Boundless Obsession

Chapter : 6 Day 4: The Answer She Chose

Chapter: 6 -

Series: Boundless Obsession

By: NIYA

The silence in VSR Farmhouse was heavier than death.

Vyan Singh Rathore stood one inch away from Niya. His question still hung in the air: "Life as my property... or death as my enemy?"

Niya's heart was pounding so loud she thought Vyan could hear it. Her father's rickshaw. Her mother's medicines. Her dream of becoming an IAS officer. Everything flashed before her eyes.

She looked up. Straight into the devil's eyes.

"No."

The word was a whisper. But in that silent hall, it was louder than thunder.

Vyan's eyebrow twitched. "What did you say?"

Niya swallowed. Her legs were shaking, but her voice was not. "I said no, Vyan Singh Rathore. I will not come here every night. I will not be your property. And I will not sell my dignity for my father's rickshaw."

For three seconds, Vyan didn't move. Then he smiled. Not his dangerous smirk. A real smile. Cold. Deadly. Final.

"Wrong answer, village girl."

He turned his back on her and walked to his bar. Poured another drink. His hands were steady. Too steady.

"You know what I admire about you, Niya?" he said without looking at her. "You have spine. Village girls usually break in one day. You took two." He took a sip. "But everyone breaks. It's just a matter of pressure."

He put the glass down and pulled out his phone. Dialed a number. Put it on speaker.

"Yes, sir?" a man's voice answered.

"Ram Singh," Vyan said calmly, "the rickshaw stand at Dadar. The one with the old man... Sharma ji. Burn it down. Tonight."

Niya's blood turned to ice. "No! Please! Don't do this!"

Vyan cut the call and looked at her. "Too late. You chose death as my enemy. Now watch your world burn."

Niya ran to him, grabbing his shirt. "Please! I beg you! My father... he's old! He'll die without that rickshaw!"

Vyan looked down at her hands on his shirt. Then at her tear-filled eyes. For a moment, something human flickered in his face. Then it was gone.

He grabbed her wrists and pulled her hands off. "Begging? Now? Where was this attitude yesterday when you slapped me

"That was different! You insulted me!"

"And now I'm destroying you." Vyan pushed her away gently. "That's how my world works, Niya. Action. Consequence. Interest."

He walked to the door and opened it. "Guards will drop you home. Safely. I don't touch girls who aren't mine willingly." He smirked. "Yet."

Niya stood there, broken. "You're a monster."

"Maybe," Vyan shrugged. "But monsters run this world, village girl. And you just declared war on one."

He nodded to the guards. Two huge men stepped forward.

"Wait!" Niya shouted suddenly. An idea. A crazy, suicidal idea. "What if... what if I agree? But on my condition."

Vyan paused. Turned slowly. "You have conditions? Interesting. Speak."

Niya took a deep breath. This was it. Her life, her father's life, everything on this one gamble.

"I will come here. Every night. 8 PM. But... you will not touch me. Not without my permission. And..." she looked him dead in the eye, "...you will teach me. Everything you know. Business. English. How to survive in your world. If I'm going to be your property, then make me worth owning."

The silence came back. Heavier than before.

Vyan stared at her for a full minute. Then he started laughing. Loud. Real. Surprised.

"You want me to make you like me?" he asked, walking back to her. "To create a female version of Vyan Singh Rathore?"

"Yes," Niya said. "If I'm going down, I'm going down fighting. And I want to learn from the best enemy."

Vyan stopped laughing. He stepped close again. Studied her face like she was a puzzle he couldn't solve.

"You are insane," he whispered.

"Maybe," Niya said, using his own word. "But insane people change the world. Isn't that what you said in the college debate last year? I read about it."

Vyan's eyes widened slightly. She'd researched him.

He was quiet for a long time. Then he snapped his fingers. The guards stopped.

"Ram Singh," he said into his phone again. "Cancel that order. The rickshaw stands."

He cut the call and looked at Niya. A new expression on his face. Not anger. Not lust. Curiosity.

"Fine, village girl," he said softly. "You want to play? Let's play. 8 PM. Tomorrow. First lesson: How to destroy an enemy without touching them."

He opened the door himself this time. "But remember Niya... I always collect with interest. And now the interest just got higher."

Niya walked past him, her head high. She didn't look back.

But she felt it. Vyan's eyes on her back. Burning.

As the car drove her away, Niya looked at Mumbai's lights. She had survived Day 3. But she had also walked straight into the devil's classroom.

And the first lesson was tomorrow.