CHAPTER 29! RUN TO ME
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Aadhira buried her face into his shoulder, nodding silently as the heavy armor she had worn all day finally shattered into pieces.
Pulling back slightly, she looked up at him, wiping a tear from her cheek. "But... how did you even know I was here?"
Shourya let out another tired sigh. "Because your best friend is utterly insane."
"Aadhira isn't answering."
Kashvi stared at her phone.
One call. Two. Five.
Straight to ringing, then voicemail.
Her stomach dropped into a bottomless pit. Aadhira had promised to share her live location before leaving.
She hadn't.
"Pagal ladki..." Kashvi whispered, grabbing her car keys. "Please, Aadhi... phone utha."
Twenty minutes later, she was storming through the high-end marble lobby of Shinghania Global Headquarters, a blur of frantic energy.
The receptionist barely looked up from her computer. "Appointment?"
"I need to see Shourya Agrawal," Kashvi demanded, her voice echoing in the vast, austere corporate space.
"Do you have an appointment?"
"No."
"Then you'll need to schedule one, ma'am. We can't let you go up."
Kashvi stared at her.
Then, very slowly, her hand reached out and gripped a heavy, decorative marble sculpture sitting on the edge of the desk.
"Main na tod fod karne lagugi ,bagar mujhe Shourya bhai se nahi milne diya toh."
The receptionist's eyes went wide.
She immediately picked up the desk phone.
"Calling security."
Within seconds, two burly security guards stepped forward. "Ma'am, you'll have to leave."
"I am not leaving!" Kashvi shouted, refusing to budge.
Drawing looks from across the pristine lobby, the head guard muttered into his radio, "Let's call Vivaan sir."
But Kashvi wasn't backing down. She continued to shout, demanding to be let through, drawing looks from across the pristine lobby.
"Ma'am-"
"Kashvi?"
A smooth, measured voice cut through the mounting chaos.
Vivaan stepped out of the private elevator bank, calmly adjusting the silver cuffs of his shirt.
His sharp gaze landed on Kashvi, his eyes narrowing slightly.
Do they know each other? The guards traded uncertain glances.
Vivaan knew Kashvi well.
She was loud and thoroughly argumentative, but she was never frightened.
Tonight, however, she looked completely terrified.
Kashvi stepped right up to him, completely bypassing the guards.
Shouting without any reason is your favorite pastime, isn't it?" Vivaan noted, stepping closer, his tone dry but observant.
"Not today, Mr. Khanna."
"Why are you here?" Vivaan asked quietly, his posture shifting into something more alert.
"Where's Shourya bhai? I need to meet him right now."
"He's in a meeting.
It can wait."
"It can't!" Something in the raw desperation of her voice made Vivaan pause. She was shaking, sweat breaking out along her hairline.
Vivaan's expression sharpened instantly, all traces of amusement vanishing. "What happened?"
Kashvi swallowed hard, the words choking her. "Aadhira is in danger."
Vivaan didn't hesitate for a single second. He turned on his heel and slammed his hand against the executive elevator button. "Come with me."
Inside the elevator, Kashvi's hands wouldn't stop shaking.
Without a word, Vivaan reached into his pocket and handed her a bottle of water.
Kashvi stared at it.
"I didn't ask for that."
"No," Vivaan agreed calmly.
"You are always this annoying?"
"Only when people are about to hyperventilate."
For a second, Kashvi looked like she might argue.
Instead, she unscrewed the cap.
Vivaan pretended not to notice.
The heavy mahogany boardroom doors swung open without warning, cutting off a high-stakes presentation midway.
Inside, half a dozen senior executives were gathered around the massive glass table.
Aryav sat at the head, the undisputed apex predator of the room.
Shourya occupied the chair directly to his right.
Aryav slowly lifted his cold, dark eyes. "What is it?"
Vivaan didn't offer a verbal answer.
He simply stepped aside, revealing Kashvi standing behind him.
Shourya's hand paused mid-air over his tablet.
His smile vanished.
Completely.
"Bhai," she choked out, her voice breaking. "Aadhira went to meet Samarth."
Shourya knew exactly who Samarth was-Aadhira's ex-boyfriend.
He knew they hadn't broken up on good terms, but he didn't know the full, sickening extent of it.
Aadhira had never told him the truth-the reality of what Samarth had tried to do to her, and that it was the real reason she had severed ties completely.
One executive accidentally dropped his pen. It clattered loudly against the glass table, rolling to a stop.
Nobody bent down to pick it up.
Shourya stood up so abruptly that his heavy leather chair nearly toppled backward against the glass wall.
"What?"
Kashvi took a shaky breath.
"She's alone."
The silence that followed felt entirely wrong-crushing and airless. Slowly-very slowly-Aryav closed the leather-bound file in front of him.
Click.
The small sound of the latch echoed like a gunshot across the quiet room.
Aryav's expression had become completely unreadable.
Which was always worse.
"Location," Aryav commanded. One word.
Kashvi immediately unlocked her phone and handed it over.
Aryav swept his eyes across the tracking coordinates, then glanced up at Vivaan. "Find him."
Vivaan was already moving toward the door before the sentence even finished. Shourya grabbed his tailored suit jacket, his movements rigid and lethal.
The meeting was over.
The three men simply walked out, leaving a wake of absolute dread behind them.
Every person left in that room understood one thing: when Aryav rai Shinghania left a meeting unfinished, somebody usually disappeared before the paperwork did.
In the present, the alleyway outside the Sapphire Club felt a little less suffocating.
Kashvi was standing beside shourya, Aadhira broke away from Shourya and threw her arms around her best friend, holding her tightly.
Shourya's expression softened as he looked at his little sister.
He stepped forward, reaching out to gently brush a stray tear from her cheek.
"Aadhi."
She looked up.
Shourya shook his head slowly.
"I can handle you being angry.
I can even handle you being impossible. But don't ever make me stand at your funeral because you thought you had to do everything alone." He paused, letting the brutal honesty of the words settle.
"Next time, don't send your best friend to save you. Call your brother."
Aadhira glanced toward the club entrance.
The heavy VIP doors remained firmly closed. Aryav hadn't come out.
Somehow, that realization sent a completely different kind of chill down her spine.
As Shourya pulled Aadhira into another tight, grounding hug, Vivaan's car pulled up along the curb.
Vivaan stepped out, his gaze settling on Kashvi.
"Come on."
Kashvi blinked, clearing her throat. "Where?"
"Home."
"I have a car."
"I know."
"Then why would I sit in yours?"
Vivaan stared at her.
Kashvi stared right back.
Neither moved an inch.
Finally, Vivaan sighed. "Because you've been running on panic for the last three hours."
"I am perfectly fine."
"You threatened corporate security."
"They deserved it."
"You attempted to climb over a reception desk."
"They were being difficult."
"You called a senior executive a decorative paperweight."
Kashvi folded her arms defensively. "That one was accurate."
For the first time all night, the corner of Vivaan's mouth twitched.
Nearby, Aadhira actually laughed-a soft, breathless sound that brought a trace of light back into the alley.
"There it is," Vivaan muttered, keeping his eyes on Kashvi. "The violent version of normal."
Kashvi narrowed her eyes. "Was that supposed to be an insult?"
"No."
"Sounded like one."
"I'll try harder next time."
For a second she looked entirely ready to throw another sarcastic retort.
Then, her shoulders sagged, the fierce adrenaline finally draining out of her.
Without another word, Vivaan walked over and opened the passenger-side door.
Simply because she looked entirely exhausted.
Kashvi stared at the open door, then up at him. "You're annoyingly decent sometimes."
"Get in the car, Miss Kashvi."
"That wasn't a compliment."
"Get in the car."
She rolled her eyes dramatically but climbed inside anyway.
As Vivaan closed the door, he caught Shourya watching the interaction from beside the SUV.
Their eyes met briefly.
Shourya's eyebrow lifted knowingly.
Vivaan immediately looked away, maintaining his professional mask, though a small smirk played on Shourya's lips as he turned back to Aadhira.
Inside the car, Kashvi quickly lowered the window. "Aadhi!"
Aadhira looked over, wiping her eyes.
"If you ever pull something this stupid again, I'm telling everyone immediately."
Aadhira laughed through her tears, nodding. "Fair."
"Good."
The window rolled back up with a quiet hum.
Vivaan pulled out into the quiet city streets.
For several minutes, neither spoke.
Then-
"Thank you." The words were quiet, devoid of her usual sharp edge.
Kashvi was staring fixedly out the window at the passing streetlights.
"For what?"
She shrugged, her voice small.
"For believing me."
Vivaan shifted gears, keeping his eyes locked on the dark road ahead. "I didn't believe you."
Kashvi turned her head, frowning. "Excuse me?"
"I believed the look on your face."
And for the first time that night, Kashvi didn't have a single comeback.
The engine of Vivaan's car faded into the distance, leaving the alley outside the Sapphire Club in a heavy, ringing quiet.
Shourya kept a protective arm slung around Aadhira's shoulders, his presence steady and grounding.
But the momentary warmth of Kashvi's banter evaporated the second the club's heavy VIP doors clicked open.
The alley changed the moment Aryav stepped into it.
Conversation died.
Even the night seemed to pull itself quieter around him.