Bengaluru, late at night.

Hania was standing in front of Ransh, staring at him.

Ransh took a deep breath and said, “I don’t think it’s necessary to answer any of your questions, understood? And you’re a child - children don’t question elders. Go to sleep quietly. It’s very late. You have to wake up early in the morning.”

Hania looked at Ransh and replied, “Why? What do I have to do by waking up early? Tomorrow is a holiday anyway, I don’t have to go to school. I’ll sleep whenever I feel like it. Do whatever you want. Anyway, you have to go to the office tomorrow, right? You go to the office every day, even on Sundays or whatever. When do you ever get a holiday?

Maybe you don’t want to show me your face. But I want answers, and I want them now. You will have to tell me why you weren’t coming in front of me.”

Ransh took a deep breath and said, “My wish. I didn’t want to come, so I didn’t. Understood?”

Hania took a deep breath and said, “Do whatever you want. Get out of my room. I don’t want to talk to you.”

Hearing this, Ransh’s eyes narrowed. He stared at her and said, “Really? You’ll talk to me in this tone? You know very well, Buttercup, that I don’t like anyone talking to me this way.”

Grinding her teeth, Hania replied, “Oh really? Then what do you like? You ignore others and that’s fine. But if someone starts ignoring you, you have a problem, Mr. Shadow? If you do, then keep your problem to yourself. I don’t care about your problems.”

Suddenly, Ransh grabbed Hania’s hand and pulled her close. Twisting her arm behind her back, he said, “Your tongue is running a bit too much, huh? You’re a child—stay like a child. No need to act grown-up. And if you keep talking too much in front of me, it won’t be good.”

Then, in a cold voice, he added, “You are a responsibility that was forcibly dumped on my head, understood? I have no interest in carrying forced responsibilities.”

Looking straight into his eyes, Hania said, “Really? Then leave me. Let me go. Why have you kept me with you? Did I ask you to? And anyway, what responsibility are you even taking? You’re doing nothing. You’re just doing whatever you want.”

Before she could finish, Ransh slammed her against the wall and came extremely close to her face. “So? Don’t you think you talk too much? Talking too much is not a good thing, Buttercup. Do you know that? You’re very good at provoking people.”

At that moment, Hania could feel Ransh’s breath on her face. Placing her hand on his chest, she said softly, “Really? You’re angry? It doesn’t look like it. And even if you are angry, I don’t care, understood? It doesn’t matter to me. Because you don’t care about me anyway. And if you’re angry, then keep your anger in your pocket. I have nothing to do with it.”

Saying this, she tried to push him away.

Ransh took a deep breath, stepped back, and said, “Go to sleep. Your mind isn’t in the right place right now. We’ll talk later.”

As he turned to leave, Hania grabbed his hand and said, “You’re leaving, but listen carefully to one thing before you go. If you go to the office tomorrow without telling me, I swear I’ll come to your office and create a scene.”

Saying this, she let go of his hand.

Ransh silently walked out of the room.

Hania went straight to her bed, sat down, and said to herself, “If Mr. Shadow thinks my threat is fake, then let’s see. Tomorrow, let him go to the office once—then I’ll show him.”

Pulling the blanket over herself, she lay down quietly.

The next morning

Slowly, her eyes opened. She checked the time—it was 9:00 a.m. On Sundays, this was normal for her; she always woke up late. Stretching, she sat up on the bed.

Suddenly, she remembered something and said to herself, “What if Mr. Shadow has already gone to the office?”

With this thought, she quickly got up and rushed to the bathroom. After getting ready, she came downstairs and checked—Ransh had indeed gone to the office.

Grinding her teeth, she said, “So Mr. Shadow is taking me lightly? Now watch what I do.”

She stepped outside and got into her car. She wasn’t allowed to drive herself yet because she wasn’t an adult—she wasn’t 18—so a driver drove her.

The car headed toward Kapoor Industries. In about half an hour, she was standing outside Kapoor Industries. She walked straight toward Ransh’s cabin. Anger was clearly visible on her face.

She reached the cabin door and flung it open.

Seeing the scene inside, her steps froze. Her eyes narrowed, and she stared at the sight in front of her without any expression.

A woman was standing extremely close to Ransh, bent over his chair, as if trying to get even closer to his face. Ransh wasn’t reacting at all.

Suddenly, Hania went behind that woman, grabbed her hand, and shoved her away, shouting, “How dare you? How dare you get so close to Mr. Shadow?”

Her anger was clearly visible now—there was no innocence left on her face. Anyone could tell how furious she was.

The woman looked at Hania in shock and said softly, “Excuse me? Who are you? You’re a child, right? Then stay like a child. Take a toffee, go home, and sleep.”

Hearing this, Hania’s anger shot through the roof. Being called a “child” was something she absolutely hated.

She shoved the woman again and said angrily, “How dare you call me a ‘child’? Do I look like a child to you? And what are you? Doing such things here and calling yourself grown-up? Stay away from Mr. Shadow, understood? If you even try to go near him or around him again, I swear, I will kill you!”

The woman looked at Hania with a crooked smile and said, “Oh really? What will you do? Tell me.”

Hania turned and looked at Ransh, who was silently watching her. He looked completely unaffected, as if none of this mattered to him—and that behavior made Hania even angrier.

Hania walked up to Ransh and said, “What are you doing, Mr. Shadow? Are you going to say something to her? If you won’t, then I will.”

Ransh took a deep breath and said, “What should I say? And she’s right—you’re a child, so behave like one. No need to speak among elders. And what are you even doing here?”

Hania snapped angrily, “Looks like you forgot. Didn’t I tell you last night that if you went to the office without telling me, I swear I’d come to your office and create a scene? That’s exactly what I’m here to do. And first, tell me—who is she?”

She turned and looked at the woman.

Smiling, the woman said, “Vartika Chauhan is my name. And I’m a businesswoman, understood?”

Hania looked at Vartika and said, “Business? Wow! So this is how you do business—by getting close to people? Right? Because judging by your actions, that’s exactly your standard.”

She then turned to Ransh and said, “And you? How can you give someone permission to come so close to you? How, Mr. Shadow?”

Ransh stood up from his chair and said, “What’s the problem? Whom I give permission to or not—why does that bother you so much?”

Looking straight into his eyes, Hania said, “You don’t know? Okay, fine. You don’t know, right? Then you’ll find out now!”

Saying this, she walked out. She was extremely angry at that moment.

Meanwhile, there was a crooked smile on Ransh’s face.

Vartika looked at Ransh and said, “Who was she, and why was she reacting like that? Do you have something going on with her?”

Ransh glared at her and said, “Get out. I am not interested in answering your questions.”

Vartika angrily said, “You can’t talk to me like this, Mr. Kapoor!”

Ransh glared back and said, “Talking is one thing—I can even pick you up and throw you out of here. If you don’t want to be insulted, then get lost from here!”

Saying this, he sat back down in his chair.

Vartika stomped her foot and left. And as soon as she reached the parking area downstairs, the sight in front of her made her eyes widen in shock. Her face trembled with anger.