CHAPTER 36! CHAOS
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The private tarmac at dawn did not tolerate chaos. Yet Shaurya Agrawal operated entirely on his own terms.
The sleek, matte-black fuselage of the Rai Shinghania corporate helicopter sat motionless beneath the morning mist, black enough to disappear into it.
It didn't look like transportation; it looked like extraction. At precisely 07:00, the air smelled of aviation fuel and cold morning mist.
Vivaan Khanna checked his watch, his expression entirely flat. He didn't look up as his phone buzzed once with an encrypted notification.
He tapped a single response-Convoy ready-before scanning the perimeter with the detached focus of a man who killed without blinking.
"Do minute aur. Phir main pilot ko bol raha hoon udaa de," Vivaan muttered.
"Shaurya bhai reh jayenge," Aadhira said. Without looking at aryav.
Great. Fantastic. Congratulations, Aadhira Agrawal.
Kal raat pati ko kiss kar diya aur aaj uski taraf dekhne ki himmat nahi hai. Nobel Prize milna chahiye tujhe stupidity mein.
"Uski problem," Vivaan replied, breaking her spiral. "I vote we lift off."
Aadhira adjusted her oversized tote bag, puffing out her chest to project a fragile semblance of leadership. "He planned the entire trip, Vivaan bhai! We can't leave him."
"Excetly his work is done we don't need him now."
A few feet away on the smooth asphalt, Ayaan stood perfectly still, watching the mist roll in.
Beside him, little Vaani was spinning in clumsy circles until her sneaker caught a tie-down strap.
With a sharp gasp, she hit the ground, her crying slicing through the morning quiet.
Without a hint of panic, Ayaan simply picked Vaani up by her waist.
His small face remained entirely composed-an exact, chilling replica of his father's calm.
He carried her over to Aadhira.
"Mumma. Fix her."
The word Mumma always sent a strange, warm ache through Aadhira's chest, melting the sheer terror that usually consumed her in the Rai Shinghania orbit.
"Oh, kya hua baccha," she murmured, instantly dropping her tote to pull an antiseptic wipe and a Pokemon band-aid from her purse.
She gently cleaned the tiny scrape, pressing a soft kiss to Vaani's cheek.
"All better. See? Magic."
"Magic," Ayaan repeated, his small lips curving into a rare, faint smile reserved only for her.
From the edge of the perimeter, Aryav leaned against a security vehicle, his dark silhouette cutting through the haze.
He had noticed the way Aadhira had gone out of her way not to meet his eyes since morning.
She was actively avoiding his line of sight.
Irrationally, that annoyed him.
"Look who finally decided to grace us with his presence," Reyansh mocked from the chopper stairs, leaning back with a sharp grin.
Shaurya walked toward them, trailing three massive designer suitcases, looking entirely unbothered by his twenty-minute delay.
But what caught Aadhira's eye was the stark white, limited-edition Chanel sunglasses perched on his nose.
Mere sunglasses, chor kahi ka.
"Waah," Shaurya called out, unbothered. "Mere bina jane ka soch rahe the kya?"
Vivaan ignored him entirely.
"Koshish bhi ki thi."
So aadhira said "bhai mere sunglasses wapas do."
Shaurya laughed and said "haat nahi de raha, bakk."
Before Aadhira could launch into her dramatic lecture, Aryav spoke, his voice cutting through the banter without him even lifting his chin from his phone.
"Return them."
Shaurya laughed, sliding the glasses down his nose slightly. "Itne possessive mat ho. Chashma hi toh hai."
Aryav finally raised his head, his dark intensity locking dead onto his brother-in-law.
"I am not talking about glasses."
The humor instantly evaporated from Shaurya's face. Silently, deliberately, he took the sunglasses off and handed them back to Aadhira.
Aadhira blinked, her anger momentarily derailed.
Shaurya cleared his throat, trying to salvage his pride.
"Theek hai. Tu mujhe chashma de, main tujhe apni nayi vintage tee deta hoon. Kal hi khareedi hai. You can wear it as a dress."
Aadhira paused, her thoughts briefly pivoting to fashion calculation.
An oversized vintage tee with combat boots for the riverside camping tonight? Good deal.
"Fine."
The law of trade had been satisfied.
Throughout the entire exchange, Aryav remained by the cabin door, an unlit cigarette resting casually between his long fingers.
His dark focus lingered on her lips before pulling away, his grip tightening around the unlit filter.
It irritated him how intensely he remembered the taste of them from the night before.
The flight to Rishikesh was short, smooth, and suffocated by a heavy, unresolved luxury.
Two armed security men silently swept the villa before anyone entered, their dark suits stark against the landscape.
Vivaan spoke quietly into his earpiece, his voice a low murmur.
"Perimeter green."
The private estate loomed into view-a massive, six-level cliffside estate carved directly into Himalayan rock, where floor-to-ceiling glass reflected the Ganges below like polished jade.
It boasted a private infinity pool that seemed to spill into the river, heated teak decks, a personal spa wing, and a private helipad built directly into the upper terrace.
As the staff assembled their luggage in the grand foyer, Reyansh leaned against a marble pillar, his charming grin carrying a hint of deliberate mischief.
"Before anyone starts celebrating, we have a problem," Reyansh announced, crossing his arms. "A luxury problem. But still a problem. The villa is pristine, but it's a boutique layout. There are only six luxury suites. And there are eleven of us."
"Interesting." Tara folded her arms, her sharp mind immediately calculating. "Did mathematics personally offend you this morning?"
Before a full argument could erupt, Aadhira grabbed a nearby wooden dining chair, stepped right onto the velvet cushion, and stood tall.
She cleared her throat loudly.
"Attention! Listen up, everyone! I am officially the designated leader of this trip for the next four days. That means what I say goes!"
The room went dead silent for exactly two seconds.
Then, Shaurya let out a soft snort.
"Someone get the child off the furniture."
The twins, Arjun and Aarush, chuckled in unison, completely ignoring her authority.
Aadhira's cheeks flamed.
She folded her arms, turning toward the glass wall where Aryav stood leaning back, the smoke from his newly lit cigarette curling slowly around his sharp jawline.
"Dekha?" she muttered.
Aryav met her gaze. "What?"
"Apki biwi ki izzat nahi kar rahe ye log."
A few chuckles broke out across the room. Aryav's posture straightened, his cold demeanor sweeping over the crowd.
Silence fell instantly. The twins stopped laughing. Shaurya froze with his coffee cup halfway to his mouth.
Even Reyansh stopped smiling.
Aryav took a slow drag of his cigarette, his voice a low, rasping baritone that cut through the quiet.
"Let's keep it that way."
Aadhira swallowed hard, quickly stepping down from the chair to regain her footing.
"Right. Thank you. Now, room assignments are as follows:
Tara and Myra, you take the first suite.
Reyansh and Shaurya bhai, you're in the second.
Arjun and Aarush, third."
She turned toward Ruhi, who immediately held up her hands with a soft smile. "I'll take the family suite with Ayaan and Vaani."
Aadhira nodded. "Perfect."
She paused, her mind scanning the remaining names.
Wait. That left exactly two rooms.
And four people.
She hesitated, looking everywhere except at him.
Why was speaking suddenly so difficult? Her throat felt completely dry.
"...Me and Aryav will take the fifth room," she managed to say, trying to sound indifferent.
"Which means... Kashvi and Vivaan bhai, you have to share the last one."
Vivaan didn't even acknowledge her, his tone dry and entirely devoid of emotion. "Feeling mutual. Main is speaker ke sath nahi reh sakta"
"Why you-"
"Fine, let's switch," Aadhira interrupted, panic flaring at the prospect of being trapped alone in a room .
Aryav when the air between them was already combustible.
She didn't get to finish the thought.
Aryav moved.
One second he was across the room; the next, he was directly behind her.
His hand settled around her waist naturally, the weight of his palm pinning her against him.
She inhaled sharply, freezing in place.
As she went rigid, the pad of his thumb brushed once, slowly, against the bare skin just beneath the hem of her top.
The deliberate, scorching friction sent a jolt straight down her spine.
He felt the hitch in her breath.
His grip tightened almost imperceptibly, holding her perfectly steady against him.
Aryav ignored him. His dark intensity remained pinned entirely on Aadhira.
"Ab meri biwi hai."
Silence descended on the foyer.
Oh God. Sab dekh rahe hain. Isko koi concept hi nahi hai personal space ka?
Vivaan didn't blink.
He stepped forward seamlessly, breaking the heavy stillness before it suffocated the room.
"Mujhe koi problem nahi main kaan main rui laga ke so jaunga, Miss Agnihotri, chaliye."
Kashvi looked at Vivaan, then at the absolute hold Aryav had on Aadhira's waist.
She swallowed her pride, grabbed her duffel bag, and marched down the corridor. "I think mr. Khanna is really decent man."
Vivaan followed her without a second word.
Only when the hallway cleared did Aryav slowly let his hand drop away, leaving a lingering warmth against her skin.
"Great," Aadhira managed to say, her voice a little breathier than before.
"Everyone meet back here in the garden in exactly thirty minutes. Change into your outdoor clothes."
She pointed to the chalkboard in the foyer where the itinerary was neatly printed:
The Rishikesh Grid
Morning: River Rafting + Cliff Jumping
Afternoon: Waterfall Trek + Lunch
Evening: Ganga Aarti at Parmarth Niketan
Night: Riverside Camping with Bonfire Games