ch 17 Breaking Walls
I unlocked the door quietly, my bag slipping tiredly from my shoulder as i stepped inside. The long day had drained what little energy i had left. All i wanted was the silence of my room, the weight of my bed.
But then, her voice sliced through the stillness like a knife.
i froze, my back stiffening i slowly turned.
There she stood my stepmother Revati. Draped in her crisp saree, arms crossed, eyes gleaming with that familiar cruelty she never bothered to hide. Her lips curved into a mocking smile as her gaze flicked to the bandage on my forehead.
i grip on my bag tightened, nails digging into the fabric. The sting of her words was nothing new, but today, after everything, it burned deeper.
She stepped closer, her heels clicking against the floor.
"Sach bataun?" she whispered, leaning in just enough. "Tum jahan bhi jaati ho na... sirf badnaami aur bojh banke jaati ho. Tumhari wajah se hi tumhare baap ko chain nahi mila kabhi."
Her words hit like shards of glass, cold and deliberate.
my throat tightened, eyes stinging, but i bit hard on my lip, refusing to let her see the crack in my armor.
Her fingers clamped down on my wrist with cruel precision, right over the bruise i had tried so carefully to hide beneath my full sleeves top.
i gasped softly, the air leaving my lungs as the sharp sting shot up my arm. Her nails dug deeper as she smirked, leaning closer, her voice a venomous whisper.
my eyes squeezed shut against the wave of pain, my lips trembling but i refused to cry out. She wanted my tears, my fear. And though my wrist burned under her grip, i forced myjaw tight, swallowing the scream clawing up my throat.
Her laughter was soft, mocking, filling the hallway.
"lagtaa h tumhe itna kafii nhi h."
Her grip twisted cruelly, and for a split second, black spots clouded my vision. The bandage on my forehead throbbed in unison with the bruise she was crushing.
Her cruel grip tightened, but something inside me snapped. i yanked my wrist free with a sharp jerk, my voice trembling but loud enough to echo through the house.
Without giving her another chance, i clutched my aching wrist to my chest, turned, and bolted down the hallway. my feet pounded against the floor, my pulse racing as i reached my room.
i slammed the door shut behind me with a resounding thud, pressing my back against it as if holding off a storm. my breaths came in sharp gasps, my forehead damp with sweat, the bandage tugging at my skin.
On my wrist, the bruise throbbed angrily where her fingers had dug in. Tears stung my eyes now that i was alone, but i bit them back, sliding down against the door until i sat on the floor, hugging my knees tightly.
whispering papa aap ku chle gye
Her voice still rang from outside, cold and venomous.
"Bolne ki himmat aayi hai tujhme? Dekhna... kal tak yeh bhi tod doongi."
Malhotra Mansion
Rain tapped steadily against the tall windows, the only sound in Arav's study. He sat at his desk, mahogany and leather surrounding him like a throne, yet his eyes weren't on the files they were on her. The bandage, the bruised wrist, the defiance masked beneath exhaustion.
Aditya entered quietly, holding a thin folder. "Arav... I dug into her background like you asked."
Arav leaned back, storm-grey eyes narrowing. "And?"
Sliding the folder across the desk, Aditya's voice lowered. "On paper, she's ordinary... but the stepmother? Not just cold cruel. Controlling. She's been hurting her for years. The wrist... the head injury... it wasn't an accident. Everyone knows, but no one dares intervene."
Arav's fingers tightened over the folder, knuckles white. The room grew heavier with his presence, silent but suffocating. His voice came low, lethal, like steel scraping stone.
He paused, jaw tightening, storm brewing in his gaze. "For now... I watch. I understand. But if that woman so much as lays a finger on her again..." His voice dropped to ice. "...I will personally tear down the walls of that house."
A dangerous calm settled over him. The kind that promised violence, control, and inevitability. He leaned back, eyes tracing every detail of her frailty and hidden fire.
She doesn't know I'm coming. She doesn't know I'm already moving.
And for the first time in years, the mafia king found himself smiling faintly, darkly...
This is going to be interesting.
Ashiana enters in aarav s cabin with a knock.
she sees he was working on laptop looking so handsome so hot he was focused on screen like world outside doesn't exists in this sharp three piece suit fingers smoothly typing on keyboard the lights of cabin and brightness making the cabin and his aura more powerful and dominant.
she didn't realises how long she standing there and lost in him like times stopped around her.
how can be a man looks hot, intimidating ,intense , sexy at same time hughhh.
. i wish i could just kuchhiikuchii him... awww.. he is cutee too.
. uff... i will go crazyyyyy... like that .
. ohh no.. ashiana he is your boss.. just behave.
. offoo.. so what but he is a man... how cant i think like that for him kasshh.
. he become mine... ohh no.. ashiana how could you.
. you forgot he is badtameez, rude, khadus insaan.
. and your boss too.. many girl wants him too.
. and how could you forgot you are not like those girl just breathhhhh.
.. ohh noo.. but he is irresrtble .. looks straight out of novel ohhh.
. god my head is spinningg screammingggggg. .
she thought.
then aarav looks up from laptop and sees ashiana there smiling unknowingly holding files close to her chest and seeing him longer then usual he leans back in his chair one hand under his chin and other on desk clink his ring and smirks
Aarav : ''Ms. Ashiana''
he said with calm dangerous heavy voice.
but ashiana the lost lover girl type watching him with tilt of her head unblinking
then he chuckles and shook his head and mutters under his breath, '' huh.. this girl one day she will make me mad like her only'', then he clears his throat and says firmly,'' Ms. Sharmaa..''.
ashiana flinches and suddenly comes in senses and panics like a child caught stealing she brushes her hair strand back her ear and says clearing her throat nervously, '' y.. yes.. sir.. ''.
''what are you here for'', he asks with leaning forward fingers steppled under his chin elbow on desk eyes fixed on her.
she wipes the sweat she dont know came in full and world class AC of his cabin and mutters, ''uff... why ashiana.. you gives him reasons to think like that.. hughh.. sudhar jaaa.. ashianaaa..''
Aarav who listened every word she muttered his lips twitched but he didn't looks at her just signing the files smoothly. when last file signed he closes his pen with a click sound and stood up. and starts walking toward her eyes intense dark fixed on her
before she could react he hold her by back of her neck and pulls flush to her and kisses her pinning to wall and lifting her one leg up at him