Advik's POV:
(Listen to the music and enjoy the chapter )
The golden light slipped into my dark room in thin, hesitant rays, filtering through the half-drawn curtains as if it were unsure if it was welcome here. Dust particles floated lazily in the air, glowing faintly in the soft morning light mocking the stillness I had grown used to.
Life had been relentless lately.
Ever since I took Mom’s position in the company, everything has changed. The weight, the expectations, the endless decisions it clung to me like a second skin. But none of it compared to what she had carried all these years.
I had seen her eyes.
The tiredness was buried beneath the strength. The flicker of exhaustion she masked with a practiced smile. The glow she showed the world was nothing more than a carefully crafted illusion.
Still, she stood tall.
She is the strongest woman I have ever known.
And somehow, that fire… it passed down to Ishani.
My sister.
Wild. Untamed. Loud in a world that tried to silence her. Her temper always sat right at the edge, like sparks waiting to ignite. Her expressions were never subtle every emotion lived openly on her face, courtesy of Dad’s genes.
Dad. The word still felt heavy. He left when I was sixteen.
An accident , that’s what everyone said. That’s what it was supposed to be.
Mom stepped into his place without breaking, holding together a legacy that was never meant to rest on her shoulders alone. She didn’t just maintain it she owned it.
For him. For us.
For the pride he had built brick by brick.
It was 7 a.m., and I had slept like a fossil motionless, heavy, as if the night had pinned me down and refused to let go.
Dragging myself up, I walked toward my wardrobe. My fingers instinctively moved to the left drawer, pushing aside neatly folded clothes until I reached it.
The black box.
Hidden. Untouched. Sacred.
A faint smile tugged at my lips. wistful, almost painful.
I opened it slowly. Inside… was her. Fragments of a past I never truly let go of.
Photographs captured laughter, stolen glances, moments frozen in time. Her anklet lay curled in the corner, delicate and silent, yet loud enough to echo her presence in the room.
Every piece inside that box belonged to her. And I… belonged to those memories.
The girl who had once turned my world upside down, Was now someone else’s. I shut the box quickly, as if the memories had burned me.
Freshening up in a blur, I headed downstairs, the faint clatter of utensils and low voices drifting through the house.
As I reached the staircase, Ishani’s voice stopped me mid-step.
“Maa Tanya is going to get married…”Her tone was low, but it carried. Every word struck with precision.
Married. The word didn’t just land it shattered. My heart didn’t break.
It disintegrated.
Into pieces so small, I wasn’t sure they could ever be found again. A question surfaced before I could stop it. Is Arhaan coming back to India?
Maa asked it before I could even breathe. “No, it’s not Arhaan,” she said the next second.
And something inside me snapped. My jaw clenched, fists tightening. That bastard didn’t even come back for her?
What the hell was he doing in Italy? Playing architect with buildings while she...No.
I forced the thought down.
“Ma, talk to Uncle. She loves him. I don’t like that guy. The way he laughed at her language…” Ishani’s words spilled out, raw and unfiltered.
“I will talk to uncle” Mom replied, calm but firm.
The emotions I had buried deep inside me the ones I had chained, suppressed, ignored they rose all at once. Like molten lava breaking through cracks. Hot. Uncontrollable. Destructive.
I inhaled sharply, holding the breath like it could steady me. It didn’t.
“Advik, have breakfast.” Mom’s voice cut through everything. I turned away from the dining area.
“Mom, I’m not hungry,” I said, forcing a smile that didn’t reach my eyes.
“Maa..!” Ishani’s voice rang out dramatically.
“The last time I skipped breakfast, you twisted my ear so hard I turned into a tomato!” she complained, her face scrunching in exaggerated anger.
Even now… she managed to lighten the room.
“Advik. Come have breakfast.” No argument. No escape. Just authority wrapped in calm.
I exhaled.
“Fine.”
The dining table stretched across a quarter of the hall long, polished, intimidating in its emptiness. Too many chairs for a family of three.
Mom sat at the head. Not just a seat. A throne.
Power. Authority. Control.
I took the right.
Ishani dropped into the left, already fidgeting.
The maids served breakfast sandwiches, perfectly toasted, edges crisp, arranged with precision.
Everything looked… perfect.
Unlike everything inside me.
I wiped my hands slowly with a tissue, my appetite nowhere in sight.
Ishani kept talking, animated as ever, explaining some new project idea to Mom, her hands moving faster than her words.
She deserved more. More than this life. More than this pressure. More than… compromise.
A small smile touched my lips. Mom’s gaze shifted to me suddenly.
Sharp. Observant.
Questioning. Are you okay?
I blinked once. Yes.
A lie she accepted. Because she had her own.
I couldn’t let her worry. Not now. Not ever. I knew what I had to do.
Whatever it takes.
No matter what it costs. If it keeps her happy,
I’ll do it.
“I’m leaving,” I said abruptly, the noise in my head drowning everything else.
“Ishu, meet Reyansh today. Discuss the Malhotra project,” I added.
Her face twisted instantly. “I hate that guy.”
Mom and I exchanged a look. She shut up. As expected.
Grabbing my car keys, I stepped out. “Advik, drop me at Mehta’s house.”
Mom’s voice followed.
The matte black Ferrari roared to life beneath me, the engine vibrating like it shared my unrest.
My grip tightened on the steering wheel , For a fleeting second, it wasn’t the wheel.
It was Arhaan’s throat.
“Relax. Drive like a human.” Mom’s voice snapped me back. I nodded.
The drive passed in silence. Heavy. Suffocating. She asked me to leave her there.
“Elders need to talk,” she said.
I almost laughed.
Bullshit.
I drove straight to the office. Routine. Structure. Control.
Things I could still manage. The building stood tall—nineteen floors of glass and steel piercing the sky. My floor. The top.
Where decisions were made. Where power lived. My team was small ten people. But each one was sharp, precise, deadly efficient. Across from us stood the second tower.
The editorial team. That’s where my sister worked.
And from my cabin… I could see directly into her space.
Tanya’s.
“Alan,” I called, my voice steady now, controlled. “Get me the details on Aarav Raichand.”
I picked up the glass paperweight, twisting it slowly in my hand, watching how the light bent within it. Just like truth. Just like intentions.
A slow, dangerous smile formed. Something dark settled inside me.
Clear. Decisive. Unstoppable.
She’s getting married?
No. That won’t happen.
She is going to be mine.
Forever.
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