Page 245 of One Hellish Wedlock
“Aanya…” a familiar voice echoed through the shadowy interior.
Vicky stepped out from the darkness, his hooded figure emerging like a nightmare. The once-lean bully had bulked up, his muscles straining beneath his black hoodie. But no matter how much he changed on the outside, she knew what still lived beneath that skin—cruelty and rot.
“I’m so happy to see you again,” he sneered.
Flashbacks from college surged in Aanya’s mind—his threats, his sick obsession with controlling girls, and how he’d once tried to torment her into silence.
“Where’s Navya?” she snapped. “What have you done to her?”
He smiled, slow and sinister.
“Relax. She’s not my type. She’ll stay safe but only ifyoucooperate.”
He stepped closer. Aanya didn’t wait. She kicked him hard in the stomach.
Vicky stumbled back, crashing to the ground with a grunt. His guards immediately tightened their grip on her arms, forcing her still.
“You stupid girl,” Vicky snarled, rising in a rage. “Try that again, and Navya gets a bullet between her eyes.”
Aanya stilled in horror.
“Why are you doing this? Why are you back in my life?” she shouted.
“Don’t play dumb,” he growled, rage pulsing through his every word. “You left me no choice. I knew you wouldn’t let it go. You always had that fighter’s spirit in you. I expected you’d come after me someday, and you did. But you picked the wrong man to challenge.”
She stared at him, baffled.
“You’re mistaken. I never came after you. I wanted to, but I didn’t.”
“Liar!” he barked. “You broke my engagement!”
“What are you even talking about?” she asked, genuinely confused.
“Me and Mira…we were in love. But you… you sent her that letter. You exposed everything I did back in college. You told her the truth. You knew Mira would dig for more. She reached out to our old classmates who confirmed it all. She… she broke our engagement because of you, Aanya.”
“Letter? Which letter?” she blinked. “I don’t even know who Mira is.”
The words barely left her mouth when his hand struck her face with brutal force.
The slap cracked through the air, and Aanya staggered from the impact. Pain exploded across her cheek, and her lip split, warm blood trickling down to her chin. Her vision blurred instantly, tears springing to her eyes, not just from the pain, but from the humiliation, the helplessness… the rage.
But even through the sting and tears, she didn’t miss what flashed in Vicky’s eyes. Behind the fury, behind the twisted satisfaction of seeing her flinch, was something else.
Vicky was cruel. But this time it looked like he’d been played.
Someone else had pulled the strings and usedhername to destroy him. Someone who knew just how deep his obsession with revenge ran.
But who the hell was it?
“Enough of your lies,” he spat, stepping closer. “You ruined me. So now I’ll ruin you. I’m going to drug you, click photos of us together, and splash them all over social media. I want your husband, your parents, your friends…everyone who knows you, who loves you…to see that filth. To see a version of you they’ll never be able to unsee.”
His venomous voice was laced with twisted satisfaction.
“They should hate you the way Mira hates me. They should look at you with disgust, the same way she looked at me before she walked away. You’ll scream, you’ll cry, you’ll say you were innocent, but no one will believe you. No one will care.”
He leaned in closer, eyes wild.
“I’m going to ruin you, Aanya Malhotra. Break you down completely, so you won’t even recognize yourself in the mirror. And when I’m done, you won’t have the courage to face another soul again.”
