Some people fall for the hero. Kiara never did.
The library was quiet, save for the faint hum of the ceiling fan above and the occasional turning of a page. Kiara sat cross-legged behind the tall oak desk, tucked into the farthest corner of the room. The world outside the windows was blue-grey and forgettable — just like every other monsoon evening. But inside her head, a storm raged.
Her eyes flicked across the yellowed pages of the paperback novel she was supposed to catalog before the weekend. She had stopped pretending to work twenty pages ago.
"He kissed her forehead with trembling hands, whispering how he'd wait—no matter how long it took—for her heart to return his."
Ugh.
Kiara shut the book halfway , her fingers still caught between the pages like a trap. A thin frown played on her lips. Why do they always ruin them?
She leaned back in her chair, staring at the ceiling for a moment before letting out a slow, controlled breath. She had loved the beginning of this novel. The setup had been perfect: the brooding businessman Reyansh, ruthless and brilliant, mistaken Arina for the woman who once saved him when he was nothing but a shadow of himself. A three month of marriage born out of that illusion. The discovery of the truth. The divorce. And then—
Then came Advika. The "real" heroine. Sweet. Forgiving. Hopeful.
Weak.
Kiara's eyes sharpened. Advika didn't deserve him. No, she wasn't good enough to be the object of Reyansh's obsession — not when she chose someone like Aditya over him. Aditya, the good man, the so-called perfect male lead, with a noble heart and soft words. The type of man Kiara wouldn't trust to survive a single bad day in her world.
She re-opened the book, skimming past the chapter heading.
"Reyansh watched them from the shadows. His eyes, once cold, flickered with something dangerous. She had chosen Aditya. Fine. But choices came with consequences."
Kiara smiled faintly. That was the Reyansh she liked. Uncompromising. Sharp. Possessive. The kind of man who didn't ask to be loved. He made you feel it, whether you wanted to or not.
A soft rumble of thunder rolled outside. Kiara barely noticed.
It wasn't love Reyansh had felt for Advika — she knew that, even if the book tried to label it so. It was obsession. A bone-deep hunger to claim what once belonged to him. The twisted loyalty of a man who never forgot a kindness — even when he bled trying to return it.
And it didn't surprise her that the writer had killed him off.
That's how stories always went, didn't they?
The dangerous ones never made it to the last chapter.
Because if Reyansh had survived, Advika might have eventually understood. Might have fallen for the storm instead of the sunshine. And maybe — just maybe — she would've become something more than another soft-hearted woman waiting for someone to love her gently.
But she wasn't like Advika. Kiara knew that.
When she wanted something, she didn't wait to be chosen. She took.
Just like Reyansh.
Their darkness was different in tone but not in kind. He had let Arina go when he realized she wasn't the one. Kiara wouldn't have. If she ever claimed someone, no mistake or confusion would be enough to give them back. Not to fate, not to anyone.
But arina doesn't deserve Reyansh obsession.she was too soft and quiet for that.
Her gaze softened as she re-read the last scene. Reyansh, cold and quiet, staring at the couple who had everything he was denied. The accident came swiftly. Blood on pavement. A twist of metal. No redemption. No revenge. Just silence.
It wasn't fair. Not because he died, but because he died before he could win.
Kiara snapped the book shut. She didn't cry. She didn't even flinch.
She simply tucked the book under her arm and turned off the library lights. The shadows folded around her like old friends.
Reyansh wasn't the villain in her story. He was the mirror.
And she wasn't interested in heroes.
Not in fiction.
Not in life.
Not ever.