Shivoham's pov.

I walked down the stairs with my eyes trailed on Sabiq's profile, my best friend whom I have always counted as my brother.

I never thought that my only brother would become the sole enemy of my love.

The love that I did not realize till yesterday but the time I saw Chandni melting in his arms I knew what I felt for her was not an obsession but a devotion.

A Love which was a sin in her eyes but for me it was the only way love that was true.

She is the woman of my destiny because I want her and I will make it sure to have her.

As I went closer to him he sensed my presence and looked at me.

I could see a sign of dilemma in his eyes. He was calm yet too tangled within his own thoughts.

"Sabiq," I approached him with a nod and took a seat on the couch in front of him.

"How are you Shivoham?" he asked me the first thing..I was not expecting this question from him.

"I am good. Why are you asking me this ?" I asked genuinely confused. We were never formal friends to ask each other 'how are you'. We have always been open with each other, never hiding anything from each other until I fell for Chandni.

He took a sigh before taking a pause. It looked like he was contemplating something in his mind. "Is everyone in the family okay ?" I asked, concerned, no matter what happens his family is mine and he is my friend.

I know I will indirectly hurt him when Chandni will come to me leaving him alone but he has to tolerate the separation in the same way I am tolerating their closeness.

"Everything is fine at home. I am here to say sorry for my last night's outburst. You were just trying to help Chandni and I snapped at you. I even doubted you.." he stopped as guilt clasped his features.

I let out a breath. Yes it hurted. It hurted alot when my best friend thought that about me.

Was he wrong to doubt me ? Definitely not.

He was trusting his girlfriend more than his best friend. Was he wrong to do that ? Again no because if I was in his place I would have done the same. Because when you love someone you have to give them your full trust especially when you love someone like Chandni.

She is exactly like her name. The pure light of the moon. How can someone not believe her?

"You don't have to apologize, Sabiq. I understand what you must be going through last night. If it was Tara in Chandni's place I would have acted in the same way you did," the lie rolled down my tongue like butter because no matter what happens I can never get that much possessiveness for Tara.

She is a beautiful girl, yes. A wife material, yes. But she is not my Chandni. If I ever behave irrationally for anyone then it will be for Chandni, only for her.

I had enough of ignoring her, trying to let her go, set her free and think about the friendship that I share with Sabiq.

Now it is time to make her mine and for that if I have to snatch her from Sabiq then I will do it.

"I am glad you have not taken anything to heart."

Of course not Sabiq. I have only taken your so-called girlfriend to my heart.

"I know it will affect our friendship but I will no longer meet you like I generally do," he said, taking my attention.

"Chandni does not like you and Tara. She thinks you guys don't like her because according to her she had taken Nusrat's place in my life. If you ask me then I can not blame her. Last night I could clearly see judgement in Tara's eyes for Chandni," he said, his words turning hard at the end.

He was not wrong..no matter how beautiful Tara was she was ugly from inside.

She was filled with insecurity, jealousy and blind trust. Out of which my gain was her blind trust. It satisfies my ego when she believes me blindly and treats me like her god.

A man can play with a woman's body but only a powerful man like me could play with a woman's mind and that is what I will do with my sweet rose.

I looked at Sabiq dead in the eyes as he expected me to say something.

Our friendship was not a friendship which could break if we did not talk for a few days. Even if we stay away from each for years our friendship will be as strong as it was always. Sabiq also knows that so it would not be a big deal if we don't meet like we are used to.

"It's fine Sabiq. Love comes first and everything last," I said because that is what I have come to realize recently.

For me Chandni comes first and everyone last.

....

It was not a great start of the day for Chandni.

As she did her breakfast every girl on the hostel mess was talking about her and that too not so quietly.

Apparently Shree, her biggest hater in the hostel , had seen Sabiq leaving her room this morning and within a few hours she had made it the breaking news of the hostel.

"So you have started work from home oops I mean to say work from hostel room," said Shree placing her breakfast plate on the table at which Chandni was sitting.

Chandni rolled her eyes not wanting to give the entertainment to her hostel mates. Standing up she held her plate and was ready to go sit somewhere else when three more girls came and stood in front of her, stopping her from moving forward.

Few more girls came and surrounded her from the four sides,"If you don't want us to beat you and make a pulp out of your pretty face then sit down and simply answer my question," Shree spat.

"Are you seriously threatening me now !" Chandni asked, not believing that they are actually ganging up on her like some school kids.

"Yes I am. If you don't want to escalate the matter then simply sit down and have your breakfast with us."

Chandni let go of sigh knowing pretty well they will create a bigger drama if she does not follow Shree's words. She sat down in her previous spot and started eating her food silently.

"So you started working from your room hn ?" Shree asked with a dirty glint in her eyes as everyone in the mess had their ears open to their conversation.

"What do you mean ? I am not getting you ?" Chandni asked nonchalantly as she chewed on her salad, not even looking at her.

"What I mean is now you started calling your customers in your room," Shree said with a smirk.

"I saw a man leaving your room even before the sun rose. I am sure he was not teaching you journalism all night long. We all know you sell your body for a few extra bugs but we never expected you to be so brave and call your customers to your hostel room. You must be fucking him for money because he looked drop dead gorgeous and filthy rich. I am sure..."

"Enough !!" Chandni yelled before Shree could vomit more lies.

She glared at Shree. Her eyes were red out of anger and if it was in her hands she would have killed Shree there and then.

"Stop with your bullshit or else I will end up strangling your throat and all your bitches will soon meet your corpse," Chandni gritted out through her clenched teeth.

She was shaking in fury but she tried to control herself from doing something controversial like giving a tight slap on Shree's face.

"The man you are talking about is my boyfriend so don't degrade him by calling him my customer. He loves me. That is why he was with me in my room so that he could take care of me. If you utter one more rubbish thing about him I will kill you," Chandni warned her with a deadly look in her eyes.

"And all of you," she said, turning her eyes to everyone in the hostel mess,"If you say one more thing bad about me I would not think twice before complaining about it to my boyfriend. Believe me he is filthy rich he could shut your career in the snap of his fingers," Chandni twisted her fingers before giving one last deadly look to Shree who looked unaffected by her words.

Taking her bag she started walking out of the mess when Shree said something which was the last nail to the coffin,"Oh so you are not only a slut but a gold digger as well. What else can we expect from a guardianless girl like you," Shree chuckled and everyone in the mess followed after her.

That was enough to raise Chandni's temper to the highest point because for the first time she did something she never did before.

Turning around she picked the steel glass from the nearby table and threw it on Shree's face.

Her aim was always top notch as in a second Shree was crying with a bleeding forehead and Chandni was sitting in the Warden's office.

"Chandni, I was not expecting this kind of enraged behavior from you. You are such an obedient kid my dear then why are you acting out this way," Sister Suzana was like an angel for Chandni. She provided her a room when Chandni had nothing..she was thankful to the sister but hearing the disappointment from her mouth for herself was making her feel ashamed and unthankful.

Even she did not understand how she easily gave up to her anger. She always ignored everyone's taunts in the hostel, especially Shree's then why she could not do it today.

"I am sorry sister. I will not repeat this again," she asked for forgiveness with her head down in shame.

Chandni then looked at Shree who was sitting on her right with a pitiful expression on her face. She was definitely trying to gain sympathy from sister as she cried silently while holding her bandaged forehead.

"Sister, Shree has said very hurtful things to me. She even called me a slut and told everyone that I sell my body for money. I feel ashamed to even say these things to you but I have no choice but to tell you this because now all the bullying is going out of hand," Chandni firmly put her words in front of sister. She was not seeking any pity but help from the hostel's sister. She never wanted to escalate the matter by complaining but the things had gotten out of hand.

Sister Suzana gave a stern look to Shree who sulked under her hard stare.

"I see," she said, adjusting her glasses and started taking Shree's class.

Finally she ordered both the girls to say sorry to each other and hug it out.

Chandni said sorry feeling genuinely sorry for hurting her physically but Shree did not mean any of it.

Chandni felt it when Shree pinched her harshly on her arm as they shared the hug."I promise you that a day will come when I will become the biggest reason for your downfall. You just wait for it," Shree hissed in Chandni's ear.

Chandni did not say a word and quietly came out of the Warden's office.

Even now she did not get the answer of why Shree hates her so much.

....

Later that day after her college, Chandni went shopping. She was going to do the anchoring in their college's convocation ceremony which is going to take place tomorrow. It was the ceremony for the doctoral graduates and she was supposed to wear a saree for the function.

She was in the local market as the shopkeepers here sell good quality clothes at much cheaper price.

"Not in bright colors Bhaiyya (brother). Show me the saree in dark colors black or grey," she told the salesman. Grey and black was the dress code of the convocation ceremony.

"And show me in the lower range. If you could show me a good saree under 500 then that would be great," she said,not wanting to spend more than that on a saree for a single day function.

She had called Peach to inform her that she is not coming to the library today. She even asked her if she had any grey or black colour saree. She would have borrowed the saree from her but Peach only has clothes in pink and white. Her favourite colours.

To her demand the salesman started showing her lower range sarees in grey and black colours.

She finally decided to purchase a grey saree. It was simple and plain.

Chandni smiled, now she only has to buy a readymade blouse because stitching the blouse for this saree will take at least two days and the convocation ceremony is tomorrow. She doesn't have that much time to stitch the blouse because she has to practice her script as well.

Chandni decided to buy it from another shop from where she mostly buys tops and readymade blouses.

Chandni was paying the bill on the counter when someone tapped on her shoulder from behind. She turned around to see who it was.

All the colour from her face was lost seeing the person in front of her.

"I hope you have not forgotten me," the lady spoke in a kinder tone.

"You..." she whispered, staring into the eyes of the woman who bluffed her that night in helping her but instead she locked her in the lion's den to be eaten alive.

Chandni gulped down her saliva as suddenly that night started revolving around her mind. If it was not for this lady she would not have been molested by Shivoham that night.

Chandni turned around and hurriedly paid the bill at the counter,"Miss I want to speak to you about that night," the woman said in a pleading tone.

Chandni flinched, feeling her so close to herself. Her heart was racing inside her chest..she knew it was impossible but the thought of this woman bluffing her again and again pushing her in the room with Shivoham chilled her spine.

"But I don't want to talk to you," Chandni said as she clumsily paid the bill and turned around to go from there. Being in the presence of that prostitute was summoning every bad memory of that night.

"Miss at least take your remaining balance," the man at the cash counter shouted but Chandni was already out of the store.

She clutched the bag to her chest as she ran away from the woman.

"Miss, please at least listen to me once. I need to talk to you," that woman shouted but Chandni didn't stop.

She ran through the crowded alleys of the market. In her way stumbling and fell down several times. Unknowingly the tears started forming in her eyes and before she could realize she felt the water on her cheeks.

"Auto" Chandni yelled for an auto as she finally came out of the heavily crowded market.

Chandni sat in the auto as soon as it stopped in front of her.

"Mother Mary Girls hostel," she wobbled out the words. She was shivering and sweating so much that the auto driver did not think twice before starting the vehicle. However, before he could start driving another woman came and entered the auto.

"M. G. road," Chandni's eyes widened hearing that voice.

Slowly she moved her eyes to the lady sitting with her on the seat. She was the same prostitute lady.

Chandni staggered back to the corner of the seat in fear. Clutching the bag tightly to her chest she whispered out,"Why are you following me ?"

"Don't worry I am not going to harm you," the woman said and then continued with guilt in her eyes,"again."

"Then what do you want from me?" Chandni hissed, trying to act brave in front of her. She then looked at the baby in the woman's arms and asked,"Whose baby is this ? Are you going to use her too like you did to me ? What can I expect from a pimp prostitute like you !" The anger mixed with disbelief rolled down her tongue as she yelled at the woman not caring about the driver who had his ears open to them.

The lady looked uncomfortable by Chandni's outburst. She glanced at the auto driver before looking at Chandni.

"She is my daughter. I was in that shop to do shopping for her," she said, a new kind of glint of love for her child raising in her eyes.

Chandni did not believe a word from her and silently glanced away from her. Being in her presence was nothing less than harassment.

"That night what I did to you was wrong," she started speaking though she did not have Chandni's eyes on her but she knew Chandni was listening to her.

"It's nothing new for us to trap girls like that but that night we really did cross our boundaries. We not only bluffed you but locked you in a room with a man who himself was not even in his proper consciousness," the last part of the sentence caught Chandni's attention and she snapped her eyes to the lady

"What do you mean by not in his proper consciousness? Though he was drunk, he was conscious enough to see what is right and wrong," Chandni gritted out, she was not hearing the sorry excuse of he did a mistake because he was drunk.

The lady shook her head, smiling a bit before telling Chandni the real truth.

"No miss...as much as you were the victim of ours he was too. He is such a rich man. In fact no one is as rich as him in this entire country. Me and my pimp knew that. We planned to trap him. He was there in the club just to enjoy his night like any other person. It was me who approached him with my good girl act and..."

"and what ?" Chandni asked, now interested in knowing the other side of the story of that night.

"And I mixed aphrodisiac drugs in his drink that actually made his sexual drive to run higher than normal. I don't know what he did that night to you," she stopped for a moment and glanced at Chandni to see her reaction.

She has Chandni's all attention to herself so she continued,"But whatever he did was under the influence of drugs. Those drugs increase lust in a person and make them do and say the things that they have never even imagined. We took him in the room to record our intimacy, him unconsciously and me...." the lady took a pause, sounding ashamed of what she had done. Although she was a prostitute, that night she really played dirty. Because of her an innocent girl was harassed and she was aware of it.

"We had planned to blackmail him with the recording and demand money from him."

"Cameras were set in that room ?" Chandni asked, shocked.

The lady shook her head,"No I had a mini camera in my locket. We were planning on focusing mainly on his face."

"Then why in all of it you pulled me ?" Chandni asked with confusion.

"By mistake I had put a little extra amount of drugs in his drink which made him turn extremely wild. To be very honest I got afraid after seeing him. Though it is my profession to satisfy men, I have not seen any man as dangerous as him. We had forgotten that he is not only the richest man of our country but highly powerful and influential too. The realizations scared me and I ran out of the room leaving the man alone in darkness who was slowly succumbing to the lust. But we need a girl to satisfy him no matter what because it was only us who had brought him to that edge and honestly miss you were an easy target that night."

"What do you mean easy target?" Chandni asked, baffled.

"You are so beautiful and extremely attractive, miss. You are too young to understand what kind of body you have got. It could drive any man crazy. Plus your innocence..it only adds allurance to your beauty. You are one of a kind girl. Innocent but tempting. That night you looked so low to me, maybe you were crying too. We used your vulnerability against you and pushed you in the dark web. Everything happened so fast that we could not think of anything else. We just wanted to give him a girl to quench his thirst. ."

"That means I was nothing but a bait for you !!" Chandni snarled.

The woman nodded ashamed of her doings. Finally the vehicle stopped at her destination and she asked for forgiveness one more time,"I am sorry miss..I can not say sorry to Mr. Shekhawat as he is out of our reach but when I saw you back in that store I could not control myself."

Chandni stared at the woman. In a plain salwar suit no one could say that she is a prostitute especially with that 1 year old child in her arms. She stumbled between hundreds of thoughts in those few minutes.

Before the woman could go out of the auto she asked her one last thing,"But what about the wounds on your face. That night you were looking injured. He did hit you. Didn't he ?"

The woman chuckled at Chandni's words and said,"I am a prostitute madam, I have hundreds of scars and wounds on my skin. I carry them all the time but the make-up helps me to hide them. And for your clarity Mr. Shekhawat did not hurt me."

"I don't believe a word you say," Chandni said.

The woman smiled before saying, "It's fine, miss. I just wanted to let you know this. You deserve to know that it was all our mistake, not yours or Mr. Shekhawat's. You both were our victims. And I swear to my daughter that whatever I say is the only truth."

With that she was gone leaving Chandni with so many questions and doubts.

In the end she only reached one conclusion.

She cannot trust her. Not after that night.

.....

The next day

The college's auditorium was bubbling and hustling with great excitement. The graduates were excited to finally get their degrees and add doctor in their names. The almost six to seven years of hard work was finally paying them off.

Chandni was on the stage going through her anchoring script one more time. She wore the same grey saree that she purchased yesterday and over it she wore the university's blazer that was especially provided to her for today's function only. It was helping her to hide her back which was completely exposed because of the backless blouse she was wearing. It was Affan's mother's and it definitely was too small for her size.

The audience had started to enter the auditorium. A big red curtain was hiding the stage's views from the audience sitting on their respective seats.

"Chandni there is one important change in the programme," Mr. Joseph, the planner of this whole event said to her.

Chandni looked at Mr. Joseph and asked him about the last minute changes.

"Chandni, the minister who was about to come as a chief guest, could not come now because he had to take an urgent flight to Delhi for a party meeting. We were informed just now."

"Ohh.. but sir his presence was necessary here. He was supposed to give doctorate awards to the awardees.Now if he will not be here then will the dean sir be awarding the certificates ?" Chandni asked.

"No Chandni. Dean sir has told me to add Mr. Shekhawat's name in place of that minister. He is one of our trustees. Dean sir invited him in for a short period of time and thankfully he said yes."

"Ohh okay sir..."

"Sir Mr. Shekhawat who ?"

"Mr. Shekhawat Chandni! The owner of Shekhawat group of industries. who else !"

That pulled Chandni to another shock. She was not ready for this. Her mind paralyzed and she found herself staring ahead blankly..

"Chandni," she came out of her shock by Mr. Joseph's voice. "We have to alter the script a little. Come on grab your pen and start the work."

Chandni nodded and grabbed the pen. "Firstofall cut out Mr. Shah's name and write Mr. Ranvijay Shekhawat in that place."

Chandni snapped her eyes at him and asked,"It is senior Shekhawat who is coming as chief guest?"

"Obviously. Who else is the owner of Shekhawat industries?"

"Oh I thought it was his grandson Mr. Shivoham Shekhawat was our chief guest," Chandni said with an uneasiness on her tone.

"Chandni we have tried to invite him tens of times but that man is a hard nut to crack. Apparently this kind of college ceremony is a waste of time for him. So no hope from him to come here," Mr. Joseph said and started giving her more interactions.

Chandni smiled relieved by the news and happily altered the previous script.

She has met senior Shekhawat only one time and that was in the mafia gala. He seemed like a good man to her. She was sure he would not remember her as she was wearing a mask that night and why would such a busy man remember a mere girl like her.

With that thought in her mind, Chandni happily practiced her script one last time.

Soon the ceremony started. Everything was going good until she was about to invite the chief guest in the auditorium.

The light dimmed in the auditorium and the spotlight shone on the entrance of the hall. Her eyes lifted with a poised smile gracing her lips and she spoke in her honey like sweet and calm voice.

"Dear teachers and students, please welcome the chief guest of today's special afternoon..."

A handsome face entered the auditorium. It knockout breath from everyone's chest. He was marvelous, a walking Adonis in his pitch black tailored suit and perfectly swept black hair.

His hazel eyes swept around the filled auditorium and at last met with the honey eyed girl who crumbled under his blank stare on the stage.

Her lips sealed. Mind blank. Heart palpitating in his presence.

"Chandni, take his name."

Someone hissed at her from behind the curtains. But she was too tangled in her emotions to speak anything.

"Chandni.. introduce him to everyone. Take his name. You are disrespecting our guest."

Someone from backstage again hissed at her.

Chandni was visibly tensed but other than Shivoham no one knew her condition.

"Chandni Now or you are not going ahead with your anchoring."

That was it as he rose his first step and walked down the long center red carpet that was especially laid for him.

Everyone stared at the dark lurking figure with utmost wonder in their eyes. He was truly a blessing in the form of a human. One would lick the floor to be in his presence and they were lucky enough to see him from so up and close.

Shivoham Shekhawat was pleasing to eyes yet too dark to continue to stare at him. Slowly everyone pulled their gaze down. Only one person was still staring into his eyes and that was Chandni.

Shivoham knew Chandni was going to fail today. She was stunned by his presence and was no longer in the state of saying another word and going ahead with her anchoring.

However he was proved wrong when Chandni took a deep breath before pulling up a kind and professional smile on her lips and saying,"All of you please welcome our chief guest, the owner of Shekhawat group of industries and one of the primary trustee's of our university Mr. Shivoham Shekhawat."

By the end of her enthusiastic voice the hall was bombarded with a loud round of applause.

Few girls came and welcomed him with a bouquet of flowers. The girls were from the first year, small, timid and were looking extremely cute in saree.

Everyone smiled as he accepted the bouquet from them and gently patted their head as they bowed down to touch his feet and take his blessings.

Chandni silently saw as they welcomed him with an aarti and put a red tilak on his forehead. The young students started hooting as they witnessed his handsomeness tenfold with a red tilak to his forehead.

Chandni proceeded with the ceremony as Shivoham took his seat beside the dean.

It was finally the time to bestow the award with doctoral awards.

"Now I would like to call our chief guest, Mr. Shivoham Shekhawat on stage. Respected sir please grace our stage with your presence," Chandni said still maintaining the professional smile on her face. There was not even a single line of fear on her face. She was acting well because from inside she was anything but confident.

She could not meet his eyes as he stepped on the stage.

The difference between them was only for namesake. Chandni tried her best to act professionally. Passing him a kind smile she requested him to give the certificates to the awardees.

Chandni announced the names of the awardees and Shivoham awarded them with certificates and doctoral awards.

Chandni took another deep breath as now after the graduation ceremony it was time to call Shivoham on the podium for his speech, right where she was standing.

"Mr. Shekhawat please come and enlighten the future of India," She said, meeting his eyes. She gestured him towards the mic and forced yet another smile.

However this time Shivoham looked past her smile.

He slowly forwarded his feet towards her and soon Chandni could feel the heat of his body embracing her from the sides.

The rhythm of her heart again pulled at a great speed. She could hear it to her ears. The skin of her palms turned clammy and gulping her saliva she opened the script for him to read.

With her trembling finger she pointed at the first line and looked him in the eyes. He was so tall that she had to raise her neck to meet his eyes. He was giant and on the other hand she was an extremely petite but voluptuous woman.

He looked down at her as she looked up to meet his eyes. Her head reached to where his heart was beating now. Erratically in the presence of his love.

"This is the speech for the chief guest. You can take help from it if you are not ready with your speech."

Chandni whispered in a timid voice. Her voice was full of fear yet so breathless. If she stands one more second this close to him she will end up fainting so instantly after saying those words she left the podium and stood on the side.

Shivoham glanced down at the speech written for him and then at her. Her eyes downcast as he looked at her. He simply passed her the page in which the speech was written. Chandni took it from his hand and saw as he looked at the awaiting audience and then started his speech.

And then he started his speech bewitching each and every person present there. Everyone listens to his each and every word with genuine attention. It was no more about his looks or aura. It was about his wisdom. He sounded like what he was. A Great businessman. The young pride of India. He soon became an inspiration for the young students present in the audience.

They did not know what was hiding behind the smart and productive mind of this handsome man. It was a tarnished soul of which Chandni had got only a glimpse of.

Chandni stared at him and wondered about the things she got to know about just yesterday. Neither she believed one word of that lady nor she believed in his previous apologies.

The truth was too transparent to get hidden by anything.

Still in between everything a part of her was wondering.

Was there really another side to the story? Was he really drugged that night?

Before she could reach the conclusion the bombardment of claps pulled her out of her reverie.

Shivoham has finished his speech.

Chandni blinked several times to come to the present.

Passing the audience a small smile she proceeded with her anchoring duties. Shivoham had already left the podium so this time she was not nervous about being close to him.

Soon the ceremony came to its end. Shivoham was out of the auditorium. Not even once he glanced towards her as he left the hall. She was thankful for it and confused too.

...

After the ceremony ended Chandni helped the other students in wrapping out the works. That held her up from leaving soon.

She glanced out of the window when everything was summed up. The clouds were raining heavily. She pursed her lips at the bad weather before checking the time on her phone. However her mood soured more when she found her phone was dead.

"Chandni, you can stay in my room.I don't think the rain will stop till midnight," one of her classmates advised and offered to stay the night with her in the college hostel.

"No margarita. I don't think I can do it. I have to go back to the hostel. You have no idea what drama is going on in my hostel," Chandni said as she got up from the floor and took off her blazer.

"Can you please submit my blazer too," she then politely requested. It was the blazer that they have got especially for today's function now they have to submit it back.

"Why not sure," Margarita said, taking the blazer from Chandni,"and I can understand the hostel situation very well. I have gone through similar situations quite a few times. By the way, are you planning to leave right away?"

"Yes I am. The last bus to my hostel is at six forty five, and it is," she glanced at the big clock on the wall,"Six thirty now. I have to leave for the bus stand now," Chandni said, wrapping her saree's pallu on her back. With no blazer her back was completely exposed now and the tight blouse was not helping her situation.

"Okay take my umbrella and be aware of the college boys. They are being too nasty nowadays."

"I will," Chandni nodded with a smile and taking the umbrella from her walked out of the college premises. The rain had slowed down and it made the situation a little better for her.

As Chandni walked she smiled at her accomplishment. Even though it was tough she did not let Shivoham's present affect her. She perfectly did the job she was provided with. It made her feel that she can still be normal without the haunting thoughts and live her life regardless of what fears she holds for Shivoham.

"Look who is going. The beauty queen of our university."

Chandni stopped when she heard that voice. Looking back she found a few boys from her college staring at her with lewd eyes. They were her seniors maybe two or three years senior.

She visibly looked disgusted by them.

Turning her eyes away from them she walked faster to get rid of them. It was an evening time that too in the middle of the rain no one was around to help her and in this situation being there with a group of rowdy boys was making her feel scared.

"Aww baby don't run away. We will take good care of you," someone from the group said and the other boys cackled up that. It was fun to catcall the prettiest girl in the university. But for Chandni it was anything but fun.

She started running away from them to reach the bus stop sooner. It was only five minutes away but still today it felt like a longer route. The umbrella got broken because of the heavy wind with the rain as she ran.

"Fucking hell guys look at that back. Isn't she got a nice ass," the comment was followed by wild whistles.

Chandni ended up crying by the time she reached the bus stop. She could not even put up a proper fight. She was alone and they were six. Wiping her tears she waited for the bus to come fast and wished she could call Sabiq to pick her up. But with her phone dead she could not do it. She doesn't even remember his number.

More tears left her eyes when the boys followed her there too.

She tried her best to ignore them but now they were eye teasing her more with vulgar comments.

"Aww sweetie, why are you crying? We are just appreciating your beauty. Learn to take compliments nicely."

"Leave me alone!" she finally snapped at them enough to tolerate their catcalls.

"Aww then baby what will you do ? Complain it to the dean ? Go and complain he is my uncle he will not take actions against me," one of the boys said while trying to touch her face but Chandni moved away in time.

"Stop touching me!!" she yelled and ran away from them out of the shed of the bus stop.

It had been more than fifteen minutes and the bus was not here. She was sure it would take more time to come to the bus stop because of the rain. The realization that she might get more verbally assaulted by her seniors sent her to the edge and she finally ended up sobbing at her situation.

She could hear the boys laughing at her crying face but she did not pay them attention and looked down crying her eyes and waiting for the bus in heavy rain.

Suddenly all the laughs that were echoing a few seconds turned silent when a car stopped in front of her.

With her brows furrowed in confusion she raised her eyes and met with his hazel ones.

Shivoham was in the driver's seat.

He was looking ahead as he opened the car's door for her,"Get in," he said blankly.

Her instant reaction was a no.

She shook her head and wiped the tears off her cheeks harshly,"No," she said.

"I said get in."

The man repeated, sending shivers down her spine.

Chandni again shook her head,"I will not."

She spoke again. She will choose to die but to be in a small space in the car with him.

Shivoham slowly pulled his glance to her. He stared at her for a few seconds emotionlessly. He could only see determination in her eyes.

"As you wish," he said before driving off from there leaving her alone there in the rain.

Chandni closed her eyes thankful that he was gone now. But her relief subsided when she felt the presence of those boys around her.

"Now we know you also want us as much as we want you," one of them said lewdly and was about to touch her face when the same car again came and stopped right in front of them.

Before any of them could even blink, Shivoham was out of the car with an iron rod in his hand. His face red with anger, eyes dilating as he raised the iron rod in air and the first hit came on the boy's arms.

Chandni gasped aloud with her eyes widened in shock. She looked as Shivoham raised the iron rod and this time hit on his back.

"Shivoham stop!! You will kill them !!" Chandni screamed but he did not listen to her.

He continued raining hits on the boys who were grunting in pain on the wet road.

Chandni looked at the scene unfolding in front of horrified. It looked like a beast had taken the control of Shivoham's mind as he hit them continuously with his face contracting in an ugly manner which was clearly showing the rage that was in him at that moment.

Soon enough the water of rain took the shade of blood. All red and flowing.

Shivoham threw the rod in the drainage that was on the side of the road.

He spat on their faces before taking Chandni's hand in his who was too stunned to whisper out a single word.

Entering in the car he started the engine,"Wear the seat belt," he said to Chandni who was still in deep shock.

"I am telling you something Chandni," he roared, his voice reverberating in the luxurious car. It finally brought her out of the shock and she looked at him terrified.

"Y-you killed them !"

She gasped as the realization dawned on her.

"No. I did not. I just broke their few bones and gave them some wounds which will remind them to not eve tease a girl ever again," Shivoham said and turning his hazel eyes to her again said to her,"Now wear your seatbelt."

"No...I am not going anywhere with you," Chandni said, not ready to be in space as her molester.

"Chandni, I know you hate me. You have all the right reasons to hate me but I am not leaving you here alone..not after what was about to happen to you."

"What was about to happen to me ? Did you forget you were doing the same thing to me that night! And you just half murdered someone right in front of me. It shows your real character," Chandni snarled.

Shivoham gave up a sigh and looked down out of guilt,"Yes you are right about the first part. I don't have any right to hate on those fuckers when I myself was misbehaving with you that night. I have told you before I am saying it again I am sorry for my behavior. I don't know if you believe me or not but I was not in my right state of mind. Regardless of that I have no right to do that to you.

But what I did to those fuckers was absolutely right. You are my brother's girlfriend, that means soon you will be his wife. You are nothing to me but soon you will be a part of my family. I have only hit them with a rod now but for the women of my family I can even kill. You also come in the woman of my family Chandni. Even Sabiq will agree with it."

"Now wear your seatbelt. I will drop you and I promise I won't be doing anything inappropriate."

Chandni did not know what to say or do at that moment.

She silently wore the seatbelt, a part of her was ready for whatever is going to happen. It wanted to see if with no one's presence around them will he still act his good man or will his real identity come out.

Shivoham started the car after she wore the seatbelt.

Chandni joined her hands tightly on her lap, afraid to face what he was going to do with her.

She knew there was a big possibility of that night repeating. However they were getting closer to her hostel and he did not say a word nor did he try to touch her.

His eyes were set on the road, not even once he glanced at her wet shivering form.

Chandni waited and waited but he did nothing.

He stopped the car out of her hostel.

Chandni looked ahead at her hostel building and then slowly turned her eyes to him who was too soaked from the rain water.

She stared at him for a long minute. For the first time she was not getting scared of him, instead a new wave of anger was visiting her eyes.

She knew he was predicting. He cannot be a good man. He can never.

Chandni thought before she turned to open the car's door but then she realized the kind of blouse she was wearing and what he had said that night in the club.

"What a whore you are ! What kind of dress you are wearing!" he had snarled like a beast seeing the short dress she was wearing.

Earning the same reaction from him she knowingly displayed her open back to her. She knew he was a lewd man and would definitely try to touch her or call her names seeing such a revealing outfit..

But to her surprise he did not say a word. She doesn't even feel his eyes on her back.

"Get Out."

He said after a few seconds.

Chandni blinked a few times as she turned her gaze to him. He was looking straight with a blank expression on his face.

This time she did not try to do anything and simply came out of his car.

Not one time she looked back at him and soon she heard the engine of his car roaring again.

Chandni sighed, feeling tired and ashamed. She was literally flashing to him to get a reaction from him.

Shaking her head she walked inside the hostel only to be met with a tense atmosphere.

All the girls were in the main hall with worried looks on their faces.

"Hey Dia, why are all of you looking so tense ?" she asked one of the girls who was standing near her.

Dia turned to her and answered with tears in her eyes,"Shree was met with a car accident. She is in a coma now."

....

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