zarapierce08
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- Parts 15
The National Defence Academy wasn't made for girls like her.
It was built of granite and bloodlines, shaped by discipline, rank, and inherited pride. Its walls echoed with the footfalls of sons from powerful families, names passed down like medals-Ranas, Rathores, Malhotras.
Not Verma.
Not her.
She earned her place.
Through grit. Pain. And top scores.
But no one cared about merit inside those gates.
Not when he set his eyes on her.
---
He noticed her on the third day.
Pale skin flushed from the heat. Uniform a bit too loose. Marching a beat too slow.
Weak by academy standards.
Interesting by his.
Major General Veer Pratap Singh did not entertain weakness.
He hunted it.
Broke it.
Reshaped it.
And when he looked at her-barely nineteen, lost among cadets bred for this world-he didn't see a mistake.
He saw a challenge.
> "Bring her to me."
That was the first command.
The beginning of a quiet, brutal undoing.
---
She didn't understand, at first, why the air in the mess hall froze when he entered.
Why the most feared, decorated officer in the country stared at her like she'd done something wrong just by existing.
Why whispers followed her down every corridor:
> *"She's the one he picked."*
> *"The General's little cadet."*
---
He never raised his voice.
He didn't need to.
His silence carried the weight of war.
And before she could resist, before she could run-he was already under her skin.
Controlling her sleep. Her schedule. Her meals. Her mind.
And eventually-her heart.
But that was the most dangerous part.
Because love was never part of his war strategy.
Only submission.
---
> *This wasn't a story of romance.*
> *It was a slow invasion. A quiet claiming.*
> *And by the time she realized what he was doing... it was far too late to retreat.*
---