Forced to make me Hate You

She is a Gold Digger.

The hall fell into a suffocating silence, broken only by the soft whirring of the cameras that were still broadcasting the Chaturvedi family’s total collapse to the world.

"She is a gold-digger, Uncle. And you want me to marry her NEVER." Vedant’s voice was as cold as a winter grave, cutting through the older man’s plea.

"She didn't think twice before selling me for a check, and I won't think twice before leaving her in the dirt she chose. I didn't come here to play the hero. I came for my vengeance. She played with me, cheated me, and turned me into a monster—now, this monster has paid her back tenfold, with interest."

He adjusted his titanium watch, his face a mask of bored satisfaction. "My vengeance is complete. She is on her own now."

Aavya looked at him, her teary eyes finally hardening. The grief was being replaced by something sharper: Hate. Pure, cold disgust. She didn't care about the marriage or the ruined reputation anymore; she cared that he had stood there and watched her father—a man who had once treated him like a son—beg for mercy.

"No... don’t say... that," Ashok’s voice was a jagged, broken thread. His face was turning a terrifying shade of grey. "Aavya... she... is... no... t... a... g-gold... d-digger..."

"Vikram, we’re done here. Let’s go," Vedant commanded, turning his back on the family as if they were nothing more than trash on the street.

He hadn't even taken three steps toward the entrance when a loud, sickening thud echoed through the hollow hall.

"PAPA!" Aavya’s scream ripped through the air.

Ashok had collapsed like a tree felled by a storm, his hand clutching his chest as he hit the cracked linoleum floor.

Aavya threw herself to her knees, her red silk lehenga spreading around her like a pool of blood. "Papa! Papa, look at me! Open your eyes! Someone help! Please, call an ambulance!"

But the world had turned cold. The guests, fueled by the scandal Vedant had unleashed, actually backed away.

They didn't see a dying man; they saw a "shameless family" getting their karma. The reporters didn't put down their cameras; they moved closer, the flashes exploding like lightning as they captured the "cheating bride" weeping over her father’s limp body.

Vedant froze. He spun around, and for the first time, the "Ice King" mask shattered. A flicker of raw, panicked humanity crossed his face.

"Vikram! Move!" Vedant roared, his voice cracking. He lunged forward, his long blazer flaring behind him as he reached the fallen man.

"Take him to my car! Now!"

Aavya felt a dizzying rush of heat and cold. She wanted to push him away—to scream that he had done enough—but as Vedant lifted her father with a strength born of desperation, she realised he was the only one moving.

The only one helping.

"Get in the car, Aavya! Move!" Vedant hissed, his eyes wide and dark.

The ride to the hospital was a blur of sirens and Mahima’s choked prayers. Rohan huddled in the corner of the SUV, his small hands over his ears.

Aavya sat in the back, her father’s head in her lap, her eyes locked onto the back of Vedant’s head.

He had destroyed her life in twelve minutes, and now, he was the only one trying to save the only person she had left.

At the Hospital

The sterile, white lights of the emergency wing felt like a blinding interrogation. The smell of antiseptic replaced the scent of marigolds.

"Code Blue! Clear the hallway!" the doctors shouted as Ashok was wheeled away on a gurney.

Aavya stood in the middle of the waiting room, her bridal jewellery mocking her in the reflection of the glass doors. She was a bride with no husband, a daughter with a dying father, and a woman trapped in the shadow of a man who hated her.