Sky island
The air was thick with a silence that almost felt alive.
She stared at Ruhel, her breath catching in her throat, anxiety flashing across her eyes like a tremor before a storm.
There was something in the way he looked at her unblinking, unreadable. His gaze didn't flinch, didn't soften. He wasn't asking questions. He was watching her break.
Her lips trembled slightly as she finally spoke, her voice low and brittle.
"Sir... wherever these girls came from... I came from there too.
The only difference is they chose to be here.
I didn't.
I was forced.
I had no money... no options.
And when life shuts every door on you, even a cage starts to look like shelter.
So I ended up here... not by choice, but because I had nowhere else to go."
She didn't look up to see if he was moved by her confession.
But Ruhel he was listening.
Every word. Every pause. Every crack in her voice he soaked it in like a man who knew exactly what desperation tasted like.
And then, just when she thought the silence would consume her, Ruhel moved closer.
His fingers lifted to her hair casually, like it belonged to him. He twisted a strand between his fingers, as if decoding her through touch.
His voice was low, laced with something far more dangerous than anger truth.
"So... you really thought your Master was going to give you a job, huh?
A chance to earn your dignity back?
And instead... he threw you here.
Turned you into a dancer in a den.
That's what he gave you."
The words stung, not because they were cruel, but because they were exactly what she had tried not to admit to herself.
Her eyes widened.
"But... how do you know all that, sir?" she asked, the words spilling out, almost afraid of the answer.
Ruhel's eyes darkened as he looked at her, and there was something ancient in that stare like he'd seen this story too many times before.
"Every bird that flies into Sky Island has its wings counted before it lands.
And you're not a bird.
You're human."
There was no escape in that voice.
No comfort either.
Just cold, brutal clarity.
Her eyes dropped again, heavy with the weight of knowing she was never invisible here.
Not even for a second.
Ruhel's voice dipped lower as he leaned in, the scent of danger laced with something intoxicating brushing against her skin.
He didn't kiss her.
He didn't touch her like a man starved.
He simply brought his lips close to her neck... and breathed her in.
A slow, deliberate inhale as if memorizing her scent, her fear, her truth.
And then came the whisper, almost seductive in its quiet threat
"You're wondering, aren't you?
If I already knew everything...
Why did I still try to scare you?"
She froze.
She could feel the heat of his breath against her skin, the unspoken promises wrapped in every syllable he uttered.
Her throat tightened as she looked up at him again, her voice barely there.
"I-I'm sorry, sir.
But please... don't tell the President anything.
Please..."
She didn't know why she said it.
Didn't know what scared her more what the President might do, or what Ruhel might become.
But Ruhel didn't respond immediately.
He looked at her, really looked at her as if burning her into his memory.
And then, just like that, he turned around and walked away.
No explanations.
No threats.
No promises.
He simply disappeared into the shadows of Sky Island, leaving behind a silence that rang louder than any scream.
And she she just stood there, watching him fade into the dark.
Her chest heavy. Her fate uncertain.
Because now... she had no idea what the Violet Devils were going to do next.
Mumbai — 5:00 PM.
The city shimmered beneath the bleeding sky, cloaked in a thousand colors as the sun began its descent.
Lights blinked on one by one like stars scattered across the skyline fairy lights, headlights, neon signs, glass towers catching fire from the sun's last warmth.
It was chaos, beauty, movement. A city that didn't just live it pulsed.
Amidst that glow, a small, nondescript car raced down the highway, weaving through traffic with quiet urgency, heading straight for the shoreline.
Inside the car sat Kiara a girl whose world had just been cracked open.
She pressed her face near the glass, her eyes wide, gleaming with an innocent thrill that didn't belong to someone her age.
Her face was half-covered with a medical mask, but her eyes those startling avocado green eyes burned through the haze, wild with wonder.
She blinked rapidly, like she was afraid if she stared too long, the view might disappear.
Skyscrapers. Street vendors. Billboards. Children on bikes.
Everything was new. Everything was alive.
She had never seen the world like this before.
Because until today, she hadn't been allowed to.
Her entire life had been lived in the silence of an underground room a cellar where time didn't pass and faces were few.
No windows. No air. No sky.
And now this.
The city. The noise. The colors. The ocean in the distance. The golden pink clouds.
Her hands pressed against the glass like a child watching a world she never thought she'd touch.
Next to her sat Anju, and unlike Kiara, she wasn't mesmerized.
She was tense. Controlled. Her body rigid, her eyes scanning every lane, every shadow.
She held Kiara's wrist tightly in her hand, her grip firm, almost bruising.
Because Anju knew if she let go, even for a second Kiara would leap.
Not out of fear.
Out of a hunger to live.
Kiara had never breathed in the world before today, and now she wanted it all at once.
She kept leaning forward, trying to roll down the window, trying to open the door.
Everything was calling her the sea, the streets, the sunlight.
And Anju had to keep reminding her, over and over—"Not yet. Not yet."
Anju didn't blame her.
How could she?
But this wasn't a joyride. This was an escape.
And time was running out.
She knew it in her bones Delhi must've found out by now.
Someone would have noticed the absence. Someone would have traced the silence.
But Uma had planned this well.
Flawless, in fact.
The secret tunnel Anju had used no cameras, no guards, no sensors.
It had been built decades ago for a kind of emergency no one had expected.
Only a few people had ever known of its existence. And now... they were all dead.
All except Uma.
And Uma had trusted her Anju with the one person who couldn't afford to be found.
Kiara.
A girl with no digital footprint. No photos. No school records.
From the day she was born to the moment she escaped she had never stepped outside that cellar.
And now, she sat beside her in a moving car, mesmerized by streetlights and strangers, like someone tasting the sky after a lifetime underground.
Anju's eyes flicked to the rearview mirror. Her pulse throbbed at her neck.
She didn't care if someone came after her.
She could handle it. She could bleed for it.
But Kiara?
Kiara couldn't be caught.
Because she wasn't some runaway girl.
She wasn't just another secret.
She was something more.
And everyone who knew what was already dead.
So Anju held tighter, scanning every face in every car they passed.
The ocean was getting closer.
The sky was turning darker.
And behind them, somewhere in the shadows they'd left behind hell was beginning to stir.
Somewhere on the edge of Mumbai
The ocean roared quietly in the distance, and the beach shimmered beneath the pink-gold light of dusk.
Anju and Kiara stood at the edge of the shore, the wind tugging gently at their clothes, the air smelling of salt and distant storms.
Kiara's eyes were still darting around restless, hungry, filled with the kind of wonder that came from seeing too much and understanding too little.
She wasn't just looking she was memorizing.
The sea, the sky, the noise, the chaos it was all too big, too loud, too... real.
And Anju could see it the way her heart was pounding.
She kept motioning her to stay still, to breathe, to focus but she understood. How could she not?
It had already been over thirty minutes past the time Uma had given them.
No sign of the ship.
And a quiet fear was beginning to bloom in the pit of Anju's stomach.
What if someone gave Uma the wrong information?
What if they were too late?
What if they had been followed?
No, she shook the thought off. Uma wasn't careless.
She was calculated. Cold. Protective. Especially when it came to Kiara.
And just as doubt began to crawl up her spine, Anju spotted it.
A ship.
Sleek. Deep blue.
With wings painted across its side, gleaming faintly under the dying sun.
A soft, relieved smile touched Anju's lips. That was it.
But before she could even take a step forward her eyes landed on something else.
Police.
Standing a little distance behind them. Watching. Waiting.
Anju's heart skipped. Her palms turned cold.
She didn't have time to think. Only to act.
She grabbed Kiara's wrist tightly.
"Kiara, listen to me," she whispered, her voice sharp, urgent. "That blue ship go inside, hide in any corner you can find. Don't come out until it stops. No matter what. Understand?"
Kiara didn't ask questions. She didn't need to.
She nodded, eyes wide, and ran light on her feet, silent like she'd been taught.
The ship was eerily still. No crowds. No sound.
It didn't even look like a passenger vessel.
There were barely any people around.
Anju noticed it too it felt... wrong.
Too empty. Too quiet.
But she didn't have time to dwell.
Because every second she wasted brought the cops closer.
She looked back one last time. Kiara had vanished inside the ship.
Anju exhaled sharp and heavy and turned, disappearing quietly into the growing crowd before the police could notice her.
A few minutes later, another blue ship docked at the shore.
Unlike the first, this one was crowded. People began lining up, ready to board.
The police approached immediately alert, suspicious. They stopped everyone.
Then they began checking the ship. Every room. Every cabin.
Nothing.
No trace of the girl.
One of the constables turned to the officer, nodding toward the other blue ship the one with the wings.
"Sir, should we check that one too? Maybe she's there..
The officer turned sharply.
"Are you out of your mind?
Do you even see that ship? The wings? That's a private carrier belonging to someone powerful. You want to lose your badge over a guess?"
The constable fell silent.
And just like that, they turned away, never once stepping close to the ship where Kiara was hiding.
Inside the vessel, Kiara crouched in the very last section of the deck, far from sight.
She was still catching her breath, her chest rising and falling fast beneath her mask.
She didn't know where she was going. She didn't even know if she was safe.
But she remembered what Mapi had told her stay quiet. No matter what.
Not a word. Not until you meet her.
So Kiara sat still.
Only now did she notice how strange everything was.
Everyone she glimpsed on the ship they wore blue.
Not just uniforms entire suits. Masks, gloves, boots.
Even the women dressed in stark white, their faces covered too, like porcelain ghosts in motion.
The silence was haunting.
No one spoke.
No one looked her way.
But none of them came near the back.
And for now, that was all she needed.
Slowly, Kiara dared to lift her eyes.
What she saw took her breath away.
The sun was almost gone now, melting into the horizon like fire slipping into the sea.
And around her endless water.
The ocean.
Wide. Dark. Alive.
She gasped softly.
She had only ever read about it.
She remembered her teacher whispering, "The ocean is deep, Kiara. So deep, no one really knows how far it goes. So blue, it hides both heaven and hell."
Now, she was inside that story.
Kiara whispered under her breath, "So it's true... Mapi was right. And Ma'am too.
This is the ocean... and it's real. It's really... this big?"
Her gaze fell.
A quiet fear bloomed again.
"What if I fall?" she whispered.
Her fingers clenched her dress tightly.
Whenever she was scared she always held onto her clothes, eyes shut tight, waiting for the fear to pass.
And she did the same now.
Because suddenly, what felt magical just minutes ago now felt monstrous.
The ocean had turned darker.
The ship made no sound.
And she was alone.
Shivering, she wrapped the light shawl around her head and curled up in the corner.
Don't fall. Don't speak. Don't be seen.
The girl who had never touched the world before today was now floating in the middle of it. Surrounded by strangers.
On a ship no one dared to question.
And as the last light disappeared from the sky...
The blue sea turned black.
But Kiara, curled up like a child clinging to dreams, finally drifted into a deep, exhausted sleep.
Unaware that her real journey...
had only just begun.
Sky Island – Midnight
The city far below was drowning in silence, but high above, on the edge of the cliffs that guarded Sky Island, Aaron Warner sat still his lighter spinning between his fingers, silver flickering against his sharp knuckles.
His eyes weren't on the city. They were somewhere else.
Lost in a thought no one dared ask about.
Across the room, Aryan slid a file across the glass table.
"Our Paris shares are climbing again," Aryan said calmly. "Australia's stable too. But London's showing some unexpected drops this past week."
Aaron placed the lighter down, slow and deliberate.
"Anything new in that?"
His voice was low. Measured. Almost bored.
Aryan blinked, not sure what he meant.
"Sorry new in what sense?"
Aaron slipped a cigarette between his lips, not lighting it yet.
"If you stay stuck on meanings, Aryan... you'll never move forward."
There was silence.
Aryan looked down, realizing he'd just stepped into something deeper than a stock report.
"I don't understand what you're trying to say, Aaron."
Aaron finally looked up cold eyes, unreadable.
He stood, picked up his lighter, and walked slowly toward the balcony, letting the wind hit his face. The cigarette now lit, smoke curling into the stars.
Then he said it casually, like it wasn't about to change everything.
"A ship from Mumbai. It's on its way here, right?"
Aryan paused. Thought. "Yes... yeah, Blue Wings. A few members are arriving. But..
He hesitated. "They're carrying coke, Aaron."
Aaron flicked the cigarette away, turned back inside, and stared straight into Aryan's eyes.
"Really?" he said, a mocking smile playing at his lips.
Then added coldly: "Not really."
Aryan's heart skipped.
"Aaron what do you mean by that? I'm not following..
Aaron exhaled slowly, deeply. And said the one thing Aryan never expected.
"I think you should leave the Violet Devils."
The words dropped like a bomb.
Aryan froze. His eyes snapped up to Aaron's face half in confusion, half in disbelief.
"What the hell are you talking about?"
He took a step forward. "Just say it straight, Aaron."
Aaron didn't blink.
Of all the men in the Violet Devils, Aryan was the only one Aaron allowed to talk back to him. Maybe because he saw a bit too much of himself in Aryan.
But tonight, even that was on edge.
Aaron pulled out his gun and placed it on the table not as a threat, but like punctuation.
"That ship arriving tomorrow?"
"It doesn't belong to Blue Wings. Not anymore."
Aryan's breath caught.
"They're infiltrators. Working under Atlantis.
And they're not here to visit. They're planning to erase us.
Take Sky Island down... piece by piece."
The room turned colder.
A quiet smile curved Aaron's lips. The kind of smile that chilled more than it calmed.
Aryan's voice dropped. "Then why wait?
Why let them dock? Let's end them before they step foot here."
Aaron turned his face slightly, the moonlight catching the sharp edge of his jaw.
"They've played this smart.
So it's only fair..." he said, lighting another cigarette,
"...that we punish them smarter."
Aryan said nothing.
He simply stood there, watching the man who ruled Sky Island with silence and sin
the man who never blinked before burning down empires
smile like he already knew how this would end.
Somewhere, across the sea, that ship was cutting through waves.
And they had no idea...
They were sailing straight into Aaron Warner's warpath.
And Aryan?
He was just counting hours till dawn.
New Delhi
Rathore Mansion
After Kiara had disappeared, Uma had locked herself inside her room. She lay flat on the floor beside Kiara's empty bed, as if all life had drained out of her body. She wasn't moving. She wasn't speaking. Her breathing was shallow, barely audible.
Outside, the halls were chaotic. Inside, everything was frozen.
Until the door flung open.
Reema Rathore stepped in draped in a heavy silk saree, eyes sharp, heels echoing against the marble floor. She froze when she saw Uma lying like that. The sight made her blood boil.
"What is this drama, Uma?" Reema snapped. "Why are you lying there like a corpse? Where is that girl?!"
Uma didn't respond. She didn't even flinch.
Reema's patience snapped.
She grabbed the jug sitting on the side table and flung the water straight onto Uma's face.
The shock hit Uma like a slap. She gasped and sat up, blinking at Reema.
"Badi maalkin... you're here? I Kiara... Kiara hit her head and ran away... I...I tried to stop her...
The name Kiara was all Reema needed to hear.
Her eyes darkened with rage.
And in one breathless second, she lunged at Uma.
"You helped her escape, didn't you? You think I'm stupid? YOU THINK I WOULDN'T KNOW?!"
Reema's fingers twisted into Uma's hair, dragging her up violently.
"I want her back, Uma! BRING HER BACK TO ME!" she screamed, her voice cracking with fury. "You stand here and lie to me? Act like a loyal maid while you stab me in the back?!"
Slap.
Another.
Another.
The sound of skin meeting skin echoed through the walls.
But Uma didn't resist. She didn't scream. She didn't fight back.
She just held onto one line, again and again, as if it was the only thing keeping her alive:
"She hit her head... I tried to stop her... she ran... I don't know where..."
Nobody believed her. Not Reema. Not Rajeev. Not a single soul in the Rathore mansion.
And now, the entire Rathore family was unraveling.
Calls were being made. Search teams dispatched. Delhi, Mumbai, and every adjoining city had been alerted. Helicopters were already circling the skies.
But Kiara?
Kiara was long gone.
Far beyond their reach.
Far beyond their imagination.
And definitely far beyond the chains they'd tried to keep her in.
And Uma?
She knew she'd be punished for this. Tortured. Maybe even killed.
But she also knew one thing:
No matter what they did to her...
She would never give up Kiara's secret.
Not even if it cost her everything.
How will Kiara and Aaron finally come face to face?
Will the Rathore family track her down before it's too late?
Or will destiny lead her straight into the lion's den — the heart of Sky Island?
Find out in the next chapter of
"Darling, You're Mine"
— a tale of obsession, power, and a girl who was never meant to escape.
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