𝐀𝐑𝐈𝐃𝐇𝐈: 𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐍𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐑-𝐄𝐍𝐃𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐃𝐄𝐒𝐈𝐑𝐄 ♡

【59】 Permission?

AUTHOR'S POV

The dim glow of a single overhead bulb flickered in the basement, casting long, eerie shadows against the damp concrete walls.

A faint hum of static filled the silence, an old radio struggling to grasp a distant frequency.

The air was thick, stale with the scent of damp earth and something else, something almost electric.

A tall figure stood motionless in the center of the room, his silhouette sharp against the cluttered walls.

The walls were not bare. They were adorned with photographs, thousands of them.

And all of them belonged to one person.

Aridhi Agarwal.

The epitome of beauty with brains.

Her presence was undeniable, even in mere images.

Her eyes held an intelligence that could cut through deception, and her voice—

Ah, her voice.

He could still hear it, crisp yet smooth, like the first drop of rain on sun-scorched earth.

It had captured him long before he ever laid eyes on her.

He was young, too young, when he first heard her speak, or more likely, sing.

The moment her words reached his ears, they did something irreversible to him.

They carved a place for her in his mind, a place where she would remain, untouched, unchallenged.

A place that grew into something more.

Something dangerous.

Fingers curled into fists at his sides, the man took a slow step forward, his eyes tracing over the images on the wall.

Aridhi in her school uniform, deep in thoughts while playing chess.

Aridhi in a university hallway, engrossed in a conversation with her friends.

Aridhi at a café, sipping coffee.

Aridhi walking alone at dusk, unaware of the gaze that followed her every step.

She was not his target.

She was his obsession.

He had spent years watching from the shadows, learning her patterns, her habits.

Every move she made was a script he had memorized.

But that was not enough.

Watching was no longer enough.

He needed more.

Reaching out, his fingers grazed the edge of one particular photograph. A recent one.

Aridhi smirking while sitting behind the steering wheel of her sports car, ready to drift any moment.

The corner of his lips twitched.

He had made a promise to himself all those years ago. He would stay close. He would never let her out of his sight.

And soon, very soon, he wouldn’t have to pretend anymore.

The time had come to step into the light. And make her see him. To make her his.

By choice.

Or by force.

Probably both.

♡