CHAPTER 21 #3
Shock ripples through the gathering. Even the most dangerous men look visibly shaken on seeing him here.
But I can’t move. I just stare at him. The garland trembles in my hands as my heart pounds harder against my ribs, wondering why this man…
this terrifying, violent version of Raghav… has come here?
Is he here for me?
The second Parag sees Raghav walking towards us through the gunfire, his entire expression changes into one of shock and fear.
Everyone in the underworld knows who the Dark Prince is, and right now, the man striding through this massacre looks exactly like the nightmare those legends were built around.
Bullets continue to explode across the lawn.
Men scream, bodies collapse onto the marble pathways, and blood stains the white wedding flowers scattered everywhere.
Raghav’s men have completely taken over the Vardhaan Mansion.
Anyone foolish enough to shoot at him is being shot down before they can even properly aim.
And through all this chaos, the gunfire, the panic, and the bloodshed, Raghav keeps walking straight towards me, as if nothing else matters. Parag reacts instantly and grabs my wrist roughly, clearly intending to drag me behind one of the stone pillars nearby for cover.
He still has no idea. No idea what happened between Raghav and me at RK Estate. No idea why Raghav is really here. No idea that this wedding has suddenly turned into a battlefield because of me.
“Move!” Parag snaps, but before he can pull me even a single step, another gunshot tears through the air. The sound rings out so loudly near us that I flinch.
Then Parag jerks beside me. For one horrifying second, I don’t understand what happened until blood suddenly bursts across his shoulder. Parag lets out a sharp cry and collapses hard onto the ground near my feet.
My breath stops. Did Raghav actually shoot him?
Everything inside me goes numb with shock as my gaze flies back to him. What is happening? Why is he here? Trisha was already helping me escape, so why would Raghav personally come to Cape Town like this? Why would he expose himself in front of the entire underworld again?
And these armed men surrounding the estate… are they his? When did he rebuild an army this huge? Where have these men been all these years? This doesn’t feel like an extraction anymore. This feels like war.
Parag groans in pain on the ground, clutching his bleeding shoulder while chaos continues to erupt around us.
That’s when Raghav finally reaches the mandap.
He doesn’t look at me first. Not even once.
Instead, he just stands there in the middle of the gunfire and screaming guests, staring down at Parag.
Calmly, almost arrogantly, he brings the cigar between his fingers back to his mouth and takes one final, unhurried drag.
The orange flame briefly illuminates his face while his gaze remains fixed on Parag.
Smoke escapes lazily past his lips before he flicks the still-lit cigar onto a nearby liquor table, which is already in ruins from the chaos around us.
The crystal glasses lie shattered and expensive liquor is spilled across the silk drapes covering it.
The second the cigar lands, a fire erupts. Flames explode across the table so violently that several guests gasp and stumble backwards in alarm. Women scream and people scatter in all directions. Yet through it all, Raghav looks completely unaffected. Completely in control.
Then finally, he bends down, grabs Parag brutally by the collar, and hauls him upright despite the man’s cry of pain. The movement is so violent that fresh blood immediately stains Raghav’s knuckles.
“This,” he says, pressing the barrel of the gun harder against Parag’s wounded shoulder, “is for hurting Siya at RK Estate. And for sending her those filthy texts. Clearly, burning your fingers and making it look like an accident at the border wasn’t enough punishment for you.”
My heart stumbles violently. So, the accident Parag had casually mentioned afterwards, the one that had supposedly left his fingers bruised and burned, hadn’t been an accident after all. It was Raghav’s doing. But how did Raghav even find out what Parag had done to me at RK Estate?
The answer comes almost immediately. The security cameras.
My mind immediately goes back to that day outside RK Estate when Parag had forcibly shoved me into the backseat of the car while taking me away.
My shoulder had slammed hard against the sharp metal edge of the door, sending a painful jolt through my entire arm.
Raghav must have seen it afterward while reviewing the security footage. The thought leaves me in shock.
He came all the way here… stormed a mafia wedding… revealed himself before the entire underworld again… just to put a bullet through Parag’s shoulder because he had seen me get hurt?
My fingers tighten subconsciously around the varmala still hanging uselessly from my hand as I stare at Raghav in complete disbelief.
What kind of man does something like this?
What kind of an obsession is this?
And why does the look in his eyes right now not feel like a man rescuing me… but rather like a man reclaiming something that already belongs to him?