Chapter 43
"Dhruv should've just stayed out of this."
Advik laughed.
The sound echoed through the penthouse.
Cold.
Wrong.
Unhinged.
My entire body was shaking.
Because Dhruv was on the floor.
Already injured.
Already exhausted.
The bullet wound in his shoulder had soaked through part of his shirt hours ago when Advik's men ambushed him.
And yet,
The idiot was still trying to sit up.
Still trying to reach me.
Still looking at me like I was the only thing that mattered.
Advik grabbed the iron rod from the table.
Turning it lazily in his hand.
Almost amused.
"You know, Dhruv," he said mockingly. "You could've walked away."
Dhruv laughed.
Actually laughed.
Blood on his lip.
Shoulder injured.
Barely able to stand.
And he still laughed.
My heart broke.
"Dhruv..."
His eyes found mine instantly.
Then he looked back at Advik.
His voice came out rough.
Dangerous.
"You should've taken my money."
The room went silent.
"My company."
Another second.
"My life."
His gaze darkened.
"Anything."
Advik's smile slowly disappeared.
Dhruv's jaw tightened.
"But you touched her."
My breath caught.
The guards shifted uneasily.
Even they looked uncomfortable.
Because suddenly,
The room felt smaller.
Like a storm was building.
Dhruv's eyes never left Advik's.
"and now..."
His voice dropped lower.
"...they'll need dental records to identify you."
Silence.
Complete silence.
Even Advik froze.
For half a second.
Then rage exploded across his face.
The iron rod swung.
I screamed.
"DHRUV!"
The impact knocked him sideways.
My entire body jerked forward.
Trying to reach him.
Trying to get to him.
But the guards grabbed my arms immediately.
Holding me back.
"No!"
I struggled.
Kicked.
Fought.
Nothing worked.
Across the room,
Dhruv pushed himself up anyway.
The absolute idiot.
The absolute, impossible idiot.
One hand pressed against the floor.
The other against his injured shoulder.
And somehow,
Somehow,
He still stood.
Barely.
But he stood.
His eyes moved toward the guards holding me.
Then toward the tears running down my face.
Something terrifying flashed across his expression.
Not pain.
Not fear.
Rage.
Pure rage.
The kind that made powerful men nervous.
"Every second she's scared because of you..."
His voice echoed through the room.
"...adds another year to your suffering. LEAVE HER IF YOU WISH TO BE ALIVE!"
The guards exchanged nervous looks.
My heart stopped.
Because I knew that tone.
Dhruv wasn't threatening.
He was promising.
Then his gaze shifted toward me.
And softened instantly.
Just for a second.
Just long enough for me to see it.
Then he looked back at them.
"Because if you guys don't know, let me tell you, if she cries again because of you'll."
A pause.
The entire room listening.
"I'll fucking burn down the entire city."
My breath hitched.
Dhruv tilted his head.
"Do the math."
The silence that followed felt endless.
Then Advik lost it.
Completely.
"SHUT UP!"
The rod swung again hitting Dhruv's face.
Dhruv stumbled.
Falling to one knee.
And for the first time,
Fear truly hit me.
Real fear.
Because he was hurt.
Badly hurt.
And there were too many of them.
Way too many.
Advik turned toward me.
Breathing heavily.
Furious.
A gun appearing in his hand.
My blood ran cold.
No.
No.
No.
The barrel pointed directly at me.
And suddenly,
The entire room changed.
Because Dhruv saw it.
Everything stopped.
The pain.
The injuries.
The exhaustion.
Gone.
The second that gun pointed at me,
Something inside him snapped.
Slowly.
Dangerously.
He stood.
Again.
Advik frowned.
Confused.
Because Dhruv shouldn't have been standing.
Not anymore.
Yet somehow,
He was.
His voice came out deadly calm.
"Remove the gun from her head Advik."
Nobody moved.
Nobody breathed.
Dhruv took a step forward.
"Remove it ADVIK."
Another step.
"Seems like you bastards don't wish to live anymore!"
And Dhruv lunges forward punching Advik hard causing the gun to fall down.
Then chaos erupted.
Everything happened too fast.
Shouting.
Movement.
People rushing forward.
I couldn't even process it.
All I knew was that suddenly Dhruv was between me and the gun.
Protecting me.
Again.
Always.
Always.
Always.
Then,
A sharp sound.
A struggle.
Several men rushing him at once.
And finally,
Someone struck him from behind.
The back of his head.
Dhruv froze.
For one horrible second.
Then collapsed.
The world stopped.
"DHRUV!"
I broke free.
Somehow.
I didn't even know how.
One second I was being held.
The next I was on the floor beside him.
His head in my lap.
My hands shaking.
Tears everywhere.
"No."
My voice cracked.
"No no no no."
His eyes fluttered open slightly.
Barely.
Just enough.
Just enough to see me.
I cupped his face.
"Stay awake. Dhruv!"
He tried getting up, shielding me from the men.
And just then,
Advik hits him again with the rod and he falls down.
I scream,
"Advik leave him!
Please! I'll give you all my property, company, everything!
Leave Dhruv, I beg of you!"
Advik walks towards me slowly saying,
"Sweetheart, your property, company and everything of course will be mine, but, killing this arrogant, so in love jerk is more fun!
Killing Dhruv Malhotra, feared by the entire world, is much better than owning the world.
"
And then Advik turns to his men,
"Keep a watch on them"
And he leaves the room.
I sit there crying trying to wake Dhruv up who has fallen unconscious.
"Dhruv! Please wake up, I won't survive living without you, please Dhruv!
"
I screamed, crying my lungs out.
He briefly opened his eyes,
His fingers lifted slowly.
Touching my cheek.
Wiping away a tear.
The gesture shattered me completely.
"Don't close your eyes."
My voice broke.
"Please."
He blinked slowly.
Struggling.
Fighting.
Trying.
"Can't help it."
"No."
More tears.
"Please."
His gaze found mine again.
One last time.
And despite everything,
The room.
The guards.
The weapons.
The danger.
It all disappeared.
There was only him.
Only us.
Only this moment.
His hand slipped against my cheek.
Weak.
Warm.
Precious.
Then he whispered,
So quietly I almost didn't hear it.
"You were the only thing keeping them open."
My heart shattered.
Completely.
And as his eyes finally closed,
The entire world seemed to stop breathing with me.
"DHRUVVVV!"
I cried shattered beyond anything.