A R V I

The smell of vanilla and cinnamon swirled through the air. I was frosting a tray of cupcakes, soft hums from the background music keeping me company, when the shop's bell clanged hard too hard.

Sofi burst in, breathless, hair wild, eyes blazing.

"Arvi!" she gasped, slamming a piece of paper onto the counter. "Tell me you've seen this!"

I froze mid-frosting. "Seen what?"

"This!" she shoved it closer.

I set the piping bag down, wiped my hands, and took the notice. The bold red stamp on top made my pulse throb.

EVICTION NOTICE - 24 HOURS TO VACATE

I stared at it, reading the lines twice, then again. All commercial activity must cease. Property acquired under new ownership. Redevelopment effective immediately.

My throat dried. "What... the hell is this?"

Sofi looked like she'd run a marathon. "Some rich personality apparently bought all this land. The entire row, Arvi every shop from the bookstore to the chaiwala. It's all going. They're clearing it for some corporate project. Bulldozers by morning."

I blinked. "Who bought it?"

"No idea. No name on the notice. Just some 'private investor.' But whoever it is they have serious money and zero conscience."

The walls of Bloom & Crumb seemed to shift around me, like the floor was tipping sideways. I looked at the cupcakes, the counter, the art Vani had painted that still hung near the register.

"I built this with my bare hands," I whispered. "With nothing."

Sofi's voice dropped, soft but firm. "And now some rich jerk thinks they can rip it away in 24 hours."

I clenched the paper in my fist, the edges crumpling. "No. Not happening. They don't get to take this. Not without a fight."

Sofi stepped closer. "Then fight, Arvi. Burn if you have to. But don't you dare back down."

And as I stood there, surrounded by sugar, sweat, and years of survival, something inside me snapped into place.

Whoever was behind this?

They picked the wrong woman to break.

Because this woman is already broken.

I picked up my phone with trembling hands and dialed the only person who might know something Rahul.

He answered on the second ring. "Arvi? Everything okay?"

"No," I said sharply. "Did you hear about the land deal in Shimla? Someone bought this whole block. I got a 24-hour eviction notice."

There was a pause. "Yeah... I just found out. I was going to call you."

"I don't need a call," I snapped. "I need a name. Who the hell bought it?"

Rahul sighed, low and hesitant. " I dont know the name Arvi, dont get involved in this, Arvi. It's way above-"

"I am involved!" I yelled. "This bakery is my life, Rahul. Vani's life. I want to meet the man who thinks he can bulldoze it overnight. I want to look him in the eye and ask him who the hell he thinks he is."

Another silence.

Then his voice came quiet, cautious. "It's impossible, Arvi. I came to know, He doesn't meet locals. Doesn't entertain requests. Doesn't even visit the sites himself."

I stared at the wall, my breath shallow. "So that's it? Some faceless billionaire gets to snap his fingers and destroy everything?"

"I'm sorry," he said, genuinely. "But he's not someone you want to pick a fight with."

I swallowed hard. "Then tell him... he just did."

I hung up.

And for the first time in years, my hands weren't shaking from fear.

They were shaking from rage.

I sat in silence, the eviction notice lying crumpled on the counter. I stared at it like it might change its words if I looked long enough.

The door slammed open.

Sofi burst in, breathless, curls wild from the wind, her phone clutched in one hand like it had just delivered the holy grail.

"I got you a meeting," she blurted.

I looked up, confused. "What?"

"With him. The one who bought the land."

"What? How?"

"Don't ask me how, I begged, bribed, borderline blackmailed a friend who works at some elite PR agency. She owed me big time."

I stood slowly, eyes wide. "You actually got through?"

Sofi nodded, still catching her breath. "I couldn't get you a formal meetinghe doesn't do those with 'local tenants' apparently. But... she managed to slip your name onto a list. You'll have ten minutes. Maybe less."

My voice was barely above a whisper. "When?"

Sofi winced. "That's the catch. He's leaving tomorrow. So... you have to meet him tonight. Early. His car leaves the estate by 8."

Arvi blinked. "Estate?"

"Yeah. He's staying at The Ivory Heights. Ultra private. Bring your fire, Arvi. You've got one shot."

I slowly straightened, my jaw clenched, heart thudding. "If he thinks he can throw me out without even meeting the woman whose life he's destroying he's about to find out exactly what local means."

Sofi grinned. "There she is, My lady."

——

"Sofi, please drop me here," I said softly, watching the hotel come into view.

She looked at me through the rearview mirror, hesitation lining her features. "Are you sure?"

I nodded, forcing a small smile. "And please... go back. Vanisha might wake up. She'll be scared if I will not be there."

Sofi didn't argue. She knew better than to try and change my mind when I was this quiet. She gave my hand a light squeeze before I stepped out, and as the car drove off, I took a deep breath, straightening my dupatta. The weight in my chest felt heavier than it had in years.

The hotel lobby was grand, almost too perfect the kind of place you don't just walk into without knowing where you stand in the world. I didn't belong here, but I was desperate.

I walked up to the reception, my voice polite but urgent. "I need to meet the owner. It's important."

The receptionist looked up, disinterested. "He doesn't meet anyone without an appointment."

"I was told he might... just call him once. Please," I added, trying not to let the pleading seep into my tone.

Reluctantly, she picked up the phone. A moment passed. Then two. She covered the receiver and looked at me. "You can meet his PA."

Of course. Not him.

I nodded, stepping aside, my hands tightly clasped in front of me. I tried to stay still, but every second felt like it was gnawing at me. I was preparing myself to face a stranger the owner of the land, the one who unknowingly pulled me back into this city.

And then...

That voice.

"You have five minutes. Speak, and leave."

It sliced through the air like a thunderclap, low and cold and final. I froze. The ground beneath my feet seemed to vanish. My heart slammed against my ribcage as that voice wrapped itself around my spine, paralyzing me.

I knew that voice.

Even after five years.

Even after running oceans away from it.

Slowly, I turned.

My breath hitched.

Rayaan.

He stood a few feet away, tall and haunting in a black three-piece suit, his face more chiseled, more severe, as if life had carved away every trace of softness. But his eyes those storm dark eyes held a fire I had once basked in, and now they burned me to ash.

His presence knocked the air from my lungs. My world narrowed down to just him.

He didn't move. Didn't blink. Didn't flinch.

I wanted to speak. To say something anything. But my throat had closed up, and all I could do was stare. Five years ago, I had left behind a man torn between grief and fury. Today, I was staring at the man that grief had hardened into steel.

Rayaan looked at me like I was a ghost from a life he'd buried.

"Four minutes NOW," he said, his voice even colder, if that was possible.

And just like that, every wound I thought I'd healed split open again.

His tone was ice. Like I was just another problem. Another problem to swap away.

I took two steps forward.

Then three.

And before I knew it, my fingers had curled into the collar of his stupid, perfect suit and yanked him forward.

His eyes widened. Just for a second.

"WHY IS IT ALWAYS YOU?" I hissed, my voice trembling. "Why is it always you destroying my peace, MR.OBEROI?"

His jaw clenched. His hands twitched at his sides. "Let go."

"NO." I shook my head. My grip tightened. "Why do you keep coming back just to ruin everything? What did I ever do but survive what you and your world threw at me?"

"YOU WANT ANSWERS?" he growled, stepping closer, towering over me. "You want to talk about peace?"

"Don't you-"

"YOU ARE THE REASON MY SISTER IS DEAD!"

His voice boomed like thunder, raw and broken. I froze, hands falling away from his collar like I'd been burned.

He didn't stop.

"She died because of you, Because she was trying to save you! And you just like always you were in the wrong place, wrong time."

My knees nearly buckled, but I stood my ground.

"You think I don't live with that guilt every day?" I whispered.

He barked a laugh. Cold. Bitter. "Guilt? You vanished. Left the city, the house, the memories. You left, Arvi."

"I DIDN'T LEAVE!" My voice cracked, full of fury and pain. "Your mother threw me out! I begged her."

"SHE HAD EVERY RIGHT TO!" he roared. "You should've never been there to begin with!"

That did it.

The tears came, but I didn't hide them.

"I loved Vanisha like she was my own blood," I said. "She was my family too. And when I needed you, the one person who should've known my heart you said nothing."

"I WAS MOURNING HER" he shouted.

"SO WAS I" I screamed. "But you let them break me. You stood there, and you let them!"

The silence that followed was thunderous.

Two people, burnt to ash by the same fire, blaming each other for the smoke.

"I didn't just lose your sister that night," I whispered, stepping back, tears burning trails down my cheeks. "I lost everything. I lost you."

His lips parted slightly, the first crack in that granite face.

"But I didn't come here for this," I said. "I came here to protect what I've rebuilt. And you know what, You want to bulldoze, Fine. Burn it to the ground."

But

"STAY THE FUCK OUT OF MY WAY." I added and then walked away

I didn't look back.

Not even when the silence behind me felt like it might shatter the whole damn hotel.

I walked out of that cursed lobby, my vision blurred by hot tears I refused to wipe away. My hands were trembling again not from fear this time, but from something far more venomous. Heartbreak. Rage. Loss.

The doors slid open, spilling me into the cold air. I just needed to breathe, to move, to not collapse on the marble floor like some broken thing.

And then I saw them.

Riaan and Aleesha.

Standing by the fountain, just a few feet from the valet. Both dressed too perfectly, too pristine like the years hadn’t crushed them the way they had crushed me. Like they hadn’t watched me be thrown out of that house, that life, without a word.

Aleesha’s eyes widened as she saw me, and before I could turn away, she rushed toward me.

“Arvi”she whispered, stepping forward, arms lifting instinctively for a hug.

I jerked back.

“Don’t,” I said, my voice a razor.

She froze. “I just—”

“You don’t get to touch me,” I spat. “Not after everything.”

Riaan’s expression tightened. “Bhabhi, we didn’t know—”

“Its Arvi, Arvi for you,” I snapped. “ You didn’t care enough know then, don’t pretend you care now.”

Aleesha’s lips quivered. “We searched for you. I swear we—”

I laughed. Cold. Empty. “You searched? Where? Behind your guilt? Between shopping trips and Oberoi brunches? Or was it just convenient to let the ‘outsider’ disappear and call it fate?”

“Arvi, that’s not fair —” Aleesha tried.

“No, what’s not fair,” I said, stepping closer, venom dripping from every word,

“Is that I begged your family to listen. I cried at your badi maa's feet. I shattered into pieces under that roof. And you all watched. Like spectators. No one stopped her. No one stopped me.”

Aleesha choked. “We all were broken.”

“SO WAS I ,” I cut her off.

She took a shaky breath. “Arvi, please. We lost her too—”

My eyes flared. “Don’t you dare compare your grief to mine. Vanisha died in my arms. I heard her last breath. I’ve lived with that every night for five years. Where were you when I couldn’t breathe? When I didn’t want to wake up?”

Riaan stepped forward, voice thick. “We never stopped thinking about you.”

I turned to him slowly. “And yet, you all moved on like I was a nightmare you finally woke up from. You never looked back. You never came for me.

Aleesha’s tears fell freely now. “You are our family…”

“No,” I said coldly. “I was your family but not anymore.”

Silence.

Suffocating, crushing silence.

Then I took a breath, steady and sharp. “Tell your brother,” I said, my voice low, “he can tear down my bakery.”

“But he can never erase me.”

I turned away, walking down the hotel steps like fire burned beneath my feet.

And not once did I look back.

A/N

Chapter 58 updated on Scroll Stack.

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