Rivan sleeping on Devyanis breasts #5
His eyes snapped toward me.
Suspicious.
Sharp.
Dangerous.
Good.
Let him think.
Let him wonder.
I straightened and closed the car door.
The sound echoed through the parking lot.
Then I looked directly into his eyes.
And delivered the final blow.
"Enjoy your company losses in the upcoming days..."
A pause.
A deliberate pause.
Long enough to make him pay attention.
Long enough to make him understand.
Then I finished quietly.
"Mr. Malik."
Silence.
Absolute silence.
For the first time that entire night
Zaid froze.
Completely.
The call remained connected in his hand.
Someone was still speaking.
Still shouting.
But he wasn't listening anymore.
Because his brain had stopped working.
His eyes narrowed.
Studying me.
Trying to understand.
Trying to calculate.
Trying to figure out how the hell I knew.
Because according to him...
Nobody knew.
Not the media.
Not his competitors.
Not even most of his business partners.
He had buried the surname years ago.
Created an entirely new identity around himself.
Carefully.
Meticulously.
Deliberately.
Yet here I was.
Using it casually after knowing him for only a few hours.
The color drained from his face ever so slightly.
Not fear.
Something else.
Shock.
Pure shock.
I almost smirk.
Finally.
A reaction.
He stared at me.
Trying to find the answer in my face.
Trying to understand how much I knew.
The truth?
Far more than he could imagine.
Because when it came to people around Devyani...
I didn't investigate.
I dissected.
Every detail.
Every connection.
Every secret.
Every weakness.
That had always been my way.
And it always would be.
I opened the driver's door.
Then paused.
Looking at him one final time.
His phone was still pressed against his ear.
His mind clearly somewhere else.
Trying to process everything.
The losses.
The surname.
The warning.
Me.
A faint smile appeared on my lips.
Cold.
Confident.
Certain.
Then I got inside the car.
Started the engine.
And drove away.
Leaving Zaid Malik standing alone beneath the fairy lights.
Frozen.
Silent.
And finally beginning to understand exactly why people feared the name
RIVAN Thakur.
By the time I reached my villa, the city had fallen completely silent.
The gates opened automatically the moment my car approached.
Security guards immediately straightened.
The headlights swept across the massive driveway as I drove inside.
For the first time that entire night, I felt calm.
Not because my problems had disappeared.
Not because Zaid was gone.
Not because the war in front of me had ended.
No.
Because she was here.
Sleeping peacefully in the backseat.
Close enough for me to see.
Close enough for me to protect.
I parked the car and switched off the engine.
The silence felt strangely comforting.
For a few moments, I simply sat there.
Looking at her through the rearview mirror.
Her head rested against the seat.
A few strands of hair had fallen across her face.
The soft yellow lights from the driveway illuminated her features.
And suddenly...
I found myself smiling.
Like an idiot.
God.
I had missed her.
More than I was willing to admit.
I stepped out of the car and opened the rear door carefully.
She didn't wake up.
Didn't even move.
The sight made my chest tighten.
Two years.
Two bloody years.
And somehow she still trusted the world enough to sleep this peacefully.
Very gently I slid one arm beneath her knees and another around her waist.
Then lifted her into my arms.
The moment I did, I frowned.
Immediately.
She felt lighter.
Much lighter.
Too light.
I adjusted my hold and looked down at her sleeping face.
"What the hell..."
I muttered.
My jaw tightened.
She had lost weight.
A lot of weight.
Where had my cute little chubby wife gone?
The one who stole food from everyone's plate.
The one who argued while eating ice cream.
The one who got excited over desserts.
This version looked slimmer.
Stronger.
More mature.
Beautiful.
But still...
I missed the old version too.
And naturally my brain found someone to blame.
Reyansh.
That traitor.
That overprotective idiot.
I narrowed my eyes.
"Bas ghar pahunchne de..."
I muttered under my breath.
"What training was necessary to make her lose this much weight?"
The more I thought about it, the more annoyed I became.
Meanwhile the criminal responsible for all this was probably sleeping peacefully somewhere.
Good.
Because tomorrow I was planning to irritate him.
A lot.
As I walked toward the villa entrance, the main doors opened.
Arav appeared.
Then immediately froze.
Completely.
The expression on his face was priceless.
His eyes traveled from me...
to Devyani...
back to me...
then back to Devyani.
The poor man looked like his brain had stopped functioning.
I raised an eyebrow.
"What?"
He blinked.
Nothing.
Another blink.
Still nothing.
Then finally
"Sir..."
His voice cracked.
I stared.
He stared.
Then his eyes dropped toward the sleeping woman in my arms again.
The realization finally hit him.
And his expression became even worse.
Poor guy.
After everything he had heard over the last two years...
actually seeing me carry her into the villa was probably enough to break his system.
I ignored him completely and walked upstairs.
My room hadn't changed much.
Everything remained exactly where I had left it.
Cold.
Organized.
Quiet.
Empty.
Until tonight.
I pushed open the door and entered.
Then walked directly toward the bed.
Carefully.
Slowly.
Like I was carrying something precious.
Because I was.
I bent down and gently placed her on the mattress.
She immediately curled toward the pillow in her sleep.
The movement was so innocent that it almost made me smile.
Her pastel blue dress spread softly around her.
The color suited her.
A lot.
The dress reached just below her knees.
Simple.
Elegant.
Comfortable.
And somehow she looked younger than ever.
Not like a woman who had crossed oceans alone.
Not like someone who had rebuilt her entire life.
Not like someone who had fought her own battles.
No.
At this moment she looked like a sleepy little kid who had accidentally fallen asleep during a long car ride.
A tiny crease appeared between my brows.
How exactly was I supposed to believe this girl was married?
Forget married.
How was I supposed to believe this girl had spent the last two years terrifying businessmen, learning weapons, traveling alone, and arguing with me like a professional lawyer?
Right now she looked impossibly soft.
Impossibly cute.
Dangerously cute.
I sat beside her quietly.
Just watching.
Listening to her breathing.
Listening to the silence.
A strange warmth settled inside my chest.
The kind I hadn't felt in years.
Then suddenly she stirred slightly.
A tiny movement.
A sleepy frown.
And without opening her eyes she adjusted the blanket closer.
My heart actually stopped for a second.
I shook my head immediately.
Pathetic.
Absolutely pathetic.
The feared RIVAN Thakur.
Destroyed by a sleeping woman.
Wonderful.
Just wonderful.
I leaned back in my chair and sighed deeply.
My gaze remained fixed on her face.
And for the first time in two years...
I allowed myself to simply sit there.
Without plans.
Without strategies.
Without anger.
Without regret.
Just watching her sleep.
And somewhere in the quietness of that room, a single thought crossed my mind.
Maybe...
just maybe...
coming back was the best decision I had made in a very long time.
I sat at the edge of the bed for a long time.
Long enough for the entire villa to fall silent.
Long enough for the city lights outside my window to dim.
Long enough for reality to finally settle inside my chest.
She was here.
After two years.
Here.
Close enough for me to hear her breathing.
Close enough to reach out and touch her.
And somehow that made everything worse.
Because now I could see exactly what my absence had cost.
My gaze slowly traveled across her sleeping face.
The maturity that hadn't existed before.
The quiet strength she carried now.
She wasn't the same girl I had left behind.
Life had happened to her while I was gone.
Pain had happened to her while I was gone.
Growth had happened to her while I was gone.
And I hadn't been there to witness any of it.
The realization sat heavily inside my chest.
For the first time in years, I felt helpless.
Not weak.
Never weak.
But helpless.
Because there wasn't a single business deal, a single enemy, or a single amount of money capable of giving me those lost years back.
Slowly, I reached forward and brushed a strand of hair away from her face.
The movement was careful.
Almost hesitant.
As if I was afraid she would disappear if I touched her too roughly.
A bitter smile touched my lips.
Look at me.
RIVAN Thakur.
The man people feared.
The man who made grown men nervous with a single look.
And here I was...
afraid of waking one sleeping girl.
Pathetic.
Absolutely pathetic.
Yet I couldn't bring myself to care.
My eyes remained fixed on her.
"You changed."
The words came out quietly.
Barely audible.
"You changed so much, Kitten."
I remembered the girl who used to follow me around the haveli asking endless questions.
The girl who got excited over chocolates.
The girl who couldn't hide her emotions even if her life depended on it.
Because I was proud.
Ridiculously proud.
Even if I had no right to be.
"You did well."
I leaned back in the chair.
My eyes never leaving her.
"You did everything I wanted for you."
The smile faded.
A hollow feeling replacing it.
"The problem is..."
I swallowed.
"You did it without me."
That hurt more than I expected.
The room became silent again.
Only the sound of her breathing remained.
Steady.
Peaceful.
Comforting.
I closed my eyes briefly.
Remembering the last two years.
The endless nights.
The empty penthouse.