Chapter 26: The Unfairness Of The World

The day carried on as usual, but Kashvi kept catching strange looks from classmates all day. At first it didn't bother her much, her whole reason for being at this school was Raghavendra, not popularity. She didn't need everyone's approval.

Besides, she was Maya Chauhan. That name alone had always meant people accommodated her, not the other way around. Kashvi hadn't carried that kind of confidence in her old life, but somehow, living as Maya, she'd started absorbing some of it.

She glanced over at Raghavendra, asleep at his desk as usual. The teachers had long since given up trying to wake him. Perks of living inside a novel, she supposed.

'Why does everyone keep staring at me,' she wondered, waiting out the last period so she could ask Sara, Fiza, or Amrita about it. The three of them were still friendly with her, even though she barely had time for them anymore.

"That's class for today. Make sure, hey, sit back down before you all stand up!" the teacher shouted, but the bell had already sent half of section F out of their seats. "Homework's due, and be careful on your way home."

He gave up, shaking his head as students filed out or clustered together to chat, the usual post-school chaos playing out around him.

Kashvi was zipping up her bag when she noticed someone standing at her desk. She looked up, blinking.

"Sara?"

"Maya, you've been skipping class a lot, so you missed your cleaning duty," Sara said, pointing toward the bulletin board near the door listing that day's assigned cleaners.

Kashvi checked the board and found her own name paired with Sara's for the day.

"Oh." She blinked, looking back at her. "Sara, I'm sorry, I didn't realize you'd been covering for me this whole time."

Sara shook her head, tight lipped. "It's fine. Fiza and Amrita help out too. We're friends, and you never really have a choice but to rush off early."

The words landed like a weight in Kashvi's chest. All she could do was look at the three of them apologetically, catching Fiza and Amrita's kind smiles in return. Guilt aside, she still hesitated, agreeing meant no walk home with Raghavendra today.

'Just this once,' she told herself, watching him get up from his seat. Her frown deepened as he shot her a cold glance before leaving without a word.

'Just today.' She repeated it to herself, forcing a smile toward Sara. "Thank you again. I'll make sure I'm here next time it's our turn."

---

Fiza and Amrita stayed behind to help too. Before long, the classroom had emptied out except for the four of them.

"Maya, is it true?" Fiza finally asked partway through mopping, unable to hold it in any longer.

Kashvi tilted her head, gripping the mop with both hands, looking over at Fiza, who was midway through erasing the board. "Is what true?"

"That you and that troublemaker are dating." Her brows shot up. "People have been talking about it all day."

"What?"

Amrita stepped closer, bumping her shoulder gently against Kashvi's. "Maya, seriously, are you two together?"

"No?" Kashvi frowned at all three of them. "Would you even believe me if I said no?"

"Of course we would!" Fiza and Amrita answered together, while Sara let out a slow breath. "Maya, can the four of us talk for a second? You're our friend, we just think you should know what's actually being said."

Kashvi pressed her lips together and nodded. Once they'd finished cleaning, the four of them gathered around a desk while the girls filled her in on the rumors circulating about her and Raghavendra.

The more she heard, the tighter her hands curled into fists. Apparently the story going around painted him as manipulating a naive, wealthy girl. People had twisted her lunchbox routine into some kind of exploitation. Some were even saying he was blackmailing her into it.

Every version of the rumor cast Kashvi as the victim and Raghavendra as the predator. Something hot and furious rose in her chest. She couldn't understand how the story had bent that far in that direction, or why people had jumped to that particular conclusion so easily.

The girls even warned her that given how many enemies he supposedly had, she could get caught in the fallout. They suggested she talk to the school counselor, just in case she really was being coerced into anything.

"Raghavendra," she said finally, cutting through their concern, "is not that kind of person."

All three of them looked taken aback by how upset she clearly was, even as she held herself together.

"Maya..." Sara said carefully.

"I know you're all worried about me, and I appreciate that. But he hasn't done anything wrong. Everything I've done, I've chosen to do myself. Nobody is blackmailing me or exploiting me. If anything, I'm the one who won't leave him alone." Her voice stayed steady, though her eyes burned with tears she refused to let fall. "Thank you for telling me. Believe me or don't, that's up to you. But I'm not going to change how I feel about him. I don't know why everyone's decided he's the villain here, when really, I'm the one who's been chasing him."

"Maya..." Fiza tried again, worried, but Kashvi was already forcing a smile as she grabbed her things.

"I should head home." She exhaled sharply, glancing at all three of them. "Sorry, I'm just really upset right now, and I don't want to say something I'll regret."

She didn't wait for a response, turning and walking out. Once outside, she ground her teeth, furious.

She hated how unfair this world was to him. It had always been this way, even in the original story. Raghavendra always ended up on the losing side of everything. Watching his name get dragged through the mud while she walked away untouched made her blood boil.

'I hate whoever wrote this,' she thought, glaring up at the sky as she crossed the open courtyard toward the gates. 'Did the author have zero conscience? He's not a bad person, but this world keeps forcing him to become one. It's not fair.'

She was on the verge of tears by the time she reached the gate. Then she spotted a familiar figure leaning against the wall nearby and stopped short.

"Raghav..." she said, voice unsteady, resisting the urge to run over and hug him tightly.

"Done?" he asked, flat, unaffected.

She took a breath, forcing the tears back down. She hadn't expected him to actually wait for her, though if he hadn't, she probably would have thrown a fit about it later.

"Yeah." Her voice came out quiet. He nodded once.

"Alright." That was all he said before pushing off the wall and starting to walk. Noticing she hadn't moved yet, he glanced back, one brow raised.

"I don't have all day."

She stared after him for a beat, then let out a small huff, a faint smile breaking through despite everything. "Coming!" She jogged to catch up, falling into step beside him.

Chapter 27: The Little Things They Do

'She's definitely upset about something,' Raghavendra thought, glancing back at Kashvi walking a step behind him.

The moment she'd walked out of the school gates, he'd sensed it. At first he'd figured it was just the cleaning duty, or maybe having to walk home late. But no, this was something else entirely.

So he slowed his pace until they were walking side by side.

"Huh?" She looked up at him, brow raised. He kept his eyes forward, but she could tell he was curious about her sudden silence.

She let out a quiet breath, looking down at the ground.

"Did you hear the rumor about us?" she asked after a moment, and his brow lifted as he glanced over. "They're saying we're dating."

He studied her profile for a second, sighing quietly to himself. He hadn't heard anything about it, honestly. He never paid attention to what people said about him, or about anyone else for that matter.

"I told you to stop following me around. Stuff like that was bound to start eventually," he said, same detached tone as always. She shot him a quick look.

"Raghavendra, be honest with me. You're kind of happy about this, aren't you? Figured it'd finally scare me off."

'No.' That was the truth, but he kept his mouth shut. He'd only said it because being seen with him wasn't going to do her any favors. This was just what happened.

Her frown deepened. "Do you actually think that's what's bothering me?" she muttered, kicking a loose pebble along the path, eyes down. He glanced at her again, brows drawing together.

"Even if they said we were already married, I wouldn't care. But them saying you're blackmailing me, that I need to watch out for you, that's what's actually making me this angry. Angry enough I'm about to cry over it."

His steps slowed as he watched her visibly seething, tears clearly threatening to spill. What had she just said?

"I mean, how do they even land on blackmail? I know self defense. I can take care of myself!" She kept going, venting everything about how unfair the whole situation felt.

'Why,' he wondered, eyes fixed on her. 'Why does something this small make you this angry?'

His head was crowded with questions he couldn't answer. He didn't understand why she'd get this worked up over it. People assumed the worst about him because, well, he was the obvious type to assume the worst about. That opinion didn't even register with him anymore, he'd stopped caring a long time ago.

So why did it matter to her?

Why was she on the verge of crying over something that wasn't even directed at her, not really? Nobody had said anything bad about her. If anything, everyone was just worried she'd gotten mixed up with someone like him.

So why?

Why, Maya?

Why...

"It's just not fair," she finally choked out, hitting some kind of breaking point. "This whole thing. Why am I the good one and you're automatically the bad one? I'm literally the one who won't leave you alone, and somehow everyone just lets me get away with it. I hate this."

She bit down hard on her lip, trying to hold the tears back, and failed anyway, turning her face away so he wouldn't see.

Reading about his life had already broken her heart once. Seeing it play out in front of her was something else entirely. It reminded her of the very first time they'd actually met.

The book had summed up his childhood in a single line, something about constant fighting growing up. That one sentence hadn't come close to capturing what that actually looked like, not with how badly beaten he'd been the day they met. She'd barely recognized him without his student ID to confirm it.

It felt so wrong that an entire life could get flattened into one throwaway sentence.

That was exactly why this made her so furious. This world had been built to put him through hell just so he'd turn into the villain everyone needed him to be.

As she wiped at her tears with her sleeve, quiet and miserable, Raghavendra's expression softened. He knew he shouldn't find any part of this situation amusing, but he couldn't help it.

'I used to ask that same question, over and over,' he thought, exhaling. 'Why is this world so unfair. I hate it too, for exactly that reason. But you, someone who has everything, starting to hate this world because of someone like me...'

He reached over and set his hand on top of her head. She looked up, startled, but he kept his eyes forward, hand staying right where it was.

'Thanks for crying about it, so I don't have to,' he thought, quietly moved by something no one had ever really done for him before. 'You don't need to carry this for me. I got used to it a long time ago.'

She sniffled, wiping her nose with her handkerchief. His hand was rough, heavier than she expected, but somehow it steadied her. He wasn't exactly the comforting type, but this, this was more than she'd ever expected from him.

"They're so annoying, right?" she said once the tears finally stopped. "I'm still mad. And what makes it worse is there's nothing I can actually do about it."

"You don't need to do anything about it." He pulled his hand back, tilting his head to look at her properly. "Let them talk. They're the ones wasting their time. Or, you could just stop following me around, which honestly would be easier for both of us."

She frowned, assuming he was just using the moment to talk her out of sticking around again. "I'm upset, Raghav. That doesn't mean I've changed my mind about you."

"Ha. Rough."

Her eyes went wide. That was the first time she'd ever heard him actually laugh, seen him actually smile, brief as it was, but real. His brow lifted at the shock written all over her face, like she'd seen a ghost.

"What?" he asked, frowning slightly at her reaction.

"You smiled."

"...What?"

Her lips curved as she stepped closer. "Do it again."

"Do what again."

"Smile!"

"Tch." He shook his head, but she kept pushing. "Stop, I'm not going to—"

"Just once, please?"

"Stop it. Tch."

She laughed, tugging at his sleeve while he stretched his neck away, looking pointedly in the other direction. From the outside he looked annoyed. He didn't actually mind at all.

"Oh, a shop!" she said suddenly, spotting the little convenience store they always passed on the walk home. She grabbed his sleeve, giving him her best innocent look.

"I'm upset, Raghav. Let's get ice cream and eat it on the way home. Ice cream's second on my list of things that make me happy." She grinned, eyes crinkling. "Seeing you doing well is number one, in case you were wondering."

She didn't wait for a response, dragging him straight into the store.

That day marked the first time he ever bought her ice cream, and they walked home together enjoying it side by side. That day, she didn't have to trail behind him anymore, and he didn't have to keep glancing back to check she was still there.

From then on, that became their routine too, walking side by side, sharing a popsicle every now and then on the way home.

Chapter 28: She Wanted To Be One Of His Truths

"Bye..."

Kashvi waved as they reached the stop where Raghavendra usually got off. That had always been their routine, him getting off first, her continuing on alone the rest of the way.

Today, though, he didn't move.

"Huh?" She looked between him, still standing in the aisle, and the window, brows knitting together. "Raghav, this is your stop. The bus is about to move!"

"I know."

She blinked, staring at him. He clearly wasn't joking.

"Are you going somewhere?" she asked, alarmed, scrambling to remember if anything significant was supposed to happen to him around this point in the story. Some kind of trigger, maybe, something that pushed him further down the wrong path?

He just clicked his tongue, rolling his eyes. "I'm walking you home. It's late, and you cry over everything, so someone should probably make sure you get there in one piece."

"?"

She wondered for a second if she'd misheard him entirely. "Did you pick up a second job or something?"

"No." His expression stayed flat as the bus pulled away from his usual stop. "It's late. I'll walk you home."

"Walk me home?" Her eyes went wide. "Raghav, my driver always waits for me at my stop. I'll be fine."

He just looked at her, saying nothing, which sent her brain spinning as she stared out the window instead.

It was true, she'd stayed behind late cleaning the classroom, later than usual. Before any other thought could take over, she turned back to look at him properly.

"Raghav, were you actually worried about me?" Her whole face lit up, and his expression immediately soured.

"I just don't want to be the prime suspect if you go missing on your way home." His tone stayed as cold as ever, eyes cutting away from her. She pouted, but couldn't help the smile creeping in anyway, this was the first time he'd ever offered to walk her anywhere.

Her driver always waited at the last stop for her, sure, but something about Raghavendra choosing to do this on his own felt like a small win regardless. Maybe it was him showing up at the gates without being asked, or keeping pace beside her instead of trailing behind, whatever it was, her mood was already soaring.

It didn't even occur to her to worry about him finding out she was an heiress. Or rather, it crossed her mind briefly, but she brushed it off. She'd never planned on hiding anything from him anyway. She wanted to be friends with him, real friends, with nothing held back.

She wanted to be someone who never lied to him. He'd already had enough of the world's uglier truths shoved in his face. She didn't want to be one more.

'Maybe I could get Papa to adopt him,' she mused, chin in hand, already scheming. 'Hehe. Then I could actually take proper care of him.'

Lost in her own scheming, she completely missed how long he'd been watching her.

'Never asked before, but I've always wondered how far she actually lives.' The curiosity had been nagging at him for a while now.

His own rented room was a decent distance out, though not unbearably far. But her? Since he always got off before her, he had no real idea where she actually lived. From the way she complained about waking up early for the lunchboxes, he had a vague sense it must be considerable, but he hadn't known exactly how far.

He definitely hadn't expected it to be this far, not until they finally reached the very last stop on the route.

"This is us, Raghav!" She grabbed her bag off her lap and stood.

'This far, huh.' He stepped aside to let her through, following in silence. 'She's on this bus another hour and a half after I get off?'

He kept his eyes on her back as they stepped off the bus. Under the shelter, her driver spotted her right away, but paused when he noticed she wasn't alone.

"Young miss?" The driver's brow furrowed, watching her deep in conversation with a boy from her school.

Kashvi, meanwhile, completely ignored the car waiting a short distance off, her usual pickup spot, turning instead to Raghavendra with a bright smile.

"Raghav, want to stay over at our place tonight?" The question caught him completely off guard.

"What?" He nearly choked on the word. He hadn't even processed how far she lived, and now she was inviting him to stay the night?

What parent would let their daughter bring a boy home to stay over, unless the house was big enough that he'd never actually be anywhere near her.

"I just mean, our house is still pretty far from here. If you're planning to walk me the rest of the way, it'll be really late by the time you head back," she explained, matter-of-fact, knowing full well it would take another twenty minutes by car alone.

"Don't worry about me." He frowned, glancing around. "Didn't you say your driver picks you up here? I don't see anyone."

"Well..." She hesitated, scrambling for an excuse, since the car, and her driver, were sitting right there in plain sight. But she wanted more time with him, this being the first time he'd ever offered to walk her anywhere.

Selfishly, part of her had already started thinking about introducing him to Vikram too. Even if her father adored her unconditionally, it felt right that he should know who she was actually spending her time with.

"Let's just go, since he's clearly not around." Raghavendra exhaled sharply, glancing both ways one last time. "Which direction?"

"Hmm, that way." She pointed, and he nodded.

The two of them set off down the sidewalk at an easy pace. He hadn't expected her to live this deep into the main part of the city, especially with better schools sitting so much closer to her actual neighborhood.

He kept glancing at her, genuinely baffled why she'd choose to commute this far just to attend their school.

"This is really far," he said after ten minutes of walking, still nowhere close to her house, not even into a residential stretch yet.

"Right? That's why I have to wake up so early, or I'd never make it on time," she said with a shrug, glancing toward the road as traffic noise and honking drifted past. "Which is also why I said it'd get late if you actually walked me the whole way."

He glanced at her, exhaling, but didn't argue further. It wasn't like anyone was waiting up for him at home either way. If anything, this worked out fine, he could just crash the second he got back.

HONK HONK!

He turned at the sound, catching sight of a black sedan slowing to a crawl beside them, headlights sweeping across the pavement. His brows drew together, studying the car. He wasn't exactly a car person, but even he could tell this one was expensive.

He glanced at Kashvi, noting she didn't seem remotely surprised. They both stopped as she stepped toward the car, and the rear window rolled down, revealing a man whose presence alone made it obvious he wasn't someone you casually approached.

"Papa!" Raghavendra's breath caught, watching her lean down toward the window, hands braced against the frame.

Vikram looked at her, then shifted his gaze briefly to the boy standing just behind her. Raghavendra instinctively lowered his head the moment their eyes met.

"Why are you walking? Didn't the driver pick you up at the stop?" Vikram asked, attention back on his daughter.

She bit her tongue, not bothering to answer verbally, her posture alone giving him more than enough of an answer.

"Get in," Vikram said, same even tone, and she frowned.

"Papa, I'm with a classmate. He's walking me home since it's late. I can't just leave him here."

Vikram raised a brow, glancing briefly at Raghavendra. "Then both of you, get in."

Her whole face brightened as she turned to Raghavendra, still frozen in disbelief. "Raghav, my father said you should come with us! Come on!"

He tried to protest, but she'd already grabbed his arm and pulled him into the car alongside her father.

Chapter 29: Negativity

Raghavendra had already assumed Kashvi was pampered at home. Everything about her, the way she looked, carried herself, gave that away easily enough. But he'd never once imagined she was living like actual royalty.

He stared at the massive gates swinging open automatically for the car, watching the long driveway unfold toward a house he'd only ever seen on TV. Kashvi was chatting with her father, seated between him and Vikram, neither of them paying the mansion any mind while Raghavendra sat there, jaw slack, unable to look away.

'This isn't real.'

When the car stopped in front of the main entrance, Vikram didn't even reach for the door handle before a butler had already opened it.

"Welcome home, Sahab," the butler said, smiling warmly as Kashvi stepped out behind her father. "Welcome home, baby"

"Hi, Uncle Suresh," she said, then jerked a thumb over her shoulder. "I brought a classmate along."

Suresh glanced where she'd pointed, and for a moment forgot to breathe entirely, spotting an unfamiliar boy climbing out of the car in a government school uniform. He wasn't the only one. Every staff member lined up under the portico turned wide eyed toward him.

'Just a classmate?' seemed to be the collective, silent thought, eyes darting between him and Vikram.

Raghavendra could feel every single one of those stares. This was insane, he thought. He'd always assumed the lifestyle shown in dramas about rich families was exaggerated for TV. Apparently not.

For a second, his feet felt rooted to the ground, jaw tight, unable to lift his eyes off the marble beneath him. It felt like a slap to the face, somehow.

'We could buy this entire hospital.'

Her offhand comment from the hospital came rushing back to him. He'd assumed she was just trying to comfort him about the bill. Turned out she'd meant it, literally. He stood there, completely stunned.

"Raghav! Come on!" Her voice snapped him out of it, her arm looped through her father's as she gestured toward the door. "Wait, Papa, slow down, let's wait for him!"

Vikram just glanced at her sideways, slowing his pace anyway as they climbed the steps.

"Good evening, young sir. Please, come inside." Suresh gestured toward the entrance with a warm smile. "Forgive my manners, but might I have your name, so I can address you properly?"

"Uh." Raghavendra stared at him, thrown by the sheer politeness. "Raghav. Just Raghav."

"This way, then, Sir Raghav." Suresh led him inside, completely ignoring his half hearted attempt to correct the "sir."

Raghavendra caught the staff bowing as he passed, welcoming him like he belonged there. Clearly this was the first time Kashvi had ever brought someone home, and everyone already understood the memo: treat her friend well.

---

Usually she'd wait for Vikram before heading to dinner, but since they'd gotten home late, the three of them went straight to the dining hall together.

Kashvi kept glancing between her father and Raghavendra. He'd gone completely silent, understandably. She hadn't planned to hide her family's wealth from him, exactly, there'd just never been an obvious reason to bring it up, and he'd never asked.

She hadn't anticipated a scenario where he'd actually offer to walk her home, either.

'He's never cared about status before,' she reminded herself, weighing what she knew of him against what was happening now. 'This shouldn't change anything, even if I turned out to be the president's daughter.'

"Papa, did you finish the lunch I packed you?" she asked, breaking the heavy silence between the two men, who hadn't exchanged a single word yet. Oddly alike, the two of them, in a way that almost looked like father and son, if you squinted.

"Mhm. Finished all of it." Vikram nodded, pleased at her approving smile. "Why were you walking home?"

"Walking's good exercise, and I wanted more time with Raghav." Her smile was bright and unapologetic, while Raghavendra nearly choked on his water.

Vikram's eyes flicked toward him, subtle enough that she missed it entirely. The staff standing by pressed their lips together, clearly holding back reactions of their own.

"I see..."

She blinked, catching the sudden chill radiating from the head of the table.

'Is he jealous? Or does he think we're something more than classmates?' she wondered, clearing her throat and lifting her chin, keeping her smile steady.

"We should take a walk together sometime too, Papa. I want to spend more time with you as well!" she offered, relaxing slightly when he glanced over and nodded.

She'd spent enough time in this house now to read the staff, and especially her father, well enough to know when he was actually pleased, even if his face never quite showed it.

"Eat first, talk later," Vikram said, and she smiled, digging back into her plate.

As she ate, Raghavendra stayed quiet, glancing between her and Vikram. She hadn't changed at all, whether at school or here, still radiating the same warmth wherever she went.

His jaw tightened when Vikram's gaze landed on him directly. He looked down at his plate instead, frozen under the weight of it, though Vikram said nothing.

'What are you even thinking, Raghav,' he asked himself while the two of them fell into easy conversation again. He nearly laughed at himself, bitter, for ever thinking she was even remotely within his reach.

He'd offered to walk her home because he'd genuinely been worried about her. He hadn't been prepared for this. Not even close.

It hit him now, hard, that she wasn't someone he could ever actually reach. If she'd been from an ordinary family, he could've worked to close that gap, earned his place as someone who deserved to stand beside her.

But this? No amount of effort on his part would ever mean anything here.

The ice cream he'd bought her earlier? She could buy out an entire factory of it without blinking, if she wanted to.

The reality of it landed like a physical blow.

"Raghavendra Rathore, is that right?" Vikram's voice cut through his spiraling thoughts.

He looked up, nodding, expression carefully blank. "Yes, sir."

"You should stay the night," Vikram said, and Raghavendra opened his mouth to decline before realizing, much like his daughter, Vikram clearly wasn't asking. "It'd be best if you stayed, Mister Rathore. I'd also like a few minutes of your time after dinner."

"Papa, you're not going to intimidate him, are you?" Kashvi narrowed her eyes at her father, fully prepared to shield Raghavendra if that was the plan.

"Do you really think that little of me?"

She frowned, unable to argue with that. "No. Of course not."

"Relax." Vikram let out a small breath, offering her a faint smile. "I just want to talk to your friend. Man to man."

"Okay."

Raghavendra kept his thoughts to himself, but he was already bracing for it. Stay away from my daughter. Don't get any ideas about this family's money. Those were the gentler possibilities running through his head, and they only got worse from there.

His hand curled into a fist under the table, staring down at the extravagant meal in front of him.

'I feel sick,' he thought, something twisting tight in his stomach. 'I can't breathe.'

Chapter 30: A Father's Words

In Vikram's study, Raghavendra stood near the entrance while Vikram walked over to a cabinet holding a decanter. Before pouring himself a glass, he glanced back at the young man he'd invited in for a conversation.

"Sit, Mister Rathore." Vikram gestured toward the couch, carrying the decanter and two empty glasses over, settling into the seat across from it. Raghavendra sat stiffly on the long couch.

"Do you drink?" Vikram asked, setting everything down on the coffee table.

"No, sir." His answer came out clipped, almost flat.

Vikram nodded, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a small cigarette case, which he set on the table without opening it. "Smoke?"

"Quit recently."

"Then I won't offer you one."

"That's fine, sir." Raghavendra watched him lean back with the glass in hand, and the longer he sat in this room, the more his nerves crept up on him. His back had already broken out in a cold sweat, bracing for whatever cutting remark was coming.

The only thing keeping him from spiraling entirely was the fact that Vikram hadn't said anything belittling yet. Everything about the man screamed a different world entirely, how he held the glass, the sharpness behind his eyes, the sheer weight of his presence.

This wasn't just a wealthy man. Vikram was someone whose word carried actual consequence, someone the country's economy paid attention to.

"Relax, Mister Rathore. No need to be this nervous. I'm simply a little thrown, honestly, this is the first time my daughter's ever brought a friend home." Vikram's even tone cut through the tension, noticing the boy's discomfort.

He understood it, sure, but if he was being honest with himself, he wasn't entirely at ease either. Maya was his daughter, and any protective father would feel a flicker of concern seeing her bring a boy home, especially given how much she'd changed lately.

Still, he had no interest in crushing whatever this was just because he wasn't ready to watch his daughter grow up. She was at the age where exploring things like this was normal. He just wanted to keep an eye on it, quietly.

"I won't waste your time, Mister Rathore. I have one question, and I'd like an honest answer." He cleared his throat, holding Raghavendra's gaze steadily. "Are you dating my daughter?"

Raghavendra's spine went rigid before he exhaled. "No, sir."

"Good." Vikram nodded. "As much as I want her to enjoy being young, I'm not prepared to see her get married for at least another fifty years."

"..."

Silence settled over the room again, Vikram tapping his fingers against the armrest, swirling the wine in his other hand. When he finally spoke again, Raghavendra looked up.

"I'll be straightforward with you, Mister Rathore." Vikram broke the quiet, and Raghavendra instinctively held his breath.

'Here it comes,' he thought, steeling himself for whatever this man was about to say.

"Maya used to be a very rigid young woman. Ambitious. Competitive. From a young age she was already positioning herself to prove she deserved to run this company one day. In doing that, she forgot she was still just a teenage girl who deserved an actual childhood." Instead of what Raghavendra had braced for, Vikram simply studied the wine in his hand, speaking quietly about who his daughter used to be. "We lived under the same roof for years and barely exchanged more than a few words most days, and even those usually ended badly. She wanted to be more involved in the business, and I kept telling her to slow down. She never listened. Took it as me not trusting her capabilities."

Something bitter flickered across his expression, not lost on Raghavendra.

"I don't blame her for it, though. I always knew she was more than capable. But having spent my own life chasing money and power, I never wanted that same path for her." Vikram lifted his eyes to meet Raghavendra's. "I meant what I said about the fifty years, but that's obviously just a father being selfish. I'll never stand in the way of whatever actually makes her happy."

"She's the only one I have, Mister Rathore. She means everything to me. Her happiness is mine, and so is her pain. I'd give up everything I own just to keep that smile on her face. That's why I wanted this conversation with you," he continued. "This is the first time she's ever brought anyone home as a friend. Truthfully, she's never called anyone a friend before, not really. Everyone else was always a future business connection, a name on a list of useful people."

"In the circles we move in, friendship in the real sense is rare. Everything usually comes down to what someone can offer you in return. So I wanted to thank you, for being her friend, and for looking out for her." Vikram offered a small, genuine smile, while Raghavendra sat there completely thrown.

'What,' he thought, certain he'd misheard. 'He's thanking me? For being her friend? Why?'

Vikram let out a quiet laugh, catching the confusion written all over the boy's face. It was obvious Raghavendra had expected something far worse, and honestly, Vikram couldn't blame him for it. If not for the fact that the boy had walked her home purely out of concern for her safety, Vikram might have had his own doubts too.

"That said, I do have one request." His tone shifted, more serious now. "As her father, all I ask is that you don't make her cry, Mister Rathore. I believe people grow and change, so I won't pretend there's no chance your feelings for each other could shift into something more, whichever direction that goes. If that happens, take it slow, and let it happen on its own time. And if it's one sided..."

He paused, considering his next words carefully. "If it's you who feels more, I expect you to respect whatever she decides. And if it's her, and you don't feel the same, then step back and end things cleanly so she isn't hurt by it. Because whoever makes my daughter cry becomes my enemy. And I promise you, you do not want that."

"I will end you," he added, calm and level. "Completely. That isn't a threat, and it isn't really even a promise. It's simply a fact."

Silence stretched between them again. Vikram's last words should have terrified anyone, and yet somehow they landed differently on Raghavendra. Nothing about it referenced where he came from, what he had or didn't have, his worth measured against Maya's world. Vikram had spoken to him as an equal, with a level of respect Raghavendra rarely received from anyone.

"Understood, sir." Raghavendra lowered his head. When he lifted it again, Vikram was smiling faintly.

"I'll take that as a promise, then." Vikram nodded, satisfied that the boy had understood exactly what he needed to hear from a father who simply loved his daughter fiercely. "You're welcome here anytime after this. Just not in her bedroom."