Shattered Calm.

Shattered Calm.

“Yours.”

At first, it didn’t register. His words hung in the air, heavy… wrong. As if her mind refused to understand what it had already heard.

However when it did, something inside her stilled. Like the world had paused—just for a second too long. Just enough for fear to slip in.

He wasn’t joking.

God—he wasn’t joking.

“What are you saying?”

Was he even hearing himself?

“Whatever you are giving attention to is exactly what I am saying.”

Something was wrong. Not with his words—those she could argue with.

But with him. Everything was wrong with him!

His shadow was much more prominent than she had ever noticed before…

Why does he look like that…?

His eyes drank her in, which reflected the emotions that her eyes portrayed.

Stop looking at me like that. It brought chills. His eyes.

Out of all the emotions that she felt, the shock was the most prominent among them…

Shifting her eyes to the emotionless face that kept on watching her, it made her heart skip a beat.

He meant it. Every single word.

His eyes, however, gleamed with a quiet, unsettling darkness. Watching him, a sense of premonition crept into her mind, slow and unrelenting. The thoughts swallowed her whole, pulling her deeper into an endless darkness.

As her gaze lifted to his emotionless face, her heart faltered for a moment.

Their eyes locked.

He scrutinised her.

However, she was trying to search for something in his eyes. What, he did not know. She didn’t bother to hide how her clueless eyes were filled with unspoken questions—questions that carried a hidden fear of him. Despite having so many questions in her mind go unanswered, she couldn’t make herself voice them aloud.

Had she not gone mute because of the distraught she felt, she would have shown him how hateful he was becoming in her gaze.

“I let you meet your uncle for a reason.”

She was at a loss for words at his unemotional tone.

“Has he—or has he not—told you about the danger you live in?”

Terror had paralysed her, completely and utterly.

When she failed to answer, he spoke again, voice edged with something dark.

“I asked you a question.” Then, more forcefully, “I demand an answer!” he thundered.

She jumped. Collecting herself within seconds, she opened her mouth to speak.

“I-I… he did,” she breathed out shakily.

“Then what made you think the stunt you just pulled would not have gotten you killed?” His tone was deadly calm.

When she failed to answer, he spoke again—almost sinfully calm. “I asked you a question.”

Her wide eyes brimmed with tears, yet she couldn’t bring herself to blink, fear rooting her in place as she waited for what he would do next. His grip felt like it would tore her skin.

She bit her lower lip to restrain the pain from showing on her face.

His grip tightened on her waist—where his hand had once rested gently at the nape of her neck.

A sharp breath hitched in her throat as the pressure increased, just enough to remind her that he could hurt her if he wished to.

“I won’t repeat myself again,” he said quietly, and somehow, that was far more terrifying than his anger.

Her fingers trembled at her sides, curling into themselves as if searching for something—anything—to hold on to. But there was nothing. Not even him. Not anymore.

“I thought…” Her voice cracked, the words barely forming. She swallowed, forcing them out despite the fear clawing at her chest.

What she could have said?

A pause followed. Heavy. Suffocating.

His gaze didn’t soften. If anything, it hardened further, stripping away whatever illusion she had been clinging to.

“You thought,” he repeated slowly, almost mockingly.

And that was when she realised—

Her thoughts had never mattered to him.

“Do you even understand the consequences if something were to happen to you?” His grip tightened further. “Or to your little brother?” His gaze remained locked on her small, flushed face. “Were you even thinking about him before doing something so reckless?”

She did not argue—but something in her shuts down at the mention of her brother. When she realised it, she knew he wasn’t wrong—but his behaviour left a bitter taste in her mouth

Her lips pressed into a thin line, the words dying before they could leave her mouth.

God—he wasn’t wrong.

But the way he made her feel—small, cornered—burned far worse than his words ever could. So she said nothing. And that silence spoke more than any argument.

“I can’t comprehend the logic behind you talking to someone you didn’t even know in the first place—even if it was by mistake. You might not know the danger, but you—at least—should have been vigilant about your surroundings, for God’s sake!”

A sharp pain stung in her chest, caused by his mere words. She gulped in fear. Her soul seemed to shrink in pure horror. In fear of something happening to the only reason she kept living, she could not afford to let her most prized possession be taken away. That was exactly why she had taken him outside for a stroll.

“To you, your brother means a lot, doesn’t he?” Arching a brow, he leaned down. “What if they were here to get him?”

Angry tears blurred her vision once again at his words.

“What if they had gotten to him before I could even save him?” he continued. “Do you know what would have happened then?”

Sorrow washed over her, pooling in her wide eyes.

“What would you have done then?”

She shuddered involuntarily.

“Hm?” She could feel the heat of his breath against her skin. “If they could murder him in cold blood… just like they killed your parents?”

The image formed before she could stop it—

blood, silence, her brother not moving—

“Stop…” she whispered, more to herself than to him.

She couldn’t do it. She couldn’t even force herself to think about something happening to him without feeling like she might collapse.

“No…” The whisper slipped into the air. “You’re not telling me the truth. It… it… it can’t be the truth. T-they were just… just asking…”

“Strangely, I wish it wasn’t,” he said quietly.

Words hovered on her lips at his answer, but she couldn’t bring herself to say them.

“Hm?”

“I would not have let that happen,” she barely managed to whisper.

“Hm… what was it that you said?”

“I would not have let that happen!” Her voice rose, the tremor in it unmistakable.

“Of course, I believe you.” He gave her a knowing look. “Pray tell, what would you have done to ensure his safety?”

She had no answer. Because she herself did not know what she would have done. But what she did know was this—no matter the cost, she would never let anything or anyone harm her little brother while she was still breathing.

How? She didn’t know—but she would figure it out if it ever came to that.

“Hm?”

She said nothing But the way her fingers curled into her palms—the way her breathing faltered— answered him anyway.

He didn’t need her answer.

Would he?

Her action said it all. The silence had already given him everything.

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