"Shivani," Rudra whispers beside me, voice gentle, trying to coax me away. "We can go."
"Yeah," the man laughs darkly. "Take her. She’s too weak to handle the truth anyway."
My heart feels like it’s caving in. The world spins, my stomach knots. I hear Rudra, feel him trying to guide me towardthe door—but I can’t move. His words echo around me, mocking me.
“Weak,” I repeat, under my breath. That word again.
Rudra’s grip tightens on my arm, sensing I’m about to collapse. But I shake him off. Not this time.
I face the man again, teeth clenched, fists trembling. "I'm not weak," I say, my voice steadying. "And I never was."
His laugh grates against my ears. I look around and spot an iron rod on the table—thick, rusted, and heavy. I grab it before Rudra can stop me and strike it against his back. Hard.
"I AM NOT WEAK! YOU ARE!" I scream, my throat itching from the harsh words.
Rudra steps forward in shock, catching me as I stumble back, breath ragged, body trembling. My so-called father howls in pain, still strapped to the chair.
"You got pleasure by torturing the weak," I spit as I straighten myself. "You liked seeing fear in my eyes. But I always stood back up. No matter what you did, I stood back up."
He glares at me, but I keep going. The words pour out, burning and broken.
"You failed, Ranveer Singh Rathore. You couldn’t break me. It took you nights and nights to even crack me, but look at you—at the verge of death with just one hit." Tears blur my vision. My hands shake and my voice wavers, but I don't stop.
"You don’t get to call me weak. You don’t get that right. You Coward,"
His eyes narrow, twisted in fury. "You think you've won?" He hisses. "You think this makes you strong? You're just as pathetic as ever, Shivani."
Rudra steps in before I can reply, the weight of him grounding me again. He faces Ranveer, eyes cold.
"Enough," he grunts out words through his teeth. "You don’t get to say another word."
But I’m still staring at the man who destroyed everything. "You killed Madhav Uncle!" I cry out. The pain resurfaces like a fresh wound. "He was important to me."
Ranveer chuckles, then winces from the pain. "I know," he sneers, an evil glint covering up his eyes. "It seems you were important to him too."
"What?" My voice drops and my heart sinks.
He smirks, eyes gleaming with malice. "Of course you were. He was your father, after all." Everything stops. I can’t feel my legs. I can’t breathe. Did he just—?
"What?" I whisper again, barely audible. Different kinds of pain grip me. My breath catches in my throat.
"Shocked, huh?" He taunts as if proud of himself. "Why do you think he was always so kind to you? He used to be a big businessman—you’ve heard of Kanwar Tiles, right, Rudra?"
I turn to Rudra only to see that his face mirrors my shock. Ranveer laughs. "When he found out about you, he came to me. Wanted to take you away. But I saw a good opportunity. I blackmailed him and took away everything. Still, he chose to work as my driver. Just to stay close to you."
My knees almost buckle. I can’t make sense of anything. Madhav Uncle… was he really my father? All those small kindnesses. The way he looked at me like I mattered. "How stupid of him," Ranveer adds with a cruel smile.
Tears spill from my eyes. I want to scream. I want to turn back time. I want to bring him back. "And my mother?" I ask, almost scared of the answer.
He laughs again. That ugly sound grates on my nerves, and I feel the urge to hit him again to stop his laugh. "She was greedy. Power, money—that’s all she ever wanted. And I gave her that. So she did what I asked."
The pieces fall into place and leave me shattered. Madhav Uncle was my father. My mother was complicit. And the man in front of me—the monster—I was never his to begin with. I never owed him anything. And yet he took everything from me.
"You killed him," I whisper, my voice cracking. "You killed my father."
Ranveer sneers. "And I’d do it again. He was weak. Just like you."
And that’s it. Something in me snaps. Before I know what I’m doing, I grab the gun Rudra had placed on the table.
