"Rudraksh Oberoi: A Tale of Power, Redemption, and Fatherhood"

"Roohi Oberoi: The Heart of a Daughter"

                  Prologue(POV of Rudraksha)

I used to believe that love was a weakness I couldn't afford. Then Roohi happened, and for sixteen years, she has been the only heartbeat in this cold, London fortress.
I stood at the edge of the meadow, the morning mist clinging to my coat. I watched her—my daughter—walking through the high grass. She wore a simple white dress that caught the breeze, a bouquet of wildflowers clutched in her hand like they are the most precious gems in the world.

From this distance, with her dark hair messy from the wind, she is the image of her mother.
But it isn't just her face. It's the way she stops to let a butterfly land on her finger. It's the way she still trips over a hidden root in the grass, laughing at her own clumsiness instead of cursing the ground.

She is soft. In a world filled with power plays and violence, she is still the innocent girl who cries when she sees a stray dog in the rain or a stranger in pain. She inherited my predatory grace when she moves, but she inherited her mother's heart.

It terrifies me.
I've spent a decade trying to shield her from a world eager to label her, trying to navigate the complexities of a fatherhood I never wanted. I wanted to make her tough. I wanted to give her armor. But how do you put armor on a soul that only knows how to love? How do I protect a girl who feels the world's hurt as if it were her own?

She turns toward the house, her eyes finding me on the balcony. Even from here, I can see that sweet, fragile smile that has been my redemption for the last ten years. She doesn't know about the demons I fight to keep her in the light. She doesn't know that she is the only reason the "Iron King" hasn't turned to stone.

"Happy Birthday, Roohi," I whisper, my chest tightening with a love that is both my greatest strength and my deepest fear.

The world is dark, and the sharks are circling the Oberoi name. But today, for just a moment, I will let her be the girl with the flowers. I will be the monster so she can stay the angel.