my wife and you're not something separate from me" said Rishi in his obsessive time and Vanya's expression changed."I'm not your extension" said Vanya even though her throat tightened.

Rishi chuckled at her words and she looked at him confused, "you became mine the very moment you asked me for a solution to be in my home forever, the moment you accepted whatever I threw against you" said Rishi and Flashbacks went off in her brain making her frozen in her place. Rishi smirked seeing his impact on her.

He moved closer again invading her space with deliberate slowness, "You think secrecy is strength?" he asked. "No, but-" Vanya started to stutter but he could read through her like a book. For half a second, something dangerous flickered behind his eyes, recognition.

"So you do know me ,Enough to anticipate damage" he said quietly. She didn't answer and He didn't need her to. "Do you know what that makes you?" he asked and she averted her gaze from him. He lifted her jaw slightly to make her eyes meet his, He moved closer to her and slowly kissed her lips, she was trembling softly.

"You're not like her" said Rishi and Vanya braced herself for the emotional damage he's going to drop. "She could leave and had nothing to lose, but you-" he paused for his amusement, "You've everything to lose" said Rishi and Vanya closed her eyes to stop the tears from forming.

"This house, Your protection, This name Vanya Rishi Manvik" said Rishi and gripped her closer towards him. "My silence and obedience" she said in surrender and He smiled, "Exactly". "Don't forget the kids" said Rishi and her eyes shot towards him, he knew her weakness.

They stood there, "You don't get to keep secrets from me" he said finally and firmly. "Not about my children, Not about my legacy, Not even about your darkest thoughts" said Rishi in his maniacal tone. "Also I'm not like Parth to let my wife go" he said in a deep tone.

He leaned close towards her, his lips against her earlobes and she could feel his warm breathe on her skin. "I would never let you go, you're mine forever" he whispered and continued, "You'll be my devoted wife till we die". "Your everything is mine from the moment you said anything to me" whispered Rishi.

Anything.

Vanya's memories flashed, Her saying anything echoed in her mind and him asking "anything?" replayed in her mind, cementing her fate forever.

"So Vanya , What you're asking me is to marry you" asked Rishi while he corned her to the wall, His hand on the wall and her back against the wall. Rishi stared straight into Vanya's eyes and Vanya's gaze fell down in shyness and slowly nodded, "Y-yes" she stuttered out .

"Do you know what you are asking me to do" asked Rishi and Vanya slowly looked up at him and nodded positively. "Words Vanya" barked Rishi and Vanya shivered, "Yes" she whispered softly and barely audible

"You're asking me to make you my Wife and step mother of my kids, The caregiver of my kids" asked Rishi and Vanya nodded, "Yes". Rishi moved close towards her and she could feel his lustful gaze, "You're asking me to make you my wife, The bed warmer who I'd fuck passionately and ruthlessly" asked Rishi and Vanya felt Goosebumps all over her body due to the question, She felt tongue tied.

Rishi caged her by keeping his other arms to the wall near her head and she squeaked in reflex, "Answer me Vanya" asked Rishi in a deep voice. "Yes" said Vanya meekly, at this point he had intimidated her to a point that tears were waiting to be spilled, her stomach was twisting by his words.

"You're asking me to make you my wife, Who I'd breed, Who'd carry and birth my heirs" asked Rishi in a dark and deep tone, his inner desire coming to light. "Yes" accepted Vanya and she met with his eyes which showcased various set of emotions which ranged from amusement to lust.

"So what would you do for me to agree to marry you and bed you" said Rishi and Vanya felt knots in her stomach due to his vulgarity but this was what she was signing up for, "Anything" said Vanya and Rishi raised his eyebrows at her. "Anything?" asked Rishi and Vanya nodded.

"You've got good boobs, Show them" said Rishi and Vanya looked at him in disbelief, "Anything" said Rishi reminding her of what she offered and she looked down. He took a step back from her and she was out of his cage, She held to the top and sensually took it off and he looked at her with surprise and Lust. He could see her squirming in his gaze.

He gazed at her curves which was obvious due to the toplesness, He noticed the stuffiness of the bra due to her boobs. He tapped his feet signifying that he was waiting, She slowly opened the bra hook and took off the Bra. Her perky full boobs stood out for display and Rishi was impressed. He stepped towards her and cupped her books, caressed her areolas making her jumpy.

"Beautiful" said Rishi looking at her top naked, He twisted her nipples hard making her cry out in pain. "That's how I like it" said Rishi with an evil smirk which sent Goosebumps all over her spine. There was no doubt that he scared her, She knew he was sadistic and being in contact with that side of his has crumbled all the confidence she had, She felt stranded and stuck all at once.

"Kneel" said Rishi, She had a baffled look in her face and he kept up with his lustful look. She slowly kneeled down and he had a smirk on his face .

Parth did not sleep that night. The house was quiet in the way that made every thought louder. He lay on his back staring at the ceiling fan, each rotation slicing through memory after memory he could no longer outrun. He had once believed love announced itself loudly. He now laid in contrast to every belief he had, rewriting the rules he walked on.

Possession. Jealousy. Need.

The urgency to correct, to shape, to win and to extract revenge, he had worn these instincts like proof. If it burned, it mattered and If it hurt, it was real. Now stripped of her presence made the truth come slowly and cruelly. His love for Laila had lived inside his anger. Not beside it but Inside it in an unknown place.

He remembered the way he used to speak to her with his voice sharpened, words clipped, patience weaponized. How effortlessly authority had slipped into punishment disguised as discipline, just in the name of revenge. He had told himself he was fighting for justice and delivering it himself. What he got now was the Karma for his actions.

The realization settled heavily in his chest not as shock but as recognition. As if his body had known long before his mind caught up. He rolled onto his side with his arm curled under his head. His thoughts drifted to moments he had once dismissed. His mind wandered to place he never wanted to explore but now he led there uninvited.

The night she stopped arguing, He had thought it was peace. He remembered standing in the doorway, watching her fold clothes mechanically, her movements small and contained. He had felt victorious then as he believed that he had finally gotten through to her. He thought of the first time she had looked at him as though he were no longer safe.

He thought of the time he saw her at the mall. Seeing her had been like being struck by something gentle and lethal at the same time. She had been laughing that day and hat sound had undone him more thoroughly than any confrontation ever could, it rang in his mind.

Standing there and watching her from afar, he had felt it. The raw, undeniable and humiliating Longing. Not desire or ownership, just plain loss. It had frightened him that how clear the feeling was. How corrupted by rage he was, How he controlled her to break yet He had loved her when he hated her.

"Why does this happen to me, why do I feel after I've lost" he whispered to himself. He only understood love once she no longer belonged to him.

The irony tasted bitter.

He wondered how did she make a place in his heart when all he kept there was hate. Was it Conditioning? Was it Normalcy? Was it Routine? He didn't know the answer but the fog started to clear up in his head to realise that he had lost already. His one shot at Love, His Lawfully wedded yet hated wife became something beyond and by the time his hate took a back seat, she left with nothing behind.

He loved her and he realized that in fragments. In the small moments where she was herself, he fell for those moments. He loved her in the moments he had crushed and that was the cruelest part. He understood now what she had meant when she said she had already found peace.

Peace wasn't happiness but it was the absence of threat and he had been the very threat.

He wondered briefly whether if had he understood this sooner, would the ending be any different. The thought barely survived its own formation because of the Hopeless No. Understanding delayed is still damage and would leave no space for repair. He exhaled slowly, forcing the thought away. This was not about alternate endings but accountability.

"I love her and it's too late now, Why do I feel this way" He whispered to himself in absolute helplessness and dread.

The house was too loud for Prachi's liking. She stood there in her white frock as the place buzzed around with Laughter reverberating from the living room, Glasses clinking, Music humming in the background alongside with the bass. It was her friend's party which is supposed to be normal and harmless but her fingers found themselves brushing against her dress, then she froze.

It was Him.

Mihir stood near the far end of the room with one shoulder toward the wall and an untouched drink in his hand. He wasn't participating so much as observing, his presence quiet but unmistakable. He wore a dark shirt with it's sleeves rolled just enough to expose his forearms, his posture relaxed in a way that was deceptive.

Prachi's breath caught on her throat and her eyes stuck. She hadn't expected this reaction, not the sudden awareness of everything held, not the tightening in her chest that felt too personal. He hadn't seen her yet and that thought made something reckless stir inside her.

She moved forward, moving through familiar faces, nodding politely, smiling when spoken to yet cutting them short with a goal in mind, her destination. With every step closer, she became more aware of herself, how her pulse quickened, how her senses are sharpened, how much she wondered if she looked presentable. She could feel him before she reached him, the space around him somehow quieter, heavier yet magnetic.

When he finally turned, their eyes met as she moved so near him. It was brief yet controlled, and then like nothing. Mihir inclined his head in a polite acknowledgment, his gaze sliding past her as if she were just another guest. He turned slightly and angled his body away while resuming a conversation with the host. The dismissal wasn't done openly but still subtly and that was what made it sting.

Prachi stood there for a second longer than she should have, heat creeping up her neck. She had known that he would keep his distance but still something in her chest tightened. She moved to the side table, picked up a glass of juice and pretended to focus on it. She could feel his presence even when he wasn't looking at her, she knew that he knew she was there.

"Fine whatever" she muttered to herself and continued her Pretend game while he stood there nonchalant. "I swear I can't do this" she muttered to herself after she got sick of the pretend game. She decided that she'll approach him by herself, She wondered which dumb brain cell in her head is prompting her to do something so stupid yet That didn't stop her. She walked towards him being fake confident.

"Hi," she said lightly while stepping closer than necessary when there was a distance in conversation. Mihir turned slowly this time and their eyes met, "Yes?" he replied neutrally. "I didn't expect to see you here" she replied in a soft tone.

"Same" he said in a dismissal time seeing then he added, "This is a small city". Prachi smiled though her fingers curled around the glass, "You always this friendly at parties?".
"I don't generally attend parties but this is my friend's party" he replied.

Prachi felt it the moment she stood beside him again, the quiet hum under her skin, the awareness that sharpened her senses and made every movement feel deliberate. Mihir stood with his back half-turned to her, distance clung to him like a rule he enforced by will alone. Her fingers twisted together in front of her, "Did I- interrupt something?" she asked softly.

"No" he said in his monosyllabic ways. Mihir turned slowly and his gaze dropping to her face with a precision that made her pulse jump. He didn't answer immediately. He rarely did when he knew silence would do more. "Why this distance then?" she asked honestly, It's not like she didn't know the answer to it but she hoped for a different answer.

He didn't answer immediately, He rarely did when he knew silence would do more and he read through her like a book. "It depends on what you're hoping for" he answered her in a low controlled voice which left her shambles. She swallowed and her eyes slowly rose towards his, "I don't know, I just- when you keep away- I feel like I've done something wrong" admitted Prachi.

"You assume distance is punishment" he said. "Yes, Isn't it?" the answer came always instinctively. "No, It's restraint" he replied and the words settled into her chest, heavy and warm. "Oh" she whispered in amusement. She took a step towards him, he was close enough now that he could smell her perfume.

She took in his perfume, The same scent which left butterflies whenever she's close to him. He could smell her perfume which lingered softly, reminding him how he smelled after he had held her in his arms. "You don't have to stand like that" he said quietly reading through her as she tested the waters.

Her breath caught and asked, "Like what?". "As if you're waiting to be corrected" he replied as his eyes narrowed on her. Her lips parted in loss of words and then she spoke, "I like knowing where I stand with you".

Mihir reached out to brace his hand against the counter beside her, Not to touch her but caging her without closing the distance completely. The proximity was immediate and overwhelming. Prachi's breath turned shallow and her body responded before her mind could catch up.

"Careful" he murmured with his eyes locked on her. "With what?" she asked with her voice barely audible. "With how easily you give me that" he said but she didn't move away. "I trust you" she said simply but the words were quiet, unguarded and dangerous.

His jaw tightened and he muttered, "You shouldn't say that so easily". "But I feel it" she replied with her eyes fixed on his mouth now instead of his eyes. "When you look at me like this, it feels like you see everything and you don't take advantage". His fingers flexed against the counter and he spoke up in a deep tone, "You don't know what advantage would look like".

Her breath stuttered, "Show me where the line is". Mihir leaned in slightly, just enough that their breaths mingled. Prachi's body responded instantly as her spine straightened, chin lifting, eyes widening as if awaiting instruction. "That is exactly what I mean" he said quietly.

Hercheeks flushed with heat blooming across her skin and her eyes cast down. His gaze softened slightly, "Look at me" he interrupted the silence. She did immediately and he said, "Don't lower your eyes" he said. Her lashes fluttered, She held his gaze with her breath uneven, chest rising and falling in shallow arcs.

"Good" he murmured.

The praise sent a shiver through her. "Your body listens before you decide" he said and her eyes softened. She swallowed hard and said, "I know". His thumb brushed the edge of the counter and it was close enough that she could feel the movement without being touched, The almost contact was excruciating.

"You're giving me permission without realizing it" he said. Silence stretched, thick and electric. Mihir stepped back first and the sudden space made her sway slightly. "Don't stay here long, Go back home safely" said Mihir and walked away. He walked away before something could take over him.

The way her collarbones stood freely against the white dress, giving full access of the scent all over her. The way her lips parted and her eyes looked at him, It was effecting him. She walked back into the crowd, her legs felt unsteady and her skin still humming with awareness.