♤ Ryan ♤
I know she's looking.
Not just curious.
Hungry.
And hunger? Hunger is dangerous when it's not controlled. It leads to desperation. Stupid choices. Reckless moves.
Anvitha Ramaswamy is desperate.
Not to be with me-not yet. But to *understand* me. To unravel the mystery she's convinced I am.
I should feel flattered.
But instead, I feel amused.
Because she thinks she's the only one playing this game.
She thinks slipping into my bedroom, straddling danger with a knife in her hand, was a power move. But she forgot that I already knew she'd come.
Because wildfire? It always leaves smoke.
And she's been burning since the moment we met.
I'm watching her.
Not through cameras.
Not through shadows or guards.
I'm watching her through her moves. Her hesitation. Her choices. Her lies to Devraj. Her search history. The PI she just hired? Karan? Yeah, I know him. He worked for me once. Still owes me.
She thinks she's searching for truth.
But what she doesn't know is... every truth she's about to find has already been curated.
By me.
Because if you're going to let someone dig your grave, you might as well hand them the shovel and pick the spot too.
I sip my black coffee, watching the sunrise through the glass. The world outside is painted gold. Perfect. Clean. Almost holy.
But nothing about me is holy.
And neither is she.
She just doesn't know it yet.
The girl thinks I'm the threat.
But Anvitha Ramaswamy? She's the kind of threat men like me carve altars for. The kind we bleed under. The kind we break.
And she's already breaking.
I tasted it on her lips.
I felt it in the way her body moved under mine.
She thinks I touched her darkest place that night.
But I haven't even begun.
She left like a storm, the kind that rattles you long after it's passed.
Even as I sat on the edge of the bed, her scent clung to the air- caramel and cofee. And temptation. And delicious. My fingers were still damp with her need, and my jaw still ached from restraint. I could have had her. Right there, on my bed. I could've made her scream my name until the dawn blushed for us. But I didn't. Because Anvitha Ramaswamy isn't just another girl. She's a war worth playing. A conquest worth every stolen second.
But fuck, she makes it hard not to lose control.
I lean back against the headboard, exhaling as the adrenaline slowly fades. My fingers brushed my lower lip-still tingling with the taste of her mouth. The fight in her. The fire. God, what would she do when she learns the truth? When she realizes just how deep I've sunk my claws into the world she calls her own?
She's searching now. I saw it in her eyes.
The questions.
The suspicion.
The hunger to piece together a puzzle that was never meant to be solved by her.
I warned her. Gave her every chance to back off. But Anvitha doesn't stop when she's told. She pushes. Claws. Scratches until blood blooms.
A knock pulled me from my thoughts.
"Sir?"
It was Ashwin, my driver and my second most trusted person. Loyal. Quiet. Knows when to speak and when to shut the hell up.
"Yes?"
"The PI you requested update from... they have started their shadowing. Target: Mihir Devkaran. Secondary target: you ."
I smirked. Smart girl. Using her father's resources and yet sneaking behind him. But what she doesn't know is that I had eyes on her before she even knew my name.
"Let them continue. Don't interfere."
"Yes, sir."
As he left, I got up and walked to the large window overlooking the garden. The swing was still, unmoved by the wind.
Much like her.
But storms don't stay still for long.
I pulled out my phone and opened the app that let me access security footage. I rewound to midnight. Her climbing my fence. Disabling the guard cameras with Raven's help. Entering my bedroom like a thief of sin.
I watched it all.
Again.
And again.
She thought she had the upper hand. That she could scare me with a knife. That she was hunting answers.
What she didn't realize?
I was letting her.
Because there are only two ways to get someone obsessed: with fear or with desire.
She was now tangled in both.
And she didn't even know it.
The mansion was silent again.
Except for the quiet hum in my head-the one that never stopped when it came to her.
Anvitha Ramaswamy. The girl who tasted like rage and ruin. Who broke into my house, tried to own the moment, and walked out like she hadn't just left a part of herself behind on my sheets.
I dropped into the leather chair in front of my fireplace, poured myself a glass of 18-year Glenfiddich, and let the silence settle. But not for long. Because there's no silence in war-only pauses between battles.
And I'm at war with her.
With every breath, every narrowed gaze, every sarcastic word she throws like knives wrapped in silk.
She wants answers?
She'll get them.
Just... not on her terms.
I was still staring at the screen when I heard the door creak open. No knock, no warning. Just bold footsteps and the soft rustle of fabric.
Of course. Only one person had the audacity to walk in without permission.
I didn't bother turning.
"You're brooding again," came that too-familiar voice-dry, amused, and already full of judgment.
I sighed. "And you're sneaking into rooms again."
Riyana-my sister, my chaos, the only person who could both annoy me and calm me in the same sentence-plopped down on the armchair across from me, wrapping her arms around her knees. She wore one of my old hoodies, the sleeves pulled down over her hands, and her dark hair was up in a messy bun like she just rolled out of bed.
Which she probably did.
"I wasn't sneaking," she said, sipping from the mug she brought in. "I was thirsty. And curious. So I came to see if you were still awake or lying dead in a pool of emotional repression."
"I'm fine."
"You always say that when you're not."
I leaned back, letting my head rest against the chair. "It's late."
"Exactly. You should be asleep. Or doing something other than obsessing over security footage and business files."
"Didn't know you were my therapist now."
"I'm not. Therapists get paid." She raised an eyebrow. "I do this out of sheer sibling obligation."
I glanced at her. "And what exactly are you 'obligated' to do?"
"Watch you self-destruct in slow motion," she said with a mock sigh. "Honestly, it's kind of boring. You used to be more dramatic."
I gave her a look. "Can you just say what you came to say?"
She grinned. "I saw her."
That got my attention. "Saw who?"
"Don't play dumb. Anvitha. You left the camera feed open. Again."
I didn't reply.
"She looked..." Riyana paused. "Like she didn't know whether to stab you or kiss you."
"Sounds accurate."
"Except," she added, smirking, "you already kissed her. Didn't you?"
I didn't respond. That was enough of an answer.
Riyana leaned forward, putting her mug down on the table beside her. "You like her."
"I never said that."
"You don't have to." Her voice softened. "You act different around her. You get this look... like you're trying to figure her out but also don't want her to figure you out."
I rubbed my face. "It's complicated."
"It always is with you."
There was silence for a beat.
Then she said, "She broke into the house, Ryan. Into your room."
I laughed a little at that. "She was holding a knife."
"Sounds romantic."
"Sounds like attempted murder."
Riyana grinned. "And yet you didn't call security. You didn't drag her out. You let her stay."
I didn't know what to say to that.
She tilted her head. "You trust her?"
"No," I answered too quickly. "But... I don't want to lose her either."
Now that caught her off guard. The teasing in her expression faded. "Wow. You actually admitted that."
I shook my head. "Don't make it a thing."
"Too late. It's already a thing."
I looked at her again. She looked older tonight. Not just in age-she was twenty-two now-but in her eyes. She'd grown up. Maybe faster than either of us wanted. Being a Raichand does that to you.
"I don't know what I'm doing," I admitted, quietly.
"That's a first," she said, but without sarcasm. "You always pretend you have every move calculated."
"I usually do."
"And now?"
I looked at the screen again. A paused image of Anvitha's face, caught mid-expression, mid-fire.
"Now I think... I've met someone who messes with my rules."
Riyana didn't respond right away. Then she stood, walking over to my desk. "Do you like being in control so much that you'd rather ruin something good than admit you're scared of not being in charge?"
I didn't answer.
She leaned on the edge of the table. "You can't keep playing games with people's hearts and expect them not to fight back. And Anvitha? She will fight back. She's not scared of you."
"I know."
"She might even break you."
I gave her a tired smile. "Maybe I need to be broken."
Riyana blinked, like she didn't expect that. Then she nodded, slowly. "Just don't push her away before she decides to walk on her own."
She started walking toward the door. Then paused. "By the way... you still owe me a shopping trip."
I blinked. "What?"
She grinned. "You're clearly in a giving mood lately. And your guilt is an excellent currency."
With that, she left, the door clicking shut behind her, leaving me in silence again-but not the same kind of silence.
This one... felt warmer.
The silence settled once Riyana left, but my thoughts didn't. Her voice still echoed in my head like an old record. Always nosy, always loud - but she wasn't wrong.
I leaned forward, clicked open my private drive, bypassed all the business files and surveillance logs, and hovered over a folder I hadn't touched since I updated it two nights ago.
"Personal Inquiry - R"
Click.
A single subfolder.
"MAYRA"
Her name glowed faintly on the screen - soft, simple, and untraceable.
But I knew exactly who she was.
Mayra. Age 18. Student. Lives in Delhi.
No history. No guardians. No legal documents under any family registry. Just a girl who should've never surfaced.
But she did.
And now she was under my protection, whether she knew it or not.
Anvitha doesn't know she exists. Yet. And she won't. Not until I decide it's time.
I closed the folder, leaned back in my chair, and stared out the window as the night deepened.
There are secrets in this game. Some so dangerous, they're better hidden than used.
Mayra is one of them.
And when the truth comes out - it won't just ruin Anvitha's world. It'll shatter it.
But not yet.
Not tonight.
Tonight, I'll let her chase shadows.
I'm just not telling her that some of them bleed.
As I grab my phone and open the inbox of only person who living in my mind rent free since I saw her in that ruins.
I still remember they way she was holding my hand with that steel grib as her life was depend on it and in that moment it was.

The next chapter will be released once it gets 10 votes.
Thank you.
_kelly_
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