After that day, Anay went out of town for some work. Advika too got busy with her daily routine. Neither of them contacted the other.
One day, Anay was sitting in his car. A cigarette burned between his fingers, and his eyes were fixed on Advika, who was a short distance away, looking at earrings in a shop. Moli was with her.
Anay turned on the radio, and a familiar romantic song started playing.
"You are my first love,
You are my first desire,
I only have one wish — just embrace me, don't go…"
Anay started humming along with the lyrics:
"There's comfort in your arms,
There's paradise in your hair,
I only have one wish — just embrace me, don't go…"
He kept watching her silently. As always, Advika had her face covered, only her eyes were visible — but they were enough to make Anay's heart race.
Shrey, who was sitting in the passenger seat, said irritably, "Bro, how long are you planning to sit here?"
Taking a drag from his cigarette, Anay replied, "If you've got a problem, leave... no one's stopping you."
"Watch your tone, buddy," Shrey shot back. "I'm the one who's going to steer your love boat ashore."
"First steer your own life's boat ashore..." Anay retorted.
A little later, when Advika and Moli were heading home, a group of boys surrounded them.
"Hey beautiful, where do you think you're going?" one of the boys asked shamelessly.
Frightened, Moli clutched Advika's hand tightly. Advika tried to slip past them, but they blocked her completely.
"Move out of my way," Advika said through gritted teeth.
"Oh we'll let you pass... but first, tell us your name… and show us your pretty face," the boy said, trying to touch her.
Just then, Anay pulled him back and smashed his head against a nearby wall.
Blood trickled from the boy's head, but Anay seemed unaffected. His eyes held a glacial gleam. He grabbed another boy's hand and twisted it brutally— a scream pierced the air. Shrey tackled a third guy, who also collapsed in pain.
"Stop...!" Advika screamed, her voice filled with panic.
Anay looked at her for a second. There was no softness in his eyes, and he resumed beating the boys even more fiercely. Each blow carried a strange kind of fury.
"Are you going to kill them?" Advika said, trying to stop him.
Anay paused and looked at her, breathing heavily. His voice was dangerously intense, "Yes, I'll kill them. If anyone even looks at you, I'll kill them. You are mine, only mine. Not even a gaze of lust is tolerable on you."
What Advika saw in his eyes scared her. They were burning coals, ready to go to any extent. She had never seen this side of Anay. It wasn't just anger; it was obsession — a chilling sense of possession that shook her to her core.
She left without saying a word. Anay, still fuming, got into his car and sped down the highway, his mind on fire, made worse by her departure.
When his mind finally calmed a bit, he returned home. It was night by then. All the servants had left. Advika too was gone.
Anay headed to his room. Shrey followed him and said, "What madness did you pull today? Did you forget you're building an image? Sarpanch ji wants to become an MLA — you haven't even got there yet, and you need to learn to control your anger."
Anay clenched his fist. "How dare he touch her? Does he even know how much my blood was boiling?"
"Anay, I agree what he did was wrong, but what you did… You hit him so bad, he won't get out of bed for months. And if that girl hadn't stopped you, you might have killed him…" Shrey said with concern.
"I would have," Anay replied flatly.
"This isn't love, this is madness, Anay…" Shrey expressed his worry.
Anay pulled out a cigarette and lit it, saying, "Call it whatever you want — love, obsession, madness — she is mine, only mine. No one is allowed to even look at her, or Anay Thakur will burn this world down…" His eyes gleamed with stubborn resolve.
"Anay... don't turn love into obsession. What do you mean she's only yours? What if one day she doesn't feel the same? Will you kill her… or yourself…?" Shrey was genuinely afraid now.
"I don't want to hear anything. I said she's mine, and that's final." Anay's voice was resolute.
"Advika is not a thing, Anay… she's a person. People have their own choices, dreams, and desires. She's not a puppet to dance on your commands," Shrey tried to reason with him.
Anay said nothing, just kept looking at the sky. The wind blew his hair across his face, making him look even more striking.
Looking at him, Shrey muttered to himself, "Why is someone this handsome so mad over such an ordinary girl? There's nothing that special about her... her complexion isn't even fair… and I'm sure he hasn't even seen her face properly…"
Back at home, Advika tossed her dupatta aside, washed her face, and went into the kitchen. Her mind was restless.
"These Thakurs are all the same… wolves in sheep's clothing. No matter how good they pretend to be, their true nature always comes out."
"They have no value for life…" she said angrily, slamming down a plate. "All they know is violence and dominance. They act like they love you, but inside they're just savages."
She began chopping vegetables furiously, as if venting her anger on them.
Her phone rang, breaking her focus.
"Speak," she answered coldly.
"That boy... why is he in such bad shape? He went to meet you, right…?" the voice asked.
"Anay beat him up," Advika replied.
"Anay...? You mean Thakur...? And that too, so badly...?" Rudransh said in shock.
"Any doubt?" she snapped.
"No…" Rudransh ended the call and muttered to himself, "Thakur beat him up...? But why...? He only went to help Advika…"
To be continued…...