Chapter 13 #2
Shruti stood near the sofa, her posture rigid as stone, her dark eyes looking at Akhil with a cold, distant detachment that cut through Akhil’s chest like a serrated blade.
"It's fine, Dad," Shruti spoke quietly. "Let him speak. I want to hear what Mr. Billionaire has to say for himself."
Devendra sighed heavily and stepped aside, leading Kavya into the kitchen corridor to give them privacy, while Raghav stood quietly near the front hallway.
Akhil stepped closer to Shruti, stopping just two feet away from her. The rich scent of his sandalwood cologne wrapped around her, but Shruti didn't move an inch.
"Shruti... the news reports," Akhil began frantically, his dark eyes burning into hers with desperate honesty.
"The media leaks about Sonia Kapoor... it’s all a lie.
Reyansh Khanna paid off the news channels to publish those gala photos.
Sonia gave that interview on her own to create chaos.
I have never been engaged to her! I have never loved anyone but you! "
Shruti looked at him. She looked at his handsome, frantic face, his dark, desperate eyes, and his trembling hands.
Two days ago, hearing those words would have made her heart soar to the heavens. But today, after the soul-crushing betrayal in Italy, the words felt hollow and meaningless.
"I know the engagement is a media lie, Akhil," Shruti spoke softly, her voice devoid of all anger, replaced by a quiet, crushing sadness that was infinitely worse. "I know Sonia is just an opportunistic socialite chasing your wealth."
Akhil blinked, hope flickering in his dark eyes for a brief second. "Then... then you know I love you? You know I would never choose anyone else?"
"It doesn't matter who you choose, Akhil," Shruti whispered, tears welling up in her dark eyes. "Because I don't choose you."
The quiet words fell between them like a thunderclap.
Akhil froze completely. All the air left his lungs, his face turning pale as a sheet. "What... what did you say?"
"I said I don't choose you," Shruti repeated, her voice steady and clear despite the tears streaming down her golden cheeks.
"You came into my life after four months of travel.
You told me I was safe with you. You brought me to your mansion, you took me to Italy, you built a villa for my dream...
and the entire time, you were hiding the truth.
You were deciding what was best for me without ever asking me. "
"Shruti, I was trying to protect your life!" Akhil argued rawly, taking a step closer, his hands reaching out to grab hers.
"No, Akhil!" Shruti pulled her hands back, refusing his touch. "You were protecting your own ego! You were playing the fearless hero while keeping me in the dark! You don't view me as an equal partner, Akhil. You view me as a delicate flower you need to keep locked in a glass display case!"
"That's not true!" Akhil pleaded, his voice cracking with pure, unadulterated agony. "I love you! I have loved you for eight long years! My entire life belongs to you, Shruti!"
"Love without trust is just control, Akhil," Shruti stated softly, every word striking his chest like a physical blow.
"I loved you for eight years too. I loved the man I thought you were, a man who was brave, honest, and respected my spirit.
But the man standing in front of me right now is just a stranger who used me as bait in a corporate war. "
Akhil felt as if his soul was being ripped out of his chest. He stood there, the powerful billionaire who had conquered financial empires across two continents, completely destroyed by the quiet, devastating truth spoken by the woman he cherished above all else.
"Shruti... please," Akhil begged, his eyes glistening with unshed tears, a rare, heartbreaking sight. "Give me a chance to fix this. Give me a chance to prove to you, "
"I need space, Akhil," Shruti cut him off quietly, stepping around him towards the hallway. "I need you to leave my house. I need you to leave my life."
Akhil stood frozen in the center of the living room.
He didn't chase her. He didn't grab her arm. He knew that any further pressure would only shatter her broken heart completely. He watched her walk away towards her bedroom, her silhouette disappearing behind the closed wooden door.
The living room fell into a dead, suffocating silence.
Raghav walked into the room, looking at his best friend with deep, heavy sympathy. "Akhil..."
"Don't," Akhil spoke, his voice hollow, dead, and completely stripped of life.
Akhil slowly turned around and walked out of the Malhotra residence, stepping into the heavy, rainy Mumbai afternoon.
***
By eight o'clock in the evening, the rain over Mumbai was pouring in a relentless, blinding torrent.
Shruti sat on the floor of her bedroom, her back resting against the edge of her bed, her knees pulled up to her chest. Her eyes were swollen, her throat raw from crying.
She pulled out her phone. The screen was filled with dozens of missed calls and frantic text messages from her best friend Myra, her colleague Neil, and various journalism contacts asking about the media scandal surrounding Akhil and her family.
Shruti didn't answer any of them. She set her phone on silent and laid it on the carpet beside her.
She looked out her window at the dark, rain-soaked streets of South Mumbai.
She felt a profound, hollow emptiness inside her chest. She had walked away from Akhil Raheja, the man who had held her heart for nearly a decade.
She knew it was the right decision to protect her pride and self-respect, but the agonizing pain of losing him felt like a physical wound that would never heal.
What Shruti did not know was that across the street, parked in the shadows of a dark, rain-slicked alleyway, a silver delivery van was idling softly.
Inside the front seat of the van was Reyansh Khanna.
Reyansh sat with a sinister, triumphant smile on his ruthless face, holding a pair of high-powered night-vision binoculars aimed directly at Shruti’s bedroom window. Beside him sat two burly, armed mercenaries wearing black raincoats.
Reyansh had monitored the entire situation.
His media leaks had succeeded beyond his wildest expectations.
He had seen Akhil Raheja leave the Malhotra residence looking broken and defeated.
He knew that Akhil’s security detail had been temporarily disrupted by the massive media circus surrounding his mansion in Worli.
And most importantly, he knew that Shruti Malhotra was now completely isolated, vulnerable, and unprotected.
"Look at her," Reyansh sneered darkly, lowering his binoculars and checking his heavy tactical watch. "She walked away from Raheja. She thinks she's safe inside her daddy's house."
"What are your orders, sir?" the mercenary in the passenger seat asked, chambering a round into his silenced pistol.
Reyansh’s cold eyes flashed with pure, unadulterated malice.
"The media is covering Akhil's corporate scandal.
The police are distracted by the Italian reports," Reyansh whispered, a vicious, predatory smile spreading across his face.
"This is our only window. Tonight, we cut off the power to the house, step inside, and grab the girl.
By the time Akhil Raheja realizes she's gone, Shruti Malhotra will be locked inside my dockland warehouse...
and I will finally have the leverage to destroy him once and for all. "
The rain poured down harder over the dark city streets, washing away the light, as the dangerous net closed silently around Shruti Malhotra.