Leave comment 💌 below ↓

___________________________

Avani’s POV:

I wake up to the smell of antiseptic and fresh ink.

He’s still behind me, arm heavy around my waist, chest pressed to my back.

At first I think it’s just the usual heat of his skin.

Then I feel it: the raised, tender swelling right between his ribs, exactly where his heart beats.

My hand is already there (he must have placed it while I slept).

I shift slowly, afraid to wake him, and turn in his arms.

The sheet has slipped down to his waist.

Moonlight cuts across his chest.

And there it is.

A

V

A

N

I

In my own handwriting.

Deep black. Still red at the edges.

Right over his heart.

My breath stops.

The skin is hot, swollen, raw.

He did this tonight.

While I slept.

After the fight.

After the pendant broke.

He got my name carved into his body like a vow.

I stare at it for so long my eyes burn.

My fingers tremble as I trace the letters, feather-light so I don’t hurt him.

A…

V…

A…

N…

I…

Every stroke is perfect.

He must have kept one of my old notebooks, copied the exact curve of my A, the little loop on my lowercase i.

My chest aches in a way I don’t understand.

I hate him.

I still hate him.

But this…

this isn’t possession.

This is surrender.

He let someone cut into his skin for hours, without painkillers (I can tell from the tension in his body even now), just to carry me permanently.

I press my palm flat over the tattoo, feeling his heartbeat thundering beneath it.

Fast.

Strong.

Alive.

Because of me.

A tear slips down my cheek and lands on the fresh ink.

He stirs.

His hand comes up, covers mine, pressing it harder against the tattoo.

“Don’t cry, babygirl,” he mumbles, voice rough with sleep. “It didn’t hurt.”

Liar.

I lean forward and press my lips to the center of my name (soft, careful, reverent).

He inhales sharply.

I pull back just enough to meet his eyes in the dark.

They’re open now.

Black. Endless.

Vulnerable in a way I’ve never seen.

“This doesn’t fix anything,” I whisper, voice cracking.

“I know,” he answers.

“It doesn’t erase what you did.”

“I know.”

I swallow hard.

“But it means something,” I say, barely audible.

He nods once.

I lay my head back on his chest, right over the fresh tattoo, and let the tears fall silently.

Because for the first time since he stole me,

I’m not sure who owns who

anymore.

And that terrifies me more than anything he’s ever done.

†Aryan was wakeup and watching her and thinking .

don’t know the exact moment I fell for her.

It wasn’t one big thing.

It was a thousand tiny cracks in the armour I thought was unbreakable.

The first crack came in the library.

She was hiding in the corner, nose in a book, biting her lip when she concentrated.

Everyone else saw a scared scholarship girl.

I saw a girl who still believed the world could be kind.

I wanted to own that belief.

I wanted to be the one who protected it.

Then the party happened.

I told myself it was just possession.

Just taking what I wanted.

But when they pulled me off her and she ran bleeding and crying…

I felt something twist in my chest that wasn’t satisfaction.

It was panic.

Like I’d broken the only beautiful thing I’d ever touched.

The weeks after were supposed to be about control.

The video. The threats. The forced girlfriend act.

But every time she cried in my arms at night, something in me died a little too.

I started noticing stupid things.

The way she hums when she thinks no one is listening.

The way she arranges her books by colour when she’s anxious.

The way she says “thank you” even when I don’t deserve it.

The way her eyes light up when she talks about passing an exam.

I started doing things I’ve never done for anyone.

Cooking breakfast (and burning half of it).

Buying her favourite strawberry shampoo because I noticed she was almost out.

Sitting three tables away in the canteen just to watch her laugh with her friends.

Getting her name tattooed over my heart the night the pendant broke, because jewellery can shatter, but this can’t.

I fell for her the day she defended me in the canteen.

Rohan said “she’s mine.”

I was ready to kill him.

Then Avani ran to me.

Wrapped her arms around me.

Chose me in front of everyone.

In that moment, with her body shielding mine, her voice shaking with anger at him…

I fell.

Hard.

Completely.

Irreversibly.

I love her so much it hurts to breathe when she’s not in the same room.

I love her enough to learn how to be gentle.

I love her enough to try to become someone she could choose without fear.

I know I don’t deserve her.

I know I took her in the worst way possible.

I know I broke her first.

But I also know this:

I will spend every day of the rest of my life trying to earn the girl who made a monster fall in love.

And if anyone tries to take her from me—Rohan, my father, the whole damn world—

I will burn everything to keep her.

Because Avani isn’t just my captive anymore.

She’s the only reason this monster still has a heart.

And it beats only for her.

To be continued...