The illegitimate daughter of a powerful businessman, she was sent to live with her six half-brothers after her father's sudden death.
The boys were born from privilege, pride, and perfectly manicured bloodlines. No one welcomed her. No one cared.
De...
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I was still staring out of the window where Veeransh had disappeared when the door to my cabin flew open with enough force to make me jump.
My head snapped around. Atharyu and Rudra stormed inside.
The expressions on their faces made it look as though they'd just caught someone standing on the edge of a cliff.
Before I could even process what was happening, they were in front of me.
Rudra grabbed one of my hands. Atharyu grabbed the other. I blinked at their action.
What has happened to them? I looked between them like a pendulum clock.
"What were you trying to do, sweetheart?" Rudra asked worriedly.
His gaze darted to the window behind me before returning to my face.
At the same time, I felt Atharyu's grip tighten around my hand. His eyes never left mine. And then it clicked.
Oh. Oh no. Are they thinking I'm suicidal?
"No, no, no—" I opened my mouth to explain, but Atharyu had already handed my hand to Rudra and marched toward the window. Ignoring me completely.
He inspected the window and then looked down through it. Like doing some silent mental calculation.
He then turned around. "We should cover this window." He said it with the seriousness and Rudra immediately nodded. "Absolutely."
"I was not trying to commit suicide," I announced. But neither looked convinced. In fact, Rudra's expression somehow became even sadder.
Atharyu's face simply screamed "liar," and he was so worried for me that he could right away lock me in a house without a window.
"See?" Atharyu said, looking at Rudra, folding his arms. "This is why I don't knock." Rudra nodded so enthusiastically I was surprised his neck didn't snap.
Atharyu looked mildly pleased by him.
I, however, was seconds away from developing a migraine.
Then Atharyu started inspecting my cabin, like looking for something that could prove dangerous for me.
His gaze landed on a decorative metal paperweight. "We need to remove that."
Rudra nodded.
And then Atharyu's gaze stopped on a pair of scissors and a letter opener. "Those too." Rudra nodded again as his hair bounced in enthusiasm.
Was I being held hostage or protected? At this point, I genuinely wasn't sure.
I tried pulling my hand away from Rudra. But he tightened his grip further. I frowned at him because he sounded unreasonable to me at this point.
He frowned back. Then, without a word, he transferred my hand back to Atharyu.
The two continued having entire conversations through eye contact alone.
