Ananya left without a sound.
No notes. No trace. Just gone.
The morning Rael woke to find her side of the bed cold, her wardrobe empty, and the security cameras blacked out — he knew she had outplayed him.
It wasn't rage that came first. It was disbelief.
He had thought she was bound to him. That one night of surrender meant forever. But she'd been planning it. Every soft kiss. Every obedient look. A performance.
She had studied him. And when he let his guard down… she vanished.
---
The first three days, Rael tore the city apart. He called in favors. He tracked signals. He bribed, threatened, begged.
Nothing.
The silence drove him mad. He couldn't sleep. Couldn't eat. Couldn't think. His mansion felt like a grave, her ghost walking through every corridor.
By day six, his staff started avoiding him. By day eight, he hadn't spoken a word.
He stopped shaving. Stopped showing up at work. Clients were left waiting. Meetings collapsed.
The only thing he did each night: Watch the footage of their last moments together. Her hand brushing his jaw. Her lips whispering, "Don't mistake choice for weakness."
And then… she was gone.
---
Day fifteen.
His phone buzzed. A location ping. One of his private contacts — an informant — found her.
A quiet guesthouse, deep in Himachal. Rented under a false name. Cash payments. She hadn't used a device. Not once.
He stared at the address for ten whole minutes. Then stood.
Not with excitement. With obsession.
---
Ananya sat on a porch swing, wrapped in a shawl, staring at the pine trees. Her face looked thinner, quieter. But her eyes were the same — sharp, calculating, wild.
She didn't hear him approach.
Not until his shadow fell over her.
Her body stiffened.
"Fifteen days," Rael said.
She turned slowly.
"I hoped it would be more," she replied.
He knelt in front of her. Not begging. Studying.
"You disappeared."
"I needed to remember who I was."
"And who is that now?"
She met his gaze. "Someone you can't cage."
Rael leaned in. "You think running makes you free?"
"No," she said. "But it reminded me that I still could run."
He touched her knee — softly.
She didn't flinch. But her words cut deeper than knives.
"You can't love something just by owning it, Rael."
He stood. Eyes cold again.
"Then I'll learn to love by breaking you better next time."
She smiled faintly. "You'll try."
---