Ishq hua (Duet 1)

Chapter 34: Fractured escape

Author:

The Oberoi estate was not its usual self these days. The usual commotion was gone, people had retreated into their rooms, clinging to solitude, using ignorance as a fragile shield for peace.

At the farthest corner of the backyard, beneath the shadow of an old tree, Vyom stood with his hands buried deep in his pockets. His shoulders were tense, his jaw locked — as if he himself was carved out of grief and restraint.

His gaze lifted toward the sky where stars flickered faintly, but his eyes weren't truly seeing them. They were seeing something else. Someone else. His sister. Her delicate face etched into memory, untouchable and yet unbearable to recall.

"Kisha…" His voice was barely a whisper, swallowed by the vast emptiness of the night. His throat tightened. Losing her hadn't been a wound that healed. It had been a theft of his very breath. He had learned to live again, yes — but with lungs that felt like shattered glass. And every time his world was in silence, her absence screamed the loudest.

His fingers curled around the pearls of her bracelet, worn smooth over time, the last piece of her he could hold onto.

A sudden crunch of dry leaves behind him snapped him out of thought. Vyom's eyes narrowed sharply, his head turning toward the sound. Out of the shadows, a small figure emerged.

Akay.

The boy's hesitant steps were light, his presence unassuming, but to Vyom — who treasured his solitude — it was a disruption. Akay was the brother of the woman he couldn't bear to tolerate, and though Vyom had barely exchanged words with him before, his sudden appearance quite literally irked him.

"What are you doing here?" The question left Vyom's lips instinctively, his tone edged with sharpness he didn't mean.

Akay startled by his anger, nearly stumbled back. But before he could fall, Vyom's hand shot out, steadying him with surprising swiftness.

The boy blinked up at him, wide-eyed. Vyom let him catch his breath before closing his own eyes briefly, reining in his roughness. When he opened them again, his voice had gentled.

"Where is your sister?"

Akay hesitated, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. "I wanted to play hide and seek but she denied… so I hid on my own so that she has to come to seek me, no matter what."

Vyom studied him in silence, something flickering in his cold gaze — the faintest, reluctant softening.

"You shouldn't be here alone," he said at last, his voice calm, steady, but carrying an undertone of concern he didn't bother to name. "Especially at this hour."

"But Yaya said that this place is safe. That no one will hurt me here."

"She said correctly, Akay. No one will hurt you here. You are safe." Vyom's words were quiet, almost heavy. "I just meant… it's dark, you could fall and hurt yourself when you are alone."

Akay tilted his head, unconcerned. "Oh, that? It doesn't matter. Falling doesn't hurt much now."

Vyom's eyes sharpened, his chest tightening. "What do you mean?"

But Akay, unbothered by the weight in Vyom's tone, only looked at him curiously. "By the way, why are you out so late? That too alone. Are you also playing hide and seek?"

Vyom exhaled, shaking his head faintly. "No, Akay. Grown-ups don't play hide and seek."

"But Yaya does."

"Then your Yaya is still a child."

Akay's lips jutted in quick defense. "She is a grown-up. And if not, then what are you doing here?"