15. Secret Exposed.
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Dhwani
The spoon slipped from my fingers and clattered against the plate. My hands trembled so hard I had to shove them under the table.
No.
No, no..this couldn’t be happening.
After all these years, he couldn’t just appear like this.
“Dhwani, what happened?” Yugant’s voice snapped through the fog in my head. When I looked at him, he was already studying me with that unnervingly sharp focus of his.
My palms were slippery, so I wiped them on my dress, but it didn’t help. My breath came too fast. I couldn’t talk. I grabbed the pen from his pocket, scribbled on a tissue: I want to go washroom, and shoved it toward him.
He understood instantly. “Let’s go,” he said, already rising and reaching for my arm.
the fuck he wouldn’t leave me the hell alone even for thirty seconds. Before my frustration could explode, Ishaan cut in. “Sir… she can go alone.”
Thank god.
“She’s injured. She must need me,” Yugant argued.
“Need you where? Inside the women’s washroom?” Ishaan shot back.
Yugant’s jaw clenched so hard I heard his teeth grind.
I exhaled shakily and gently pushed him back into his chair, giving him a clear signal: I’ll manage. Then I walked out, not fast enough to look suspicious, but fast enough to run from the past clawing at my throat.
I just needed a corner. A wall. A shadow. Anywhere to breathe. If they saw me… after all these years of hiding… if they recognized me… they’d take me away again.
And Bhai…Bhai wasn’t here this time. No one was.
I spotted the washroom sign and rushed inside. The moment the door shut, I pressed my back against it and dragged in a desperate breath.
Empty. Thank god.
My eyes burned instantly, and before I could stop it, tears slid down.
He was here.
After nine years of running, I’d seen him.
So close I could have touched him, but I couldn’t.
My fingers found the heart-shaped locket hanging on my neck. I opened it. The tiny picture inside was enough to break me.
“I miss you, Dad,” I whispered, voice shaking. “I miss you so damn much. But I can’t come to meet you. I can’t…”
A sob tore out of me, and I slapped a hand over my mouth to trap the sound.
I thought I was alone until another sound drifted from one of the stalls, the quiet, muffled sobbing of someone else.
I straightened, wiped my cheeks, and stepped closer. “Hey… who’s inside?” I asked softly.
The crying stopped immediately. A second later, the door opened, and a woman stepped out, eyes swollen, face streaked with dried tears.
“Are you okay?” I asked, even though I had been falling apart two seconds ago.
“Y-yes,” she said, breathing unevenly. “Just a little overwhelmed.”
I gave a small smile and turned toward the basin. But when I caught sight of my bandage, it was socked in my blood.
I must’ve clenched my fist too hard. The wound had opened again.
“Oh…your hand,” she said, genuine panic flashing in her eyes. “That’s bleeding badly. Should I redo the bandage?”
“You?” I asked, unsure if she’d mess it up or help.
“Yes,” she nodded confidently. “I’m a student on clinical posting.”
“That’s great. Please do it—otherwise the man sitting outside will bang the door open in the next minute. And if he sees this, he’ll choke the last breath out of me with his concern ass.”
She laughed under her breath and nodded.
What the hell was she smiling for?
“Your smile is… beautiful,” I blurted before I could stop myself. Why did I say that? I’m not the kind of girl who goes around complimenting people. But she was pretty. And she looked kind in a way that made me uncomfortable.
Her cheeks flushed, the smile widening. Wow. I actually made a girl blush.
“Thank you,” she murmured, opening the small first aid kit from her bag.
“You didn’t tell me your name?” I asked.
“It’s Amaira. Amaira Solanki.” She dabbed the antiseptic on my wound, God, that stung. It didn’t sting at all when Yugant did it. Why?
“I’m Dhwani… Dhwani Ranawat,” I said before my brain could stop my mouth.
“Ranawat?” Her brows knit. “I think I’ve heard that name somewhere.”
Of course she had. Anyone who followed the news would have. But I couldn’t tell her.I shouldn’t have said Ranawat, it slipped out. Ranawat died years ago.
The world only knows Dhwani Rathore now.
“Why were you crying?” I asked her. Don’t even know why. I don’t do sympathy. Not even for myself.
Amaira didn’t look away. “It’s just…” she exhaled, voice trembling a little, “sometimes life twists you so hard that even the strongest parts of you crack open. And you cry, not because you’re weak, but because holding it in any longer would break you instead.”
Something in my chest tightened. Why did her words feel like she was talking for both of us?
“You’re older than me by seven years,” I said without thinking.
“It’s okay,” she smiled softly. “You can call me Amaira.”
How the hell did she understand what I actually meant?
Suddenly the door shook with loud bangs.
“Dhwani… are you inside?”
I closed my eyes, frustration simmering.
Amaira kept watching me, too observant for my comfort.
“Is he the reason for your frustration?” she asked.
I nodded helplessly. “He’s so… urgh. He’s good. Annoyingly good. But I’m not used to so much concern and attention. It just… suffocates sometimes.”
Amaira’s expression softened. “Some people crave exactly that kind of attention, Dhwani. You’re lucky you’re getting it. Not everyone is lucky.”
Lucky?
If she knew the truth, she’d never say that.
“Anyway,” she said, fastening the last bit of the bandage, “you’re done. And… it was nice talking to you. I hope we meet again someday.”
She packed the first-aid kit neatly, tossed the old bloody bandage into the bin, and stood up.
“Thank you,” I whispered.
She nodded, opened the door—
and there he was. Yugant. Standing like he’d been counting the seconds I was gone.
Amaira glanced at him, then at me, a small knowing smile tugging at her lips, before she walked out.
What a mysterious girl.
Too calm. Too perceptive.
And somehow… unsettlingly familiar in ways I couldn’t place yet.
I walked toward Yugant, trying to keep my steps steady. He caught my hand the moment I reached him.
“You changed the bandage?” he asked, voice low.
I shook my head, pretending innocence.
“No, you did change it. When I did it, the knot was upward. Now it’s downward,” he said, a smirk tugging at his lips.
Okay.
He remembered that.
Every little thing.
“Let’s go have lunch,” he said, tugging me gently toward our table.
I glanced around.
Good. He was gone. And thankfully, I didn’t spot him anywhere.
I picked up my fork and ate, though my appetite had deserted me. But the real fun? Watching Mr. Raizaada’s assistant, annoyed, irritated, barely able to hide it.
I deliberately slowed my movements, savoring every second, feeling a tiny thrill at Ishaan’s mounting frustration. It wasn’t much, but right now… it was exactly what I needed.
??
It had been an hour, and I kept staring at the jewellery design on the canvas I had painted in the office. I still couldn’t believe I had done it.
Does this mean I actually have a design in my hands? Could I really… do this?
I dragged out my paints and stood in front of a fresh canvas, determined to create something new. I focused every ounce of my attention on it, letting my hands move with purpose.
But no matter how hard I tried, the result never matched the beauty of the first design. It felt wrong. Forced.
A seed of doubt crept in. Had I really drawn the first one? Or was Yugant… testing me?
Frustration surged, and I flung the brush aside, moved to the bed and collapsed onto it, staring at the ceiling.
To be honest, my heart was pounding like a drum. The USB I had left in Yugant’s cabin… it wasn’t there when I returned to the office.
My head was splitting. It had designs. What if someone else found it? What if they ended up in wrong hands?
I needed those designs. And fast. Yugant must have taken the laptop to the mansion. It had to be in his room.
Should I…?
I threw the blanket off and climbed down from the bed, I moved towards the closet and opened it. Then I found my phone which I kept hidden inside one of the pockets of my blazer.
“ I almost got the designs today, but Yugant came and I had to throw the USB in his cabin. When I returned, it wasn't there. I think I am in trouble, please do something.” I typed and sent it before shoving the phone back and closing the closet.
I needed water, but the jug was empty. I moved towards the door, Just as I reached for the handle, fuck my life. Yugant was already standing there.
He wasn’t supposed to be here.
“Hey!” he said, waving casually. I waved back, trying not to show how panicked I was.
“Your hand is injured, so I thought I’d stay with you tonight,” he said, stepping inside.
Excuse me? Where are your manners, Mr. Raizaada? Stay with me? Tonight?
Are you kidding me?
He shut the door, slowly, and walked toward the bed.
I wanted to snap “Stop testing my patience, Yugant,” but my throat refused to move because his face was stunned.
“You sleepwalk. What if you jump off the balcony? I’m staying here as your bodyguard.”
Bodyguard, my foot. The sleepwalking thing was one stupid act to cover up the balcony stunt, and now he was using it as some official rule.
“Come here. It’s late. Sleep.”
Sleep? With you? Every cell in me protested, but my feet still carried me to the far edge of the mattress.
A few minutes passed. I felt his eyes burning into my back before his arm slid around my waist. Firm. Claiming. My breath caught as he dragged me toward him until my spine was flush against his chest. And before I could even react, he twisted me, flipping me to face him like I weighed nothing.
My heart slammed against my ribs. My chest pressed tightly against his. Too tightly.
“Why do I feel you’ve changed, Dhwani?” he said, quietly.“You used to cling to me. Now you keep slipping away. Something’s different.”
His hand cupped the back of my neck when I tried to pull back, anchoring me in place. My fingers fisted in his black vest, half in shock, half in instinct.
“What happened?” His voice hardened. “You don’t like my touch now?” I shook my head fast, lips parting.
“So you do like it?” he murmured, leaning in, his breath brushing my mouth, maddeningly close.
“Please… God, stop. It’s intoxicating. It’s wrong.” I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to breathe, but they flew open the moment his voice dropped.
“Where is Samarth, Dhwani?”
A cold jolt shot through me. I…I don’t know.
I shook my head.
“You’re sure?” His grip on my nape didn’t tighten, but the threat in his eyes did.
I nodded, desperately. My vision blurred; for once, every word leaving my mouth was the truth.
His gaze didn’t soften.“Who is he to you?”
The answers rose inside me like a tide, hard, heavy.
He’s my family.
The only person who chose me.
The one who dragged me out of hell when no one else cared. And all I’ve ever done is bring trouble to his door.
But all that escaped my lips was a trembling hiccup.
“Don’t cry… I’m not done yet.” His tone sliced straight through me. What the hell was wrong with him tonight?
“You’re Samarth’s girlfriend, right?” Each word landed like a nail being hammered in.
No, I wasn’t. But that’s what he had convinced himself of. I nodded.
His stare darkened. “YOU. ARE. SAMARTH’S. GIRLFRIEND?”
My throat closed. I tried to pull back, but his hand at my nape locked me there.
For the first time, fear flooded my chest.
Don’t lie, Dhwani… my heart begged.
But I nodded again.
In the next second, my back slammed into the mattress as he pinned me down. My breath died in my lungs.
“You’re lying.”
His voice wasn’t loud, it was low, steady, deadly certain. The kind that didn’t need volume to terrify.
“You’re lying to me? Aren’t you?”
His voice dropped, low and dangerous , the kind that rattles something instinctive inside your ribs.
“I want the truth. Why are you here? What are you hiding, Dhwani Rathore?”
My brain froze. He knows… he finally knows.
“Tell me why you’re here.” His jaw clenched as his fingers tightened around my jaw, not enough to bruise, but enough to make running impossible. “Say it. I know this whole innocent act is just a distraction so you could steal my dream like your family did five years ago. Isn’t that right?”
My heartbeat hammered so loud it drowned everything else.
“Tell me, Dhwani… don’t fucking test my patience anymore.” His voice cracked with something that wasn’t just anger, it was betrayal, raw and unfiltered. “Just accept it, and I’ll forgive you. I swear.”
I shook my head, desperate, trying to pry at his hold. I wasn’t used to this version of him, sharp, paranoid, wounded. He wasn’t shouting. His emotions were doing it for him.
Then he pulled something from his pocket.
My stomach plummeted.
The USB.
“Isn’t this yours?” His eyes didn’t blink.
I felt the blood drain from my face.
“Tell me it’s not.” He stepped closer. “Tell me you didn’t copy data from my laptop. Tell me you’re not the one who broke into my system. Tell me, Dhwani Rathore.”
His teeth were gritted so tight the words came out in a low rumble.
My chest caved. A single tear rolled down the side of my face, the kind you can’t hold back even if you tried.
The moment he saw it, his grip snapped open. He jerked back like he’d touched fire.
For a few seconds he just stared, at me, at the USB, at the floor, like everything he believed had collided at once.
Then he turned away abruptly, running a hand through his hair, pacing the room like he didn’t know whether to scream or break something.
I wiped my tears with the back of my hand, throat burning. Enough running. Enough lies. If I didn’t tell him now, I’d lose everything, maybe even my last chance to find Bhai.
I’ll tell him everything. “Y—”
A loud knock shattered the moment.
He shut his eyes for half a second, already furious. Then he stormed to the door and yanked it open.
Ishaan stood there, shoulders stiff, expression carved from stone.
“Sir, actually—”
“What the fuck is it?” Yugant snapped.
I flinched. Even Ishaan flinched.
“We found the real culprit,” Ishaan said, voice lower, measured. “She’s downstairs.”
My legs almost gave out.
Real culprit?
ヽ?(?(?◎?д?◎?)?)?ゝ
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