It was recess, and the campus buzzed with the sound of laughter, shouts, and footsteps as students played in the playground. Preeta sat on a bench by the lawn outside her cabin, close to the canteen. Her eyes were glued to her phone, indifferent to the lively atmosphere around her. The warm sunlight filtered through the trees, casting gentle shadows on the ground.
Karan approached cautiously, his heart pounding in his chest. He didn't dare greet her in his usual manner, knowing they were in a public place. He cleared his throat softly, his voice low and hesitant. "Ma'am, may I sit beside you?"
Preeta barely looked up from her phone. Her eyes, cold and indifferent, flicked towards him. She gave him a slow, cruel look that made Karan's stomach churn. After a moment's silence, she nodded ever so slightly, allowing him to sit.
Karan took a seat beside her, keeping a respectful distance. His nerves were frayed, and his mind raced with thoughts of the conversation that lay ahead. He hesitated, unsure of how to begin, but the weight of what was happening to him-what was happening to his family-pressed down on him too heavily to remain silent.
"Ma'am," Karan began, his voice shaking slightly. "Please... about my family. What you're asking... it's too much. I'm begging you, please don't do this. Don't make me-"
Preeta interrupted him with a sharp sigh, still staring at her phone as if she barely registered his words. She slowly turned her gaze to the students playing on the field, watching them with an air of detached amusement. Her voice was calm, even pleasant, but the cruelty in her words cut deep.
"Look at them, Karan," she said, motioning toward the students playing carefree in the distance. "Look at how they run around, laughing, so blissfully unaware of the power dynamics that rule this world. That's the way life is, you know-people like them, like your family, are nothing. And then, there are people like me who take what they deserve."
Karan's hands trembled in his lap as he listened, his heart sinking with every word. Preeta's tone was laced with superiority, her every sentence drenched in venom. She shifted slightly in her seat, eyes narrowing as she continued.
"I deserve it all, Karan. Everything. Your family's school? It'll be mine. Their livelihood? It'll belong to me. And you?" She chuckled softly, a sound so casual that it almost seemed like a normal teacher-student conversation to anyone passing by. "You'll help me get it all because you're nothing more than a pawn in this game. A plaything. A pathetic, spineless pawn who'll do whatever I say just because he loves me. Isn't that right?"
Karan's breath hitched, his chest tightening with despair. His vision blurred as tears welled up in his eyes. He tried to blink them away, but they spilled over, sliding down his cheeks silently. He lowered his head, not wanting anyone to see the pain etched across his face.
"Ma'am, please..." he whispered, barely able to speak through the lump in his throat. "Why are you doing this? Why my family?"
Preeta's lips curled into a smirk as she glanced at him out of the corner of her eye. She seemed to savor his suffering, relishing every tear that fell from his eyes.
"Why?" she mused, her voice taking on a mocking, sadistic tone. "Because I can. Because I want to. And because it's fun to watch you squirm, Karan. You're nothing. A weak, miserable boy who doesn't even deserve to speak to me. But you will fulfill every one of my whims, every single sadistic desire I have, because if you don't... well, let's just say things will get a lot worse for you."
Her words sliced through him like a knife, each sentence landing like a blow. Karan could feel the weight of his fate pressing down on him, the cruel reality of his helplessness. His shoulders slumped as silent sobs shook his frame, but he dared not raise his voice.
