"Nothing kills more than an unloved one."
Sonny and Toufique sat watching Vikram pace back and forth across the room, tension radiating off him. Toufique glanced at Sonny and signaled him to say something, but Sonny shook his head in refusal.
With a heavy sigh, Toufique finally stood up. "Why don't you sit down and relax for a bit?"
Vikram snapped his head toward him, throwing him an icy stare.
Nearby, Sonny pulled out his phone and dialed a number.
"I don't understand why you're so angry," Toufique continued, a subtle hesitation in his voice. "Nafisa is free to do whatever she wants. You gave her that freedom yourself."
Vikram grunted, his jaw tight. "Giving her freedom doesn't mean she gets to side with my enemies. Dempsey was bad enough, and now she's running around with another one of them."
Sonny glared at his phone screen and cursed under his breath before walking away. Defeated, Toufique sank back into his seat and buried his face in his hands.
Ruksana walked in carrying a tray of tea and set it on the table. Seeing her husband slumped in his chair, she looked up at Sonny, who silently gestured toward Vikram.
She walked over to Vikram and gently placed a hand on his shoulder. "You let her go, and now you expect her to stay alone? That's selfish of you, Vikram."
Vikram closed his eyes, a flicker of despair crossing his face. "I'm not selfish. If she wants to be with someone else, fine. I can live with that. But that isn't what's eating at me. She's aligned herself with the people trying to destroy me. She's plotting my downfall. How would you feel if you found out Toufique was secretly conspiring with your worst enemy?"
Ruksana rolled her eyes softly. "I would give him a chance to explain. Did you give her a chance to explain why she's with them?"
"She isn't a child," Vikram shot back. "She knows damn well that Dempsey is my enemy, yet she chose to walk right into his circle. How is that fair?"
Ruksana offered a faint, melancholy smile. "Love is never fair, Vikram. When I first met Toufique, he was just a boy, broken by war and scarred by the cold steel of death. He was nothing more than a skeleton waiting to crumble into dust. My father took him into our house and fed him. My mother made warm clothes for him, and my sister, Fahmida, prepared his bed. I was the only one who refused to accept him."
She paused, looking toward Toufique before turning back to Vikram. "But when the horrors of war reached our doorstep and slaughtered my family, Toufique was the one who saved me. He carried me on his shoulders through the brutal heat and cold of the desert. He stole and killed just to keep me fed. He always ate after me so I would never go hungry. That was love."
She reached out, gently holding Vikram's gaze. "And when he got caught trying to rob a group of men, they dragged his battered body to you. I fell to my knees and begged you for his life, even offering my own body if you would just spare him. But you just smiled, covered me with your own clothes, and gave us food, shelter, and a reason to keep living. That was love, too. The two of you gave me everything, while I, ungrateful as I am, had nothing to offer in return. Tell me... how is that fair?"
A gentle warmth replaced the anger in Vikram's expression. "Who said you were ungrateful? You gave us the most. You gave my friend a reason to be happy, and you gave me a sister."
Ruksana wrapped her arms around him, pulling him into a tight hug. "Promise me you won't cry."
Vikram narrowed his eyes playfully. "Do you see tears in my eyes?"
"I see your heart," she murmured.
Vikram's playful smirk vanished, replaced by a quiet vulnerability.
"You'll get Nafisa back," Ruksana said softly, stepping back with a reassuring smile. "That fool will realize soon enough that no one in this world loves her the way you do."
Vikram smiled, leaned in, and gently kissed her forehead.
Sonny stared down at his phone screen. Thirty-three calls to a single number, all left unanswered. Annabelle.
"Why isn't she picking up? Did something happen?"
He tapped into her profile tab, staring at her picture as his mind raced. Should I go back to Italy? Is she planning on marrying someone else? Should I talk to my father? No... that old man will just berate me. What about my father-in-law? No, he's too ill. Should I just tell Vikram what's going on? Would he even understand? Even if he lets me leave, can I really walk away right now? He's knee-deep in trouble, and leaving him like this isn't what a friend does.
His mind was spiraling into a knot when a heavy hand landed flat on his shoulder.
"Missing home, fratello? Or is it someone special... Annabelle?"
Vikram's deep voice echoed beside him.
"Annabelle..." The name slipped from Sonny's lips before he could stop it.
Vikram let out a dry sigh. "Women. Cruel creatures, aren't they? They set us on fire, then act like angels when they apply the ointment." He pulled a cigarette from his pocket and flicked a lighter to its tip. "Want to go home? Back to Italy? To your casa?"
Sonny turned to look at him. "Would you even let me go?"
Vikram smirked, exhaling a thin stream of smoke. "Why wouldn't I? I'm no dictator. I don't control your life, Sonny. You're free to do whatever you want, whenever you want. But the real question is: are you actually ready to go home?"
Sonny frowned, confused. "What's that supposed to mean?"
Vikram ground out the glowing tip of his cigarette against the wall and tossed the stub aside. "Seven months. That's how long I rotted in that prison. Seven months of eating slop, drinking contaminated water, sleeping in pest-infested cells, and enduring the most insufferable people on this planet. I had nothing but time to think, and I thought about it every single day. Every single second. Who was the mole? Who sold me out? Who leaked my coordinates to the U.C.I.D.?"
He took a step closer to Sonny, his voice dropping to a dangerous hush. "I brought in a few spies. Did some digging. And after months of piecing it together, I finally got my answer."
"Who was it?" Sonny asked, his patience wearing thin.
Vikram reached out, plucked the phone right out of Sonny's hand, and turned the screen toward his face.
"Your soon-to-be wife. Annabelle."
Sonny reeled back, stunned. "What the hell are you talking about? Have you lost your damn mind? You're accusing Annabelle? Why the hell would she betray you? She respects you! Hell, she spends half her time singing your praises—VPS this, VPS that. Half the time she forgets her own name, but she never forgets yours!"
Vikram's smile remained light, almost patronizing. "That's the exact problem, fratello. She's your fiancée, yet my name is the only one on her lips. You should be the one she praises endlessly. Your name should be the one carved into her tongue, not mine. I take no joy in telling you this, but she isn't loyal to you—she's obsessed with me. She's marrying you, but I'm the one in her dreams. She sits on your lap, but it's my name she wants to scream. She doesn't love you, Sonny. You're just the stepping stone she's using to climb into my arms."
Sonny's eyes went dark. His fists clenched so tight his knuckles turned white. He pulled back, ready to drive his fist straight into Vikram's face—
—when his phone suddenly rang in Vikram's hand.
Vikram looked down at the vibrating phone screen. "Hey. It's your lover. Or... should I say mine."
Sonny snatched the phone from his hand and swiped to answer.
"Hey, why have you been calling me so many times?" Annabelle asked, her voice tinged with frustration and worry. "Thirty-three missed calls, Sonny. What happened? Is everything okay?"
Sonny forced a fake smile onto his face, keeping his tone light. "Nothing. Just wanted to know your whereabouts. I had a bad dream last night."
Annabelle let out a long sigh over the receiver. "A bad dream? You called me thirty-three times because of a bad dream? You know what—leave it. How's everyone out there? How's VPS?"
Sonny shot a look at Vikram, who was standing nearby with a slight, mocking grin.
"Everyone's good," Sonny answered hesitantly. "VPS is fine. Got some troubles to deal with, but otherwise fine."
Annabelle smiled on the other end. "Oh. Good to know. Tell him to contact me. We have some unfinished business between us."
"What unfinished business?" Sonny grunted.
Annabelle rolled her eyes. "None of your business, dear. Anyway, Father was asking about your return. When are you coming?"
Sonny hummed softly. "Not sure when. But it will be soon. Even I've got some unfinished business with VPS."
Annabelle chuckled lightly. "Don't wear him out too much, Sonny. The guy just got out of a life-and-death situation."
Sonny wanted to press further, but Annabelle disconnected the call before he could get another word in.
Vikram smiled sheepishly. "Told ya. She didn't give a damn about your thirty-three calls or your bad dream—she just wanted to check on me. Still don't have trust issues?"
Sonny tossed the phone aside onto the table. "It doesn't prove anything. It's completely normal for someone to worry about one person more than another. Like she said, you were in a life-and-death situation recently."
Vikram grunted, taking a step forward. "Remove this romantic film from your eyes and see that Annabelle is not concerned about you."
Sonny gasped, his patience wearing thin. "What do you want? That I should break off my marriage? A marriage organized by you?"
Vikram shook his head dismissively. "It was your old man's idea to 'stagnate' the Valentina family. I just offered the most logical and pacifist solution."
Sonny raised his brows. "And now this idea is neither logical nor pacifist?"
"Nah. I ain't telling you to back down from the marriage," Vikram grunted. "Annabelle still has a womb and a vindictive mind. I don't want both to be filled by my enemies."
"So you want to push us into a loveless marriage for your sake?" Sonny bellowed.
Vikram walked up to him and placed a heavy, reassuring hand on his shoulder. "No. I don't want that. You are my favorite person, and I would rather take a bullet than see you suffer."
Sonny stood tense, his breathing heavy. "What do you want then?"
Vikram took a deep sigh, his eyes darkening. "Once your marriage is consummated, I will play my final card. The Valentina family will cease to exist. Forever."
Sonny stared at him. He was just as confused as he was earlier, but he knew better than to push back now. He chose to remain silent and patient.
Toufique walked outside. He looked at both Vikram and Sonny, raising a brow. "Conspiracy on a hungry stomach shortens a man's cognitive abilities."
Both Sonny and Vikram smiled. Vikram patted Toufique's shoulder. "Tell Ruksana I left. I have some important work to do. The recent situation with Nafisa changed many things, and now I have to work even harder in an even shorter time period."
Toufique grunted. "It's a sin to leave a full plate uneaten."
Vikram smiled lightly. "I have more severe sins on my head."
Without waiting for an answer, Vikram sprinted away.
Toufique looked at Sonny. "What happened with him?"
Sonny waved his hand dismissively. "He either lost his mind or is planning on making us mad."
Toufique looked confused. "What?"
Sonny twitched his cheek and ran downstairs. Toufique watched both of his friends leave abruptly and shrugged his shoulders. "Who cares?"
Ruksana came outside from the kitchen and asked, seeing Toufique standing alone, "Where are Vikram and Sonny?"
Toufique walked towards Ruksana and tightened his arms around her. "It's getting colder. They went to warm their bodies. How about we warm ours?"
Ruksana smiled. "This is the reason why my belly swells often."
Toufique smiled back. "Want to swell it?"
Ruksana shook her head in mock fear. "Not for another three years."
They laughed and kissed...