I tried to forget his eyes.
Tried to blend into the background. Smile politely. Pretend I didn't feel like someone was still watching me. But every time I looked up, my chest tightened.
He wasn't in the crowd anymore. He had vanished after a while, and yet… his presence stayed.
"Go get some water, beta," Ammi said softly, fanning herself.
Glad for the excuse, I made my way toward the drinks table. I kept my head low, eyes on the marble floor, avoiding the staring aunties and their judgments. It was just water. Just a wedding. Just a stranger.
Nothing was going to happen.
Until I noticed him again — at the far end of the hall, speaking to two men in suits. He looked serious, dangerous… powerful.
I don't know why I looked. I should have kept walking. But something in me wanted to understand why he kept looking at me like that — like I was something rare. Something he already owned.
His eyes met mine again.
I froze.
He tilted his head slightly, almost like he was… amused. Or curious.
I quickly turned and walked away — fast, heart pounding, palms cold. Why was I reacting like this? I didn't know him. He didn't know me.
But something told me… he would.
Soon.
She's not on the guest list," I said calmly.
Rizwan, my second-in-command, blinked in surprise. "You want me to find her?"
I didn't answer. I just looked toward where she had been a few minutes ago. She was gone again. Like smoke.
But I wasn't worried.
I never chased. I tracked.
"I want a name," I said coldly. "Aroha. That's what her mother called her once."
Rizwan nodded. "Give me an hour."
I trusted him. He was good with quiet jobs. No mistakes. No attention. Just how I liked it.
My thoughts went back to her — the fear in her eyes, but not the type that begged for mercy. It was the fear of someone who had never been looked at like that before. Like she was real. Visible.
And that's what I did.
I saw her.
I saw what she didn't even see in herself — softness in a hard world. I wanted it close. Kept. Protected, maybe. But mostly… mine.
"Sir, should I dig into the family too?" Rizwan asked.
"Yes. Everything. Father, brothers, schooling, reputation. I want her entire world on paper."
He paused. "You're serious about this one?"
I turned toward him slowly.
"I don't play games."
A part of me wondered if I was going too far. But another part — the one raised on blood and rules — whispered that power means taking before anyone else can.
This girl wasn't a choice. She was a decision.
She didn't know it yet, but her life had already changed.
She just hadn't been told.