It's a fact that you can't help who you fall in love with. And for Rosaline Davenport and him, it definitely shouldn't have been each other.
Because, sometimes, love stories have blood on them.
[warning: this is the mother of all slow-burns]
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guys, "Part: Her" shed some light on Rose's background. & "Part: Him" sheds some light on Zachary's.
so don't let your familiarity with those first few chaps stop you from paying attention to this side of the story. they run parallely after all :)
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【 02.
Two
Khandaan 】
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[ Khandaan • family ]
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MEHREEN HAWTHORNE’S FACE lights up at the sight of Zachary walking in through the doors of the Thorne mansion, and he watches her take quick strides through the crowd and towards him, before enveloping him into a fierce embrace.
“You missed the countdown,” she complains, a small frown on her long oval face, russet eyes looking the slightest bit dejected. “I thought you’d be here in time! What took you so long, anyway? You left last year.”
Zachary snorts, shooting his mother a dry look and sweeping his eyes over the ground floor of the house, noticing most of the crowd is still present. “It’s just been a few hours, Mother.”
“But you did technically leave the previous year and only come back this year…” her eyes shine, the humour in them contagious.
“I really hope this isn’t the sense of humour you use when trying to charm your clients,” he tells her in all seriousness, “Because I’m already feeling embarrassed on your behalf.”
“Zachary,” a deeper voice sounds from behind him, the word being punctuated with a firm hand placed against his shoulder.
“Father, hey,” Zachary greets with warmth as he turns away from one parent and leans in to hug his other. “Sorry I couldn’t make it before midnight; traffic was a bitch.”
“So was your mum when it became obvious you wouldn’t make it in time,” Sebastian Hawthorne mutters into his ear, in a voice inaudible to Mehreen. “She kept whining every five seconds, son.”
Zachary chuckles into his father’s embrace before pulling away, letting one arm remain wrapped around his shoulder.
“What’s that?” Mehreen asks, lifting a pair of dark eyebrows and squinting at the two men. “You’re not laughing at my expense, are you?”
