(Rudra's POV)

Rudra walked into his study, slamming the door behind him. His pulse was still erratic, his mind replaying that damn night like a broken record. Her body under his hands, her soft pleas mixed with her tears - it should have satisfied his revenge.

It didn't.

He poured himself a drink, the amber liquid burning down his throat. The sound of his phone vibrating against the desk broke the silence. Kabir, his oldest friend and now one of his closest business partners, was calling.

"What?" Rudra answered sharply.

Kabir chuckled softly. "That's how you talk to your guests, Rudra? Tsk, tsk. Anyway, I wanted to ask- who's that girl in your house?"

Rudra's jaw clenched. "What girl?"

"The one you married. Ayesha Singh." Kabir's tone shifted slightly. "You never told me she was that Ayesha."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Rudra growled, his grip tightening on the glass.

"Relax, Thakur." Kabir paused. "I met her once. Years ago. Before you became this terrifying mafia king. Back when you were just some angry, heartbroken kid drowning himself in whiskey."

Rudra's heart skipped a beat. "When?"

"Three years ago. I was handling a deal in Delhi. She was there, working at some hospital. She looked... different. Skinnier. Tired. And she had this bracelet - you know, the one you gave her. The one with your initials."

Rudra froze. "She told me she threw that away."

Kabir laughed, low and dry. "Well, she didn't. She wore it like her life depended on it. And guess what? She wasn't with some rich guy like the rumors said. She was alone. Living in a tiny one-room flat, barely making ends meet."

What the fuck?

Rudra's mind raced. That didn't make sense. Ayesha left him for money. She said it herself - she found someone richer. She used him and walked away without looking back.

But what Kabir described was nothing like the gold-digger he spent years hating.

"Maybe you got your story wrong," Kabir added casually. "Or maybe someone wanted you to believe the wrong story."

Rudra's blood ran cold.

"What do you mean?" his voice was low, dangerous now.

Kabir sighed. "Look, I don't know the full picture. But I saw her, Rudra. She wasn't some heartless bitch living the high life. She looked... broken. Like someone who lost everything and was still trying to survive."

Rudra hung up without replying, his mind spinning.

No. This can't be true.

She confessed herself - said she used him, said she never loved him, said she found someone richer. She destroyed him with those words.

But if Kabir was right... if she was alone, struggling... Why would she lie? Who made her lie?

His head pounded, memories surfacing uninvited - the way she used to look at him, like he hung the stars for her; the way she cried the day she left, like it broke her too. He always believed it was fake.

What if it wasn't?

Rudra slammed his glass down, shattering it into pieces. The revenge he clung to so tightly suddenly felt... wrong. Flimsy. Built on a foundation of half-truths and assumptions.

His chest burned with anger - not at her, but at himself. Had he punished an innocent woman all this time?

He stormed out of the study, his mind made up. He needed answers. And there was only one person who could give them - Ayesha.

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End of Chapter 13