✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*
[ 𝐒𝐄𝐐𝐔𝐄𝐋 1 ]
Because this is where love fades and hate resides and intensifies, broken hearts produce the most tragic stories.
Their treachery is told through their bleeding hearts: their unrequited love was never reciprocated. The...
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The door to Vidyut's apartment—no, my apartment now, by contract—had barely clicked shut behind Knight when a wave of pure, unadulterated relief washed over me. He was gone. The immense, suffocating weight of Vidyut Agarwal's presence was lifted.
I had lied to Knight, of course, giving him Shivangi's address without a moment's hesitation, fully aware that Vidyut would be told the exact coordinates of my movement. I hated the leash, but I needed this distance, this pocket of freedom. The chaotic week, the public spectacle with Shanaya, and the humiliating discovery that I couldn't even control my own body during a panic attack had left me raw.
He was right, I should be able to protect myself.
I wanted to believe his earlier sentiment, that I should build myself strong, but it was just another control mechanism disguised as encouragement. Still, I needed to figure out how to be strong without needing his fortress of safety.
Samaira was the one who called me first, her voice full of concern. My family knew about the panic attacks; they started after my mother died. Samaira, bless her soul, was Vidyut's unwitting accomplice in my salvation. She told me everything—how Vidyut saved her and me from the society vultures, and how he had sent her back to the family by his private jet, not letting a single rumor stick to her. I was worried she might have disclosed my secrets, but she confirmed Vidyut had already sternly asked her not to. He was a ruthless manipulator, yes, but efficient. He contained the chaos he created.
It was Samaira who informed me that Shivi has returned to her place, having joined as an assistant to a Mr. Kapoor. Kapoor? The name felt familiar, a whisper from the periphery of my old life, but I dismissed it. My life, for the moment, was about surviving the next few hours without a five-star chef's intimidating perfection looming over me.
"Boss asked me to tell you if you need anything, just call me or the boss," Knight had said, his tone overly polite, almost deferential, before leaving.
I turned around, finding Shivangi wrestling with a patch of dirt in the small, shared garden area of her apartment complex.
"Surprise........" I yelled, letting out a proper war cry to break her concentration.
