Aayansh’s POV
After dropping Ruhi home, I didn’t stay.
I told her I had some urgent work and left before she could read too much into my expression. The truth was, I couldn’t afford another delay. Whatever was circling around her life was getting bolder, smarter and I was done reacting. I needed answers.
Vikrant had asked me to meet him at a quiet restaurant on the outskirts of the city. A place with no familiar faces. No unnecessary attention.
When I arrived, he was already there seated in a corner booth, back to the wall. That alone told me this wasn’t a casual update.
I sat down across from him.
He didn’t waste time.“I found something,” he said quietly.
My jaw tightened. “About her mother?”
He nodded. “Yes. I have proof that she was involved in her husband’s accident.”
My fingers curled slowly around the glass of water in front of me. “Involved, how?”
Vikrant hesitated.“But she wasn’t alone.”
I looked up sharply. “What do you mean she wasn’t alone?”
“There was someone else,” he said. “Someone pulling strings from behind. I followed every trail I could financial records, call logs, old contacts but this person…” He shook his head once. “He’s careful. Too careful. Whatever he touched, he erased.”
A cold realization settled in my chest.
I let out a humorless scoff. “Then I think we’re chasing the same ghost.”
Vikrant frowned. “What do you mean?”
I met his eyes. “Someone is stalking Ruhi.”
The color drained from his face. “What?”
“She found a note on her car. Anonymous messages. Flowers sent with details no stranger should know.” My voice stayed controlled, but something dark moved beneath it. “And whoever it is, he’s not impulsive. He’s playing long.”
Vikrant straightened immediately. “Why didn’t you tell me this earlier?”
“Because until now, I wasn’t sure if it was connected.” I paused. “Now I am.”
Silence stretched between us, heavy and dangerous.
Vikrant leaned forward. “If it’s the same person… then this didn’t start recently. This has been building for years.”
I thought of the way Ruhi had stiffened at the flowers. The way she smiled and said it’s nothing when it clearly wasn’t.
“yes,” I said quietly. “This didn’t start with the notes. Or the messages. Or an accident.”
I looked down at the table, my reflection staring back at me angry, focused, unforgiving.
“This started the moment someone decided Ruhi was something they could own.”
And whoever that person was… He had just made the mistake of stepping into my line of sight.
…….
Vikrant’s words stayed with me long after I left the restaurant.
She wasn’t alone in this.
That single sentence sat heavy in my chest.
Someone smart. Someone careful. Someone who had helped plan the accident and then vanished so cleanly that even Vikrant couldn’t trace him.
Which meant one thing.
He hadn’t vanished.He’d just changed roles.
By the time I went to her home later that evening, my mind was already connecting pieces I didn’t want to connect. Patterns I didn’t want to see.
I waited downstairs . in front of her window. Stayed there for a while just looking. thenI watched the light in her room turn off.
Only then I leave.
Next day
I picked Ruuh from her Office .We stopped at a café on the way back Ruhi insisted. Said she wanted normal for once. I didn’t argue. I never argue when she asks for normal.
She walked a few steps ahead of me in the parking lot, phone pressed to her ear, laughing softly at something Avni bhabhi had said.
That sound should’ve calmed me.
It didn’t.Something tightened in my chest instead.
I slowed without realizing it.
That’s when I felt it.
That awareness you get when someone is watching not casually, not accidentally but with intent.
My eyes lifted.At the far end of the parking lot, near a concrete pillar, stood a man.
Black hoodie. Hands in his pockets.
He wasn’t moving.He wasn’t pretending to look elsewhere.
He was looking straight at me.
Not Ruhi.Me.
The world narrowed.
Traffic noise blurred. Ruhi’s voice faded into background static.
Just him.And me.
He tilted his head slightly, like he was assessing something already familiar.
Already known.
I didn’t step forward.Didn’t react.Because this wasn’t a threat.
This was recognition.
Slowly, deliberately, he shifted his arm. The sleeve rode up just enough to expose a thin scar across his wrist.
It lasted barely a second.But it was enough.
A message, not meant to be obvious.
I’ve been here longer than you think.
My jaw clenched.
So this was him.The one Vikrant couldn’t find.
The one who didn’t want to stay hidden anymore.
Ruhi turned suddenly.
“Aayansh?” she called. “You okay?”
I looked at her instantly.
Smiled.Softened everything.
“Yeah,” I said. “Coming.”
When I looked back
He was gone.
No footsteps. No rush. No sign he’d ever been there.
Just empty space where certainty had stood.
As I reached Ruhi, my hand settled at her lower back without thinking.
Protective.Possessive.
She leaned into me instinctively, unaware of how close the danger had just been.
But I knew.
This wasn't a coincidence.This wasn’t random.
This was a man stepping out of the shadows not to scare her.
But to warn me.And the worst part?
He hadn’t touched her.
Yet.
Which meant this wasn’t the climax.It was the opening move.
I didn’t tell Ruhi what I saw.Some truths don’t protect they burden.She noticed the changes anyway.
But she didnt ask.
We had coffee and spent some time together and then only i felt little better.
I drove her everywhere now.
Not a single stop unplanned.Not a single delay unexplained.
Her driver was replaced. Her security doubled quietly.
No uniforms. No obvious shadows.
Just men who blended in.
I memorized her schedule better than my own.
Every café she liked. Every shortcut she took. Every habit she didn’t realize she had.
She joked about it once. “You’re acting like my personal bodyguard,” she said, smiling.
I smiled back.
But inside, my jaw stayed clenched.
Because I wasn’t guarding her from danger anymore.
I was guarding her from timing.
I checked cameras myself now. Parking lots. Elevators. Corridors.
Nothing looked wrong. Which meant everything was good till now.
The man I saw didn’t rush. Didn’t threaten. Didn’t follow.
He wanted me to notice.
And that told me exactly what kind of enemy he was.
Not reckless. Not emotional.
Patient.
That night, as Ruhi slept beside me, I stayed beside her watching her breathing slow and even, I stayed awake.
Listening.
Counting seconds between sounds.
My phone buzzed once, Vikrant.
Vikrant: Still nothing. He’s invisible.
I stared at the ceiling.
“No,” I murmured to myself. “He’s standing right in front of us.”
And he was waiting for me to make the first mistake.
Unknown’s POV
He noticed.I felt it the moment his eyes locked onto mine.
Not fear. Not confusion.
Recognition.
Most men look away first.
He didn’t.
Aayansh Singhaniya had the kind of gaze that catalogued threats and remembered them.
That intrigued me.
I hadn’t planned to be seen that night.
But plans evolve.
He softened instantly when she turned around.
That part fascinated me.
How easily men lie with their bodies for the women they love.
I left before he could move.
Not because I was scared.
Because now the game has shifted.
Back in my car, I let out a slow breath.“So,” I murmured, “you’re smarter than I thought.”
He would tighten control now. More guards. More rules.
He’d think safety came from proximity.
That was his mistake.
Protection creates dependence. Dependence creates distance.
And distance?
That’s where I thrive.
I didn’t want Ruhi alone.
I wanted her to be conflicted.Torn between reassurance and restriction.
Between love and suffocation.Between him and the silence I offered.
I checked my phone.
A new contact was saved weeks ago.
Her Mom.
Still untouched. Still quiet.
Good.
Some pieces were better moved later.
I glanced once more at the house in my rearview mirror.
Lights on. Curtains drawn.
Safe.For now.
I smiled.
Because Aayansh thought he was tightening control.
What he didn’t knowWas that the tighter the grip, the more desperate the escape feels.
And soon…
Ruhi would start asking questions.
Not about me.But About him.
Write a comment ...