₊⚘✧ISHANI MEHTA⚘✧ ⊹₊

I lay on my bed, staring at the ceiling, my chest still tight thinking of the entire day.

It started off great--it was Mayank's birthday, and I wanted to celebrate.

I was happy.

Then, everything went wrong when Mayank lost it and beat that boy in the middle of the campus.

I had taken pills after that and visited the DOC. MAHIR SHARMA

And finally, while returning home... I met him.

I feel sick even thinking about it.

The press of his gun against my jaw.

The gunshots.

And the blood on my body.

His touch burns me.

I feel Like my skin doesn't belong to me anymore

Like I need to peel it off, scrub myself raw, just to get rid of the feeling. Of his his blood.

The moment it touched me, my body was shaking

A violent shiver had crawled up my spine before everything went black.

When I woke up, I wasn't where I should have been.

I was in his penthouse.

I was scared. No-I had been terrified of what he would do but then he opened the door himself

I didn't wait. I ran

I had run from him but no matter how far my feet carried me, I could still feel him.

I hated it.

And yet... my fingers betrayed me, brushing the spot where his gun had touched my skin.

I can still feel it.

His breath.

I can still smell him on me, even tho I had taken shower.

My lungs refused to work, again

"He was just another psycho."

"It's over."

I tried to say it.

But even as I tried to convince myself, those sight lingered like invisible shackles.

Mayank. The boy. The gun. The blood. Everything was blurring together, I feel dizzy

I forced my legs toward the drawer, yanking it open. My hands shook as I fumbled for the pill bottle.

One. Two. Three.

I took them.

A soft cough from the other room.

Maa.

Good. She was asleep. She couldn't see me like this. She shouldn't.

She was already dealing with enough.

I couldn't be another problem.

I squeezed my eyes shut, forcing down the bile rising in my throat.

The pills would work soon.

༒⊹₊VEDANT SINGH RATHORE⊹₊༒

I stepped into my penthouse, locking the door behind me. The city stretched beyond the glass windows, but my mind was elsewhere.

On the table, I carefully placed the resin lily I had crafted with my hands.

And the gift I had brought but didn't have the courage to give.

I had stood there to buy that gift, but instead, I bought myself a distraction.

It had driven me mad.

A FUCKING LILY.

ISHANI MEHTA.

Her entire life laid bare before me in a matter of hours

She should've known better than to provoke me.

Ishani Mehta.

21.

Final-year BBA student at St. Regal University---the same college Mayank attends. The very institution Vyom's grandfather owns.

No father. Only a mother--Archana Mehta.

I ran a hand down my face, exhaling sharply.

I had always been allergic to lilies. Should've tossed it the second I finished.

Instead, I made a resin art just to keep it---like a fucking lunatic.

It made me do things I would never do.

I shot Viaan just because he was going to touch-

Fuck.

It wasn't planned. It just... happened.

It's like she is under my skin now.

I was going to let her go after a warning.

But then she opened her damn mouth.

"Don't you have a mother or sister at home? Or did your father teach you this? To touch any girl like that-maybe it's your mother, isn't it?"

She talked shit about my mother.

A sharp breath hissed through my teeth. My hands itched to hit something---to break, to destroy.

I grabbed the wine glass and hurled it across the room. It shattered against the wall, shards flying everywhere.

But nothing calms me down

Because I didn't just want to break something.

I wanted to break her.

Ruin her.

So next time she speaks about my mother she knows exactly who she is talking about.

I sank onto the sofa, tilting my head back, closing my eyes.

And all I could see were those beautiful small brown eyes.

Deep. Hypnotic. Sassy.

Those lips-plump, parted, as if begging to be bitten.

The way she struggled, her hips twisting, pressing against me like a goddamn invitation she didn't even know she was giving

My jaw clenched. My eyes snapped open.

I should hate her.

But I also want to pin her against the nearest wall and tear every fucking inch of that attitude apart until she forgets her own name.

Until the only thing she remembers is mine.

I ran a hand down my face

No.

This wasn't happening.

What the hell is wrong with me?

I shook my head, scoffing at my own thoughts.

Complete Bullshit.

That was nothing.

Just a passing thought.

I grabbed the resin lily, my grip tightening.

I could destroy it. I should.

But my fingers ref

used to snap it.

I shut my eyes again and it took too much effort

This is going to a fucking problem.