Page 127 of Since You Stole My Heart

He looked away, frustrated, and his gaze landed on his old cycle leaning against the far wall, gathering dust.

A faint smile tugged at his lips as an idea formed.

With quiet menace, Dhruv said, ‘Let’s go. We’ve got an engagement to crash.’

Chapter 24

‘We’ve only got, what, a minute?’ Dhruv muttered urgently.

‘Less. He said they sometimes change it early,’ Vihaan replied, focused on the keypad as he typed the staff entry code Prateek had texted them.

Though the grey basement corridor of Obsidian Plaza lay in darkness, the ceiling hummed with music and laughter drifting down from the floor above.

A soft chime rang out and the keypad blinked green as the system accepted the code. The service elevator whirred to life and Vihaan exhaled in relief.

‘Finally.’

He slid his phone back into his pocket and glanced over his shoulder at Dhruv. Noticing how he kept fidgeting in place, Vihaan said, ‘You’re going to need to keep it together when we get up there.’

Dhruv kept his gaze fixed on the elevator doors, willing them to open faster. ‘I plan to only talk.’

The doors slid open, revealing the wide interior, and Vihaan pressed the button for the eighth floor. He tugged his hood up and tossed a bundle at Dhruv. ‘Cap,’ he reminded him.

Dhruv ran a hand through his hair, shoving it beneath the cap as he pulled the brim low over his eyes. ‘Yeah, because this is not suspicious at all.’

‘We’ll be in and out quickly, and hopefully the corridors will stay empty.’

‘When has the universe ever been on our side?’

Vihaan watched the floors rise on the panel. ‘If something goes wrong, you leave right away. Got it?’

‘What?’ Dhruv turned to him sharply.

‘You heard me. I’ll deal with whatever happens later.’

‘You really think I’m going to let you do that alone?’

Vihaan shook his head. ‘Think about it. You’re a Kashyap, and if you get caught in a mess like this, it gets traced back to Siya and Kashvi.’

His words sank in, cutting through the impulsive edge of anger driving Dhruv forward. He didn’t want to drag them into this.

As though Vihaan had heard his thoughts, he said, ‘We can handle this quietly, unless you do something stupid. So, for once, I’m asking you to think, not just react.’

There was no accusation or judgement in his tone, just the blunt honesty Dhruv had come to expect from him over the decades.

‘You can’t expect me to leave you behind like that. I don’t want you taking the fall for something I started,’ he said, trying to reason with him.

‘You’d do the same, so don’t get sentimental on me now,’ Vihaan said without hesitation. He gave a half smile. ‘Besides, if I’m caught, it won’t lead to a public scandal. I’m a little-known painter, but outside of that, I’m still a nobody.’

‘Not to me, brother,’ Dhruv said as they stepped onto the carpeted corridor and quickly moved towards the staircase leading to the floor above. ‘Thanks for doing this.’

Vihaan gave his back a firm pat. ‘You think I’d let you do something this stupid alone? Whether hell or heaven, I’d be there making your life worse.’

‘There’s a good chance this blows up in our faces. If Swayam sees us, or worse, if he’s in the room with him...’

‘Then we improvise. Might get messy, but we’ve handled worse.’ Vihaan let out a slow breath as they climbed the stairs. ‘And we didn’t suffer through those Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu sessions for nothing.’

‘Yeah, it’d be a shame to waste all that effort.’