Advait's Jheel || 18+

🪻 8 🪻

How do you fight someone untouchable, someone with power that crushes everything in its path? I was just an ordinary middle-class girl with nothing to my name, nothing to shield me except my hatred. But even that—my burning, unyielding hate—was powerless against Advait Thakre. It couldn’t touch him. It couldn’t even make a dent.

____

I wanted to scream at Advait—to lash out at him for his audacity, for interfering in my college, for what his goons had done. But I couldn’t. My voice stayed trapped in my throat, suffocated by fear. Even as he dragged me into his car and drove me home, I remained silent. He, on the other hand, behaved as if nothing had happened, as if his actions were perfectly normal. 

I sat there, trembling, replaying the events over and over in my mind. Fear coursed through my veins like a relentless tide. I didn’t say a word the entire ride, but Advait filled the silence effortlessly. The selfish, arrogant prick chatted away, completely oblivious—or maybe intentionally dismissive—of the turmoil he had caused. 

When the car finally rolled to a stop outside my house, he turned to me, his face breaking into a smile. Not just any smile—it was his honeyed, trademark smile, sweet enough to coax but sharp enough to unsettle—small, lovely, and utterly deceptive. The kind of smile that made me even more afraid because nothing good ever came with that smile. 

“There’s a surprise waiting for you inside,” he said, his tone dripping with something I couldn’t place. “You wouldn’t forget now even if you wanted to, Jheel.”   

His words wrapped around me like a noose. I stared at him, my stomach churning with anxiety, confusion, and dread, but I forced my face to stay neutral. Masking the storm within, I pushed open the car door and stepped out. 

Before I could close it, his voice stopped me. “Thank you?” 

My hand tightened around the door’s edge. I hated the way he demanded it, like he was entitled to my gratitude. But in the end, I gave in, forcing the words out. “Thank you, Advait.” 

He nodded, satisfied, his approval only making my skin crawl. “See you tomorrow.” 

See you never. 

I slammed the door shut and walked into my house, my heart pounding with every step.

My eyes widened, and my heart sank the moment I stepped inside my home. It wasn’t because Baba was back from the office unusually early, a rarity considering he was always held back with overtime. No, it was because the house I had left that morning was no longer the same. 

The walls, once pristine white, were now glossy blue. The cream sofas had transformed into baby blue. Everything-- literally everything-- was blue. I took shaky, clumsy steps further inside, my eyes darting around as I absorbed the makeover. The curtains, the cushions, even the tiny details—everything was drowning in that one color. 

I stumbled and fell onto the sofa, my knees weak, my breath uneven. My heart pounded as I tried to make sense of what I was seeing. 

Aai noticed my reaction and smiled, completely oblivious to my turmoil. “Advait came over after dropping you at college this morning,” she said, her voice filled with fondness. “He had the house redecorated. He said he didn’t want us living in an old, worn-out home.” 

Old, worn-out? My mind screamed. The house was fresh and newly painted when we moved in! But that wasn’t the point. I knew exactly what this was about. 

Advait had done this because I had refused to wear blue for him. He’d turned my home into a shrine of his favorite color, ensuring I couldn’t escape it—not in my own space, not even in my thoughts.