#darkreaderinsert

The night had started like any other, with a gathering meant to distract from the monotony of the week. The courtyard buzzed with laughter, glasses clinked, and strings of golden lights swayed gently in the breeze. It should have been comforting, yet a cold knot coiled in your stomach. Because even in the middle of it all, you could feel his gaze.

Viraj Dobriyal.

He didn’t need to be close for his presence to consume you. It lingered like smoke creeping under a door—insidious, impossible to ignore—until every breath felt heavier. His shirt was—as always—half-buttoned in casual arrogance, as though he wanted the world to know his confidence could never be questioned. His eyes dragged against your skin, daring you to acknowledge what you already knew: he saw everything. Every step, every glance, every breath.

You avoided him as best you could, clinging to conversations, hiding in groups, laughing when it felt unnatural. But the crowd thinned as the hours passed, friends drifting off in twos and threes. The music softened, shadows stretched longer, and the night’s warmth bled away. You felt it then—the shift. The safety of numbers was gone. A strange stillness crept in, and every instinct screamed that you were being watched.

That was when he found you.

A hand, cold and unyielding, closed around your wrist. Your body stiffened, breath catching in your throat, but he didn’t allow hesitation. Viraj pulled you into the shadows with a purpose so sharp, so deliberate, that resistance felt futile. You thought about screaming, but the look in his eyes froze the sound in your lungs. Those eyes carried promises written in blood and cruelty, and you understood—men like him didn’t grant second chances.

The path blurred into darkness. One hallway became another, a staircase descended, and before you could regain your bearings, you were shoved into a room you didn’t recognize. The air shifted instantly: thick with leather and something darker. The door slammed, followed by the sound of locks sliding into place like a judge’s gavel. Final. Inescapable.

The walls stood bare—no windows, no exits. Silence reigned, broken only by the thunder of your pulse. You barely had time to register your surroundings before the binds came. Smooth leather straps wrapped your wrists, biting into skin with every twitch of defiance. He tied them with slow, practiced precision, as though binding you was a ritual, as though it gave him satisfaction in itself. His smirk deepened at your futile struggles, a predator’s amusement at prey caught in its own panic.

“You can scream my name all you want,” he whispered, his voice sliding against your nerves like silk and steel. “But the walls are soundproof.”

The words sank into you, chilling marrow and bone. He leaned back slightly, regarding you with the detached calm of someone in complete control. To him, you were already his—stripped of freedom, stripped of choice. Yet he dangled the illusion of decision before you, a cruel game where every outcome served him.

The choice was laid out like an executioner’s blade. Betray him, and maybe, just maybe, find a fleeting chance at escape. Or save yourself—cling to him, become what he demanded, and accept that freedom was only a mirage. But betrayal meant blood. And blood meant death. Everyone knew: no one crossed Viraj Dobriyal and lived to tell.

“You think you can save yourself by betraying me?” His tone was deceptively soft, yet every syllable slithered like a knife across raw skin. He took a step forward, slow and deliberate. The distance between you collapsed until his shadow merged with yours, until the heat of his presence pressed against every inch of your being. He burned without touching you.

He crouched down, gripping your chin with a touch that was cruelly gentle, forcing your eyes up into his. His gaze was endless—bottomless darkness, sharpened cruelty, merciless in its clarity. You wanted to look away, to close your eyes, but he held you captive with nothing more than the weight of his stare.

“Every decision you make, every breath you take—it already belongs to me.” His thumb brushed your jawline, deceptively tender, a mockery of comfort. He tilted your face, studying you as though measuring how much of you he could break before you shattered completely.

Silence stretched, oppressive, filled only with the ragged sound of your own breathing. Your chest heaved as though the room itself had shrunk, the walls pressing closer, stealing oxygen with each passing second. The binds cut deeper into your skin. The truth was merciless—escape was an illusion. Freedom was a fantasy. All that remained was him.

“Choose,” he murmured, and though the word was simple, it thundered like a verdict. “Betray me… or stay. Either way, you’re mine.”

The words hung heavy in the stillness, dripping into the cracks of your thoughts like poison. Betrayal or surrender. Both paths led to ruin, and yet he made you believe you had a choice. That was his cruelty—offering false doors in a maze where every exit circled back to him.

His lips brushed against your ear, feather-light, a ghost of touch that made you shudder. His voice carried through the dark, soft, intimate, but it wasn’t a promise. It was damnation.

“You’ll find,” he whispered, “there’s no saving yourself from me.”