You Are My Obsession Till Eternity

Chapter-48

Continuation to Flashback...

One evening, Yashvardhan summoned us to his opulent office, the air thick with the unspoken threat of his displeasure. "Alright, Boys," his voice, a smooth caress laced with an undercurrent of steel, "consider this a test. We have a delicate transaction with a certain Luca Delacroix in France – a man with a penchant for both luxury and a certain white powder. Failure..." he trailed off, letting the silence hang heavy, thick with the weight of the consequences.

My gut clenched. This was a solo mission, a test, I knew. No backup, just me and Rajveer facing a ruthless drug lord in his own den.Fear gnawed at me, but the image of Flower's hopeful smile chased it away.

"We can handle it," I muttered, my voice laced with a steely resolve.

France turned into a nightmare. The deal went south, a betrayal as predictable as it was brutal. We were outnumbered, out gunned, and on the verge of being swallowed whole by the Parisian underworld.

Then, a vision in black leather emerged from the smoke-filled room. Claire, Luca's daughter, a woman with eyes that held more secrets than the Seine itself. She offered help, a lifeline out of the chaos.

But I was a mess of rage and fear. Flower's face, etched with worry, flashed before my eyes. The thought of her waiting for me, of the danger I'd brought to her doorstep, was unbearable.

We limped back to India, Rajveer and I, both battered and bruised. Flower, my little firefly, Sixteen, bright-eyed, and bursting with nervous excitement about her college entrance exams. It was the day results were released, a day I yearned to be by her side, to celebrate her accomplishments, shield her from the harsh realities of the world. But the world I inhabited was far removed from hers, a world of shadows and violence. A world I'd desperately tried to keep her from.

Little did she know, the life I led was a lie, a carefully constructed facade masking the truth – my involvement in Yashvardhan's criminal empire. The weight of that secret gnawed at me, a constant fear that one day it would spill over, engulfing Flower in its darkness.

Meanwhile, Ayana paced the orphanage floor, her heart a frantic drum solo against her ribs. Today was the day, the day they'd announce the college entrance exam results. A milestone she'd dreamt of celebrating with me and Rajveer. We'd promised to be there, a beacon of support amidst the sea of unfamiliar faces. Yet, hours bled into dusk, and still, no sign of us.

Worry gnawed at her. I wouldn't break a promise, not to her. A knot of unease tightened in her stomach. "Work got hectic," she tried to reason, clinging to a thread of hope. But the memory of my secretive glances and hushed phone calls in recent weeks sent shivers down her spine. Work, I had claimed, but a shadow of something darker lurked in my eyes whenever the topic arose.

Unable to bear the uncertainty any longer, Flower decided to take matters into her own hands. We had a spare key hidden under a flowerpot by the back door – a silly habit we both shared. With a racing heart, she unlocked the door and stepped inside. The house was eerily silent, the air thick with a metallic tang that made her throat constrict.

A muffled groan echoed from my room. Fear morphed into a cold dread as she crept towards the sound. Pushing open the door,Flower's breath hitched. I lay sprawled on the floor, my face a canvas of fresh bruises and grime. Beside me, Rajveer, usually stoic and strong, sat slumped against the wall, his eyes glazed with pain.

"Bhai!" Ayana's scream tore through the house, a primal cry of fear and anguish. My eyes fluttered open to reveal a flicker of horror before recognition dawned.

"Flower! What are you doing here?" My voice was a hoarse rasp, barely audible. "I told you, never come here."

Tears streamed down Flower's face as she rushed to our side, her touch a stark contrast to the rough hands that had inflicted this damage. "What happened? Bhai and Veer," she demanded, her voice trembling.