Anika left in the middle of the night.
Rahul lay on the mattress, looking at the completely crumpled bedsheets and the expensive whiskey bottle resting on the floorboard.
Recalling the events of the past few hours, he couldn't help but let a highly satisfied smirk curl his lips.
Could that be considered a 'beautiful memory'? The answer was a definitive yes.
To be completely honest, although Anika projected the image of a fierce, experienced, independent woman on the outside, she was entirely different behind closed doors. Perhaps it was the liquid courage from the whiskey, or perhaps her long-lonely heart had simply let go of all its defenses.
Actually, it wasn't Rahul who had asked her to leave; she had taken the initiative to pull herself out of bed, insisting she needed to head back.
She had used a flimsy excuse about needing to open the boutique early, but Rahul knew it was to spare her twin sister's feelings. She had to go back to their shared penthouse, no matter how late it was.
Even though she was clearly reluctant to leave. She had stayed wrapped tightly in his arms for a solid five minutes before finally forcing herself out the door!
Sitting up, Rahul glanced at the time on his phone; it was already past 2:00 AM.
His head was spinning slightly, and he desperately needed a cold shower to wash the sweat off his body. But the absolute second his feet hit the floor tiles, his legs felt like jelly. He actually had to brace himself against the nightstand.
"Seriously? Only three rounds and I'm wobbling?" Rahul muttered, shaking his head. "I guess my stamina isn't what it was during my college days!"
"It seems I definitely need to save up some Charm Points to buy those physical enhancement upgrades from the System store."
Rahul took a quick shower, threw himself back onto the mattress, and was dead to the world the second his head hit the pillow.
He slept so deeply that he completely lost track of time.
Until a sharp, frantic knocking on the door jolted him awake.
He groggily checked the time; it was only five minutes past nine in the morning.
Could Anika have come back? he wondered.
Still half-asleep, Rahul dragged himself out of bed, threw on a pair of gym shorts, and unlocked the door.
But the moment the door swung open, the lingering sleepiness vanished from Rahul's brain, instantly replaced by a wave of spine-chilling horror!
"What the hell are you doing knocking on my door?!"
Standing in the hallway wasn't Anika. It was the intensely creepy, broad-shouldered female receptionist who had propositioned him for 5,000 Taka the day before.
She was holding a familiar brown paper bag—the breakfast Anjali dropped off every morning.
But as the shirtless, visibly exhausted Rahul stood before her, the receptionist's eyes locked onto him with a terrifying, predatory stare. She actually licked her lips.
It was that exact, deeply unhinged gesture that sent a cold spike of adrenaline through Rahul's veins.
"Mr. Rahul... I... I checked the lobby CCTV last night! A... a woman went up to your room!"
"I... Mr. Rahul, I really, really like you!"
Suddenly, the receptionist dropped the breakfast bag and lunged at Rahul like a starving tiger pouncing on a gazelle. Her eyes were completely glazed over with intense, irrational longing!
Startled by the sheer madness of the attack, Rahul hurriedly stumbled backward.
But the receptionist was surprisingly fast, and the doorway was narrow. Coupled with Rahul's severe lack of sleep and his heavy physical exertion from the night before, his reflexes were heavily delayed.
Caught entirely off guard, Rahul was tackled straight to the carpeted floor.
"Mr. Rahul, I want you! If those rich girls can have you, why can't I?!"
As she shrieked, she aggressively lunged her face toward his.
Rahul's temper violently flared. Disgust and panic surging through him, he grabbed her by the shoulders and shoved her away with a massive burst of force.
He scrambled up from the ground, his chest heaving, and roared at her:
"Get the hell off me! Are you out of your psychotic mind?!"
Furious, Rahul raised his hand and delivered a sharp, forceful shove to the side of her head to knock her back into the hallway.
The physical impact finally snapped the crazed receptionist out of her delusion.
Realizing she had completely crossed the line into assault, the madness in her eyes shattered into pure terror. She began bowing and apologizing to Rahul in frantic, broken Bengali.
Rahul was a guy who rigidly believed in never hitting women, but he was genuinely enraged and freaked out by what had just happened. Forget chivalry—she had literally attacked him in his own room! In a situation like that, self-defense was absolute!
"Get out!"
Rahul pointed a shaking finger down the hallway and roared.
The receptionist, looking as if she had just been spared a death sentence, ducked her head and sprinted toward the emergency stairwell, vanishing from sight.
"Holy crap!" Rahul gasped, slamming the door shut and locking the deadbolt.
"What the hell was that?!"
"I, a grown man, just got tackled to the floor by a crazed hotel clerk? If I told Kabir this, he'd think I was hallucinating!"
Pacing the room, the more Rahul thought about it, the angrier and more freaked out he got. Any remaining traces of sleepiness were completely gone.
It seemed this 'Karma Succubus Attribute' bound to his soul wasn't entirely a blessing.
Looking like a literal Greek god was an actual safety hazard!
If he traveled to an even more dangerous, lawless country and accidentally attracted the attention of an extreme, unhinged stalker, or worse, a local cartel boss's daughter... wouldn't he be completely helpless?
Thinking of this, Rahul's burning desire to unlock the 'Master-Level Combat Skills' from the System reached an unprecedented peak!
He absolutely needed a reliable means of self-defense! Otherwise, if a group of guys ever cornered him to kidnap him for a crazy admirer, he wouldn't even have the ability to fight his way out.
He was currently sitting at 3 Charm Points. He was only 2 points away from affording the combat upgrade. He had to pick up the pace!
With that terrifying realization, Rahul didn't even bother washing his face. He threw on a t-shirt, strapped on his watch, and began frantically stuffing his clothes into his backpack.
He couldn't stay in this sketchy budget hotel for another second. He didn't care if the Agoda booking was non-refundable for the rest of the month. There was absolutely no way he was sleeping in a building where a psychotic staff member had a master key to his room!
Just thinking about being pinned to the floor by that woman made his blood boil with sheer discomfort.
Since he was traveling light, everything was packed in under five minutes.
But as he grabbed his backpack and his DJI camera, he froze.
Where exactly am I going to go?
Although he could easily open an app and book a premium suite at the Westin or Sheraton, there was a massive glaring issue. He had called SBI and HDFC to block all his credit and debit cards the day his wallet was stolen at the airport.
His money was frozen. His Google Pay balance attached to his bank account was practically empty and useless for international hotel bookings. He literally had the 5,000 Taka Samina had given him yesterday, which wouldn't even cover one night at a luxury hotel.
He was completely and utterly broke.
At that moment, Rahul suddenly remembered Anika complaining about his room the night before. 'How can a guy like you stay in a cheap place like this? Pack your bags and move into my penthouse.'
Her place was a massive, highly secure luxury flat.
More importantly... if he stayed at the sisters' penthouse, he could actively work on farming Anisha's share of Charm Points while he was at it!
With that highly pragmatic thought, Rahul made his decision.
He pulled his phone out and immediately dialed Anika on Instagram audio.
At that exact moment, across the city, Anika and Anisha had already arrived at their boutique in the high-end mall and had just flipped on the display lights.
Anisha wasn't stupid; she knew exactly where Anika had gone the night before.
Right now, the way she was looking at her younger twin was freezing cold. During the entire drive to the mall that morning, Anisha had responded with one-word answers whenever Anika tried to speak to her.
The silent treatment was making Anika feel a heavy sense of guilt, exactly like she had been caught stealing her sister's favorite toy.
Just as Anika was debating making Anisha a premium espresso to break the ice and have a genuine talk, her phone buzzed with an incoming voice call from Rahul.
Glancing nervously at her sister, Anika swiped to answer.
"Rahul? Good morning. What's wrong?"
Hearing Rahul's name, Anisha immediately stopped arranging the designer dresses on the rack. She turned her head, her sharp eyes locking onto her sister.
"What? Are you serious? A staff member attacked you?!" Anika gasped, her eyes widening in pure shock.
"Okay, get your bags. Wait in the lobby. I'm coming to pick you up right now!"