Deyani threatened RIVAN and ZAID entry #2
Then the other.
His hands remained raised in surrender.
The sight was ridiculous.
The feared RIVAN Thakur.
His eyes widened.
RIVAN stared at her for a long moment.
Then sighed.
Deeply.
Hopelessly.
Like a man accepting his fate.
Slowly he lowered himself.
One knee.
Then the other.
Until he was kneeling in front of her.
The mighty RIVAN Thakur.
A man feared by businessmen, politicians, and criminals.
Currently kneeling beside a bed while a twenty-one-year-old woman pointed a gun at him.
If anyone saw this, his reputation would die instantly.
"I hope you're happy."
"Extremely."
"I have an image."
"Not anymore."
"Devyani."
"Miss Sehgal."
RIVAN closed his eyes.
Seeking patience.
Divine guidance.
Anything.
Meanwhile Devyani sat comfortably on the bed.
Watching him.
For a while, she looked victorious.
Satisfied.
Proud.
She had finally managed to make RIVAN nervous.
Something she once thought impossible.
But slowly...
Very slowly...
The amusement started fading.
The smile weakened.
The mischief disappeared.
And something else took its place.
Something heavier.
Something painful.
RIVAN noticed immediately.
Because no matter how much she had changed...
He still knew that look.
The laughter disappeared from her eyes.
The teasing vanished.
And for the first time that night, he saw the hurt she had been hiding behind all those smiles.
Suddenly the room didn't feel funny anymore.
And somehow, that frightened him far more than the gun ever had.
Devyani's laughter sliced through the suffocating silence of the bedroom.
It wasn't joyful. It was sharp, cold, almost cruel a sound that bounced off the walls and lingered in the dimly lit room like the edge of a freshly drawn blade.
The bedside lamp cast a muted amber glow across the space, throwing long shadows over the furniture. In that fractured light, Rivan remained frozen on his knees. His bare chest rose and fell in quick, uneven breaths, every muscle locked tight beneath his skin.
His raised hands trembled almost imperceptibly, suspended between surrender and desperation.
For the briefest second, something familiar flickered across Devyani's face.
The innocent smile. The warmth. The softness.
Then it vanished.
The coldness returned.
Her grip tightened around the pistol.
The matte-black Beretta 92FS gleamed beneath the lamp's glow, its steel frame catching streaks of light as she slowly raised it higher.
The weapon looked almost elegant in her hand deadly in its precision.
The open-slide design, the ribbed grip panels, the dark iron sights aligned perfectly above the barrel. The safety lever rested firmly in the fire position.
The confidence remained, but something else surfaced beneath it.
Something heavier.
Something much older.
The room became quiet.
Pain.
That's what he saw.
Raw pain.
Hidden deep within her eyes.
The kind that doesn't disappear with time.
The kind that simply learns how to stay silent.
For the first time that night, she wasn't looking at him with anger.
Or annoyance.
Or sarcasm.
She was simply looking at him.
And somehow that was far worse.
Because in that moment, kneeling before her, RIVAN realized something.
She had learned English.
She had learned confidence.
She had learned independence.
She had learned how to survive.
But she had never truly learned how to stop hurting.
The moment Devyani lifted the gun and turned it toward herself, the entire atmosphere changed.
RIVAN's expression emptied.
Not anger.
Not irritation.
Fear.
Pure fear.
The barrel rested against her chest.
Directly over her heart.
For the first time that night, the color drained from his face.
He immediately started getting up.
The room seemed to stop breathing.
Rivan's eyes widened.
Pure panic flashed across his face.
His voice cracked.
Instinct took over. He pushed against the floor, beginning to rise.
The command exploded from her lips.
The barrel never left her skin.
Her eyes locked onto his.
Cold.
Unwavering.
The threat hit harder because of how calmly she delivered it.
Rivan immediately dropped back onto his knees.
His hands lifted higher.
His heartbeat thundered inside his chest so violently it felt painful.
His voice was barely above a whisper.
A faint smirk tugged at the corner of Devyani's lips.
The kind that carried neither humor nor mercy.
The pistol remained perfectly steady.
Not a single tremor.
Not a single hint of doubt.
She tilted her head slightly, studying him as though he were a stranger who had wandered into the wrong place.
"If you've forgotten," she continued, her voice smooth as glass, "let me remind you."
A beat.
The words landed like hammer blows.
Another pause.
The silence that followed felt endless.
Heavy.
Oppressive.
The only sounds were the faint groan of the bed frame beneath her shifting weight and Rivan's carefully controlled breathing as he remained exactly where she had ordered on his knees, hands raised, afraid that a single wrong movement might shatter whatever fragile balance still existed between them.
And in the dim glow of the bedroom lamp, with a loaded gun pressed against her temple and fury burning behind her eyes, Devyani looked less like the woman he had once loved
and more like a storm waiting for a reason to strike.
RIVAN's jaw tightened.
The words felt like knives.
RIVAN's heartbeat thundered.
His voice was unusually soft.
Painfully soft.
A bitter smile appeared on her lips.
"Talk?"
She laughed.
(If you wanted to talk, you should've come earlier.)
Her eyes glistened.
(Why have you come now?)
For the first time all night, RIVAN had no immediate answer.
His throat tightened.
Suddenly.
Abruptly.
The gun left her hand and landed on the bed.
She threw her head back and started laughing.
Actually laughing.
RIVAN stared.
Confused.
Completely confused.
Meanwhile Devyani wiped the corner of her eye.
Still laughing.
Then pointed at him.
RIVAN blinked.
Once.
Twice.
Trying to understand what had just happened.
Devyani shook her head.
Her smile returned.
A real one this time.
She stood up from the bed.
She pointed at herself.
The sarcasm was obvious.
Then her expression hardened.
The room fell silent again.
Those words hit harder than everything before.
Much harder.
Because she meant them.
For the first time since entering the room, RIVAN looked speechless.
Not because she yelled.
But because he could hear the exhaustion beneath her words.
The exhaustion of someone who had spent two years rebuilding herself.
And didn't want anyone breaking those walls again.
Then suddenly
Her phone rang.
The sharp sound cut through the tension.
Both of them looked toward the bedside table.
The screen lit up.
A name flashed across it.
Devyani's expression instantly changed.
The heaviness disappeared.
A bright smile appeared.
A genuine one.
She grabbed the phone immediately.
And now he found himself staring at the screen.
Wondering exactly who had managed to earn it.
Devyani answered the call almost instantly.
The change in her was impossible to miss.
The tension vanished.
The anger disappeared.
And suddenly she was smiling.
Actually smiling.
A bright, effortless smile.
A small laugh escaped her lips.
Another laugh.
For the first time in his life
RIVAN hated that word.
Deeply.
Passionately.
Violently.
His jaw tightened.
His eyes narrowed.
RIVAN wanted to confiscate the phone.
And possibly the person too.
Meanwhile Devyani continued talking.
Completely ignoring the murder happening behind her.
Then finally she smiled.
A soft smile.
One that made RIVAN even more irritated.
The call ended.
Silence.
RIVAN held his breath.
Then slowly exhaled.
Dangerously.
Very dangerously.
Devyani immediately put the phone away.
RIVAN blinked.
She smiled sweetly.
Another smile.
And another.
RIVAN stared.
Devyani pointed toward the door.
"Now get lost."
Silence.
"I have to sleep."
More silence.
"How many times do I have to repeat it?"
RIVAN looked at her for a few seconds.
Then surprisingly
said nothing.
No teasing.
No arguments.
Nothing.
He simply turned around.
And started walking toward the balcony.
Devyani frowned.
"The door is here."
RIVAN didn't stop.
"Your brother won't allow me through that."
He stepped onto the balcony railing.
Completely casually.
Devyani's eyes widened.
"Mr Thakur."
"Hmm?"
"What are you doing?"
"Leaving."
The man was insane.
Actually insane.
Then
he stepped back.
His foot slipped.
And suddenly
he disappeared.
Gone.
Just gone.
The world stopped.
For a second Devyani couldn't process what happened.
Then her face turned white.
"Pati..!"
She ran.
Faster than she had moved all night.
Her heart slammed against her ribs.
Fear exploded through her chest.
No.
No no no.
Not like this.
Not after two years.
Not after everything.
She reached the railing and looked down.
Her breathing stopped.
And there
walking calmly across the garden below
was RIVAN.
Alive.
Perfectly fine.
Not even injured.
The idiot had jumped onto a lower terrace and continued walking like nothing happened.
Devyani stood frozen.
Her hand pressed against her racing heart.
Meanwhile RIVAN looked up.
Directly at her.
And saw it.
The fear.
The panic.
The relief.
All over her face.
For one brief second.
Before she could hide it.
RIVAN kept walking.
The smile that had appeared after seeing Devyani's reaction slowly faded.
The night air was cold.
Silent.
The massive villa stood behind him, glowing under the moonlight.
For a brief second, he glanced back toward the balcony.
She was still standing there.
Probably still angry.
Probably still calling him names in her head.
The thought almost made him smile again.
But he stopped himself.
Then quietly turned away.
And walked toward the outer perimeter of the estate.
A few minutes later