chapter 43

He was chaos wrapped in flesh, the kind that didn't just touch, but consumed. His hands didn't caress; they claimed. Every rough drag of his palm over her skin, every bite that lingered longer than it should, made her forget who she was before him.It wasn't softness he offered, it was madness. A ruthless possession that stole the breath from her lungs and the thoughts from her mind. He could make her senseless with a single press of his body against hers, like her entire being answered only to his call. And God, how she craved it. How she loved the wild dominance in him, the violent poetry of his passion.She should have feared the way he could destroy her with just a kiss, but instead, she ached for it. Every time he pushed her to the edge, she fell willingly, loving the fall because it was his hands that caught her... even when it hurt. Especially when it hurts." Pari!"Pari startled and looked at Prena with wide eyes."What happened? Why are you shouting like an earthquake just hit?"Prena rolled her eyes and extended a plate of sandwiches toward her."I've been calling you since forever! Where exactly were you lost?"Pari blinked, trying to shake off the thoughts that had completely hijacked her mind, thoughts intense enough to paint her cheeks a deep crimson. Prena paused with a sandwich halfway to her mouth, squinting suspiciously."Wait... are you blushing?"Pari's eyes widened in panic. "What? No!"She immediately took a large bite of her sandwich to mask her flustered expression, but Prena clearly wasn't going to let it slide.She leaned in with a wicked grin. "Oh my God, Pari... don't tell me you were thinking about your oh-so-handsome husband and uh, some very private moments?"Pari gasped and quickly looked around, mortified. "Would you keep it down? Do you want to announce it to the entire canteen?"Prena raised her brows and smirked. "So I was right?"Pari smacked her arm, while Prena broke into uncontrollable laughter, completely unfazed.Pari glared at her through narrowed eyes, cheeks still betraying her embarrassment. "You seriously need help, Prena."Prena wiped a tear of laughter from her eye and leaned back in her chair. "No, you need help. Girl, you've got it bad. One look at your face and it's like a Bollywood romance scene is playing in your head."Pari looked away, chewing slowly, pretending to focus on the people passing by their table. But her mind wasn't ready to cooperate. Vikrant's intense gaze, his rough hands on her skin, the way he whispered sinful things like they were sacred confessions, everything flashed again, and she found herself biting the inside of her cheek.She frowned when she caught Prena wiggling her eyebrows at her." Stop looking at me like that!" Pari snapped at her." I'm your best friend. It's my moral duty to look at you like that when you're clearly falling deeper into dangerous love."And Pari finally chuckled." By the way," Prena sipped her cold coffee and added, " how's aunty?"Pari swallowed the chewed food, " Good."Prena smiled, " I wanna meet her again."" How about this weekend?" Pari suggested.Prena shook her head. She can't. She has a plan to execute this whole week. Of Course she would step her foot in her house, in her own house but with her brother. Vikrant Agnihotri. When he'll save her, accept her in front of many evil people and close the door for them to reach her.This week was going to be more than just a return home; it was going to be a reclamation of dignity, of everything that was once stripped from her. And maybe, just maybe, Vikrant had already begun digging into the shadows of her past, unearthing truths that others had tried to bury.And when he did, those who once shamed her would have no corner left to hide in. This wasn't just about returning, it was about rewriting the way they'd remember her.She wanted Rajeshwari to see it, to feel it. To know that the girl she once tried to break now had a brother who would burn the world to protect her, and a mother who would never again look away. She wanted her to understand that the strings she once pulled no longer held any power, and that the secrets she buried so carefully would soon be dragged into the light by Vikrant.Because when he started digging, nothing could stay hidden. No lie, no shame, no sin.Prena trusted her brother. With her past. With her pain. With everything." I wouldn't be able to come this week," that's all she told Pari whose expression saddened." Why? I'll be alone."Prena smiled, " it seems like Mrs. Agnihotri loves me more than her husband. I am touched."Pari rolled her eyes at her dramatic friend.Meanwhile,Ranvijay sat across from his brother, studying Vikrant's face as he flipped through the project file he was leading. The rhythmic tapping of his index finger on his left knee betrayed the turmoil in his mind. His thoughts kept circling back to the mysterious set of papers, documents someone had quietly slipped into Vikrant's study. Anonymous, yet clearly intentional. That friend of Pari's, Prena... she had to be the one. He had already reviewed the CCTV footage, and though it didn't show everything, it was enough to confirm his suspicion.But why would she do it?"Speak," Vikrant said suddenly, his voice sharp as he turned another page.Ranvijay blinked. " Hm?""What's bothering you?" Vikrant's eyes didn't leave the file. "As far as I can tell, this report is flawless."Then he paused, lifted his gaze, and locked eyes with his brother. "So? Speak."Ranvijay exhaled slowly and wet his lower lip, unsure. Should he tell Vikrant about the papers? With everything already spiraling at his company, this could either be another blow or a much-needed clue. And yet, something about that girl... that friend of Pari's. She didn't seem dangerous.Well, he could give it a try." Actually, bhai.. I wanted to know about.."He paused and Vikrant raised his eyebrows." About?"Ranvijay sighed, " about our.. sister who died just after her birth."Vikrant frowned and put the file on the desk, grabbing another." What's there to know about her?"He started reading the file while Ranvijay just stared at his face for a minute almost before breaking his silence again." I mean.. did she actually die?"The question settled between them like a storm waiting to erupt. Vikrant's fingers tapped twice on the folder before he finally looked up, his gaze cold, unreadable."What kind of question is that, Ranvijay?" he asked, voice low and measured.Ranvijay hesitated. " I know how it sounds. But... I came across something."Vikrant frowned and closed the file, " what?"Without a word, Ranvijay pulled out his phone, unlocked it, and tapped on the first image in his gallery. It was a picture of the documents Prena had left behind. He slid the phone across the table to Vikrant."This. It says the reports were fake."Vikrant took the phone and stared at the screen, flipping through the images slowly. His frown deepened with each swipe, his fingers pausing slightly on a medical report marked 'Deceased Infant – Female.' His eyes scanned every word, every signature.Ranvijay watched him for a beat and then spoke again, his voice low but firm. "I checked the hospital where Maa was admitted. It took me the whole day to gain access to their archives. And the interesting part? The reports really are fake."Vikrant's eyes shot up to meet his brother's, but Ranvijay continued, "The head nurse who was in charge back then? She passed away years ago. But I tracked down her closest friend, another retired nurse."Vikrant didn't move. He seemed frozen.Ranvijay exhaled slowly, "She told me something... something she buried for years. She said that the head nurse once confessed that she exchanged a newborn baby for money."Silence followed.Vikrant's throat bobbed as he struggled to breathe through the weight in his chest. He looked back at the phone, his hands trembling slightly as he swiped to the next image. Another file. Another report. Another red circle over 'infant declared born.'"No..." he whispered, shaking his head. "No. This can't be."But the pit in his stomach only grew."How can a dead child be alive after twenty-two years?"The air thickened with disbelief and something else—fear. He swallowed his own saliva and stared at the pictures over and over again. Each one screamed nothing but the raw, brutal truth. It was as if someone had poured their soul and time into gathering every detail, every thread, ensuring it was water-tight, unshakable. Still... still, his mind refused to accept it.He clenched his jaw, the muscles twitching as he reached for his phone on the desk. His fingers moved fast, driven by a brewing storm inside him. He dialed a number, and it was picked up within two rings."Gautam? I need everything, every damn piece of information about Rajeshwari and her daughter," he said, his voice sharp as a blade.Ranvijay watched him, confused, rising from his chair when Vikrant abruptly stood and began pulling on his jacket."No delays, Gautam. None," Vikrant snapped into the phone. "Or be ready to face the consequences.""Bhai, wait-" Ranvijay began, reaching out, but Vikrant was already halfway to the door.He halted when he heard him mutter under his breath, seething with anger."Of course, my father's mistress. Who else?" Vikrant growled. "I swear, I'll kill both of them if I find out they-"He didn't finish. The door slammed behind him, leaving Ranvijay frozen in place, his heartbeat echoing the chaos that had just begun.The word struck Ranvijay like a thunderbolt- mistress. For a moment, everything blurred. His father, whom he had idolized, whose legacy he had proudly carried in his veins, suddenly wore a face he'd never imagined.If Vikrant's words were true, if there was even a fragment of reality in them, then the Agnihotri legacy wasn't built just on business acumen or power, but on secrets dark enough to burn it all down. And in that moment, Ranvijay realized that a single, unguarded word from Vikrant's mouth had the power to shake the very foundation of the Agnihotri empire.Ranvijay would have to find the truth according to his way! Because he swore he had been missing something....The same night,Pari caressed her husband's hair whose head was resting on her lap. With another hand she memorized today's notes.Vikrant stared at the dark. They were present on the terrace and right now only this place could anchor him.He inhaled and exhaled heavily before closing his eyes.Angad Agnihotri.His father.Cunning. Calculative. Merciless. A man who could disguise ruin beneath charm, and bury entire truths under gold-plated lies.Vikrant clenched his jaw. It hadn't been easy, not even remotely to unearth the information his father had so carefully buried, the truths tangled in shadows and cemented with fear. Every document, every whisper had been hidden behind layers of manipulation. And yet, here he was, peeling back the lies one by one.And the deeper he dug... the deeper he found himself trapped." Pari?"" Hm?"She removed her gaze from the notes and stared at his face." What's the.. name of your friend again?"Pari frowned, " Prena."Of course, he knows." Full..name?"Pari parted her mouth to answer and realised that she had never asked Prena her surname. She shrugged her shoulders." Don't know. Never asked her. Why?"He took a deep breath and sat up, facing his back at her. She put the book down on the ground and grabbed his shoulder." What happened? You seem stressed."" It's just papa-"He sealed his mouth and sighed heavily." Just a headache."He changed the topic. When his own mind was messed up, could he drag her into his?Pari shifted closer to him and stood on her knees." Let me massage."She gently placed her hands on his shoulders, her thumbs pressing into the tension-knotted muscles at the base of his neck. He exhaled a shaky breath, the weight in his chest refusing to ease, even under her soothing touch.He lowered his head slightly, eyes fixed on the floor of the terrace, jaw clenched.He wanted to tell her. About the papers. About Ranvijay's questions. About Angad. About the name that kept circling his thoughts.. But instead he let it slide.He closed his eyes, allowing the silence to overpower him and her fingers to soothe his tensed muscles. Pari tilted her head and did not realise when she started humming a melody.Her voice was barely above a whisper, but enough to echo inside his cluttered mind. Her fingers moved in slow, circular motions, grounding him.Eventually, her voice filled the surrounding and all he could think of was his wife and himself under the night sky.His eyebrows knitted together when Pari wrapped her arm around his chest from behind and put her chin on his shoulder, hugging him from behind." I don't feel like going to university tomorrow."" Why?"She sighed, " Prena wouldn't come for a whole week. I'll be alone."Vikrant was about to give her lecture when Prena rang in his mind. Wouldn't come for a week? Why? He chewed his lower lip and did not realise when Pari grabbed her book from ground and lay on the ground, now keeping her head on his lap.He didn't even notice when Pari casually grabbed her book from the ground and lay down, resting her head comfortably on his lap. She flipped to her marked page and began reading again, unaware that her husband's gaze was no longer on the stars or even her but lost somewhere far darker.Prena.Her face flashed in his mind like a sharp memory. He'd only met her twice, yet both times, her eyes hadn't just looked at him, they had studied him. As if she knew more than she should. As if she was...waiting.And then there was another fact, Vikrant had never once in all these years bothered to glance at Rajeshwari's daughter. He never cared.Prena's background was far too clean. Too blank. Only people with something to hide managed that. Only those entangled with danger or dark pasts erased their footprints that well. Gautam, despite all his resources, had failed to retrieve any real information about her. The 'parents' she introduced in university? Con artists. Hired faces.Vikrant clenched his fists slowly.And he knew Angad Agnihotri.Knew him well enough to understand that his father wouldn't let even a speck of stain touch his name. He was a man obsessed with power, obsessed with the idea of being revered, of being untouchable. He had kept his image spotless in the media.And Rajeshwari?She was never more than a transaction in Angad's world. A mistress who cared only for money, and a man who only cared for his reputation and needs. Their relationship wasn't love. It was an arrangement. She obeyed; he provided. She stayed quiet; he kept her fed with luxury. A woman like her didn't raise daughters, she raised weapons if needed.And now... all of it started making sense.The silence surrounding their so-called 'dead' sister.The forged hospital reports.The con artists posing as parents.Prena's sudden appearance. Her secrecy. Her intent gaze.She wasn't just Pari's friend.Vikrant's hand slowly moved through Pari's hair, gently brushing it aside as she read peacefully. But his mind was far from peace.No, he would find out who Prena really was.And if she truly was the one left behind... then Angad's empire, built on buried lies, was about to face the one storm it never saw coming.If Prena was truly her, if she was the child they were told had died, the child his mother grieved silently for all these years, then everything, everything, had been a lie carefully stitched by Angad and Rajeshwari.He clenched his fists slowly, as if already holding someone's throat in his grip.If he proved it, if he uncovered undeniable evidence that Prena was his blood then- fuck, even the word sister sounded foreign on his tongue. Not because he didn't want to accept it, but because he had never prepared himself for the weight of such a truth. To accept that someone had stolen his flesh and blood, stripped her of her identity, and thrown her into a world where she had to survive without the Agnihotri name, without the power she was born into?He wouldn't forgive it.Not ever.And then the world would witness a new side of Vikrant Agnihotri, not the empire-builder, not the calculated strategist, not the composed face of the family business. No. They'd witness a brother. A lethal, relentless brother who would rip apart every brick of deception laid by Angad. A brother who would turn the very ground beneath Rajeshwari's feet to ash. A brother who would hold Prena's hand, not with pity, but with pride and bring her to the throne she had been denied since the moment she took her first breath.He would introduce her to the world. Not quietly. Not politely.He would announce her with fire in his voice and steel in his spine.And anyone who dared look at her the wrong way, question her blood, or taint her existence again, they would learn what it meant to provoke a brother forged in fire.For the first time in his life, he felt what he was about to become.Not a son.Not a husband.But a brother.And for Prena... he would become a monster they could never tame.⋆༺✷༻⋆To be continued.Read more chapters in scrollstack as early access.