Too Close for Comfort
497 Words
Aarini knew when she was in deep water.
And right now?
She wasn’t just swimming in it.
She was drowning.
A Silent Storm
Kian had barely spoken since Rohan and Meera left.
But his silence was deafening.
Aarini watched him as he stood by the floor-to-ceiling windows, his back rigid, the city lights casting long shadows over his frame.
He was thinking. Calculating.
And yet…
Aarini knew he wasn’t just thinking about business.
He was thinking about revenge.
Breaking the Silence
She sighed. “Are you going to tell me what’s going on, or do I have to start making assumptions?”
Kian didn’t turn. “Make whatever assumptions you want.”
Aarini rolled her eyes. “You’re impossible.”
Still, she waited.
Waited for him to say something. Anything.
And finally—finally—he did.
“They’re making their move,” he murmured.
Aarini frowned. “What kind of move?”
Kian turned then, his dark eyes locking onto hers. “A hostile one.”
Her stomach dropped.
“What do you mean?” she asked carefully.
Kian set his drink down, walking toward her with slow, measured steps.
He didn’t stop until he was too close.
Close enough that Aarini had to tilt her chin to look up at him.
Close enough that she could feel the heat of his presence—the restrained power beneath his carefully composed expression.
“Rohan isn’t just here to taunt me,” Kian said quietly. “He’s here to take what’s mine.”
The Lines Begin to Blur
Aarini exhaled slowly.
She had walked into this arrangement thinking it was just a business deal.
A temporary engagement.
A simple lie.
But now?
Now, she wasn’t just pretending to be Kian’s fiancée.
She was standing in the middle of a battlefield, playing a role that had very real consequences.
She should step back.
She should remind herself that none of this was real.
But instead, she found herself asking, “And what happens now?”
Kian’s gaze flickered—just for a second.
Then, he reached for something on the table.
Aarini’s breath caught as he lifted a small, velvet box.
The engagement ring.
The symbol of their lie.
And yet… as he flipped it open and pulled out the diamond ring, his hands were steady.
Unshaken.
Certain.
Unlike hers.
“Aarini,” Kian said, his voice low, intense.
She swallowed. “What?”
He lifted the ring between them, his eyes never leaving hers.
And then—without warning—he reached for her hand.
Aarini stiffened, but she didn’t pull away.
She should have.
But she didn’t.
Instead, she watched, mesmerized, as Kian Malhotra—the ruthless CEO, the man who didn’t believe in love—slid the ring onto her finger.
And when he looked up, something flickered in his gaze.
Something Aarini couldn’t quite decipher.
“This changes everything,” he murmured.
And the worst part?
Aarini already knew.
End of Chapter 7
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- Writer
