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Aanya woke up because the harsh morning sunlight fell directly on her face.
She groaned, pulled the blanket over her head, then hid under the pillow.

But after five minutes, when the sunlight refused to leave her alone, she finally sat up with an annoyed sigh.

She glared at the curtains.

"Ughhh... why are the curtains open? I closed them last night."

Her hair was a complete mess — as if she had battled a hurricane in her sleep.
She puffed and looked toward the side of the room where Ishaan usually slept on the floor.

"Huh? Where did he go?
Office?  did i wake up late today.?

She checked the alarm clock on the table.

"It's only 9... he usually wakes up at 9.
Then why is he gone already? Maybe he's downstairs?"

Still confused, she freshened up and went downstairs.

Everyone was at the dining table having breakfast — except Ishaan.

"He's not here either... maybe he really went to office early today."

Mrs Mehra noticed her standing quietly.

"Aanya beta, what are you thinking? Come, have breakfast."

Aanya smiled warmly and sat down beside her.

"Are you feeling okay, Aunty?" she asked softly.

"Perfectly fine. Don't worry." mrs mehra reply.

They all had breakfast and left for their respective work.

But during that entire time... someone kept glancing at Aanya.

Karan.

Aanya noticed it — but chose to ignore him.

After breakfast, she spent some time with Mrs Mehra in her room, helping her with small things. When she stepped out into the hallway... she froze.

Karan was standing a few steps away, as if waiting for her.

Aanya instantly turned away and walked toward the stairs.

"Aanya!" karan call her.

"Aanya please... I just want five minutes. Please listen."

Aanya exhaled sharply and turned around.

"Karan, I don't want another scene like that day. So please—"

karan cut her in the middle.
"No, no... it's nothing like that.
I'm not here to fight or... anything else.
I just want to say sorry."

Aanya blinked, surprised.

They moved to the small seating area upstairs — a cozy corner between all the siblings' rooms.

Both sat down. The silence stretched until Karan finally spoke.

He took a deep breath.

"Aanya... I know what I did that day was wrong.
I shouldn't have forced you like that.
But bleave me if I had even the slightest idea that you were married to Bhai... I swear, I would never have come near you like that."

He looked away, guilty.

Aanya didnt stop him he contune.
"I thought... you were ignoring me because you were angry with me.
I didn't know you had already moved on...
that you were starting a new life."

Aanya remained silent, letting him speak.

"So... I'm sorry.
For that day.
And for every day in the past... if I ever hurt you."

There was a painful honesty in his voice — regret, acceptance, and finally... letting go.

Aanya inhaled deeply.

"Karan... whatever was between us ended a long time ago.
There were misunderstandings... mistakes... but none of it was anyone's fault.
Circumstances were bad.
Situations were against all of us."

She looked at him sincerely.

"I'm Ishaan's wife now. That's my life.
And you... you need to move forward too."

Karan nodded, absorbing every word.

"You're right.
And honestly... I'm not asking for anything else.
You're my brother's wife now.
We're all living in the same house... so if we keep avoiding each other, it'll make things awkward for everyone."

He gave a small, sad smile.

"So... let's be friends.
Nothing more.
Nothing less."

Aanya raised an eyebrow at him playfully.

"Karan... if you think you can be my friend and then try to court me again—"

Karan (immediately waving his hands):
"No! Never! Not at all!"

Aanya blinked at his panic.

Karan sighed and continued honestly:

"You don't know this, but... Ishaan Bhai and I used to be very close.
What happened that day... it broke something between us.
I shouted at him, he raised his hand at me...
And the guilt of that hurts me more than anything about you."

Aanya's eyes softened.

"He already went through so much aanya " I don't want to be the reason he gets hurt again.
This family has already suffered too much these past months.
 Mum start to recovering now ( he called mrs mehra Mum. and his mother, sikha Mom.) and bhai also start to getting better." I dont want any thing went wrong now."

Aanya stared at him — surprised, touched, almost amused by how deeply everyone in this house loved each other.

Karan finished softly:

"I'm genuinely happy for both of you.
You and Bhai... you're lucky to have each other."

Aanya smiled — a gentle, sincere smile — and extended her hand.

"Friends?"

Karan looked at her hand for a moment... then smiled and shook it.

"Friends."

He chuckled suddenly.

Aanya frowned, confused.

"What happened?"

Karan laughed lightly.

"Do you remember the day we first became friends years ago?
This looks exactly the same.
Same handshake... same awkwardness."

Aanya chuckled too.

"You're right.
We were better as friends than anything else."

"Exactly."

And just like that — something heavy lifted from both their hearts.
No more guilt.
No more tension.
No more complicated past.

Just... peace.

__

Ishaan sat at the long conference table with the entire Mehra Tech team gathered around him.
A large projector screen glowed at the front, displaying charts, progress bars, code updates — everything related to the ongoing project.

The team was discussing:

how much of the project was completed,

what changes needed to be made,

what new features had to be added.

But Ishaan...

...wasn't hearing a single word.

His mind was nowhere in that office.

In his head —
he kept replaying the image of his wife, sleeping in their bed in the morning...
spread like a starfish, hair everywhere, completely peaceful and unaware of how dangerously smart she actually was.

Ever since he'd left Black Crown, his thoughts were stuck on one thing:

Aanya.

How she fooled him so smoothly.
How she helped Aransh escape under his nose.
How she hacked, sent the video, hid everything in plain sight... living right beside him.

He shook his head with a soft, amazed chuckle.

"I have to admit it, Mrs. Mehra...
you may look innocent and naïve...
but you're definitely not."

His employees glanced at him, confused.

"Sir... is everything alright?" one of them asked.

Ishaan snapped out of his thoughts.

"Huh? Oh—yes. Yes, I'm fine. please Continue."

But even as he said that...
he had a barely controlled smirk on his face — a mixture of pride, disbelief, and excitement.

He could not WAIT to reach home.

He wanted to confront her.
Tease her.
Challenge her.
Pull the truth out of her.
And maybe... kiss the life out of her for being so dangerously clever.
Kiss? What the hell, Ishaan? What are you even thinking? Get a grip, bro,"
he scolded himself in his mind.

But unfortunately...

He had to sit here until evening.

He sighed and forced his eyes back to the projector.

__

Somewhere far away —
in a dimly lit room —
a shadowy figure sat on the edge of a narrow bed.

The room was quiet... too quiet.

A single bulb flickered above, throwing sharp lines of light and darkness across the walls.

The shadow whispered to himself:

"I have to do something.
I can't stay here any longer.
If I dind't scape from here and ask for help now... it might be too late."

The shadow thought drifted to the second room beside them —
where another figure was lying on the bed, unconscious or asleep.

The shadow clenched his fists.

"I can't take her with me.
Not like this.
If I try... they will cought us again." hurt her more."

The shadow voice trembled — fear mixed with determination.

He walked quietly to the window.

Outside, through the dirty glass, he could see...

men with guns patrolling the area.
At least ten of them.
More waiting by the gates.

Getting out tonight was impossible.

But then...

shadow  remembered something.

"Tomorrow... they'll go to the main cottage.
Only three guards will be gurding here"

His eyes filled with a spark of hope.

"That's my only chance.
Tomorrow... I have to escape.
No matter what."

The figure backed away from the window slowly, heart pounding.

"I just need one moment.
One distraction.
And I'll run... before they even realize."

shadow thought driffted once more toward the second room — toward the person he couldn't take with them.

Pain washed across shadow face.

But shadow hardened there jaw.

"If I don't get out...didnt asked help.
They will hurt her more."

The bulb flickered again.

And the shadow disappeared into the darkness —
planning, waiting...
counting down the hours.

___

Evening arrived later than usual. Ishaan finally wrapped up his work.
When the clock struck seven, he let out a long sigh, stood up, slipped into his blazer, and picked up his phone and car keys.

This wasn't his usual time to head home—but today he couldn't wait.
Not after everything he had discovered about his smart little hacker.

A slow smirk curved on his lips as he walked out of the office.
__

At Mehra mansion.

In her room, Aanya was arranging the books she had brought from her house.
She placed as many as she could on the study table.

She sighed.
"Only five or six books fit... Where am I supposed to keep the rest?"
She looked around the room with her hands on her waist.
There were no shelves—just plain walls.

"Ugh... I guess the rest will have to stay in the bag."
She closed the last book and sat down on her chair.

She picked up her phone.
There were dozens of messages from friends and tons of notifications from social media—
and  from her bank.

She tapped on the account details... and her eyes widened.

She jumped to her feet.
"Oh my God! My account is full!" she squealed happily.

She did freelance hacking and usually spent her payments instantly—mostly on books and food.
But for the past four months, she hadn't been able to spend a single rupee.
Now, all the pending payments from her earlier projects had come in.

"Wow... I have to do something with this money," she exhaled with a big smile.

She opened an online shopping app and immediately started searching for new books.

"The new volumes must've released by now..."
She added several books to her cart, changed the delivery address from Verma Mansion to Mehra Mansion, and placed the order.

Then she sighed.

"I have nothing to do here... and I can't even join the office until everything settles down.
But I have to restart my freelance work.
And for that, I need my laptop."

The thought hit her.

"Should I go back to Verma Mansion and get it?"

But her smile faded instantly.

"No... Ishaan won't allow it."
She sat back in her chair.
"If I tell him I need to go get my laptop, he'll just say he'll buy me a new one.
I've understood him enough in the last few months."

Her mind went back to yesterday—
to the worried look on Ishaan's face when she returned to the room after talking to her brother.
He had been scared... scared that she might refuse to stay with him at the Mehra Mansion.
She had clearly seen that fear in his eyes.

"He won't let me go to verma mansion for a while," she murmured.

She looked down at her phone again—
and then an idea sparked.

"If I can't go to the laptop... the laptop can come to me." i will buy new one."
A small grin appeared.
"Anyway, my old one is basically dying..."

She opened another shopping app, checked a few laptops, compared features, and finally ordered a new one.

__

Ishaan entered the mansion wearing the same smirk he had the entire drive home.
He didn't even looked at anyone—he went straight to their room and pushed the door open.

Aanya jumped like she'd been caught stealing chocolates, quickly hiding her phone behind her back.

Ishaan raised one eyebrow.

"Relax, Mrs. Mehra. I didn't catch you doing anything illegal... yet."
His warm, teasing voice made her heartbeat skip.

Aanya rolled her eyes.
"I was just... checking something."

He stepped inside, loosening his tie, eyes glued to her.

"Hmm. Checking something? Or planning something?"

She blinked innocently.
"Why would I plan anything?"

Ishaan leaned against the table, arms crossed, staring like he could read her entire soul.

"Aanya... you never told me about your qualifications. What course did you study?"
His smirk widened.

Aanya brightened instantly, excited.
"Oh that! I graduated with a OSCP. ( Offensive security certified professional)

Ishaan just stared.

O.S.C.P

Not the answer he expected from someone who had been supposedly hiding her identity.

He cleared his throat.
"Hmm. certified professional Hacker... so you're a hacker?"

"Yes, I am a hacker!" she replied proudly.

Ishaan's brows furrowed.
So she wasn't hiding it at all—she had just... never mentioned it?

"For a few days... I've been getting videos from an unknown ID.
I Was  wondering if it is you by any chance?"

Aanya sighed.
"Just skip to the point, Ishaan. Yes, I am the one who sent you those videos & information. I helped my brother escape.

Ishaan chuckled softly.

"Hmm, so I finally learned that my wife—the hacker—helped Aransh escape right under my nose, sent me secret videos, and then helped me uncover the truth. Fascinating."

He stepped closer.

"When were you planning to tell me? Why were you hiding it?"

"I wasn't hiding," she argued. "I just didn't come forward. That's it."

"Then why didn't you tell me that you're a hacker and you were helping me?"

She rolled her eyes again.
"Because you never asked."

Ishaan laughed.
"Right. Of course. My fault—I didn't ask."

He leaned closer.

"Still... don't you think I should know what my wife is doing behind my back?"

Her eyes narrowed.
"Why should you?"

He smiled.

"Because I'm your husband. I should know what you're up to , what things are you doing."

Aanya clicked her tongue.

"Oh really? Then maybe you should have first found out what your wife studies, what she does, what her profession is."

Ishaan looked at her—amused, impressed.

"Hmm... fair enough."

He stepped right in front of her and gently tilted her chin.

"Tell me, Aanya...
should I feel betrayed... or impressed?"

She looked at him, cheeks warm.
"Impressed. Definitely impressed."

He chuckled.

"Thought so."

He circled her slowly, like studying his favorite puzzle.

Then he stopped.

"Btw... congratulations."

Aanya frowned.
"For what?"

Ishaan smirked.

"For your very enthusiastic online shopping."

Her stomach dropped.
Oh no. He saw it.

"H-how do you know?"

He tapped the screen of her phone, still open on the order confirmation.

"Mrs. Hacker... you forgot to close the app."

Aanya: "..."

Ishaan leaned closer, voice playful.

"Laptop, huh?"

She stammered.
"I—I need it for work!"

He raised an eyebrow.

"You could have told me. I would've bought you one."

She shook her head quickly.
"No... it's okay. I don't feel comfortable asking you for things. We're not... that close."

That stung.

His face fell instantly.

Ishaan sighed softly.
You said you're letting me earn your forgiveness... your trust.
But aanya if you don't talk to me openly...
if you don't give me a chance to take care of you...to court you."
how am I supposed to prove myself?"

Aanya looked at him silently—so many questions in her eyes.
Ever since Mrs. Verma mentioned divorce, that thought stayed in her mind.

What happens after all this ends?

But she didn't ask.

She only nodded.

Ishaan gently took her hand.

"Aanya... I'm trying to make things right.
I need you to cooperate with me too."

She nodded again softly.
"I'll try."

He smiled and flicked her chin playfully.

"That's my girl."

Aanya smirked.

"It's not that easy to court me, Mr. Mehra."

He chuckled.
"Good. I don't like easy things either, Mrs. Mehra."

They both laughed.

Then Ishaan tilted his head.

"But I'm curious... you didn't have any device with you.
So how exactly did you help Aransh escape?
How did you recover those videos and gather all that information?"

Aanya shrugged casually.
"Oh that. I used Jay's laptop.
And... I got some help from someone."

"Help? Who?"

Aanya inhaled.

"Well... since you already know everything, and you're being nice now... I'll tell you.
There's a man here in the mansion. One of my dad's men.
He came to me one week after our wedding.
Gave me a phone.
Then Dad called... and told me that if I ever needed help, that guard would assist me." he will make sure that i am okey, iff ishaan did something wrong with you the gurd will beat the shit out of him , she giggles at end sentence.

Ishaan blinked—shocked for a second—but then his expression relaxed like he already knew.

Aanya narrowed her eyes.
"Don't tell me... you knew my dad's man was here."

Ishaan gave a guilty little smile.

"My little hacker... I've known your father since childhood.
He would never send his daughter to live with a man who wanted revenge... without someone watching over her.
So yes—I knew your dad's man was here.
I don't know exactly who he is, but I knew someone was here to protect you. from me"

Aanya frowned.
"And you did nothing? You didn't try to find him or remove him "why?"

Ishaan shook his head slowly.

"I don't know why...
but maybe that's what stopped me from hurting you.
Maybe that silent fear kept me from crossing a line.
Back then... I only wanted to hurt Aransh.
Not you." but sometime in anger i hurt you too with my behviour and words. 

His voice softened at the end.

Aanya stared at him—speechless.

*

"But seriously, I didn't know my wife—whom I thought was weak and naïve—was actually this clever,"  A very sharp and smart hacker. Ishaan said, genuinely amused.

"Well, there are a lot of things you don't know about me," she replied with a soft chuckle.

"Oh really?" he asked, giving her a playful side-eye.

"Yes," she said proudly, lifting her chin a little.

Ishaan let out a quiet laugh at her confidence.
"You're just like your scent," he murmured.

"My scent?" she blinked, confused.

"Yeah... rose. You're like a rose," he explained. "Soft and beautiful on the outside like its petals... but sharp and fierce on the inside like its thorns."

She stared at him, her cheeks turning as red as rose petals. For a moment, she didn't know what to say.

Ishaan chuckled again and added softly, "You're a rose."

"Rose?" she whispered.

"Yes... MY ROSE," he said with a gentle smile, his eyes locked on hers.

She looked back at him, their gazes holding, the air between them slowly shifting. They were getting closer—something between them was changing. Their bond was growing, blooming quietly like a flower opening at dawn.

For now... they were happy.

But neither of them knew that a storm was already on its way—one powerful enough to shatter their world.

***

"Aww these two are getting dangerously cute, right?
Enjoy the sweetness while it lasts... because your author is about to drop drama like a nuclear bomb."