Morning arrived quietly, but the tension from the previous night refused to fade.
Aara stood in front of the mirror, adjusting her hair, her thoughts tangled far beyond the simple routine of getting ready. The party still clung to her mind—Kabir's silence, his unreadable stare, the way his presence had followed her even after she left.
She hadn't slept well.
Every time she closed her eyes, she saw him standing there, unmoving, watching her like she was something slipping out of his grasp.
I did the right thing, she told herself while picking up her bag.
Distance is necessary.
Yet her chest felt heavy, as if her heart disagreed.
---
The office buzzed with its usual rhythm—keyboards clicking, phones ringing, footsteps echoing across polished floors. Normally, it grounded her.
Today, it didn't.
She was hyper-aware of every sound, every movement around her. And of one absence.
Kabir Rathod hadn't arrived yet.
She didn't know why that unsettled her so much.
As she walked toward her desk, she felt it again—that subtle awareness. The feeling of being watched. She looked up instinctively.
Kabir stood near the glass wall of his cabin.
Their eyes met.
For a fraction of a second, everything else disappeared.
No anger.
No distance.
Only something sharp and unspoken.
Then he looked away.
Aara exhaled slowly, unaware she had been holding her breath.
---
Kabir entered his cabin and shut the door behind him, his expression unreadable to the world outside—but not to himself.
She was avoiding him.
Not openly.
Not dramatically.
But in the way she angled her body away.
In the way she kept conversations short.
In the way she didn't look back.
It bothered him more than it should have.
More than he was willing to admit.
He loosened his tie, pacing the length of the room.
She thinks this will stop me.
The thought stirred something dark and restless inside him.
Control had always come naturally to him—business, enemies, negotiations, empires built and destroyed. He knew how to dominate chaos.
But Aara wasn't chaos.
She was something else entirely.
And that made her dangerous.
---
Later in the day, Aara found herself in the corridor with Rahul. He noticed the tension immediately.
"You're quiet today," Rahul said casually.
Aara forced a small smile. "Just tired."
Rahul stopped walking. "It's Kabir, isn't it?"
She stiffened.
"I don't want to talk about him."
Rahul studied her carefully. "You don't have to. But be careful."
She looked at him. "Careful of what?"
"Of how deeply he gets under your skin," Rahul replied honestly. "Kabir doesn't do anything halfway."
Aara swallowed. "That's exactly the problem."
---
That evening, Rahul walked into Kabir's cabin without knocking.
Kabir didn't look up. "This better be important."
"It is," Rahul said. "It's about Aara."
That got his attention.
Kabir leaned back slowly. "Go on."
"You're crossing lines," Rahul said firmly. "She's uncomfortable."
Kabir's jaw tightened. "I've never touched her."
"I'm not talking about that," Rahul snapped. "I'm talking about the way you look at her. The way you react when she's not near you."
Kabir stood up.
"You think I don't know what I'm doing?" he asked coldly.
"I think you're losing control," Rahul replied. "And that's dangerous—for her."
Silence filled the room.
Kabir finally spoke, his voice low. "I won't let anything happen to her."
"That's not what scares me," Rahul said. "What scares me is how far you'll go to make sure of that."
Rahul left before Kabir could respond.
Kabir stood still, fists clenched.
I would burn the world if it meant keeping her safe.
The realization didn't shock him.
It should have.
---
Aara – Late Evening
At home, Aara sat beside her mother, helping her fold clothes. Her brother chatted endlessly about his day, filling the room with warmth and normalcy.
She smiled. Laughed. Listened.
But part of her remained elsewhere.
With him.
Her phone buzzed.
A message.
Kabir: We need to talk.
Her heart skipped.
She stared at the screen for a long moment.
Then she typed.
Aara: I don't think that's a good idea.
The reply came instantly.
Kabir: Running won't change what's already there.
Her fingers trembled slightly.
Aara: Maybe it will save us from something worse.
No reply.
The silence felt louder than any words.
---
Kabir stared at his phone, the screen dimming in his hand.
Something inside him snapped—not violently, but decisively.
He walked toward the window, the city lights reflecting in his eyes.
His underworld contacts had already been stirring. Deals waiting. Threats moving. Shadows growing longer.
And now, Aara was standing too close to that world.
I can't pull her in.
But he couldn't let her walk away either.
For the first time in years, Kabir Rathod felt fear.
Not of enemies.
Not of death.
But of losing the one person who had unknowingly become his weakness.
---
Aara
That night, Aara lay awake, staring at the ceiling.
She knew one thing now—
Whatever was growing between her and Kabir was no longer simple.
It was intense.
Unbalanced.
And dangerous.
And once lines like these were crossed—
There was no going back.