Rivan fucking jealous #2
I know she is. She's poking the beast, daring me to lose control. And fuck me if it isn't working.
"Oh, I'm sorry, Devu," Zaid replies, his tone warm and familiar in a way that makes my blood curdle. "I've been busy with some stuff. But I've been thinking about you."
Devu. The nickname that only we use. The name that rolls off my tongue in my most vulnerable moments. And now this stranger is throwing it around like it means nothing. Like she means nothing.
I see the Thakurs shift in their seats, their expressions darkening.
They're offended too I can tell. Only they have the right to call her Devyani Devu,not some outsider.
But the fact that she's so comfortable with him, so at ease... it stings them as much as it stings me. Maybe more.
My jaw tightens as I stop directly in front of them, towering over the seating area like a storm cloud ready to break.
Zaid looks up at me, and I see the flicker of recognition in his eyes. Good. He should be afraid.
"Who the fuck are you?" My voice comes out low, dangerous, barely restrained.
I don't wait for an answer before my hand shoots out, grabbing him by the collar of his shirt and yanking him to his feet.
"Mr Thakur!" Devyani's voice is sharp, panicked. She stands too, her hand reaching out to push me away. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"
"I'm asking your friend a question," I snarl, my eyes never leaving Zaid's face. "And I suggest he answers quickly, before I lose my temper."
"You're already losing your temper!" Devyani shoves at my chest, but I don't budge. "Let him go,mr Thakur. You have no right—"
"No right?" I laugh, but there's no humor in it. "No right? You're my wife, Devyani.
You'll always be my wife, no matter what some piece of paper says."
"Ex-wife," she corrects, her voice icy. "I'm your ex-wife. And you have no claim over me anymore."
The words hit me like a slap. My grip on Zaid's collar tightens, and I can feel the fabric straining under my fingers.
"Is that what you think? That I'll just let you go? That I'll let him have you?"
"Rivan, please." My father's voice is closer now, his hand on my shoulder.
"This isn't the place. Think about what you're doing."
But I can't think. I can't think about anything except the way Devyani is looking at me like I'm a stranger, like I'm the enemy.
And the way she's standing so close to Zaid, as if she's protecting him. From me.
From me.
The realization cuts deeper than anything else.
She's choosing him. She's choosing a stranger over the man who loved her, who worshipped her, who would have burned the world down for her.
The world snaps back into focus with brutal clarity, and I'm left standing in the middle of the garden, my chest heaving, my fists still clenched, my entire body vibrating with adrenaline that has nowhere to go.
But there's no Zaid on the floor.
No Devyani running after him. No chaos I created.
They're still sitting there. Together. Laughing. Talking.
Her head tilted back as she chuckles at something he said, her hand brushing against his arm in a gesture so casual it makes my stomach turn inside out.
Fuck.
I run a shaky hand through my hair, my heart pounding so loud I can barely hear anything else.
Was I dreaming? Did I just imagine throwing him out? The line between fantasy and reality blurs, and for a terrifying moment, I can't tell which is which.
I'm losing my mind. I'm actually losing my fucking mind.
"Rivan. Come here."
Mr Thakur's voice cuts through the fog, sharp and commanding.He is standing near the seating area, his eyes fixed on me with that mixture of concern and disappointment I've come to know too well.
He gestures for me to approach, and I feel like a child being called out for misbehaving.
But I'm not a child. I'm a man on the edge of a breakdown, and every step I take toward that seating area feels like walking toward my own execution.
My feet move of their own accord, carrying me forward.
My steps are long, heavy, each one echoing with the rage I'm barely containing.
I can feel the shift in the seating area energy the way conversations falter, the way heads turn, the way everyone tenses as I approach.
Good. Let them be afraid. I'm afraid of myself right now.
And then my eyes meet hers.
Devyani.
The world stops. Everything blurs the furniture, the people, Zaid's smug face. All of it fades into a haze of insignificance because she's looking at me, and for one suspended moment, it's just us.
Just her and me and everything we used to be.
She stills.
I see it the way her breath catches, the way her body goes rigid, the way her smile freezes on her lips. She feels it too.
This pull. This unbearable tension that stretches between us like a wire ready to snap.
But then she looks away, turning back to Zaid with a forced laugh, and the spell breaks.
I scrape the chair across the floor, the harsh sound making everyone wince. I don't care. I sit down heavily, my eyes never leaving her face, watching the way she avoids my gaze, the way she leans slightly closer to him, the way she touches his arm again.
She's doing this on purpose.
The thought is a knife twisting in my gut.
She knows exactly what she's doing.
And the worst part? The absolute worst fucking part? She looks happy.
Genuinely happy.
There's a lightness in her laughter, a sparkle in her eyes that I haven't seen in months.
Years, maybe. And it's not because of me. It's because of him.
I want to kill him.
The thought is so clear, so vivid, so real that I can almost feel my hands around his throat.
I can almost hear the satisfying crack of his bones, the desperate gurgle of his last breath.
I want to end him right here, right now, in front of everyone.
I want to watch the light leave his eyes and know that he'll never touch her again.
But I don't.
Because she's happy.
Because for the first time in what feels like forever, my Devyani is smiling.
And even though it's killing me, even though every fiber of my being is screaming at me to rip him away from her, I can't be the one to take that smile away.
I hate this. I hate him. I hate myself for letting her go.
My hands grip the arms of the chair so hard the wood groans under the pressure.
I force myself to breathe, to stay seated, to not give in to the primal urge to destroy.
But every laugh she shares with him, every glance she throws his way, every casual touch it's fuel on the fire, and I'm burning alive.
"Rivan, have some water." Mrs Thakur voice is soft, concerned. She places a glass in front of me, but I don't reach for it. I can't. My hands are shaking too badly.
"I'm fine," I grit out, my voice barely recognizable. It's rough, raw, on the edge of breaking. "I'm fucking fine."
But I'm not. I'm the furthest thing from fine.
I'm a man watching his world crumble, and the worst part is, I have no one to blame but myself.
Devyani laughs again, and this time it's louder, brighter.
She throws her head back, her hair cascading down her shoulders, and Zaid's eyes follow the movement with an appreciation that makes my blood boil.
Just because she's happy with him is the only reason I'm not killing him right now.
I repeat the words in my head like a mantra, trying to hold onto the last shred of my sanity.
But with every passing second, with every stolen glance, with every touch I'm not the one giving her, that sanity slips further and further away.
And I don't know how much longer I can hold on.
Authors POV
The glass in RIVAN's hand cracked.
Actually cracked.
A tiny sound echoed.
Everyone froze.
Silence.
RIVAN calmly looked at the damaged cup.
Then placed it down.
As if nothing happened.
As if he hadn't nearly crushed ceramic with his bare hand.
Virendra immediately looked away.
Yashodha looked away.
Payal looked away.
Everyone looked away.
Except Aradhya.
Because Aradhya had no survival instincts.
"This is amazing."
"Aradhya."
"No seriously."
"Aradhya."
"Look at his face."
"ARADHYA."
Meanwhile Devyani remained completely unaware.
Or perhaps she wasn't.
Perhaps she noticed everything.
Because every now and then
she would laugh a little louder.
Smile a little brighter.
Talk a little longer with Zaid.
And each time
RIVAN's patience suffered.
More.
And more.
And more.
Until finally
Zaid casually threw his arm around Devyani's shoulders while showing her something on his phone.
A completely innocent gesture.
A friendly gesture.
Nothing wrong with it.
Absolutely nothing.
Except
the sound of a chair scraping violently against the floor echoed through the garden.
Everyone jumped.
Slowly.
Very slowly.
They all turned.
Toward RIVAN.
Who had just stood up.
The expression on his face was calm.
Too calm.
Dangerously calm.
The kind of calm that usually appeared before disasters.
Aradhya immediately grabbed Payal.
Payal grabbed Rudraksh.
Rudraksh grabbed his tea.
Priorities.
And somewhere in the middle of all this
Zaid finally looked up.
Directly at RIVAN.
For the first time.
The smiles disappeared.
The laughter faded.
And something unspoken passed between the two men.
Something that made the entire family stop breathing.
Because suddenly
it didn't feel like a reunion anymore.
It felt like the beginning of a war.
While the siblings were busy enjoying RIVAN's silent suffering, Reyansh finally decided to save the situation before someone got themselves killed.
He walked toward the family and cleared his throat.
"Since all of you seem very interested in him, let me introduce him properly."
Immediately everyone's attention shifted toward Zaid.
Even Virendra looked curious.
Because one thing was obvious
this wasn't an ordinary man.
The confidence.
The presence.
The way he carried himself.
It was different.
Reyansh folded his arms.
"This is Zaid."
Zaid gave everyone a polite nod.
A calm smile resting on his face.
Then Reyansh continued.