The sun had barely risen when Khushi found herself pacing in the garden. Her brows were furrowed, her hands clenched tightly behind her back.
Karan followed her with half-closed eyes, yawning. "Do you always wake up angry?"
Khushi didn't even glance at him. "Not angry. Focused."
Just then, Ron popped up behind a bush holding a toothbrush in his mouth. "Also angry."
Khushi turned to them, her gaze burning. "We didn't come back just to live quietly. We came back to finish what they started. And we will."
The next few months passed in silence and strategy. Every evening was spent reading old files, studying power maps, and identifying weak links in the Patil empire. But life didn't pause for revenge.
Soon, reality crashed in.
Khushi's phone vibrated with a cruel reminder: 12th Boards: 2 Weeks Left.
She stared at the screen like it had insulted her.
"Oh great," she muttered. "Let's just sprinkle academic torture over emotional trauma."
Ron was sprawled across the living room floor, solving his own mock test. "Well, you're still a topper. Again."
Karan looked up from his laptop. "Need anything? Tutors? Notes? Oxygen?"
Khushi smirked. "I don't want to pass. I want to leave a mark so deep that even the Education Minister reads my name and remembers it."
Ron held up a chart. "This is not motivation. This is revenge in exam format."
Karan got up and brought her a cup of coffee. "You'll do it. Like you always do."
The tension in the Joshi household started building up. The walls, once filled with laughter, were now silent during dinner.
Meera Joshi looked across the table at Khushi, her eyes filled with quiet concern. "She barely eats. She doesn't even ask for help anymore."
Arvind stirred his soup slowly. "She's under pressure. Let her breathe."
"I'm trying," Meera whispered. "But she looks like she's carrying the weight of a thousand lives."
Arvind glanced toward Khushi's closed door. "Maybe she is."
The night before the final paper, Khushi sat in her study staring blankly at her book. Her fingers trembled slightly as she held the pen.
Karan entered without knocking. "You didn't touch your dinner."
She looked at him, eyes tired. "What if I blank out tomorrow?"
"You won't," he said, kneeling beside her. "You've already fought death. A paper can't scare you."
Ron peeked in. "Tai, I revised your full notes. Ask me anything. I dare you."
She laughed softly, wiping her eyes.
"This family," she whispered, "is all that's real to me."
Exam Day
Khushi stood in the exam center, clutching her hall ticket. Reporters lingered outside, whispering about her. A few classmates turned to stare.
"She's the one," someone murmured. "Khushi Joshi. Roy family heiress. Also a genius."
The invigilator called out her name. She walked in slowly, every step deliberate. As if she were walking into war.
Ron waved at her from another classroom door. "Finish them," he mouthed.
Karan stood outside the gate, arms crossed, not moving until she disappeared into the corridor.
Khushi took her seat, glanced at the question paper, and closed her eyes.
Aai... watch me.
Her pen moved like lightning.
She didn't blink for three hours.
When it was over, she walked out silently. No celebration. Just breath. Just survival.
One Month Later
The exam results were in. Khushi Joshi had not only topped her school
she'd broken a national record.
Her phone buzzed endlessly. News channels, magazines, social media.... all flashing her face. The headlines were explosive.
"Khushi Joshi tops India.....Again!""Roy-Joshi Duo: India's Power company ?""The Girl Who Can't Be Ignored"
That evening, the Roy house was lit dimly with fairy lights for a quiet family dinner.
Khushi sat at the edge of the garden, flipping through a newspaper with her photo on the cover. Her mind wasn't celebrating.
Karan placed a warm bowl of kheer beside her. "You did it. What now?"
Khushi stared at the photo. "Now? We dig deeper."
Ron ran in with his laptop. "Tai, I found new leads. Nisha's company has some shady entries. Want to see?"
Khushi turned to both of them, eyes burning again. "I'm not stopping. Not until she's ruined."
Ron nodded. "One step at a time. We've already taken the first."
Inside the Patil house, Sanjay flipped through the newspaper. His hand paused on her face.
He stared at her for a long time.
"She's... everywhere," he whispered.
Neha walked in. "Who?"
Sanjay shook his head. "No one. Just… someone the world's obsessed with."
He still didn't know.
But deep down, something in his soul twisted.
Because something… felt familiar.
And that feeling was about to become his nightmare.