Mishti sagged slightly against her. So, she guided her back to the same bench and brought the glass to her lips, coaxing her to sit. Mishti took a hesitant sip and immediately scrunched her face.
“It’s… sour,” she murmured weakly.
“I know,” Komal replied, nodding. “But drink just a little more. It will help.”
She obeyed, swallowing another mouthful, her eyes fluttering shut as if the effort alone drained her. Through it all, Karan remained where he was, watching every movement without stepping back, still restless about Mishti’s bitter words.
Komal finally looked up at him, her gaze hardening the moment it met his.
“You don’t need to waste your time here, Mr Wadhwa,” she said sharply. “Go back to your party. I am with her.”
“Youdon’t get to decide that,” Karan shot back.
“I do,” Komal replied, matching his tone without flinching. “I am Mishti’s doctor and her friend. I can’t stay quiet anymore. I don’t know how long you plan to continue this, but she is clearly hurting because of you. This has gone far enough. No more. I will not let you hurt her again.”
Karan’s jaw locked as he glared at her and stepped forward. “Dr Komal Sharma, either go inside and enjoy the party like a guest,” he said coldly, “or leave. No one is stopping you. But do notevercome between me and my wife.”
Before Komal could react, he bent down and slid his arms beneath Mishti, lifting her against his chest. Her head lolled weakly toward his shoulder, her body pliant in his hold.
Komal surged forward, blocking his way, fury flashing across her face, but Abhimanyu and Rajat appeared just then. Abhimanyu caught her arm, halting her mid-step.
“Let him take her inside,” he said firmly, leaving no room for argument.
Komal shot him a glare, anger and helplessness warring in her eyes. Rajat nodded in quiet agreement beside him, both men choosing to stay back with her as Karan turned away.
He did not look at any of them. With his semi-conscious wife cradled in his arms, Karan walked toward the doors.Nothing and no one had the power to stop him or meddle between them.
CHAPTER 14
Mishti’s Bedroom – Wadhwa Mansion
Karan eased Mishti down onto the bed, guiding her carefully until her head rested against the pillows. The moment her body settled into the mattress, he should have stepped back. He should have put distance between them. But he didn’t.
Instead, he stayed there, sitting on the edge of the bed, keeping his gaze fixed on her face as sleep slowly claimed her. Tonight, she had laid her pain bare, and he had heard it all. Everything she vented out minutes ago flashed in his head once again, a cruel reminder of the pain he had inflicted upon her, intentionally, and still claimed to have no remorse.
Because Mishti Goel was just a pawn in his dark game of revenge. He was supposed to use her, to wound her where it hurt the most, to deny her affection, attention, even dignity. He was supposed to ensure she never tasted happiness by his side. All because she was aGoel.
He clenched his jaw, and his eyes never left her face as she breathed evenly, finally falling asleep. For the last 15 years, he had been waiting, plotting and planning for that day when he would snatch every happiness from the Goel siblings. The day the Goels would know the same emptiness, the same loss of peace, the same hollow ache he had lived with. And he was too close for the real showdown. Too close to allow anything to derail him.
And then today happened. Mishti’s actions at the party and her confession thereafter had thrown him completely off balance.
For the first time, he understood the whispers that had followed him for years. That‘Karan Wadhwa had no heart.’That if he did, it was nothing but stone. Having no emotions, no feelings for anyone, no empathy, nothing.
Least did they know that his heart was not a cold stone but a burning molten lava. Its heat consumed him every day and night. A rage that never cooled, only waited. And it would not be quenched by tears or innocence. It would be quieted only when his revenge was complete. And that day was not too far.
Fifteen years of rage. Fifteen years of burning, of suffocation. Of everything he had lost, Mishti’s innocence could not erase it. Her tears and pain could not undo it.
The Goels had stripped him of everything once. His peace. His stability. Even his sense of who he was.
And until he stripped them of everything in return, their comfort, their happiness, their ease, every small thing that gave them the right to smile, his vengeance would not be complete.
With that, Karan stood up quietly and walked out of the room. Whatever softness had threatened to surface, he locked it away once again.
She was in deep slumber. And he left her there, exactly as he intended to.
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Next Morning
