He stalked forward, each step echoing like thunder across the grand suite. His gaze didn't waver—not even for a second—from the shivering girl sitting on his bed.
His bed.
Where she belonged.
Where she would stay.
Forever.
"Aarohi," he spoke, his tone dangerously calm, "I won't repeat myself. You're not going anywhere."
Her terrified eyes collided with his, her lips trembling as she pressed herself back against the headboard like a trapped rabbit. His jaw clenched painfully—this wasn't what he wanted. Not her fear. Not her flinching.
But he knew… he had to be cruel to keep her close. He couldn't afford to let her go. Not after finding her alive. Not after seeing the bruises on her porcelain skin.
"Ruhan…" Sara's soft voice tried to intervene.
His hand snapped up. "Out."
Sara stiffened but nodded, giving Aarohi a sympathetic glance before quietly exiting the room, leaving them alone.
The moment the door clicked shut, a suffocating silence settled between them.
Aarohi's fists tightened into the sheets, her lips opening and closing like a fish out of water, searching for words.
"I… I didn't ask for this… I didn't…" she whispered, tears welling in her eyes. "Please… mujhe wapas jaana hai…"
His chest constricted painfully. Her first words to him after years… were begging to leave.
He couldn't allow it.
Ruhan marched to her side, crouching to her level. His hands reached for her but stopped midair, his fingers curling into fists as he fought the urge to crush her to his chest again.
His voice dropped lower, icier, yet laced with raw desperation. "Do you even understand… what I felt when I saw you lying on that filthy floor, Purple? Do you understand… what you've done to me?"
Aarohi's bottom lip trembled violently. She had no answers… because she didn't understand. Why him? Why now? Why after all these years of being invisible?
Her silence only poked at his wounds deeper.
His hand finally moved—gentle yet possessive—as he tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear. She winced slightly, but he ignored it.
"You think I'll let you go back to that place? To Bina?" His lips curled into disgust. "Do you even realize the condition you were in? The bruises… the weakness… the f*cking hunger in your eyes?"
A choked sob escaped her throat. She hated that he noticed… she hated that someone finally saw.
"I've searched for you…" his voice cracked, his forehead pressing gently against hers, "…for twelve f*cking years, Purple. Do you know how it feels… to wake up every morning… haunted by a pair of purple eyes that I couldn't find?"
His words hit her like a storm—raw, destructive, and inescapable.
Her small hands weakly pushed at his chest, but it was useless. He was immovable… like a fortress built just for her.
"Why… why now?" she whimpered. "Why after so many years? Why me?"
His head snapped up, fury and heartbreak swirling in his stormy eyes. "Because you're mine!" he growled. "Because you were always mine! That orphanage… those toffees… those stupid stories… I didn't do it for charity. I did it for you. You were the only good thing in my wretched world, Purple."
Fresh tears cascaded down her cheeks, her heart aching under the weight of his words.
"I lost you once… I won't lose you again."
Her hands fell limp in defeat, her breathing ragged.
Ruhan's lips barely brushed against her forehead, a gentle contradiction to his iron grip on her fate.
"I'll fix you… I'll protect you… I'll spoil you, love you, own you… even if you hate me for it."
His thumb wiped her tears, his next words a dangerous whisper.
"…but I will never let you go."
◇◇◇
Later that Night…
Ruhan stood by the large window, a glass of whiskey in his hand, his back turned to the bed where Aarohi lay… sleeping uneasily under the influence of the mild sedative Sara had insisted on giving.
His eyes were dead serious, his mind running calculations.
"Security is doubled," Kabir informed over the phone. "Bina's house is being monitored. Background check on everyone involved is already underway."
"Good." Ruhan's tone left no space for errors. "And Bina?"
"Trying to contact you through every possible channel. She's desperate."
A dark smirk curled on Ruhan's lips. "Let her rot in desperation."
Ruhan's gaze fell back on the fragile girl curled up in his bed, clutching the sheets like a shield.
A possessive storm swirled within him.
"You don't understand it yet, Purple," he whispered, voice soft but laced with obsession. "But you were always meant to be mine. The world tried to hide you… destroy you… but I found you."
His eyes burned with an emotion only madness could recognize.
"Now, I'll rebuild you… with my name… my wealth… my everything."
His knuckles brushed against the glass, eyes deadly calm.
"And nothing… no one… can ever take you away from me again."
.......
Ruhan sat on the edge of the bed, fingers gently brushing away loose strands from Aarohi's face. Her breathing was soft, lashes fluttering occasionally in restless dreams, but for now… she was safe.
His hardened features softened.
Twelve Years Ago…
The orphanage garden smelled of damp earth after the morning rain. A skinny, lanky boy, no older than fifteen, sat under the old peepal tree, lazily popping a toffee into his mouth.
Most of the kids stayed away from him, intimidated by his sharp tongue and quick fists… except her.
Little Aarohi.
Six years old, messy hair, bright purple frock too big for her thin body, and those curious eyes.
He remembered the way she marched up to him fearlessly, plopping down beside him with a stubborn pout.
"You have two toffees… one is mine," she demanded with the confidence of a queen.
Ruhan had glared at her, ready to snap, but those round eyes blinked up at him with such innocence… he sighed in defeat and handed her one.
"Don't choke on it," he muttered, pretending not to smile.
But that moment… when her entire face lit up over something as small as a toffee… it stayed with him.
No one had smiled at him like that before. No one had looked at him without fear, without judgment.
"Why do you call me 'Purple'?" she had asked another day, swinging her tiny legs beside him.
"Because… your eyes remind me of purple sunsets. Weird… but pretty," he shrugged, embarrassed.
She giggled, bumping his shoulder with her tiny frame. "You're weird too… but nice."
That day, Ruhan had made a silent promise to himself.
If there was one person he could protect from the cruelty of life… it would be her.
Present…
Ruhan inhaled sharply, fingers curling into fists as guilt and rage warred within him.
"I was supposed to protect you… and I failed," he whispered brokenly, pressing his forehead against the back of her hand. "I let them take you… starve you… break you… but never again."
He stood up, pulling the blanket higher to her shoulders.
Never again would his Purple suffer.
Not while he breathed.
Not while he ruled.
The world would kneel… and she would rise.