Aryan let out a long, heavy sigh that seemed to echo through the cold, empty spaces of his room. He walked back inside, but the restless fire burning in his heart showed no signs of fading. The entire mansion was submerged in a deathly silence—a silence so thick it felt like a physical weight pressing against his chest. But then, without warning, the shattering sound of glass echoed from the ground floor kitchen, cutting through the stillness like a gunshot.
"Who on earth is in the kitchen at this hour?" Aryan whispered to himself, his heart skipping a beat in sudden alarm. Without a second thought, he rushed out of his room, his footsteps light but urgent as he hurried toward the source of the noise.
As he entered the kitchen, the scene that met his eyes caused his heart to stop for a fraction of a second. Savandi was collapsed on the freezing tile floor. Around her lay a constellation of shattered glass fragments, and a pool of spilled water glistened under the dim moonlight filtering through the window. She was shivering violently, her body wracked with tremors as if she were trapped in a blizzard. In a state of semi-consciousness, she was desperately trying to lick a few stray drops of water from amidst the sharp shards of glass.
"Child! My God... Savandi! What are you doing?" Aryan cried out, rushing to her side and kneeling in the mess of water and glass.
Seeing her trying to touch the scattered water with her bruised, raw hands brought a sudden sting of tears to Aryan's eyes. It was a sight of such pure, unadulterated desperation that it felt like a knife to his soul. He gently reached under her shoulders and lifted her up. Her skin was burning with a feverish heat, yet she was shaking as if she were made of ice.
"Don't be afraid, Doll... I'm here. I've got you. I'll give you water," Aryan murmured, his voice thick with emotion. He grabbed a clean glass from the counter, filled it, and held it to her parched, cracked lips.
Savandi drank with a frantic, desperate thirst, gulping down the water as if it were the only thing keeping her tethered to this world. As she drank, heavy tears rolled down her cheeks, leaving trails through the dust and grime on her face.
"Please... tell him... tell him to just kill me..." she whispered, her voice so weak it was barely a breath. She gripped Aryan's palm with a strength born of terror. Her hands, already injured, were now cut further by the broken glass on the floor, and fresh blood began to seep onto Aryan's skin. "I can't... I can't endure this torture anymore..."
"Don't say that, Doll... please. You haven't done anything wrong. I promise you... I will get you out of this hell. Come on now, be a brave girl. Stop crying," Aryan whispered, brushing a damp lock of hair away from her forehead with a tenderness that could have melted stone.
A tear escaped Aryan's own eye and fell onto her hand. In that moment, what he felt wasn't just pity; it was a deep, protective love—the kind of affection he would have felt for a sister he never had. He wasn't looking at the daughter of an enemy; he was looking at a broken soul that needed sanctuary.
Savandi leaned her head against Aryan's chest, her breathing shallow and ragged. In this cruel, dark house, his heartbeat was the only rhythmic, safe thing she could find. Aryan quickly shrugged off his heavy coat and wrapped it around her small, shivering frame. While the shaking slowed down slightly, she remained in a daze, her mind slipping back into the shadows of her fever.
Suddenly, the kitchen light flickered on with a harsh, blinding brightness. Aryan jerked his head toward the doorway, his eyes widening. There stood Rajveer.
Seeing Aryan holding Savandi so closely, cradling her in his arms, caused Rajveer's eyes to turn a terrifying shade of crimson. He looked like a predator that had found another male in his territory—a lion that refused to accept defeat. The air in the room instantly turned volatile, charged with an electric tension.
"Aryan! What the hell are you doing with this girl in the middle of the night?" Rajveer's roar echoed through the rafters of the mansion. He took several predatory steps toward them, his gaze falling on Aryan's coat draped over Savandi's shoulders. He looked at the garment with a flash of pure disgust. "I noticed she wasn't in my room and came down to find her. And what do I see? She's come down here to play games with my brother!"
"She was thirsty, brother! She collapsed! Look at the floor!" Aryan shouted back, refusing to back down.
"Get her out of here and take her back to my room, Aryan. Immediately," Rajveer said, his voice dropping to a deathly cold whisper that was even more frightening than his shout. "Stop testing the limits of my patience. You have no idea how close I am to snapping."
But Aryan didn't move. He tightened his grip on Savandi, who, even in her semi-conscious state, clung to Aryan's sleeve as if it were a lifeline. Seeing her hand clutching his brother's arm sent a wave of jealousy through Rajveer so intense it felt like a volcanic eruption in his chest. It was a madness he couldn't control.
"Have you forgotten who this is, Aryan?" Rajveer hissed, his teeth gritted so hard his jaw muscles rippled. "This is the daughter of our enemy! This is the blood of the man who murdered our mother! How can you hold her like that?"
"Brother... what does this girl have to do with that?" Aryan's voice was filled with an agonizing plea. "She is dying! Look at her, Rajveer! Look at these wounds! Can't you see the blood? Does your revenge make you blind to a human being's suffering?"
Rajveer's eyes were bloodshot, his vision blurring with rage. What hurt him more than the past was seeing his own brother—the person he loved most in the world—standing as a shield for his enemy. He felt betrayed, replaced, and sidelined in his own quest for justice.
"Don't you dare try to lecture me, Aryan!" Rajveer lunged forward, grabbing Aryan by the collar of his shirt and shaking him violently. "Do you think your naive, childish pity can stop me? Let her go! Drop her right now and get out of this kitchen!"
"I am not going anywhere, brother!" Aryan yelled, standing his ground even as Rajveer shook him. "If you want to punish someone, then punish me! But as long as I am breathing, I will not let you lay another finger on this innocent girl. This isn't revenge anymore, Rajveer... this is animalistic! You're acting like a monster!"
Those words—monster, animalistic—sliced through Rajveer's heart. He felt the foundations of his family slipping through his fingers. He looked down at Savandi. Even though she was barely conscious, she was holding onto Aryan with a desperate trust, as if he were the only man in the world she could believe in. That silent preference, that rejection of him in favor of his brother, pushed Rajveer's jealousy to its absolute breaking point.
"You're betraying me, Aryan! For the sake of this girl, you're turning your back on your own brother!" Rajveer's voice cracked with a mixture of fury and pain. "Fine... you want to save her? Then remember this: from this day forward, you are caught in the fire of my vengeance too. Don't expect any mercy from me!"
With a brutal shove, Rajveer pushed Aryan aside. He reached down and grabbed Savandi's arm with a grip of iron, attempting to drag her across the floor. Savandi let out a sharp, agonized cry of pain as her raw wounds scraped against the tiles.
Aryan acted like a lightning bolt. He threw himself between them, grabbing Rajveer's arm and using his entire strength to act as a human wall. Outside, the wind seemed to pick up, howling against the kitchen windows as if the elements themselves were reacting to the fraternal war.
"Let her go, brother! Today, you are not taking this girl from me!" Aryan's voice held a newfound steel, a command that Rajveer had never heard before.
Rajveer's eyes widened in a mix of shock and pure, unadulterated rage. "Aryan... have you lost your mind? Do you realize who you are attacking? Let go!"
"No! You may be my older brother, but I will not allow this injustice to continue. Look at her, Rajveer! She's unconscious! Her hands are bleeding! I am taking her away from you!"
With a surge of strength, Aryan pushed Rajveer's hand away and scooped Savandi up into his arms, cradling her securely. He stood tall, shielding her body with his own, while Rajveer stood there, burning with a silent, lethal fury.
"Aryan! Put her down! Don't make me forget that you are my brother!" Rajveer's roar was so loud it seemed to vibrate the glass cabinets.
"Then forget it, brother! Because the brother I remember would never play with an innocent life like this. I am taking her, and if you want to stop me, you'll have to go through me!"
Without looking back, Aryan turned and carried Savandi out of the kitchen. Rajveer followed them, his footsteps heavy and menacing, but the sheer, unshakeable determination in Aryan's stance caused even Rajveer to hesitate for a second. Aryan didn't head for the stairs; instead, he took her to a guest room on the ground floor, far away from Rajveer's personal quarters.
He placed her on the bed with a gentleness that was almost sacred. Rajveer stood in the doorway, framed by the shadows, looking like a venomous cobra coiled and ready to strike.
"Do you really think you've saved her by bringing her here, little brother?" Rajveer said, his voice a low, vibrating growl. He stepped toward the wall and punched it with such force that the plaster cracked. "By tomorrow morning, I will drag her into a hell far worse than this. You've only delayed the inevitable."
"Whatever you do, tonight, this girl is under my protection. I will prove to you, brother, that humanity is more powerful than your hate," Aryan said, looking Rajveer straight in the eye, refusing to flinch.
Rajveer didn't say another word. He turned on his heel, his teeth gritted in a silent snarl, and stormed out of the room. But deep inside, the fire of revenge was being overtaken by something far more dangerous: a searing jealousy. He couldn't stand the fact that his brother was willing to sacrifice everything for her—and that she, in turn, found peace only in his brother's arms.
After Rajveer left, a deathly silence settled over the guest room. Aryan sat on a chair by the bed, his eyes fixed on Savandi's pale, unconscious face. The soft, dim blue light of the room cast shadows over her features, making her look like a fragile, living painting.
Looking at her mangled hands, Aryan felt a sharp, physical ache in his own chest. He took one of her cold hands in his and began to gently clean the fresh blood and glass dust from her skin, moving with the care of a devoted brother.
"Savandi... you shouldn't have to suffer like this. What could you have possibly done to deserve such a nightmare?" he whispered to the silence.
His mind wandered back to the past. Rajveer had always been the pillar of their family, the shield that protected them from the world. But now, that pillar had become a mountain of stone, crushing the life out of this girl. The raw, primal jealousy he had seen in Rajveer's eyes tonight terrified Aryan.
"He doesn't just hate you because of your father anymore, Savandi. He hates that I am helping you. He thinks I'm betraying him. But how can I leave you like this? How can I look the other way?"
Savandi let out a soft moan of pain in her sleep. A single tear escaped the corner of her eye and traced a path down her cheek. Aryan reached out and wiped it away with his thumb, his own eyes brimming with tears.
"You were right, Doll... my brother isn't himself anymore. He's a stone blinded by vengeance. But I promise you, I will find a way to bring a smile back to this broken heart. I will protect you—not just from him, but from the whole world if I have to."
Aryan checked her temperature by placing his hand on her forehead. She was still burning with fever. He took a damp cloth and began to bathe her forehead, his movements filled with a deep, quiet affection.
"I don't know what tomorrow morning will bring. My brother is consumed by madness. But don't be afraid, Doll... in the face of your innocence, even a man like my brother will have to bow down one day. Until then, I won't let anyone touch you."
Aryan let out a long, weary sigh, settled into the chair, and prepared to watch over her for the rest of the night. In the silence of the mansion, he gathered a new kind of strength—a resolve to stand for what is right, even if it meant standing against his own blood.