𝐆𝐔𝐍𝐒 & 𝐑𝐎𝐒𝐄𝐒 | 𝐊𝐆𝐅

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐒𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐍

Aadhya comes to her bearings when she hears the words spitted out like poison. "Reena, that's enough-" Aadhya fixes her gaze on the girl as she says this, warning clear in her eyes to not go any further with the hurtful words. Thankfully, she stops, biting back the hateful things she had for sure prepared for the man. With a dispassionate huff, she jumps to her feet and leaves the private room with one of the two guards they brought for protection.

With a weary sigh, Aadhya then turns her chin towards the world's hero, who hadn't spoken a single thing against her sister. "I am sorry about her. She really didn't mean it. Reena means well, but-"

"It's alright, darling," interrupts Rocky, throwing one of his arms on the back of the couch languidly. Even though nothing on his face shows if he's affected by Reena's remarks, Aadhya feels like he might've. It's hard not to take words like that to heart, no matter how thick-skinned. "My sister-in-law just wants what's better for her sister. It's only natural."

And just like that, something in Aadhya broke. Sister-in-law, the words keep repeating in her mind, thumping her brain like a drum making it impossible for her to focus on anything else.

"What did you say?" Her words sound distant even to her ears as she asks this. The blood was pounding too hard in her head, and her eyes had forgotten to blink.

"Sister-in-law," Rocky says proudly like he's expecting a stupid president award or something. Then his face changes as though he has just noticed Aadhya's blank expression. "Right," he drawls with absolute indifference. "I forgot you insist on not calling us lovers. But really though, darling, at the end of the day, you can't let go of the fact that she's your sister and will eventually be my sister-in-law."

Yes, she had heard that right. And suddenly, everything is slamming into her all at the same time. All the reasons Aadhya had thought she was supposed to be there for, what she had been trying to accomplish in the first place, the reality of what she had done, and what she was about to do. Because with just one word, Rocky doomed her, him, and the world's preordained fate. A snap before her eyes brings her out of the revelation of doom. "Darling?" Rocky asks, waving his hands before her face to get her attention. "Are you okay?"

Mutely, Aadhya nods.

"Good," He sounds revealed. "For a second, I thought I broke you or something."

Just then, a couple dozen men walked into the club, and just like that, Rocky was being surrounded by guns. Within minutes, the club was empty of its customers and employees. It was just them. Aadhya barely refrains from sighing out aloud. Of course, Reena would never let it go.

As she gets up to her feet, Kamala walks forward with a leisure swagger, self-assured of his win. He scoffs when he sees Rocky surrounded in the corner. "This guy," there's ridicule in his tone as he takes in Rocky's figure. "All the boasting was for this guy? And you have even got beaten to the pulp by him?"

A pity rose for him as Aadhya thought of the many days Kamal would be alive once Rocky got his hands on KGF in the second part. Aadhya felt like it won't be much if he maintained the same manner of speech and respect. "I don't know exactly where you came from. But once coming to Bangalore, instead of learning about where the Vidhana Soudha is and how the weather is, you should've first learned about just how bad I am." His hands reach for the weapon one of the guards carried. "You made a mistake. And now it's too late."

"Kamal, that's enough," Aadhya says, her tone firm as she comes to stand before him before he could pull the trigger. Because she doesn't think Reena would save Rocky, as she did in the movie. And no matter how she might've screwed the plot, she wouldn't let it go beyond repair by having someone kill the world's hero. Or, that is what she convinced herself before she stood in front of the gun.

Luckily, Reena wasn't too far gone because soon, she opened her mouth. "Yes, that's enough." She walks over his shoulders to stand beside Kamal. "There's no use to waste a bullet on someone like him. He's not worth it." Not sparing her fiance another glance, she walks past Aadhya to face Rocky. "Do you know why I've called all of them here? Not to kill you, but to merely prove a point to my sister that you aren't worth to even like someone like her."

"Reena, come on," Aadhya pleads, sighing as if the whole business has grown tedious. Do you have to do this? was left unsaid.

But her sister didn't glance at her, silently telling her, yes, she has to do this. She crisply folds her arms together in front of her as she regards him. "I will give you a chance to prove your masculinity. Touch my sister once in front of these people, and I will approve of her. In fact, I will even put in a good word with my father."

As soon as the words left her mouth, several guns were pointed at Rocky, daring him to take a step forward.

After silent contemplation, Rocky turned around and took a step back, choosing to walk out of the door. Sounds of laughter filled the club, almost ridiculing. People jeered at his back for his cowardice.

"Go, go away, man!"

"Get the hell out!"

"You need guts, dude!"

"Get going! Get going!"

"Hey, kid!" one of them said over the shouts and insults. "Say my name, and buy two dozen bangles in my uncle's shop at Balpet!"

Reena shoots Aadhya a disappointed and sympathetic look at that. And that's when it hits her. The heroine was really testing the hero to see if he's really worthy of Aadhya. Once the realization dawns on her, Aadhya finally comes to an understanding.

In this world, there would be no chance that Reena and Rocky would come together and have the happily ever after she imagined. In this strange world, Reena wasn't the main protagonist - it was her. Aadhya Desai. A girl who doesn't have a script or a plot.

This was huge; that had so many implications and ramifications that Aadhya's head felt like a hive of pissed-off bees, buzzing so loudly, she couldn't hear herself think. Aadhya didn't even get the chance to fully digest what it meant when a booming sound made everyone jump in their places. A tanker had been driven through the back wall, and the floor was being flooded with water. All of it was followed by a strick of a matchstick. One of the guys was quick enough to check and confirm the water was, in fact, petrol.

The announcement had everyone shaking in their boots, making them take a weary step back, while some of the thugs moved forward before Rocky could drop the match on the floor after lighting his cigarette. Without blinking an eye at the chaos he caused, the rugged man puts the lit match into the nearest person's open palm. While the hoodlum cried out in pain, his face screwing up, Rocky just walked past him calmly.

He moved just like how the oil spreads across the lake, smooth and fluid, almost vicious.

When he finally stopped in front of Aadhya, his fingers stopping just an inch from her face, she felt the breath hitch in her throat. The room swam before her, the red and maroons bleeding into indistinguishable blurs as she fought to drown out the roaring voice in the back of her head. Because it all finally made perfect sense now. She was the key to Rocky's happily ever after.

Dropping his hands to his side, Rocky fixes his eyes on Reena. "Just because someone can put his finger on the trigger doesn't mean he's a shooter! And just because someone can lay his hand on a girl, he can't be deemed a man!" He moves his eyes back to Aadhya, his gaze shadowed by the hair falling to frame his face. "Your sister knows what exactly I am worthy of. I don't really care about others."

It felt like a confession coming from his lips. Soft and sharp at once, an aching tenderness edged with sorrow, naked proof of his once broken heart that's now ready to heal. And Aadhya's heart stuttered at that. Because seeing such raw emotion in his eyes was nothing like hearing it declared aloud in front of hundreds of strangers.

Suddenly, Aadhya finds herself faced with a future that she's no longer certain she can really bear.