The garden had transformed into a graveyard of shattered illusions. The once-sweet jasmine now smelled cloying, crushed underfoot like forgotten promises. The night air hung thick and unmoving, heavy with the echo of Priyanshi's furious departure—a silence so absolute it rang in the ears like the aftermath of an explosion. Hollow. Deafening. Final.
Rudra stood rooted to the spot, hands still trembling from the phantom heat of her skin, from the way her wrists had flexed under his grip before she tore free. He hadn't chased her this time. He couldn't. Her parting words had done what no fist, no blade, no betrayal ever had: they had severed the last fragile thread tethering him to sanity.
Rudra POV
I stared at the empty black path where she had vanished, swallowed whole by the night. Her voice kept replaying, vicious and clear:
"Yes, I do! So what?"
The ghost of that "yes" coiled around my throat like poison gas, forcing its way into my lungs with every ragged breath. I looked down at my open palms—they were shaking. Me. Rudra Singh Chauhan. The untouchable heir. The man who bent the world to his will. Reduced to this: invisible. Hollow. How could she look straight into my soul and see nothing? How could she stare into the eyes of a man who had been drowning in her for years and call him nothing?
Priyanshi POV
He thinks I'm… with Ravi?
Huh.
Ravi is just my friend. My friend. How can he believe that? Why would he even—
Why?!
My lungs burned, scorched raw by the scream I hadn't let out yet. Tears blurred the edges of the world into smears of black and gold as I threw myself into the driver's seat and slammed the door so hard the entire car rocked. Inside, it was only me. Just me. No crowd. No stage. No Devraj. No Rudra.
"Why, Rudra?!" The scream ripped from my throat, jagged and animal. "Why did you do this to me?! How can you think that about me? Can't you see what's in my eyes? Can't you see?!"
Author POV
The rage crashed over her like a tidal wave—hot, wild, unstoppable. Her fingers clamped around the steering wheel until the leather creaked in protest, knuckles bleaching bone-white. Then she snapped.
Fists flew.
Bang.
For the fragile hope that had flickered alive on that stage when Devraj spoke of marriage.
Bang.
For the way Rudra's eyes had burned into her like she was the only thing that mattered.
Bang.
For the name Samaira that had turned her entire world into ash and graves.
Priyanshi POV
"I hate you!"
The shriek cracked into a sob so violent it hurt my ribs. "I hate you for making me feel something!"
I kept hammering the wheel until my hands throbbed, the sharp physical pain finally dulling the deeper, uglier ache tearing through my chest. But anger is a liar—it never lasts. It burns hot and fast, then leaves nothing behind but ash and bone-deep exhaustion.
My arms fell limp. Trembling. Bruised. I pressed both palms over my face, fingers digging into my eyelids as if I could force the memories of tonight back into the dark where they belonged. The tears weren't falling anymore. They were flooding. Drowning me from the inside.
I felt so small. So impossibly small.
Slowly, my forehead dropped forward until it rested against the cold, unforgiving center of the steering wheel. The silence inside the car was suffocating—broken only by my uneven, hitching breaths.
A bitter, broken laugh escaped me.
I used to think, as a happy little girl, that the richest people in the world must be the happiest.
Look at me now.
Fourth richest person alive.
Sitting in a car worth millions.
And I've never felt more like a beggar in my entire life.
"Ahhhh!! Aahhh!!! Oohhh! Goddd!" The words tore out of me, raw and pleading. "Please… I just want to disappear. I want the engine to roar to life and take me anywhere—anywhere—where the name Rudra Singh Chauhan doesn't exist. I want peace. God, I want peace. Just… peace."
The Confrontation: Rudra and Ayansh
Author POV
Ayansh came sprinting across the garden, chest heaving, shoes skidding on loose gravel as he spotted Rudra standing motionless—like a statue carved from grief and fury—staring into the void where Priyanshi had disappeared. He had no idea of the carnage that had just taken place. No idea that the air still crackled with the violence of unspoken love and deliberate cruelty.
He reached out, placing a careful hand on Rudra's shoulder. "Bhai? What happened? Is everything okay?"
Rudra didn't turn. His voice sliced through the night, cold and brittle as shattered glass.
"I'm going to marry her."
A relieved, almost hopeful smile broke across Ayansh's face. "To… Priyanshi? Bhai, I knew you'd finally—"
Rudra spun with terrifying speed. In one brutal motion, his fingers curled into the collar of Ayansh's kurta and yanked him forward until their faces were inches apart. His eyes were no longer the dark, possessive fire Ayansh knew—they were a storm of raw, bleeding agony laced with sudden, venomous hatred.
"Priyanshi?" Rudra's voice dropped to something low and lethally dangerous. "Who? I don't know anyone by that name. And if you value our friendship, you'll forget her too."
Ayansh flinched as if slapped, stunned by the sheer poison dripping from every word. He swallowed hard, voice trembling. "Then… who are you going to marry?"
Rudra's grip tightened for one heartbeat before he released him with a shove. "Whoever my father chooses. I will marry Dad's choice. If my heart can't decide, then let my bloodline decide. Tell him I'm ready for whatever alliance he has in mind."
Ayansh's hands came up instinctively, prying at Rudra's wrists even though the hold was already gone. Worry flooded his features, raw and helpless. "Bhai, you don't even know her name. Why are you doing this to yourself? Please, don't throw your life away. You and Priyanshi—"
Rudra shoved him back—hard. "The word 'love' does not exist in the dictionary of Rudra Singh Chauhan. Not anymore."
He turned on his heel, shoulders rigid, every line of his body screaming restraint and ruin. His silhouette melted into the shadowed silhouette of the mansion, leaving only darkness in his wake.
Behind him, Ayansh stood frozen, whispering to the empty garden like a prayer no one would answer.
"Please, brother… don't do this."
To my readers…
My babies… my poor, screaming, crying, throwing-phones-at-the-wall babies…
I see you.
I feel every single "RUDRA YOU IDIOT" and "PRIYANSHI BABY NOOO" exploding in the comments right now.
Yes—he thinks she meant it.
Yes—he's spiraling into the darkest, most self-destructive version of himself because the woman he's been quietly obsessed with for years just looked him in the eye and said she belongs to someone else.
Yes—he's about to walk straight into a marriage he doesn't want, just to punish her… and himself.
This hurts.
I know it hurts.
But this is the chapter where the real war begins.
Next update:
Does Rudra actually tell Devraj he's accepting the engagement?
Does word reach Priyanshi before she can even breathe again?
Will Ayansh try to stop the disaster—or will he be forced to watch his best friend destroy everything?
Drop your predictions below.
Team "Rudra marries Samaira and we all suffer" or Team "Ayansh snitches and chaos erupts"?
Team "Priyanshi finds out and finally breaks" or Team "she hardens and makes him beg later"?
I'm not sorry for the pain.
I'm only sorry it's not over yet.
The storm is here.
Hold on tight, my heartbreak army.
Someone is going to bleed for real next chapter.
See you soon.
Don't go anywhere.
💔🖤🔥
— Your author, who's hurting with you but refuses to give them peace just yet 😈