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Aaradhya's POV:

Silence.

The air felt heavier now, like it had been tainted by him. His presence, his scent—everything about him lingered even after he was gone.

I exhaled shakily, my legs giving out as I collapsed onto the cold marble floor.

My fingers curled into fists against my lap.

She should scream. She should cry. She should break something.

But she did none of those things.

Because deep down, she knew—there was no point.

The walls around her were too high. The doors are too heavy. The windows are just another illusion of a freedom she’d never have.

Rudra Veer Rathore hadn’t just locked her inside a penthouse. He had locked her inside his world.

My stomach twisted.

My mind replayed the moment he had caught me—the way his arms had encaged me, the way he had whispered against my ear like he had already won.

Because he had.

A hollow laugh bubbled up in my throat. He let me run just to watch my fail.

A fresh wave of humiliation burned inside my chest, but before I could fall apart, I forced myself to stand.

No.

She wouldn’t let him see her weak.

She wouldn’t let him win.

My steps were slow, unsteady, as I moved deeper into the penthouse. Every inch of it screamed luxury, power, and control. His world was dipped in gold and sin, but all I saw was a cage.

A glass of water sat on the bedside table. My throat was dry, aching.

I reached for it with trembling fingers—

Clink.

My breath stalled.

A small object glimmered beside the glass.

A phone.

Aaradhya’s pulse spiked. Why would he leave this here? Was this a test? A mind game?

My fingers hesitated before I snatched it up, my hands shaking as I pressed the power button.

Locked. Of course.

Her reflection stared back at her from the black screen. Eyes wide, lips parted, a girl on the edge of a war she had already lost.

My vision blurred.

No, Aaradhya. You are not weak.

I wiped at her eyes furiously. I would find a way out. I had to.

Even if it meant pretending.

Even if it meant letting him believe he had won.

My hands clenched.

She would survive him.

She would escape him.

No matter what it took.

Rudra's POV:

I leaned back in my chair, fingers steeped, my eyes fixed on the screen before me

The penthouse’s security feed displayed Aaradhya’s every movement. The way she collapsed onto the floor, her breath shaking. The way she looked around—not with surrender, but with defiance.

My lips curved slightly.

She was still fighting.

I should have expected it. Aaradhya Mehra wasn’t like the others.

Most people broke quickly in front of me—fear was a powerful tool. But she?

She still had fire in her. And that made her dangerous.

My eyes darkened as I watched her spot the phone.

Ah.

She hesitated, like she knew it was a trick, but desperation made people foolish. She picked it up anyway.

I exhaled through my nose, leaning forward slightly. My fingers hovered over the control panel.

With a single command, I could disable the device completely.

But I didn't.

I wanted to see what she would do.

Would she try to call someone? Would she cry for help?

Would she finally realize—no one was coming for her?

My jaw tightened as she pressed the power button.

Locked.

She stared at her reflection in the black screen, and for a moment—just a fleeting second—I saw something break inside her.

A crack.

Small, but there.

I exhaled, something unfamiliar twisting inside my chest.

He should feel satisfied. He should feel victorious.

Instead, his fingers curled into a fist.

She was trying to be strong.

Trying not to break.

My throat felt tight, a foreign sensation crawling under my skin.

Why did it matter?

Why did she matter?

He had owned people before. He had destroyed them, bent them to his will. This wasn’t any different. She wasn’t any different.

Then why the hell was he still sitting here, watching her, feeling something he shouldn’t?

My gaze flickered back to the screen.

Aaradhya wiped at her eyes, steeling herself again.

Something about the sight made my chest tighten, made my grip on the armrest turn white-knuckled.

She won’t last long.

He told himself that.

But deep down, a part of him wondered—was he breaking her, or was she breaking him?

Aaradhya's POV:

Sleep didn’t come.

Aaradhya lay curled on the massive bed, staring at the ceiling, every inch of her body stiff with exhaustion, yet too restless to surrender to sleep.

Her mind wouldn’t stop. Wouldn’t let her forget.

The auction.
The car ride.
Rudra’s hands on her, claiming without force, but without mercy either.

I squeezed my eyes shut. He was a monster. He had to be.

Then why…?

Why hadn’t he punished me for trying to run?

Her past told her that men like him didn’t tolerate defiance. They used violence. They left bruises.

But Rudra—he had caught her, overpowered her completely, yet hadn’t laid a cruel hand on her.

And then, when she had broken, when she had let that single tear slip—he had wiped it away.

I swallowed hard.

No. No, this wasn’t kindness. It was another form of control.

Wasn’t it?

I turned onto my side, hugging myself, willing my thoughts to stop.

Then—a noise.

I froze. The sound of a door opening.

Footsteps. Slow. Measured.

I stiffened as the scent of leather and spice filled the air. Rudra.

I didn’t move. Didn’t dare breathe.

He was standing at the doorway. Watching me.

My fingers curled against the sheets. “What do you want?” I whispered.

A long pause. Then—“Did you eat?”

The question threw me off. I blinked. “What?”

“You didn’t eat.” His voice was calm, but there was something else in it. Something unreadable.

Aaradhya swallowed. She hadn’t. She hadn’t even thought about food.

Silence stretched between them.

Then, to her shock, he sighed.

The mattress dipped slightly as something was placed on the bedside table. She turned her head—a plate of food.

My stomach clenched at the sight. He… brought me food?

Confusion warred inside me as I looked up at him. He wasn’t smirking, and wasn’t taunting. Just standing there, expression unreadable.

“If you starve, you’ll be useless to me,” he muttered, almost like he was convincing himself that this wasn’t an act of care.

I should hate him for this. For trying to control me in a new way.

But for the first time, I saw it—the cracks in his armor.

He could have let me suffer. But he didn’t.

She wasn’t sure what terrified her more—his cruelty, or the possibility that there was something human underneath it all.

And that maybe, just maybe—he wasn’t the only one being trapped.

Author's POV:

Aaradhya didn’t touch the food.

Not because she didn’t want to, but because she didn’t trust the intent behind it.

Rudra was still standing there, watching her with that same cold detachment. Like she was a puzzle he was slowly putting together.

Silence stretched between them. Heavy. Unspoken words lingered in the air like a storm waiting to break.

Then, to her surprise, he exhaled sharply and sat down at the edge of the bed. Too close, yet not touching her.

Aaradhya stiffened. “What are you doing?”

Rudra ignored her question. Instead, he leaned forward, his elbows resting on his knees, fingers interlocked. His jaw was tense, as if he was debating something within himself.

Then, in a voice lower than she had ever heard from him, he said—

“I was ten when I learned that trust is a myth.”

Aaradhya blinked, her breath catching. What?

Rudra didn’t look at her. His gaze was locked on the floor, as if he was seeing something far beyond the room they were in.

“My father,” he continued, voice eerily calm, “was one of the most feared men in Italy. He ruled with blood and fire. But the one mistake he made?” A bitter chuckle escaped his lips. “He thought loyalty meant safety.”

Aaradhya’s fingers curled against the sheets. She knew she shouldn’t care. She shouldn’t listen. But she couldn’t look away.

Rudra leaned back, his expression unreadable. “He let the wrong man be too close. His own blood betrayed him. And in one night… everything burned.”

Aaradhya swallowed. This was dangerous territory.

Because for the first time, he wasn’t just the devil who had trapped her.

He was a man who had lost something.

“What happened?” The question slipped out before she could stop it.

Rudra finally met her gaze. His eyes were dark and haunted. A storm brewing beneath an ocean of control.

“I killed him.” His voice was steady, emotionless. “The man who betrayed him.”

Aaradhya’s heart pounded against her ribs.

She should have felt fear. Should have shrunk away.

But she didn’t.

Because beneath the words, beneath the confession that should have sent shivers down her spine—she saw something else.

Not just anger. Not just revenge.

Pain.

A deep, hollow pain that no amount of power could ever erase.

The realization unsettled her.

Because monsters weren’t supposed to feel.

And yet, in that moment… Rudra Veer Rathore looked more human than ever.

Aaradhya’s fingers trembled against the sheets.

She had expected Rudra to be ruthless. Cold. A monster without a heart.

But this?

This was worse.

Because now she couldn’t unsee it—the shadow behind his strength, the pain buried beneath his power.

And for some reason, it unsettled her more than his cruelty ever had.

She licked her lips, her voice barely above a whisper. “Did it help?”

Rudra’s eyes flickered, a slight furrow appearing in his brows. “What?”

“Killing him,” she said, throat tight. “The man who betrayed your father.”

For a moment, he didn’t answer.

Then—a humorless smirk.

“No.”

The single word hung between them, heavier than any confession.

Aaradhya inhaled sharply. She had expected him to say something cruel, something detached—but instead, he looked almost… tired.

“You think revenge brings peace, gattina?” Rudra murmured, tilting his head slightly. “It doesn’t. It only leaves you with more ghosts.”

Her chest tightened.

She didn’t want to care. She didn’t want to understand him.

But how could she not?

They weren’t the same. But in this—**in knowing what it felt like to lose everything—**they weren’t so different either.

Aaradhya clenched her jaw. No. She couldn’t go down this path.

He was still her captor.

Still the man who had taken away her freedom.

She couldn’t forget that.

But when she looked at him again—**really looked—**something had changed.

Because for the first time, she wasn’t just afraid of him.

She was afraid of what she was starting to see beneath all that darkness.

Something raw. Something real.

And that terrified her more than anything else.

Aaradhya didn’t know how long she stared at him.

For the first time, Rudra didn’t look like an untouchable monster.

He looked human.

But just as quickly as that crack in his armor appeared, he sealed it shut.

Rudra blinked once, his smirk returning—cold, unreadable, controlled.

“Careful, gattina.” His voice was smooth again, effortless. “Look at me like that any longer, and I might think you care.”

Aaradhya’s breath caught.

There it was.

That wall. That impenetrable fortress of arrogance and indifference.

The moment was gone.

The man she had seen—**the one burdened by ghosts—**was buried beneath layers of control once more.

Aaradhya swallowed down the lump in her throat. Fine. If he wanted to shut her out, she would let him.

“I don’t care,” she murmured, looking away.

Rudra chuckled. “Good.”

Then, as if the last few minutes had never happened, he stood up, straightening his suit. The air around him shifted—no longer a broken man in the dark, but a king reclaiming his throne.

“Get some sleep.” He strode toward the door, his voice all commanded once again. “Tomorrow, we start setting up some rules.”

Aaradhya’s fingers curled into the sheets.

Rules.

Of course. She was still his prisoner.

And yet—

As the door clicked shut behind him, sealing her in once more, she couldn’t ignore the truth clawing at her mind.

For a fleeting moment, she had seen the man behind the monster.

And worse?

She wasn’t sure which one scared her more.

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