THE PLOT TWIST

chapter 11

Jasmine woke up, the soft rays of the morning sun filtering through the curtains. Her mind immediately drifted to her plan—she had to find out more about Vidisha’s mysterious man and the photograph Tara had been so protective of. But as she brushed her hair and slipped into her work uniform, she couldn't stop thinking about the strangeness of it all.

"First things first," she muttered, reaching for a cupcake she had swiped from the kitchen. "I need to figure out who that man is and why Tara's hiding that photo."

She took a big bite, savoring the sweet taste while planning her next steps.

---

Later that morning, as Jasmine was cleaning the hallway, she bumped into Ranbir. He grinned at her in his usual mischievous way, tossing an apple from one hand to the other. "Still stuffing your face, I see?" he teased, noticing the remnants of cupcake frosting on her fingers.

Jasmine rolled her eyes, playfully sticking her tongue out at him. "A girl’s gotta eat, Ranbir."

"Yeah, but you might turn into a cupcake at this rate," he laughed.

Jasmine smirked and playfully nudged him. "Maybe I'll start calling you Apple Boy then, considering how many you eat."

Ranbir laughed and started running down the hallway. "Catch me if you can, Cupcake Girl!" he shouted over his shoulder.

Without thinking, Jasmine ran after him, determined to make him pay for teasing her. As she sprinted through the house, she wasn’t watching where she was going and suddenly crashed into someone. Hard.

She looked up, heart racing, and saw it was Abhiraj. Before she could react, she realized that in the collision, her lips had accidentally brushed against his.

Her eyes widened in shock, and she froze. Abhiraj’s expression was unreadable, but his eyes lingered on her, something flickering in their depths.

Behind them, Ranbir stood, wide-eyed and grinning. “Well, well, what do we have here? Cupcake Girl just got her first kiss!" he teased.

Jasmine felt her face burn with embarrassment. Without saying a word, she turned on her heel and bolted from the hallway, her heart pounding in her chest.

---

By the time evening rolled around, Jasmine was still mortified by the accidental kiss. She had never imagined her first kiss would happen like that—by bumping into the cold, brooding Abhiraj.

But there was no time to dwell on her embarrassment. She had work to do.

As she was dusting the living room, she noticed Vidisha had left her phone on the coffee table. Glancing around to make sure no one was watching, Jasmine quickly picked up the phone. To her surprise, it was unlocked.

Her heart raced as she scrolled through Vidisha’s recent calls. There it was—a number she didn’t recognize, called multiple times in the past few days. She quickly jotted down the number in her notebook, but before she could look further, Vidisha appeared in the doorway.

“What are you doing?” Vidisha asked sharply, her eyes narrowing as she saw Jasmine holding her phone.

Jasmine’s mind raced. “I... I was just about to give you your phone. You left it here,” she said, handing the phone back.

Vidisha snatched the phone from her, suspicion flashing in her eyes, but she didn’t say anything more. Instead, she just stormed out of the room, leaving Jasmine standing there with her heart pounding.

---

That night, Jasmine lay in bed, her thoughts a jumbled mess. She couldn’t stop thinking about the kiss, replaying it over and over in her head. Her first kiss, and it had been with Abhiraj of all people. The cold, stoic brother who barely spoke more than a word to her.

But she didn’t have time to dwell on her embarrassment. She had more important things to focus on—like finding out who that phone number belonged to and what Vidisha was up to.

Meanwhile, in his own room, Abhiraj couldn’t get the moment out of his head either. He kept replaying the accidental kiss, something about it stirring emotions he hadn’t expected.

Jasmine might have been embarrassed, but for Abhiraj, the kiss was something more—a spark he hadn’t anticipated.