तू गुजर रहा है..
मेरे दिल से मेरी रूह तक..

VANI'S POV

As we moved toward the exit, a young man with a kind smile approached, holding a single white rose.

"Excuse me," he said, his tone hesitant but genuine. "I don't mean to intrude, but I saw you from across the mall. You looked... lost in thought. I thought this might cheer you up. You really look beautiful, by the way."

I froze at his words, my heart skipping a beat. His voice was soft, and the way he looked at me—it wasn't just about the flower, it was the sincerity in his gaze that caught me off guard.

Riti dii gasped, nudging me with a teasing smile. "Vani, you've got an admirer!" I looked at dii who was gushing about the scene.

"I was wondering if... maybe you'd like to go out sometime? I know it's sudden, but I thought I'd ask. No pressure."

He extended the rose toward me, his nervousness clear in the way his hand trembled slightly. I could feel the warmth of the moment, but then my gaze shifted behind him—straight to Rudra.

He was standing near a pillar, hood low over his face, but his piercing eyes burned with cold fury, locking onto me with a look that made my blood run cold.

"I... I can't accept this," I stammered, stepping back, my voice betraying me.

The man nodded, his expression softening with understanding, and without saying another word, he turned to leave.

But before he could take another step, Rudra's men appeared, grabbing him by the arms.

"Wait, what are you doing?!" the man protested, his voice rising in panic. The panic in his voice cut through the air, but Rudra remained silent, his gaze still fixed on me.

Riti dii smile faltered. "What's happening, Vani?"

But my stomach twisted. I could feel the cold weight of Rudra's presence behind me. "I... I'll explain later, dii. Just go home!" I urged, my voice trembling with urgency.

Before Riti dii could respond, I felt Rudra's hand grip my wrist tightly, dragging me away without a word.

"We're leaving," he commanded, his tone final and devoid of any mercy.

"Where are you taking me?" I demanded, my voice steady, though every instinct in me screamed to pull away. The grip Rudra had on my wrist was vice-like, unrelenting, and cold. "What are you going to do to him?"

Rudra didn't answer. His jaw was set, his silence heavy with fury.

I struggled against his hold as he dragged me down a dimly lit corridor in the mall, toward a hidden door I hadn't even noticed before. The further we went, the more the air seemed to thicken, the brightly lit world behind us replaced by shadows and damp walls.

"Rudra!" I hissed, trying to yank my wrist free. His fingers only tightened, his strength easily overpowering mine.

The door at the end of the corridor creaked open, revealing a steep staircase. The dim light from above barely reached the bottom. My stomach twisted as he forced me to follow him down, step after reluctant step.

"Stop this!" I shouted, my voice echoing off the cold, stone walls. "He didn't do anything! Why are you doing this?!"

Rudra's voice, when it finally came, was low and simmering with menace. "No man gives you flowers, Vani. No man looks at you like that. No one."

My heart pounded as we reached the bottom. The air was colder here, thicker, and the faint, metallic smell of rust and dampness hung in the air. The dungeon was dimly lit by a single, flickering bulb. It looked like something straight out of a nightmare—chains hung on the walls, and a single chair stood in the middle of the room, occupied by the trembling young man from the mall.

The man's eyes widened as he saw me, and he struggled against the ropes binding him to the chair. "Please! I didn't mean any harm!" he pleaded. "Let me go!"

"Rudra, enough!" I shouted, trying again to wrench my wrist free. He dragged me further inside, his silence more terrifying than anything he could've said.

As I stepped into the room, I shuddered. The walls felt like they were closing in, the oppressive silence interrupted only by the man's panicked breathing and the faint drip of water from somewhere unseen.

"Let me go," I said again, quieter this time, though my voice was no less desperate.

Rudra stopped abruptly, spinning to face me. His dark eyes bored into mine, filled with a chilling mix of anger and possessiveness. "No," he said firmly, his voice as cold as the air around us. "You're going to watch, Vani. So you understand."

I swallowed hard, fear and anger swirling in my chest. "Understand what, Rudra? That you're a monster?!"

He didn't respond. Instead, he turned his attention back to the man, and I felt my blood run cold as he reached into his jacket, pulling out a gun.

"No!" I screamed, my heart racing as I fought against his hold. "Rudra, stop this! You're insane!"

But Rudra ignored me, his gaze unblinking as he raised the gun. "I warned you, Vani," he said, his voice dangerously low. "No man will come near you. Ever."

I didn't think. I acted purely on instinct. My eyes darted to the guard standing nearby, his weapon holstered at his side. Without another thought, I lunged, grabbing the gun from his belt. The cold metal felt strangely heavy in my hand.

"Stop!" I screamed, pointing the gun at my own head. "If you pull that trigger, you'll watch me die first."

The room fell silent. My voice shook, but I didn't care. Rudra's eyes met mine—cold, calculating, but for a moment, I saw something else in them: hesitation.

"Vani," he said, his voice tight with fury. "Put the gun down."

"No," I said firmly, my hands trembling but my voice steady. "You want to prove how powerful you are? Go ahead. Pull the trigger. But know this—I will never let you control me. Not completely."

The tension in the room was unbearable. Slowly, Rudra lowered his gun. His hand trembled slightly as he gestured to his men.

"Let him go," he ordered, his voice harsh, but there was no mistaking the coldness in it.

The guards hesitated before they untied the man. He stumbled to his feet, tears streaming down his face, fear still evident in his wide eyes.

"Run," I whispered, barely more than a breath. "Go now."

Without a moment's hesitation, he fled, his footsteps echoing in the cold, silent corridor. I didn't dare look back. His footsteps faded into nothingness, and for a moment, I stood still, shaking. Slowly, I lowered the gun.

Rudra was on me in an instant. His hand was tight around my throat, the pressure cutting off my breath. I gasped, struggling to draw in air.

"You dare pull something like that again," he growled, his voice dangerously low. "And I will destroy your entire family. Do you understand me?"

I couldn't breathe, couldn't think. But still, I met his gaze, my vision swimming. I refused to look away, my heart pounding, my defiance still burning inside me.

"That's all you have, Rudra," I whispered, my voice raw. "Power. Wealth. Threats. But none of it makes you a man."

For a moment, his grip tightened, his fury almost overwhelming, but then, something shifted. The coldness remained, but there was a flicker of something else—something I couldn't quite place.

"No matter what you do," I continued, my voice shaking, but firm, "I will never love you. Not in this lifetime. Not ever."

His jaw clenched, his breath ragged, but instead of responding, he released me. I collapsed to the floor, gasping for air, my heart still racing.

"You don't get it, do you, Vani?" he said, not bothering to look at me. "You're mine. Every single breath you take, every step you walk, every thought in that head of yours—it belongs to me. And no one... no one... has the right to come near you. And about your doubts of me being a man, that I will prove you very soon may be before our wedding night, if you kept provoking me."

I struggled against his grip, anger flaring despite the fear bubbling inside me. "I'm not your possession, Rudra! You can't just decide who can and can't talk to me!"

His dark eyes burned with an almost maniacal intensity. "Possession?" He let out a short, bitter laugh. "You think this is about possession? This is about survival, Vani. My survival. Do you know what it's like to wake up every day, terrified that someone else will take you away from me? That someone will touch what's mine, steal what's mine?"

His voice cracked, his mask of control slipping for a moment. "I can't... I won't let that happen. Not now. Not ever."

"Rudra, this is madness!" I shouted, trying to pull away again. His hand only tightened, and his other hand cupped my face, forcing me to look into his wild, unrelenting gaze.

"Madness?" he whispered, his voice trembling with a dangerous edge. "Madness is thinking I can live without you. Madness is imagining you smiling at another man. Touching him. Laughing with him. That's the kind of madness that kills me, Vani."

I froze, unable to move, as his grip softened slightly, though his intensity remained.

"Don't you see?" he continued, his tone quieter but no less menacing. "You're the air I breathe, the blood in my veins. If anyone dares to take that away from me, I won't just destroy them—I'll destroy everything. And you'll watch me do it."

Tears stung my eyes as I shook my head. "This isn't love, Rudra. This is obsession. You're suffocating me."

He stepped closer, his lips curling into a twisted smile. "Maybe I am. Maybe I'll suffocate you so completely that no part of you is left untouched by me. You'll hate me, Vani. But you'll never leave me. Because you can't."

His words, his gaze, his entire presence—everything about him screamed control, obsession, a man so consumed by his desires that nothing else mattered. And in that moment, I realized there was no reasoning with him. This wasn't love. This was a storm I might never escape.

"You'll learn, Vani," he said, his voice void of emotion as he turned to leave. "One way or another, you'll learn." He hissed as he left me.

I sat on the cold stone floor, my throat raw, tears slipping down my cheeks.

What do you think about Vani and Rudra?