Cuddle-bear_7
Reyansh Malhotra never asked to inherit an empire built on blood. As the cold, calculating boss of one of the most feared crime syndicates, he only wants one thing: control. But his aging father wants a marriage alliance to secure power-and gives him a deadline.
When Reyansh goes to collect a debt, the terrified debtor offers something unforgivable: his 19-year-old son, Aarav. Quiet, sweet-faced, and smiling shyly behind trembling lashes. Reyansh accepts out of strategy, not compassion. Marriage solves his problem.
But the mansion reveals a truth Reyansh hadn't prepared for.
Aarav is nineteen in body but emotionally like a 4-year-old-cheerful, trusting, stubborn, pure in a world made of knives. He hums nursery rhymes while exploring marble corridors, calls Reyansh "Uncle" at first, then adorably corrects himself with "Patidev ji", unaware of the weight of the word. He cries when thunder booms, hides behind curtains when strangers shout, and gifts Reyansh crayon drawings as "contract payments."
The mafia boss who has ordered deaths without blinking suddenly finds himself learning how to:
hold tiny trembling hands during panic attacks
sit through animated movies and bedtime stories
protect a fragile soul from a world that would break him
But the mafia world isn't forgiving. Rumors spread. Enemies see weakness. Loyalties fracture. Reyansh has to choose-treat Aarav as a burden, a shield, a pawn...or something devastatingly dangerous to a man like him.
Slowly, Reyansh stops being "the monster who owns him" and becomes the protector who loves him. The boy who laughs at butterflies becomes the only light in Reyansh's darkness. But as buried truths surface-about why Aarav is like this, about his past, about who broke him-the world they've built trembles.
Can a mafia king learn gentleness?
Can he love someone who lives in innocence while swimming in sin?
And when enemies want Aarav, will Reyansh save him as a responsibility.
or as the most important person in his life?