"Aadya, you are coming for my birthday party tonight, right?", Naina, Aadya's best friend asked following her to the nearest bus stand as they were returning after completing their college.

"Naina, you know that dad will never allow me to stay out at night after seven in the evening.", Aadya answered apologetically while waiting for the bus and Naina sighed before saying, "Aadya, please don't be a spoil sport. I promise the party will be over before ten and you will be back to your home before midnight. Should I talk to your  dad?"

"Naina, No--", Aadya tried reasoning, however her words died in her mouth when her eyes landed on someone familiar on the opposite side of road.

Squinting her eyes, Aadya tried focusing on the person far away from her, until she was sure that she definitely knows this person.

Ishaan?

And her eyes widen looking at some men, looking more like goons, were punching, kicking and beating her brother. While some other people were just standing aside and looking at the drama without helping him.

"Naina, You go first. I need to go somewhere.", Aadya said hurriedly before running towards the other side of road, amidst the rushing cars, to her brother who was getting beaten blue and black.

"Bhai(brother)?", Aadya screamed crouching down in front of her half-dead brother whose nose and mouth was bleeding heavily. His eyes had turned blue with the punches and face swollen with redness.

"Bhai, what is happening here? Why they are beating you like this?", Aadya asked taking Ishaan's head in her lap and the goons stopped beating him as Aadya was blocking their way to Ishaan.

"Who are you and why are you beating my brother?", Aadya asked looking up at the goons, tears running down her cheeks before she looked down crying more looking at her brother almost dead.

"Beautiful!", Aadya heard a whisper and she looked up with frowns to see the goons stepping aside one after the other, revealing a man almost in his late twenties or early thirties, decked up into the pair of white t-shirt and black jeans with olive green overcoat, sitting on the bonnet of his luxuries black color SUV, with a cigarette thrusted between his two fingers and shades hiding his eyes. His one leg was resting on bonnet while other was hanging loose. He was wearing some really expensive bands and watch around his wrists, few classy stone rings in the fingers of his both hands, and a classy silver double chain with triangle pendant around his neck.

The man took off his shades revealing his hazel brown orbs which can make anyone drown into them for years, and Aadya stared deep into them as she asked with furrowed brows, "Why you were beating my brother?"

The man jumped down from the car before walking to the brother sister duo and crunched down to meet Aadya's level as his eyes tried studying her each and every facial feature from close, and Aadya squirmed uncomfortably under his creepy stare.

"Brother? Ishaan, you never told us that you have such a beautiful sister.", The man asked ghoulishly with his lips slightly lifted up in a smirk and Aadya glared back into his eyes challenging him.

"Aadya, you go home.", Ishaan said sitting up with great difficulty, breaking the staring between two people and Aadya immediately shifted her focus back to her brother asking, "But Bhai--"

"Aadya, don't you understand when said once? I told you to go home then go home. And don't tell anything about this to Mom- dad  . Get up now and go.", Ishaan yelled scaring the poor soul as she gaped at her brother before nodding meekly and got up taking her bag.

Aadya glanced once again at an unknown man in front of her before turning around to walk away. However, as soon as she took the first step, she heard the man calling her and asking, "Aadya? Don't you want to take your brother with you?"

Aadya immediately turned around and looked at the man before walking towards her brother. However, before she can reach her brother, the man blocked her way and smirked looking at her as he said followed by a wink, "Aadya! Your name is as beautiful as you!"

Aadya felt an unknown fear engulfing inside of her, however she kept a facade of braveness and glared at him, which did nothing but the smirk on the man's face widen as he whispered staring back into her black pearls, "Fierce! I love it."

"I-- I promise I will return each and every penny before the end of this week. But please let her go. She has nothing to do with all these.", Ishaan crawled towards them and started pleading to that unknown man whose eyes were still settled on the girl in front of him, and Ishaan then immediately turned towards Aadya saying, "Aadya, why are you still standing here? Go home. Now."

Aadya without a word more, turned and went away, however when she reached the other side of the road, she could see the man still staring her without a blink. Vehicles passed between them, however, his staring eyes on her never flickered even for once. Until her bus came, and then she was gone. Smirking devilishly to his own self, he stared at the empty spot where she was standing there just seconds before.

Crushing half smoked cigarette under the heels of his expensive shoes, The man turned around before looking at the goons and said, "Let him go. We don't need him anymore."

His bodyguard opened the door for him and he climbed into the driver seat of SUV, while the goons alongwith few bodyguards get into the other two cars at back.

His car started and halted just in front of Ishaan who was still sitting there on the road harshly beaten, and the man rolled down the black tinted windows as he looked down at Ishaan from behind the shades on his eyes and said, "next time, don't ever try to mess with Atharv Malhotra."

And Ishaan kept staring at the vanishing cars sitting there in the middle of road, while people passing by were looking at him and giving him sympathetic look.