《 8 》

Anvitha

The garden looked beautiful in the early morning light.

Too beautiful.

Too... quiet.

The dew clung to the edges of the lilies like the world was trying to hold onto something soft for a little longer - as if beauty, once touched, might slip away faster.

Most of the lilies in our garden were white, some pale pink. They filled the air with a fragrance that people often found calming, nostalgic even. But not me.

They were Avantika's favorite.

She used to walk through these rows like a queen inspecting her army. She would lean down, touch the petals, sometimes smile. Maybe it made her feel something... peaceful.

Me?

I never had any particular feelings about them.

They bloom.

They die.

Two days, maybe three, and then they're gone.

What's the point of loving something so temporary?

People call them elegant. Soothing. Happy flowers.

But to me, they've always felt hollow.

Tanishkha buys them for me sometimes. She doesn't say much about it. She just shows up, hands them over with a smile, and pretends not to notice how I never arrange them in a vase.

"You don't have to," I told her the last time.

Her lips curled with gentle defiance. "Of course I do. Aren't they pretty?"

She's a girly girl.

Soft, sweet, smiles and flower-scented perfume.

I'm just a girl.

No sparkles. No softness. Just... steel and silence.

This morning, I waited by the stone bench near the south wall. Dressed in a sharp black blazer and a long pencil skirt that fell to my shins. My rose gold watch gleamed under the sun - a gift from Appa.

My only signature accessory.

No jewelry.

No colors.

Just the things I could weaponize - my silence, my stare, my stride.

The crunch of grass behind me made me turn my head.

Rhea.

She came skipping, already in her school uniform, twin braids bouncing, her oversized bag dragging behind her like she was carrying all the world's secrets in it.

"You have a lot of lilies," she said casually, plucking two from a bush without hesitation. "Why do you keep repeating the same one again and again?"

I blinked.

She extended one toward me.

I took it without thinking.

"This one has a special place in my heart," I murmured, twirling the stem between my fingers.

Rhea pouted. "Because Appa gave it to you?"

A beat passed.

"Right," I said quietly. "Because he gave it to me."

Her lips curled into a mischievous smile as she pointed a finger at me. "You know you're a daddy's girl, Akka. You treat everything he gives you like a fucking treasure."

I narrowed my eyes, lips forming a line. "And whose girl are you? And what's with your language, girl?"

She just beamed and lunged forward, hugging me tightly. Her little arms squeezed around my waist like she was trying to hold me together.

"I'm a sister's girl," she whispered into my jacket.

Before I could say anything else, she pulled back, looked at the lily in her hand, and began plucking the petals one by one.

Then, without warning, she threw them at me.

They floated down like soft snowflakes, clinging to my shoulders, my hair, my blazer.

Rhea laughed. "Catch me if you can!"

She took off, sprinting across the garden barefoot, her shoes still dangling from her hand.

"Oh no you don't!" I shouted, running after her.

"You little," I said between breaths, trying to close the distance.

"You run like an old lady, Akka!" she yelled, laughing so hard I could hear it echo through the trees. "Run faster, or I'll be late for school!"

"Then you should've thought of that before turning this into a race!" I huffed, my heels clicking dangerously on the cobbled path. "Who are you, an athlete now?"

"I'm not one, but we can clearly see who's the best at it, big girl!"

She darted toward the poolside, heading for the back gate of the mansion.

"Hey! Where are you learning this from?!"

"I learn from the best!" she shouted over her shoulder, winking.

Bloody hell. Where did this girl get her stamina?

My heels killing my feet with each step .

I should've stopped.

Should've let her win.

But instead... I laughed.

A real one.

A full, unguarded, I -laughs-like-a-kid kind of laugh.

It startled me. Caught me off-guard. I hadn't felt that in years.

And in that moment - with the lilies at our feet, laughter in the air, and sunshine catching in Rhea's braids - I wasn't the girl born from chaos. I wasn't the heir to an empire built on shadows.

I was just a sister.

A girl chasing her happiness.

And for once... not running away from it.

---------

The echo of Rhea's laughter still lingered like perfume in the garden air, but I'd already shut it behind me. Peace has a way of being momentary in my life-brief and vanishing. Like a whispered lullaby before a storm.

I walked through the glass doors of the mansion, the soft sound of my heels muffled by the thick Persian carpet that dressed the marble floor. The hallway was quiet. Too quiet.

Except for the figure standing near the central pillar.

Mihir.

He stood in his usual rigid posture, tablet in one hand, the other behind his back like some polished soldier reporting for duty. His eyes flicked up when he saw me-sharp, unreadable, and expectant.

Like he was waiting.

Waiting for him.

But before I could even take a step in Mihir's direction, I heard it-Devraj's voice, coming from the grand staircase.

He was descending, phone pressed to his ear, speaking in a low, authoritative tone. I couldn't hear the full conversation, but the clipped words "handle it before the shipment leaves" told me enough.

Work. Always work.

I turned back to Mihir instinctively, but stopped myself.

I couldn't do this here. Not in front of Appa.

Whatever questions I had for Mihir-about Ryan, about my past, about myself-they needed to be asked behind Devraj's back.

Not because I was disloyal.

But because the truth isn't always kind.

And I wasn't ready to be his daughter when I uncovered something that might tear us apart.

So, instead of walking to Mihir, I bypassed him with a soft, "Good morning."

He responded with a flimsy nod, his eyes already shifting toward Appa.

I paused halfway through the corridor, looking back. Mihir and Appa were already in deep conversation, both towering pillars of strategy, calculation, and secrets.

I stood there for a second longer.

When? Where? How do I get him alone?

Mihir wouldn't hand me the truth easily. And if he did, it would cost me something. That's the kind of man he is-loyal to Appa to the point of blindness. But he knows everything. Everything. He always has.

And now... I needed answers more than anything.

"Akka!"

Rhea's voice rang behind me, pulling me back from the storm in my mind.

She came running toward me, backpack slung to one side, shoes already dirty from running around in the garden earlier. In one hand, she held her sipper-a ridiculous chocolate shake container with a cartoon sticker that had faded from too many dishwasher cycles.

"I'm going! Don't miss me too much," she said dramatically.

I smiled, walking to the foyer to see her off. " i have more thinks to do than miss you ."

She stuck her tongue out and took a loud sip from her straw. "Do you want a sip? I can give it to you, big girl."

I raised an eyebrow, amused. "No, you enjoy it. I've got all the sweetness I can handle for one day."

She grinned and skipped off to the car waiting outside. I watched until she climbed in and buckled herself up. The car pulled out of the driveway slowly, her little hand waving at me from the back window like she was heading off to war.

God, I loved her more than anything.

I turned my eyes to the hallway again. Mihir was still talking to Appa. Calm. Cool. Unshakable.

Was it Mihir who told him?

Did Appa trust him with something I wasn't allowed to know?

Was he... sent?

But that would change.

I'd have a word with him.

And I'd get what I came for.

No matter what it cost me.



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_kelly_