Chapter 12 The Music Box
The room felt suffocatingly silent.
No one moved.
No one spoke.
Because everyone understood immediately—
The music box was not just an object.
It was leverage.
Ekansh Rathore stood near the hospital bed unnaturally still, his expression unreadable now.
That scared Vivaan Khanna more than anger ever did.
When Ekansh exploded, people got hurt.
When he went quiet—
People died.
"Boss," Vivaan said carefully, "don't meet him right now."
No response.
Aarohi noticed his hand trembling faintly beside him.
Tiny.
Almost invisible.
But there.
Not fear of the man himself.
Fear of what he controlled.
His mother's memory.
Then finally Ekansh spoke.
"Where is he?"
The guard answered nervously, "VIP waiting lounge."
A dangerous silence followed.
Then Ekansh started walking toward the door.
Aarohi moved instinctively.
"Wait."
He stopped immediately.
Not because of the word.
Because it was her voice.
The fact that his body responded to her automatically was becoming frighteningly obvious.
Aarohi stepped closer carefully.
"You're triggered right now."
"I know."
"Then don't go alone."
His eyes shifted toward her.
Dark.
Storm-like.
"You said you wouldn't come with me."
"This isn't a warehouse interrogation."
Vivaan looked spiritually exhausted.
Fantastic.
Now the psychologist was voluntarily walking toward emotional disaster too.
Ekansh stared at Aarohi for a long moment.
Then quietly—
"Okay."
Vivaan blinked.
Just like that?
No argument?
No violence?
He was never surviving this story.
—
The VIP lounge on the top floor was empty except for one man sitting calmly near the window.
Vikram Rathore.
Expensive suit.
Perfect posture.
Cold eyes identical to his son's.
But unlike Ekansh's rage-filled darkness, Vikram's cruelty felt controlled.
Polished.
The kind that smiled while destroying people.
A silver music box rested on the table beside him.
The second Ekansh saw it, something inside him visibly tightened.
Aarohi noticed immediately.
That tiny object held too much emotional power over him.
Vikram looked up slowly as they entered.
Then his gaze landed on Aarohi.
Interest flickered briefly.
"So this is the doctor."
Ekansh's expression hardened instantly.
"Don't talk about her."
The possessiveness in his tone was immediate.
Absolute.
Vikram noticed too.
And smiled slightly.
Interesting.
Very interesting.
"You came injured," Vikram said calmly, leaning back in the chair. "Careless."
"You brought me here to discuss my health?"
"No." Vikram's fingers tapped lightly against the music box. "I brought you because you've become difficult again."
Aarohi watched the interaction carefully.
No normal father-son dynamic existed here.
This felt like psychological warfare.
Ekansh's voice turned dangerously soft.
"Give me the box."
"No."
The air changed instantly.
Even the guards outside shifted nervously.
Vikram continued casually,
"You've ignored family meetings for months."
"You are not family."
"You carry my blood."
"I carry my mother's suffering too."
Silence.
Sharp.
Heavy.
For a split second, something cold flashed across Vikram's face.
Then it disappeared.
"You've become emotional lately," he observed calmly. "That girl's influence?"
Aarohi felt Ekansh's body tense beside her instantly.
"Careful," he said softly.
That softness held murder beneath it.
Vikram smiled faintly.
"There he is. The unstable son."
Wrong sentence.
Aarohi felt the reaction physically.
Ekansh's breathing changed immediately.
His jaw clenched hard enough to hurt.
Years of trauma compressed into one trigger word.
Unstable.
Not angry.
Unstable.
Vikram saw it too and continued deliberately.
"Do you know how difficult he was as a child, doctor?" he asked Aarohi casually. "Violent. Aggressive. Broken."
"Enough," Ekansh warned.
But Vikram ignored him.
"He once attacked three attendants during treatment."
Aarohi noticed Ekansh's hands curling slowly into fists now.
Danger level rising rapidly.
"You drugged and restrained an eighteen-year-old boy who was having panic responses," Aarohi said calmly before things escalated further.
The room stilled.
Vikram's eyes shifted toward her slowly.
"And now he threatens cities instead of hospital staff. So tell me, doctor... was I wrong?"
The cruelty of the question made Aarohi's stomach twist.
Not because of the words.
Because this man genuinely believed emotional destruction was justified if it produced obedience.
Ekansh suddenly laughed once.
Cold.
Empty.
"You know the funny part?"
Vikram looked at him silently.
"I became everything you feared."
The room temperature itself seemed to drop.
"You wanted to control my anger," Ekansh continued quietly. "Now ministers panic when I walk into meetings."
Even Vikram's expression sharpened slightly.
Because it was true.
His son had become far beyond his control years ago.
And they both knew it.
Then Vikram picked up the silver music box slowly.
Ekansh's entire focus snapped toward it instantly.
Aarohi noticed the reaction.
Not greed.
Attachment.
Raw emotional attachment.
Vikram's voice remained calm.
"Come home tonight."
"No."
"Then this stays with me."
The tension exploded.
Before anyone could react, Ekansh moved.
Fast.
Terrifyingly fast.
The table crashed sideways violently as he grabbed Vikram by the collar.
Guards rushed forward immediately.
"Boss!"
Aarohi's heart slammed painfully.
Because Ekansh wasn't seeing the present anymore.
His eyes looked eighteen again.
Drugged.
Restrained.
Betrayed.
"YOU DON'T TOUCH HER THINGS!"
The rage in his voice shook the room.
Vikram still looked calm despite being slammed against the wall.
"See?" he murmured coldly. "Still unstable."
Wrong move.
Very wrong move.
Ekansh's grip tightened dangerously.
The guards hesitated.
Nobody wanted to touch him during an episode.
Then Aarohi stepped forward quickly.
"Ekansh."
No response.
His breathing sounded violent now.
Lost somewhere between past and present.
Aarohi reached for his wrist carefully.
"Look at me."
Still nothing.
Then softly—
"You're not eighteen anymore."
That hit.
His grip faltered slightly.
Aarohi stepped closer despite the danger.
"No one's restraining you."
His breathing remained rough.
"No one's forcing you."
Another pause.
Then finally—
His eyes shifted toward her.
Recognition flickered slowly.
Aarohi held his gaze steadily.
"You have control now."
Silence.
Then very slowly...
Ekansh released his father.