Page 154 of Since You Stole My Heart

Kashvi smiled back, but she couldn’t put her heart into it. She could only pray he was right.

Chapter 29

Kashvi glanced towards the broken mirror in her vanity. She dreaded seeing the bruises on her face, but it was time to face them.

Taking a deep breath, she pushed herself off the bed and scanned the room for her concealer. She wanted to cover the worst of it before facing the rest of her family. It was the only armour she had.

Her gaze fell on her bruised face in the few pieces of mirror still clinging to the frame. Kashvi gasped and slowly moved closer.

The girl staring back at her barely looked familiar.

A dark bruise spread across her left cheekbone, the swollen skin distorting the delicate shape of her face. Faint finger-shaped marks lingered near her jaw, stark and ugly against her skin. Her brown eyes looked hollow with exhaustion, and tiny cuts lined both her arms in angry red streaks from the shattered glass.

Red-hot anger burned through her veins.

Viraj had really thought that he could break her. But he couldn’t. Not while she still had her family.

‘Kashvi! Where is she?’ Dhruv shouted from the living room.

A spike of adrenaline shot through her, and with a dizzy head, she carefully picked her way through the mess. When she stepped out, she found Dhruv standing at the door, flanked by Vihaan and Luv.

At first, Dhruv didn’t notice her. His focus was locked on the destruction filling the entire space. Vihaan slowly looked around the trashed room with furrowed brows, while Luv stood rigidly beside him, disbelief written across his face.

Then Dhruv looked up, and his gaze landed on Kashvi’s face. His features sharpened instantly with barely contained rage. ‘Who the hell did this to you?’

With a sinking heart, she realised he was talking about the bruises she had forgotten to hide. ‘Try to relax. I’m okay.’

Swayam immediately shook his head. ‘Bad idea. Hearing that doesn’t help.’

‘Damn right it isn’t!’ Dhruv snapped, glaring at him. Taking long strides forward, he grabbed Swayam by the collar and yanked him closer.

‘It was your cousin, wasn’t it? Is this what your family does?’

Swayam didn’t fight back. He simply stood there, taking the full brunt of her brother’s rage.

Her heart lurched at the sight, and she tried to pull Dhruv back with her uninjured hand, but Luv and Vihaan stepped in on either side of him, trying to restrain him.

Dhruv barely registered any of it as he yelled, ‘You tell that impotent bastard to come and face me like a man instead of going after my sister.’

Swayam braced himself, meeting his challenge without flinching. ‘Once I have him in front of me, I don’t think there’ll be much talking.’

Vihaan tried to pull his friend back by the shoulder, but Dhruv’s fists stayed locked in Swayam’s collar. When the soft fabric ripped, Vihaan said, ‘Dude, you’re not thinking straight. This isn’t going to help.’

Luv echoed his words. ‘Dhruv, let go of him and step back. Now.’

Deaf to both of them, Dhruv demanded, ‘Where the hell were you when your cousin attacked Kashu? How could you let this happen?’

‘Swayam stayed over at my apartment last night,’ Luv said. ‘Neither of us had any idea what was happening here until Kashu called Swayam.’

Kashvi grabbed the front of Dhruv’s shirt and tried to pull him away. ‘Swayam came right after Viraj left, so don’t you dare blame him. He did nothing wrong.’

‘Exactly. He didnothing,’ Dhruv shot back, keeping his dark eyes fixed on Swayam. ‘He got here too late, so it’s his fault too. He should’ve been here.’

Dhruv’s resistance threw Kashvi off balance, and she stumbled with a startled yelp when the sudden movement sent pain shooting through her injured hand.

Swayam caught her instantly, gripping her hand before wrapping an arm around her waist to steady her. Dhruv still had a fist twisted in his shirt when Swayam finally said, ‘Dhruv, you can hit me and yell at me all you want. I won’t stop you. But wait until she’s not standing right next to us. She’s been hurt enough.’

There was no defensiveness in his voice. No attempt to push back. Just quiet acceptance.