Author POV
Ruhanika, Yuvraj, Veer, and Vikram were standing in a cozy little corner, talking softly over the music.

A few steps away, Twinkle was busy on a call — probably something related to her model shoot

But 3 people eyes were not leaving Ruhanika
Yug. Kabir. Rudransh.

Their eyes weren’t on the lights or the crowd. They were locked… on her.

Rudransh’s tone was clipped.
“He’s just a fiancée. I don’t understand how she suddenly gets to take all the damn decisions.

Kabir’s jaw clenched, sharp and unfiltered.
“Or maybe he manipulated her

Yuvraj rolled his eyes, leaning casually against the bar.
“Why do you guys care now? First, you let her go like she was disposable… and now suddenly, she matters?”

That’s when Rohan entered from behind, a little breathless.

“What’s up, guys? Sorry, I know I’m late. My friend passed out drunk — total chaos — had to drag him back to his place.”

No one responded. Not at first.

Rohan glanced around, confused.
“Rudransh bhai? Where’s your award.

But Rudransh didn’t said anything.
He tilted his head toward the girl across the floor and said
“My award is right there… my little dove.”

Rohan turned.

And his world paused.

Ruhanika.

Laughing, carefree, stunning. Her smile hit him like a punch to the ribs. And behind her… stood him. That boy from the mall. The same boy she was laughing with that day. The one who wasn’t just someone.

Rohan’s eyes sharpened. He looked directly at Yuvraj, voice quiet but heavy.

“That boy… That’s the one she was with at the mall, right?

Rudransh snapped his head toward him.
“What did you just say?”

Rohan inhaled slowly, regret flickering in his eyes.
“Yesterday I asked you about Ruhanika because I saw her… in Mumbai mall. With him. I wasn't sure back then — but now, seeing them together like this, I’m sure.”

Kabir’s tone turned sharp.
“And you’re telling us this now?”

Rohan’s voice cracked slightly — just enough to betray the guilt buried deep.
“I wanted to approach her. But… I didn’t. I thought maybe she’d come back to the Khanna mansion. I waited. But she never did.”

He looked at her again. This time, his voice dropped lower, a whisper only meant for the truth.
“And now… seeing her so distant, so... detached from us… it’s clear. She must hate us. I can feel it.”

No one spoke.

Because for the first time, they weren’t just dealing with the fact that she had walked away.

They were dealing with the fact that maybe…

She never planned on coming back.

Ruhanika’s POV

Me, Vikram Bhai, and Veer Bhai were standing near the marble décor, casually talking about the interior, the crowd, and Yuvraj’s next launch. The atmosphere was calm… but somewhere inside me, it wasn’t.
Because my eyes… they were looking for someone else.

That’s when I turned.

And my eyes landed on the bar counter.

There he was.

Yug.

Standing there like a storm waiting to explode. His hair a bit messier, eyes bloodshot, one hand tucked in his blazer pocket and the other clutching a glass like he was holding onto rage itself.

That was my little brother.

And this… was the moment.

My throat burned.

I had waited for this day for years — to look at him not across a corridor, not from behind some curtain, but face to face.

“I’m going to meet Yug,” I said softly to Vikram Bhai.

His head turned in a snap. “What?”

“I want to meet my little brother,” I smiled, holding back every wave of emotion rushing in me. “It’s been years.”

Veer Bhai instantly cut in, “Ruhi, he’ll misbehave with you. He’s not the same.”

“I know,” I nodded gently. “But I know he will not. Not today. Not with me.

Vikram Bhai stepped in front of me, “Ruhi, you’re not going.”

“I’m sorry,” I said, my voice turning firm. “But I will. He is my Yug. I’m not afraid. I’m not angry. I just… want to see my brother.

I turned away and walked toward him.

suddenly—

“Oh hi, Ruhanika… my sister.”

That voice.

I stopped.

Aarohi stood there, her smirk resting on her perfectly painted lips, her voice laced with venom as usual.

“Seven years later and you’re back,” she said, circling me like a hungry snake. “But not with your own power… with your fiancé’s. Or should I say… to-be fiancé’s?” Her eyes slowly drifted toward Yuvraj.

That was her mistake.

She leaned closer and said
“You must have seduced him. Otherwise, no man like him would ever come to you. No boy would like you.”

My fists clenched.

But my words hit sharper than any punch could.

“I’m not you, Aarohi.”
My voice was steel.

“I’m not Aarohi Shishodiya… who gets into  rooms and moans like a slut just to keep a man.”

Her eyes widened.

“I don’t need to beg for male attention… and I definitely don’t spread my legs to feel powerful.”

She stepped back, but I wasn’t done.

“And if you ever look at Yuvraj with those eyes again, Aarohi… I swear, I will pluck them out with my own hands. Stay away from him. Stay away from us.”

I walked past her, not sparing another glance.

Because my heart had already moved ahead…

Toward Yug.

I saw him standing near the counter, half-drunk, laughing with someone like the world was still simple.

I walked towards him—one step slower than the other. And then I gently tapped his shoulder, “Yug

He turned, slowly, and for a second… for just that fragile second, his eyes looked like they used to when he was ten and used to hide behind me after stealing laddoos. But it disappeared just as fast.

A cold smirk took over.
“Oh… Hi,” he said. “The obsession of the Khanna brothers.

That smile I had kept so safely for him… it died.

But I forced my voice to stay soft. “How are you doing, Yug? It’s been years…”

I moved forward to hug him. I just… I don’t know, maybe I needed to feel that someone from my old world still knew how to love me.

But he stepped back and said

“Please, Ruhanika…”
Not Di.
Not Ru.
Just—Ruhanika.

That name didn’t sound like mine anymore. It sounded like a stranger’s.

I blinked and said “I’m your sister. Your Di. I’m three years older than you, Yug You used to call me Di—”

“There is only my Di,” he snapped, “Aarohi Di.”

And that was it.

My heart broke in silence.

I laughed—pathetically. “So… she manipulated you too?”

But he only smirked. “This is why you were sent away, Ruhanika. For seven years, you begged everyone, right? But no one stopped you. You still think you were innocent?”
“You think our family did partiality with you? Please. You were a brat. A spoiled, arrogant, attention-seeking girl who never respected anyone. You begged for attention, Ruhanika. And we sent you to learn discipline. That’s it. And now you roam around calling yourself orphan? Really?”

He took a step closer and said“We made you. Our parents made you. You forgot that?”

I shook my head slowly “They only made me with money, Yug,” I whispered.

He stilled.

“They never loved me. They never cared. Even when I came first, they didn’t clap. Even when I cried at night, no one came. They only looked at you, Rudransh, Kabir, and Ruhan. At their sons. I was just someone they had to raise.

I looked into his eyes.

“And you… you were the one who used to call me Di. The one who used to sleep next to me when you had nightmares. Did I ever let you cry alone, Yug?”

For a second… I saw it.

Guilt.

But then he blinked, and it vanished.

“It is your fault, Ruhanika,” he said, voice sharper now. “Not everyone can be wrong. Maybe you were the one who pushed us away. Come back. Say sorry. Everything will go back to normal.”

I smiled.

A dead, aching smile.

“You’re not my Yug. My Yug would’ve never needed an apology to hold my hand.”

And then he whispered something that froze my soul.

“You have your Yuvraj, don’t you?”
“I’ve heard things, you know. That he doesn’t even give attention to girls. He doesn’t look twice. So how did you get his attention?”

He tilted his head, smirking like a demon.

“Did you seduce him? Did you spread your legs for him?”

SLAP.

I didn’t move. I didn’t blink. I didn’t even breathe.

But I saw it.

Yuvraj’s hand was trembling. His jaw was clenched. His eyes… murderous.

The slap had landed across Yug cheek.

But I was the one who felt like I’d been hit.

Because that wasn’t the moment our bond broke.

No.

It had already broken.

Seven years ago.

When I cried for him as I left that house… and he never came after me.

Yuvraj’s POV

I didn’t hesitate.

My hand came up in an instant—a fire-spreading slap straight across Yug’s cheek. The sound cracked through the air like a whip, louder than any angel he’d dared to throw on my rooftop.

His head snapped to the side. His pride fell with it.

I stepped closer, breathing fire.
“How dare you?”
“How fucking dare you speak to her like that?

My voice was venom, my body boiling.
“She used to think about you. She used to cry for you. She used to believe that maybe, just maybe, her little brother understood her.

I stared dead into his eyes, my voice dropping darker.
“But you?”
“You called her that? Your own sister?

I didn’t blink.
“She is not your punching bag. She is not your insult bin. She is not your emotional garbage can.”
“She is my fiancée.
“And you better show her the fucking respect she deserves, or I swear—I’ll show you what I can do.

Yug opened his mouth, probably to give one of his loser comebacks.
But I didn’t let him breathe.
“You think you get to decide her worth?
“After seven years of being mute? Of watching her break?”
“You’re just a coward dressed in family ties.”

That’s when his whole family showed up, like they had any right to this moment. Rudransh stepped forward, fist clenched like he was gonna punch me

But before he could move—

“Don’t you DARE, Rudrash!
Ruhanika’s voice cut the air like a blade.
She stepped in front of me, fire in her eyes, spine straight, queen-like.

“Touch him once,” she growled, “and I swear, I’ll show you what a girl can I become.”
“Stay the hell away from my fiancé.”
“From my Yuvraj. she said.

Her mother stepped forward then, all righteous and fake.
“Ruhanika,” she said with that bitter calm, “we raised you to be disciplined. Not… ill-mannered.”

Ruhi gave a smile so cold it could freeze hell.
“I don’t need love lessons from someone who gave me everything but love.

She turned to Yug, her voice suddenly softer—but no less deadly.
“I thought you were the only one who might’ve missed me. That maybe you cared.”
She shook her head.
“Turns out I was stupid.”

I turned to the brothers—those soft-hearted idiots who let themselves be poisoned.
“You all knew your parents didn’t care about her.”
“You all knew she was suffering.”
“And still… you chose their manipulation over her tears.”

Then my eyes locked with Aarohi. The worst of them all.
“You abandoned her. You disrespected her.”
“Now hear this—”
“She’s MINE.”
“Not yours to love. Not yours to break. Not yours to judge.”
“And if anyone lays a finger on her again—
I’ll break their jaws.
Crush their bones.
And maybe…
burn them alive.

That’s when Veer and Vikram Bhai reached.
“What’s happening?” Vikram asked, tense.

I didn’t even look at them.
“Nothing,” I said coldly, “Just teaching a lesson to my so-called brother-in-law.”

And then when Rooh was stepping back
Her foot twisted.
“Aahh…” she winced, stumbling.

But before she could fall,
I caught her.
My arms wrapped around her waist. Tight. Protective.

I looked up, my glare burning holes through all of them.
“Stay the fuck away from her.”
“She is not yours. Never was.”

And without another word,
I scooped her into my arms.

Bridal style. Like she deserved. Like she was royalty they never worshipped.

Because Ruhanika wasn’t here to beg for love.

She was here to be owned. And protected. And if the world couldn’t do that…
Then I would.
Till my last breath.

(He took her like this😭🥵)

Vikram and Veer POV
Veer’s jaw clenched as he stormed towards Yug, rage pouring out of his eyes like molten lava. His voice shook, not from fear—but from fury.

“What the hell do you think you were doing, Yug?

His tone thundered through the air, slicing through the tension like a blade.
“Me and Vikram—we stopped her. We begged her not to go to you. But she still came. With a heart so big, she came with love. And what did you do?”

Vikram didn’t wait another second. His hands shot forward, grabbing Yug’s collar tight, yanking him so close their breaths collided.

“You called our sister a slut?!”
His voice was venomous.
“Are you even in your senses, Yug? Or has Aarohi’s poison finally turned your brain into filth?”

Yug stammered, “I... I wasn’t in my senses… She… She was trying to come close to me like before… Like seven years ago… That same fake love, that same indiscipline—”

SLAP.

Veer’s palm cracked across his cheek.

“Don’t you dare.”
His tone turned deathly low.
“Don’t you dare blame her. You think she broke the bond?”

He stepped forward, fire in his steps and said -
“No, Yug. You broke it. You and your so-called family. You broke her spirit. You ignored her existence. You watched her cry and still stayed silent. You let Aarohi fill your head with shit and made her feel unwanted.

Vikram’s eyes burned. His voice shook with truth and he said
Rudrash. Kabir. Rohan. You. All of you. And especially that manipulative parasite—Aarohi Shishodiya.
You fed off her silence. You turned a girl with the purest soul into someone you barely recognize—because you never tried to see her pain.”

He turned, ready to walk away. But Veer paused. He had one last thing to say.

He faced them all. His voice, like thunder before the storm.

“You couldn’t even worship a sister like her. A girl like Ruhanika… she was a blessing. And you… you chose a bitch over a blessing.
His words struck like daggers.
“You kept praising a manipulative snake while crushing the diamond at your feet.

He looked straight into Yug’s eyes. Cold. Broken. Done.

“The day you realize what you lost… that day will break you. And that day, we’ll be celebrating.”

Vikram’s voice joined in—calm, but deadlier than fire.

“Because now, she has Yuvraj. A man who can burn the whole damn world for her. And trust me…”
He smirked.
“If she ever sheds another tear because of you… he will.”

And with that, the brothers turned their backs on the ones who once called themselves “family.”

Ruhanika's POV

As soon as I stepped into Twinkle Mansion, I couldn't breathe. My chest was caving in, my throat tightening with each step I took.

I didn’t even look back. I stormed straight to my room, tears blurring my vision, but I didn’t care.

Just when my fingers touched the door handle, his hand caught my wrist—firm, warm, grounding.

“Butterfly,” Yuvraj whispered.
His voice cracked.
“Stop crying. Please… they’re not worth a single tear from your eyes.

But I couldn’t hold it anymore.

I turned and pushed him away with all the pain I had hidden for years.

“You don’t understand, Yuvraj!”
My voice broke as the sobs escaped my mouth.
“You don’t. You never will.”

I was breathing so heavily it felt like I’d choke on my own air.

“I loved him, Yuvraj… I loved him the most in these seven damn years.”
My hands trembled.
“And I never… never thought he’d call me that. Not him.”

Just then, Twinkle ran up and wrapped her arms around me from behind. Her warmth was familiar—but I didn’t want it. Not right now.

“Calm down, Ruhi… please… he’s not worth your tears,” she whispered softly against my ear.

But even that kindness hurt.

I pulled away, backing up like I was cornered.

“Please…” I said, my voice barely audible, shaking.
“Please,Please, Yuvraj… just… leave me alone. Please.”

And before they could stop me, I slammed my door shut and locked it.
Then fell to the floor.

They were outside.

“Ruhi, open the door!”
“Ruhanika, please. Listen to us.”

I heard Yuvraj banging. I heard Twinkle crying too.
But I didn’t answer. I couldn’t.
My voice was gone. My strength was gone.

I curled up by the door, knees to chest, and whispered the only question haunting my soul.

“What did I ever do to deserve this?”

And suddenly, I was not sitting in Mansion anymore.
I wasn't twenty three
I was seven

(Flashback)
Seven years old. Sitting near the window. Clutching a pencil and scribbling homework in a torn old notebook.

And then I saw someone.
Crying.

It was Yug
I opened the door and went to him. "Yug? What happened? Why are you crying?"

He didn’t speak. Just opened his palm.
And there it was.
Papa’s favorite watch.

Broken and Smashed badly. The dial cracked.

"I broke it, Ruhi di .. I broke it..." he sobbed. "I didn’t mean to... I was just checking what was so special about it… and it fell."

My heart skipped.

"Yug… Papa will get so angry…" I whispered.

"Yug… baby, I’ll tell him I broke it. You don’t have to say anything."

His head jerked up and his Eyes wide and he said
"No, Ruhi Di! No! Papa will only shout at me… but he will surely beat you! You won’t do this, you won’t—"

I held his hand. "Yug. I will do this. Give it to me."

And just then…

Papa entered the corridor. His face as cold as the floor we stood on.

"What are you doing here, Ruhanika?"

I turned. Held up the broken watch in my hands. "Papa... it was me. I broke your watch. I was just... looking at it."

There was silence.
Then he took one step forward.
And then the words came.

"You are really a pathetic girl, Ruhanika."

"You aren’t even worthy of living in this mansion."

"From the day you entered, you’ve been nothing but a scar."

"Your Bua says right about you. You’re nothing."

"This watch… this watch was everything to me.

My breath hitched. But it wasn’t over.

He went into the storeroom, pulled out his long stick—the thick one with the leather handle.

And without a pause, he raised his hand and brought it down hard. Once. Twice. On my small hands.

A scream escaped my mouth.

“I’m sorry, Papa,” I cried. “I didn’t mean to…”

He didn’t stop to listen. He just walked away like nothing happened. Like I was nothing.

I turned, holding my stinging hands close to my chest.

Yug was still there. Still sobbing. Still broken.

He ran to me and hugged me tight, his little arms clinging to my waist. “I’m sorry, Ruhi di… I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to… I should have told him it was me.”

I shook my head, pressing his face to my stomach.

“No, Yog… it’s okay. You don’t need to cry. I did what I wanted.”

He looked up, tears falling. “I promise, Ruhi di… one day no one will ever hurt you. No one will speak to you like this. Not even Papa.”

And I just smiled. A broken, tired smile. As I hugged him back.

And now, the same boy who once promised me that no one would ever hurt me with words…
Was the same boy who accused me of seducing someone.
Slut.
That’s the word he used. For me.

The weight of that word crushed me from inside.
I was sitting on the floor, knees pulled to my chest, trembling. My eyes were puffy, my throat felt like it was burning, and my breath came in broken pieces.

I don’t know how long I had been crying.
Minutes?
Time didn't exist anymore. Just pain. And silence.

Until I heard that soft creak… from the window.
I turned my head, slowly, drained, expecting the storm.

It was him.
Yuvraj.
My Yuvi.

He stepped in silently, his eyes scanning the room—and then me. For a second, he didn’t move. Like even he didn’t know what to say.

But I didn’t care.
I ran to him.

I didn’t think. I didn’t breathe. I just hugged him.

I crashed into his chest and clutched his shirt like it was the only thing keeping me alive.
I sobbed into him, my fists balled into his collar, my voice shaking—

“Yuvraj… I’m sorry… I didn’t mean to push you. I was just—”

He pulled me even tighter, his voice low and raw, “Ru… I understand you. I do. You don’t have to explain. It’s okay to cry. Cry, Butterfly. You don’t always have to be strong. Not in front of me.”

His words broke me even more.
Because he understood.
And that’s all I ever needed.

I didn't say anything.
I just let my pain spill into his chest like it was meant to belong there.

Then he pulled away for a second… just enough to press a kiss on my forehead.
That soft, grounding kiss.

“I am here, Butterfly. Always. No matter what the world says… I will always stand between you and them. You don’t have to fight alone anymore.”

I looked at him through blurred tears.

“Even when you hate me… even when I’m the villain in your story… I’ll still choose you.”

And in that moment… I believed him.

He sat on the bed and opened his arms like he was inviting every broken piece of me to rest.

He pulled me down gently, wrapped my hand around his shoulder and said, “Sleep, Butterfly… Just sleep. I’m not going anywhere.”

And I don’t know how, but for the first time in days… my eyes shut slowly, peacefully.
Because his heartbeat was my lullaby.
And that night, I didn’t feel alone.