Page 60 of Mrs. Rathore

“Control,” he said. Just that. One word was sharp and deliberate.

I turned fully to face him, still wired, still humming with the energy of a storm barely passed.

“I will not allow you here if you keep breaking my soldiers’ backs,” he said flatly.

“They haven’t learned properly,” I shot back, my voice cold. “You should be glad I’m giving them a good test. Maybe it’ll teach them something real. You need to make them more efficient and effective.”

His brow twitched with a smirk. “Why don’t you take my position, then? I’m sure the seniors would be thrilled to send you to the training academy permanently.”

I didn’t miss the bait. He knew damn well I’d be transferred in a heartbeat if I asked. I had the rank, the record, and the reputation.

But I didn’t want this life.

Not here.

There was no thrill here. No fear. No fire. No adrenaline rush of charging into enemy territory. Just drills, sweat, and silence.

“I like risk,” I said finally, swallowing the dry burn in my throat. “If there’s no risk, there’s no fun.”

He held my gaze for a long moment, then nodded once.

I exhaled and unclenched my fists. The fire still roared somewhere inside me, but for now, the storm had quieted.

I turned and walked away from the circle, drenched in sweat, my skin burning, my knuckles raw and aching. It was the only pain that made sense anymore.

I reached the house in under thirty minutes, barely slowing down, and headed straight to my room. I didn’t want to talk and see anyone. Especially not Avni.

With luck, she’d still be asleep. Or better, in the shower. I didn’t have the energy for another awkward confrontation, or her quiet, soul-piercing stares.

I grabbed my clothes from the wardrobe, stuffing what I needed into a small duffel. I was halfway out the door when something on the nightstand stopped me.

A pair of ghungroos, her ankle bells.

They were placed gently, almost reverently, like she’d held them against her chest as she drifted to sleep. Like they were her last piece of strength.

I told myself I shouldn’t feel anything.

But I did.

If she hadn’t sent those goddamn messages to Ira, if she’d just stayed out of it maybe things would’ve turned out differently. Maybe Ira wouldn’t avoid me like I was some diseased stranger. Maybe I wouldn’t have lost the last good thing I had.

Everything started going downhill the moment Avni entered my life.

I’d never been cruel to a woman the way I was to her. I didn’t know I could be. But she brought out the worst in me. The bitterness. The fury. The hatred I didn’t know I carried.

“Rhea…!”

Her voice made me spin toward the bathroom door.

Why the hell was she calling my sister?

“I just slipped,” she called again, her voice strained. Pained. “Can you please hand me my crutches?”

My heart stopped for a second.

She was hurt?

Why the hell did she go into the bathroom without her crutches in the first place?

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