PROLOGUE

Him-

‌The warehouse smelled like rust and fear.

Both were familiar.

The man kneeling in front of me was shaking, his breath uneven, his hands tied too tightly behind his back.

Blood stained the concrete floor—not enough to be dramatic, just enough to be honest.

I crouched to his level, studying him the way I studied everything before deciding its worth.

"You shouldn't have betrayed me"  I stated calmly.

"So..rr..y si..r i ...

 He stammered an apology. They always did. Words spilled easily when consequences finally arrived.

I smirked .

I stood, straightening my cuffs. I stared at my PA vansh. 

He understood my gesture immediately.

I stepped outside, the night air cool against my skin. City lights glimmered in the distance, uncaring.

This world ran on fear, leverage, and knowing exactly where to apply pressure.

The sound behind me was brief. Efficient.

When it was over, silence settled again, heavy and obedient.

      On my way back, I cut through the park—not for sentiment, but because it was faster.

That was when I saw her.

She sat alone on a bench, a book open in her hands, unaware of the darkness that had just unfolded a few streets away.

Soft light filtered through the trees, catching in her hair. The noise of the city seemed to stop at the edge of her space.

The contrast was… jarring.

Blood and broken men still lingered in my thoughts, yet here she was—untouched, unhurried, gentle in a world that didn’t deserve her.

I slowed without meaning to.

She turned a page, lips curving into a quiet smile, and something unfamiliar tightened in my chest.

Innocence like that didn’t survive long.

Unless it was protected.

I didn’t approach her. I didn’t speak.

I just watched.

And in that moment, surrounded by everything I was, I knew one thing with unsettling clarity:

She didn’t belong to my world.

Which meant I would have to make a place for her in it.

Thank you for Reading.