Anika's voice trembled as her eyes locked onto Vikram's. "Vikram, does humiliating me again and again give you some kind of twisted fun?"
For a fleeting second, something flickered in his gaze—something softer, almost regretful—but it was gone as quickly as it came. His lips curved into a wry smile as he replied, "Fun? Anumma, is that really all you think this is? That I'm making you into some game?" His tone deepened, roughened. "I'm thirty years old, Anumma. Do you know what that means? You're the first woman I've ever touched in my life. And even that… happened without your consent." His voice faltered, raw and unguarded for the first time. "Do you know how I felt when I recollected those memories?"
Anika's jaw tightened. Her hands balled into fists, her knuckles whitening.
Vikram's eyes shadowed, as though caught between shame and something darker. "You were just a little girl back then," he admitted, voice low. "I shouldn't have behaved that way. I definitely shouldn't have. But I can't undo what I've done. So if I can't erase it… then I'll take responsibility. What's fun in that?"
Anika let out a short, bitter laugh, one without mirth. "Take responsibility? Vikram, listen to yourself. You forced yourself on me against my will, and now you think you can balance that out with this nonsense about responsibility?"
His jaw twitched, but he held her gaze steadily. "I know I was wrong," he said quietly. "I shouldn't have done that. But give me a chance… a chance to make up for it."
Her laughter cut the air again, sharper this time. "Make up for it? If you truly want to make up for me, then do the simplest thing. Get out of my sight. Leave me the hell alone!"
But Vikram shook his head. "Anumma, I know you're angry. I know you hate me. But you're wrong about one thing—I never meant to harm you. I…" He hesitated, his throat working, the words reluctant but unstoppable. "I liked you. From the very moment I saw you. But I didn't dare touch you when I was sober. I only—" his voice lowered into a pained whisper—"I only lost control when I was drunk."
Anika's lips curled in disgust. "Don't you dare play romance with me, Vikram. Don't you dare turn this into some tragic love story."
"I'm not playing," he said stubbornly. "I'm telling you the truth."
"I hate you!" she snapped, her voice breaking, the hatred laced with an undercurrent of pain that betrayed her.
"I know," Vikram said simply, his eyes steady on hers. "But I will make you love me. If I can make you feel me once… I can make you feel me twice. I will not stop until you admit it."
Her eyes widened, and fury crackled across her face. "Feel you? Heh. Who said I felt you? You didn't make me feel anything, Vikram. I felt him. I only ever felt him!"
Vikram's face froze. Slowly, dangerously, his expression twisted into something darker. "You dare say that to me?"
"Why wouldn't I?" Anika shot back, defiant fire blazing in her eyes. "I've been with him countless times, before and after the day you violated me. And it wasn't just touches, Vikram. It was love. It was passion. So tell me—shouldn't it be natural that even when you forced me, all I could feel was him?"
A sharp silence settled between them.
Vikram's lips curved into a slow, cruel smile. "If that's the case… then why didn't you resist when I kissed you? I held down your hands, true. But your mouth was free. Why didn't you bite my lips? Why didn't you bite my tongue? Maybe, just maybe, if you had… I might have come back to my senses."
Anika's hands trembled, nails digging into her palms.
His voice dropped, almost mocking. "Ah… I see. You must have been too shocked, too senseless to resist. Isn't that it, Anumma?"
She clenched her fists harder, biting her lip, refusing to give him the satisfaction of a response.
Vikram leaned in, his smile sinister, his words cutting. "Tell me, then. Why did you cry?"
Her breath hitched. Her lips parted, but no words came.
Vikram's grin widened, his tone dripping with venom as he whispered close to her ear, "Since you claim you only felt him, why did you cry that night? Was it… because you reached the peak of pleasure?"
Anika's face blanched. Her body trembled in fury. "You took too much credit for yourself, Vikram!" she spat, her voice shaking.
He laughed then, a sound so sharp it made the air thicken around them. "Oh? So you admit it? You were aware it was me who touched you. Don't lie, Anumma. If you truly felt only him, then why did you know it was me all along?"
"What the hell are you trying to prove?" she shouted.
His eyes gleamed with triumph. "That you were aware it was me. That despite that awareness, your body still…" His words trailed off deliberately, leaving the silence to choke her.
"Enough, Vikram!" Anika roared. "Just shut your filthy mouth!"
But Vikram only shook his head slowly, savoring every flicker of her fury. "You can't bear the truth, can you?"
Her voice broke, ragged. "Enough means enough! Just let me go!"
He stepped closer, his presence suffocating. "Let you go? Impossible, Anumma. I will never let you go. Not now, not ever."
Her chest heaved, fury scorching her throat. "Vikram, I am—"
But he cut her off with a mocking sneer. "Ah, right. You're another man's woman. Yes, yes, I know. You've shouted it into my face enough times already. No need to repeat yourself."
Anika's eyes blazed, but her words faltered. Her silence only fed his cruelty.
He tilted his head, feigning curiosity. "By the way, where is he now? This man you claim to belong to? Where is he, Anumma?"
Her lips pressed tight, refusing him an answer.
Vikram's smirk deepened. "He sent you to another man's house willingly, didn't he? Even when I violated you, he didn't confront me. And now, once again, you're here—without him. So tell me, Anumma, what kind of man is he?"
Her hands shook. "Don't you dare talk about him!"
But Vikram pressed on, his voice dripping with malice. "He never minded me touching you. Perhaps he's even willing to share you with me. Isn't that what his absence proves? That even the man you worship doesn't care if I have you?"
Her palm cracked against his cheek again, a sharp echo in the heavy room. "What nonsense are you spitting out, Vikram? You don't deserve to know anything about him!"
The sting of the slap lingered, but Vikram only chuckled low, rubbing his cheek. "You're right," he said with mock solemnity. "I don't deserve to know a man like him. A man who only sprawls between a woman's thighs and doesn't even care what happens to her. And yet… you're willing to sacrifice everything for him."
His voice dropped to a murmur, almost reverent, though twisted with malice. "What a touching love story, Anumma. So tragic… so foolish… and so very beautiful."