Not A Simple Engineer Boy! | ✓

082 • bitter sandalwood | five

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Scrollstck- Suganthi Lakshminarayanan

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"Bullshit. Just leave, Subhadra. Now."

Raw rage surged inside him. Subhadra shouldn't have had any hold on him—not after all these years. He'd convinced himself she was nothing more than bitter history, a lingering nightmare of pain and torment.

Yet here they were, in the present, with him still bracing himself against the emotional havoc she could unleash. She stirred his emotions into a wild storm, leaving more wreckage in her wake.

The corner of her lips curled into a smile, completely unfazed by his thundering command. "Quit it, Xav. You never scared me, and you never will." She turned on her heel, walking toward Krithika with a predatory gait, her gaze sweeping over her from head to toe.

A sharp pain shot through his hand as his nails dug into his palm. He fought to calm himself, to stop rising to Subhadra's bait. Her insults, her condescending presence, the way she treated Krithika—it all fanned the flames of his anger. He wanted nothing more than to throw her out of his house and his life.

Until now, he hadn't truly hated Subhadra. But something shifted. He felt the stirrings of outright loathing. It wasn't just her words or her actions—it was her entire presence.

And the way she'd said it earlier—mocking, venomous. For the first time, he saw her as his archenemy.

Krithika kept her eyes on Subhadra and felt offended by her judgmental gaze. Sure, she wasn't as beautiful as her. She wasn't fair and tall, didn't have a perfectly lean figure, and certainly didn't possess those damned ethereal features that made Subhadra look like some Apsara.

But she wasn't going to be intimidated. She met Subhadra's stare with a challenging look, her confidence unshaken by the indignation boiling inside her. Maybe she looked like an ugly duckling, but she damn well deserved to be in the same room as Xavier. After all, he wanted her here. He chose her.

It wasn't a competition. She wasn't trying to compete with Subhadra because Xavier had been clear about his intentions and his not-so-rosy past. He'd made it clear he wanted nothing but to move forward.

He hadn't shared much about his childhood or his relationship with his ex-wife, but she had seen the pain in his eyes. The honesty in his words had reassured her every time. She knew he wasn't lying when he called her his "darling" or "sweetheart."

And yet, somewhere in her mind, she couldn't help but compare herself to Subhadra. She wasn't blind. Xavier and Subhadra together would've looked like the picture-perfect couple—beautiful, successful, like something out of a magazine.

Does she want him back? Is there still something between them?

The thought clawed at her heart, squeezing it painfully.

She glanced at Xavier. He was glaring at Subhadra, his eyes dark and cold, losing all their golden warmth. His fists were clenched so tightly that his knuckles had turned white. Was he angry? But why? Would he ever open up to her about his past with this stunning, arrogant woman?

Her body tensed when Subhadra shot her a sly smile. How was she supposed to react? Subhadra was Xavier's ex-wife. But what was Xavier to her? And what was she to Xavier?

"Xavier's darling," Subhadra drawled, her voice dripping with mockery, her gaze hot and menacing. That smile wasn't sly; it was an outright smirk. Subhadra was mocking her—no, bullying her.

"Subhadra!" Xavier's voice cut through the tension like a blade, cold and commanding.

Subhadra clicked her tongue dismissively. "Come on, Xav. I'm not going to eat her." She glanced over her shoulder at him. "I'm not the villain in your biography."

Xavier scoffed loudly.

"Goodbye, Mr. Xavier Lucifer Joseph. I hope we never cross paths again—I'll make sure of it," Subhadra said, throwing one last glance at Krithika before walking past her. The sharp click of her heels echoed as she left.

Silence engulfed the room.

Krithika didn't know the protocol for dealing with such a dramatic revelation. She looked at Xavier, who was staring back at her. His golden eyes seemed to bore into her soul. Was he trying to figure out what to say? Just like her?

She raised a shaky index finger, pointing to her tiffin box. "I made you fish fry," she said, attempting a weak smile. "Umm... You told me your mother used to cook it for you. Err... Umm... I thought you might... enjoy it," she finished, her voice trailing off.

Xavier didn't say a word. In three long strides, he crossed the room and pulled her into his arms. Her hands instinctively reached out to him as he wrapped her tightly in a bear hug. He lifted her off the ground, her feet dangling in the air.

He buried his face in the crook of her neck, inhaling deeply. "My darling..." he murmured, his warm lips brushing her skin.

Her trembling fingers ran through his hair as she tried to steady her breathing. She could feel him breaking down, his hot tears smudging against her neck. It was overwhelming, and her own eyes blurred with tears.

Xavier Lucifer Joseph—a supergenius, a rising star, a budding business magnate—was crying in her arms.

And she could do nothing but hold him tightly and cry along with him.

Do tell me what you feel about this and the upcoming chapters, always open to positive criticism.