16. Betrayal.
YUGANT
My whole body trembled with rage as I saw the woman on her knees. “Si… sir, I—I tried to steal your data,” Charvi said, her voice barely holding together.
I clenched my fist.
Charvi wasn’t just another employee. She had been with us for more than five years. She was here five years ago—when our designs were stolen. I had seen her work herself to exhaustion, bleed sweat and time into this company.
She wasn’t the one.
And if she was lying, there had to be a
reason far more dangerous than greed.
My gaze shifted to Dhwani.
She stood frozen, eyes wide, fear written all over her face. And that’s when it hit me.
That fear that panic that was what I should have seen in Charvi if she were guilty.
Not in her.
She was the only outsider allowed inside my cabin. No one else had access. No one else had the opportunity.
Samarth Rathore’s sister.
If I believed she walked into my house to snatch my everything the same way her brother destroyed everything, it wouldn’t even be a shock.
But belief wasn’t enough.
I needed proof.
“Ishaan,” I said sharply.
“Yes, sir?”
“Hand Charvi over to the cops. Frame the charges properly. Make sure she stays behind bars.”
Ishaan’s jaw tightened. I knew that look—he thought she was innocent too. He opened his mouth to argue. One glare shut him up.
Within minutes, the hall emptied. Only Dhwani and I remained. She stood trembling with fear, guilt, something ugly clinging to her skin—her eyes fixed on the space where Charvi had been moments ago.
Mine stayed locked on her.
After what felt like an eternity, she looked at me. Her lips trembled, as if she wanted to speak.
But she didn’t.
She turned, and ran upstairs.
The way her lips shook sent a warning straight down my spine. What if this had all been a game?
I clenched my jaw and stormed into my study. My head pounded, fury clawing at my skull.
How dare you, Dhwani?
How dare you step into my house? How dare you make a fool out of me? How dare you try to steal everything I rebuilt from ashes?
My anger exploded.
I slammed my fist into the glass table.
The shatter was loud. Sharp. I didn’t feel the pain in my hand. The pain was burning somewhere far deeper.
The study door opened. Ishaan walked in.
“I want the truth,” I said coldly. “No sugarcoating.”
His eyes flicked to the blood dripping from my palm, then met mine. “It was Dhwani.”
Glass shards dug into my flesh as my fist tightened.
“Explain,” I growled.
“Someone kidnapped Charvi’s son,” he said. “She had no choice. She took the blame to save him.”
My blood ran colder.
“Who?” I asked.
“Someone connected to Dhwani.”
I kicked the table.
For more than two months, she had lived under my roof—and I hadn’t seen it.
Hadn’t understood why she came here. Hadn’t questioned her silence enough.
I trusted her. Just like I trusted her brother.
But Rathores?
They were never worthy of trust.
“She walked into the devil’s den,” I said, voice lethal. “And I will make her regret it.”
I looked at Ishaan.
“Find out why she wanted those designs. Find out if she has any connection to the people who stole our work five years ago. I want everything.”
“Yes, sir,” he replied. And this time, there would be no mercy.
Suddenly, Ishaan’s phone rang.
He pulled it out, answered, listened in silence for a few seconds, then said, “I’m coming,” before cutting the call.
“What is it?” I asked, already sensing disaster.
“The guards,” he said. “They saw Dhwani.”
My jaw tightened. “Saw her doing what?”
“She fled.”
The word hit wrong. Hard. “Fled?” I snapped. “How the hell did she—”
“She climbed down from the balcony,” Ishaan continued. “She probably thought no one noticed. But the CCTV caught everything. The same cameras you had installed… because you thought she sleepwalks.”
I laughed, low, humorless. So that’s what I was to her. A fool who mistook escape routes for sleepwalking.
I clenched my teeth, rage curling sharp and hot in my chest. “I trusted her under my roof,” I muttered. “While she was planning exits.”
I turned on my heel. “Move.”
Ishaan followed as I strode out, my steps fast, lethal.
I looked back at Ishaan, eyes burning.
“Find her. Follow her. Drag her back if you have to.”
“She belongs here until I decide otherwise.”
And God help her. “Because I don’t chase what isn’t mine.”
?(?(?◎?д?◎?)?)
The car slowed and came to a halt at a distance, far enough to stay unseen.
I remained seated, rolling the window down slightly. Ishaan sat beside me, hands steady on the wheel.
Dhwani didn’t step out immediately. She stayed inside her car until another vehicle pulled up beside hers.
Seconds passed.
Then she opened the door and walked toward it. My jaw tightened as she slid into the back seat.
Ishaan started the engine, ready to follow thinking she would drive away, but the car didn’t move.
The windows were tinted black. We couldn’t see a thing. We waited.
After a few minutes the door flew open.
Someone shoved her out.
Hard. Her knees stuck to the road.
My fist clenched instantly.
How dare he touch her.
She straightened herself, lips trembling. My blood was boiling. Until I saw her mouth move. She slammed her palm against the closed window.
“Open the door,” she cried. “Please.”
My breath stopped.
It was her voice?
Her voice?
I turned sharply to Ishaan. He exhaled, slow, grim—like a man who had already connected the dots.
The car sped away.
Dhwani grabbed a stone from the roadside and hurled it at the back window. It wasn’t large, but it cracked the glass. The car didn’t stop.
Ishaan was already dialing. “Follow the car that just left,” he ordered. “I want every detail. Every name.”
I didn’t hear the rest. My eyes stayed on her.
She stood there for a moment alone before her knees finally gave in. She sank onto the footpath, folding into herself, burying her face between her knees.
Her shoulders shook.
Bruises marked her bare arms, finger-shaped. Fresh. Angry.
My jaw locked.
DHWANI
The moment I reached my room, I locked the door and pulled out my phone. My hands were shaking, but my resolve wasn’t.
I needed answers. I needed to know what he did, what kind of threat could force Charvi to destroy herself like that.
I called him.
After a long pause, he finally agreed to meet me. He even sent a car.
That alone should’ve scared me. But fear had already become my permanent companion.
I climbed down the balcony the same way I had once before, my heart hammering as my feet hit the ground. When I reached the location, I waited. A black car pulled up minutes later. His message came instantly.
Get in.
The moment I slid into the back seat, I saw him
Rage burned through me.
“What did you do?” I snapped, grabbing his collar. “Why did Charvi take the blame?” He shoved my hands away like I was nothing.
“Stay in your limits,” he said coldly. “Don’t forget why you’re here. You want Samarth. You have seven days left. I want those designs. Do your job.”
“I won’t,” I shot back, my voice shaking but firm. “I’m done. I won’t follow your orders like a machine. I’ll tell Yugant everything.”
I reached for the door.
That’s when his hand fisted in my hair.
Pain exploded through my scalp as his grip tightened, his other hand crushing my throat. I gasped, clawing at him, but air refused to reach my lungs.
“Don’t you dare,” he hissed. “One word out of your mouth, and you’ll lose your brother forever.”
My vision blurred. My body went weak.
Then suddenly, he shoved me out.
My knees slammed into the road. Pain tore through my elbow as skin scraped and blood welled up. I barely had time to breathe before the door slammed shut.
I staggered to my feet and banged my palm against the window.
“Open the door,” I begged. “Please…” He didn’t even look at me.
The car pulled away.
Rage surged through the helplessness. I grabbed a stone and hurled it at the back glass. It didn’t shatter, but it cracked, ugly and sharp.
Useless.
The car disappeared anyway.
My body ached. My knees burned. But none of it compared to the ache in my chest, the realization sinking in.
I was trapped.
Not just in this city.
Not just in this game.
But in something far darker than I’d ever imagined. And there was no way out anymore.
I sat there for I don’t know how long.
Time stopped meaning anything when the first drops hit my skin.
Rain.
A hollow smile tugged at my lips as I tilted my face upward.
“So… you came too?” I whispered to the sky. “To cry with me over my fate?”
Thunder cracked above, loud and violent, and my body shuddered on instinct. That sound. It dragged me back—years ago. Same sky. Same roads. Same helpless fear choking my chest.
This was the place.
The very road I had run from all those years ago, barefoot, broken, desperate to survive. And now fate had dragged me back here again, as if mocking me for thinking I could ever escape.
I didn’t move.
I let the rain soak me through, washing over my bruises, my blood, my sins. It didn’t bring peace—but it hid my tears. And right now, that was enough. Because crying openly felt like surrender.
Just like that, my body grew unbearably heavy every muscle giving up. And then everything went black.
(?◎?д?◎?)
A criminal lawyer’s daughter is a criminal herself.
Prestigious families raise better liars, not better children.
Dhwani Ranawat — drug smuggler.
She should be behind bars.
I jolted upright with a gasp, my chest burning like I’d been dragged out of deep water.
“No—” The word tore out of my throat. “I didn’t do anything.” My hands flew to my head, fingers digging into my hair as if I could rip those voices out of my skull.
“Stop,” I whispered hoarsely, shaking my head. “Please… stop.”
The room spun. My breath came in broken pulls, sharp and uneven, like my lungs had forgotten how to work. Sweat drenched my back despite the cold sheets beneath me.
“Please stop…” I sobbed.
Suddenly, a hand settled on my shoulder.
I flinched violently.
My breath hitched as I forced myself to look up.
“Y-Yugant…” I whispered, lips trembling.
His face hovered above me—real, solid, terrifyingly present.
I blinked.
Once. Twice.
The room came into focus.
My room.
My bed.
Curtains swaying gently.
It wasn’t real.
Just a nightmare. But the man standing infront of you was real, Dhwani. My subconscious reminded me.
Why was he looking at me like that? Like he was dissecting me… layer by layer.
Did I—
His fingers suddenly tightened around my jaw, forcing my face up. “Feeling better?” he asked, voice calm but razor-edged.
I swallowed hard and nodded.
A slow, knowing smirk curved his lips. “Cat got your tongue, little ghost?” he murmured, placing the gleaming knife over my jaw.
My breath hitched.
Not mute.
Not cute.
Only Ghost.
It means he knew.
His thumb pressed lightly into my jaw, not enough to hurt—just enough to warn.
“Y-Yugant…” I breathed his name.
His eyes darkened, “ Say that again.” His fingers tightened around my jaw, forcing my face up until my eyes met his.
“ Y..Yugant…” I exhaled.
“Good,” he said coldly. “So the ghost speaks.” He leaned in, forcing me back until my spine hit the mattress.
The bed dipped beneath his weight. My breath shattered. Cold steel traced a slow path from my jaw to my collarbone then up to my throat. “Who did this?” he asked quietly.
(???o???;?)
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