Chapter 51 - Jealous Eyes
The news travelled through Mumbai faster than expected.
By evening, the incident at Rathore Industries had become the subject of countless whispers.
Employees had seen it.
Receptionists had witnessed it.
Someone had already told someone else.
And eventually...
The news reached Kavya.
She sat in the back seat of her car, scrolling through her phone when a message appeared.
ARJUN RATHORE'S WIFE WAS AT THE COMPANY TODAY.
Kavya's fingers stopped moving.
Her eyes narrowed.
She opened the message.
Another notification appeared.
HE PUBLICLY INTRODUCED HER AS MRS. RATHORE.
Kavya stared at the screen.
For several seconds, she didn't react.
Then she let out a short, humorless laugh.
"Mrs. Rathore..."
She whispered the words.
Her fingers tightened around the phone.
Another message arrived.
Someone had sent her a photograph.
Aadhira and Arjun.
Walking toward the elevator.
Holding hands.
Kavya's smile disappeared.
She zoomed in.
Aadhira looked calm.
Elegant.
Beautiful.
And beside her...
Arjun was smiling.
Not the polite smile he gave business associates.
Not the controlled expression he wore during meetings.
It was different.
Natural.
Warm.
Kavya stared at the photograph.
Her eyes slowly hardened.
"So that's how you look at her now..."
She locked the phone.
But the image remained in her mind.
---
THE NEXT MORNING
Kavya stood in front of her bedroom mirror.
She stared at her reflection.
She was beautiful.
She knew it.
She had spent years taking care of herself.
Perfect hair.
Perfect makeup.
Expensive clothes.
Elegant jewellery.
She had always received attention wherever she went.
Men looked at her.
Women envied her.
She had never doubted her beauty.
Until Aadhira.
Kavya picked up her phone again.
The photograph was still there.
She opened it.
Aadhira.
Simple cream saree.
Minimal makeup.
Natural hair.
And yet...
She looked effortlessly elegant.
Kavya's jaw tightened.
"Why?"
She placed the phone down.
"What does she have that I don't?"
She walked toward the mirror.
"Aadhira is beautiful."
She paused.
"Fine."
"Maybe even more beautiful than me."
The admission tasted bitter.
"But beauty isn't everything."
She crossed her arms.
Aadhira had something else.
Power.
Kavya knew about the hospital business.
She knew Aadhira had built something significant in the medical field.
But that was all.
As far as Kavya knew, Aadhira's business world was limited to the hospital sector.
She had no idea about Astra Group.
She had no idea about the empire Aadhira had built beyond the hospital business.
Still...
What Kavya knew was enough to make her uncomfortable.
Aadhira wasn't some ordinary woman who had married into the Rathore family.
She had her own identity.
Her own success.
Her own money.
And now...
She had Arjun.
Kavya looked at herself again.
"And she has the Rathores."
That hurt the most.
The Rathore family had accepted Aadhira.
They treated her like she belonged there.
Like she had always been part of the family.
And Arjun...
Kavya closed her eyes.
She remembered the way he had held Aadhira's hand.
The way he had introduced her.
My wife.
Her eyes opened.
A dark determination appeared in them.
"No."
She shook her head.
"I won't lose."
---
RATHORE INDUSTRIES
The next afternoon, Arjun was going through a financial report when his assistant entered.
"Sir, Ms. Kavya is here."
Arjun looked up.
"Kavya?"
"Yes, sir. She says she needs to discuss something regarding the upcoming project."
Arjun glanced at the clock.
"Send her in."
A few seconds later, Kavya entered.
She was dressed differently than usual.
A fitted black dress.
Elegant heels.
Her hair styled perfectly.
Her perfume reached the room before she did.
She smiled.
"Hello, Arjun."
Arjun looked at her briefly.
"Hello."
He returned his attention to the file.
"What did you want to discuss?"
Kavya walked toward his desk.
"Can't I simply come and see you?"
Arjun looked up.
"If it's business-related, we can discuss it."
Her smile faded slightly.
"And if it isn't?"
"Then I don't think there's anything to discuss."
The answer was simple.
Kavya forced a smile.
"You're always so serious."
"I'm working."
She walked toward the chair opposite his desk and sat down.
Arjun waited.
"So?"
Kavya pretended to look through the documents on his desk.
"Nothing."
Arjun raised an eyebrow.
"You came here without an appointment to say nothing?"
She smiled.
"I wanted to see you."
Arjun's expression remained neutral.
"Kavya."
There was a warning in his voice.
She leaned back.
"Do you know how long I've known you?"
"Yes."
"And how long I've..."
She stopped.
Arjun looked at her.
"How long you've what?"
Kavya lowered her eyes.
"Nothing."
Arjun closed the file.
"Kavya, if this isn't about business, then I need to get back to work."
She looked at him.
"You've changed."
"So have you."
"Do you think that's a bad thing?"
"No."
"Then why are you suddenly so distant?"
Arjun's expression became serious.
"I'm not distant."
"You are."
"I'm simply maintaining the same boundaries I've always had."
Kavya's heart tightened.
"Boundaries?"
"Yes."
She stared at him.
"You never used to say things like that."
"I didn't need to."
She stood slowly.
Then walked around his desk.
Arjun immediately noticed.
"Kavya."
She stopped beside him.
"What?"
"Please stay on your side of the desk."
She smiled faintly.
"Why?"
"Because I said so."
Her smile disappeared for a second.
But she continued.
"You know, Arjun..."
She placed one hand lightly on the edge of his desk.
"If you had only looked at me differently..."
Arjun's face hardened.
"Kavya."
"I've waited for years."
Her voice trembled.
"Do you know how many years I've spent hoping that one day you'd finally see me?"
Arjun remained silent.
Kavya took another step closer.
"I thought maybe one day you'd realize that I was always there."
Arjun stood.
The sudden movement made her stop.
His voice was calm.
But firm.
"Kavya, listen to me carefully."
She looked at him.
"I never asked you to wait for me."
Her eyes filled with hurt.
"I know."
"I never promised you a relationship."
"I know."
"I never gave you reason to believe that I would eventually return your feelings."
Kavya looked away.
"I know."
"Then you also need to understand something else."
He took a step back, deliberately creating distance between them.
"I respect you as a person and as a business associate."
"But nothing more."
The words were gentle.
Yet absolute.
Kavya's lips parted.
"Arjun..."
"I don't want there to be any misunderstanding between us."
His eyes remained steady.
"I am married."
"I love my wife."
"And I have no romantic feelings for you."
Silence.
Kavya stared at him.
For years, she had imagined hearing him say that he finally saw her.
She had never imagined hearing the opposite.
She tried to smile.
"But maybe..."
"No."
Arjun interrupted her.
Not harshly.
But firmly.
"Don't turn this into something it isn't."
Kavya's eyes burned.
"You didn't even let me finish."
"I don't need to."
He paused.
"I know where this conversation is going."
Her fingers curled.
"So you really don't feel anything for me?"
Arjun answered immediately.
"No."
The word shattered whatever hope she had left.
Kavya swallowed.
"And Aadhira?"
His expression softened.
"She is my wife."
"That's not what I asked."
Arjun looked directly into her eyes.
"I love her."
No hesitation.
No confusion.
No guilt.
Just the truth.
Kavya's eyes became glassy.
"Even though you never loved me?"
Arjun's expression remained calm.
"I never told you that I did."
Kavya looked down.
That was the cruelest part.
He hadn't betrayed her.
He hadn't promised her anything.
She had simply built an entire future inside her own imagination.
Arjun walked back toward his desk.
Then he stopped.
"And Kavya..."
She looked up.
"Don't come here again expecting something personal from me."
His voice remained respectful.
"But if you have legitimate business matters, you can always approach me through the proper channels."
A clear line.
A firm boundary.
Nothing more.
Kavya nodded slowly.
"Understood."
She turned toward the door.
Before leaving, she looked back at him.
"You really love her."
Arjun didn't hesitate.
"Yes."
Kavya forced a smile.
"Goodbye, Arjun."
"Goodbye, Kavya."
She walked out.
The moment the door closed behind her...
Her smile vanished.
---
KAVYA'S CAR
The door slammed shut.
Kavya sat inside.
Her breathing was heavy.
She looked at herself in the rear-view mirror.
Her eyes were burning.
She had tried.
She had dressed beautifully.
She had flirted.
She had finally confessed how long she had waited for him.
And Arjun had rejected her.
Not because he was confused.
Not because he was secretly attracted to her.
Not because Aadhira had somehow stopped him.
He rejected her because...
He simply didn't love her.
He never had.
Kavya laughed bitterly.
"So that's it."
She wiped the corner of her eye.
"After all these years..."
She looked down at the photograph on her phone.
Aadhira and Arjun.
Together.
Happy.
Her thumb moved across the screen.
"You have everything."
Her voice became a whisper.
"Everything I spent years dreaming about."
She stared at Aadhira's face.
Her beauty.
Her confidence.
Her business.
Her place in the Rathore family.
And Arjun's love.
Especially Arjun's love.
Kavya slowly understood.
She couldn't make Arjun choose her.
She couldn't seduce him.
She couldn't make him betray Aadhira.
She couldn't even create doubt in his mind.
Because Arjun had drawn the line clearly.
And Aadhira stood on the other side of it.
With him.
Kavya's eyes darkened.
"So I can't win him."
She paused.
A slow smile appeared.
"Then I'll destroy the woman who has him."
She locked her phone.
Aadhira had weaknesses.
Everyone did.
She just needed to find them.
Her marriage.
Her reputation.
Her family.
Her business.
Anything.
Aadhira had spent years building a beautiful life.
Kavya intended to tear it apart.
She smiled coldly.
"Fine, Aadhira."
"If I can't defeat you by becoming better than you..."
Her eyes hardened.
"I'll destroy what you've built."
She started the car.
The engine roared to life.
And for the first time...
Kavya wasn't trying to win Arjun.
She was planning war against his wife.
What Kavya didn't know...
Was that the woman she had decided to destroy was far more powerful than she could ever imagine.
Kavya thought she knew Aadhira.
She knew about her beauty.
She knew about her medical empire
She knew she was Arjun's wife.
She knew the Rathore family stood beside her.
She knew once she break her .
She knew she was cast out by her own family.
But there was one thing Kavya didn't know.
Aadhira she knew...
Was only the smallest visible piece of past and present.
The real Aadhira Devraj remained hidden behind doors Kavya didn't even know existed.
And when Kavya finally opened those doors...
She would realize she hadn't chosen an easy target.
She had chosen the wrong enemy.
To be continued...