The moonlit sky loomed with a pale glow, casting long shadows that crawled across the earth like restless spirits. The silence of the night grew heavy. It felt as if the stars themselves were watching, unblinking, holding their breath for something unspeakable to happen.

The mansion was dolled up in royalty. At the entrance, guards checked every person going in and out of the mansion. The security was tight as this function was a big affair. No outsider was allowed an entry in the mansion to avoid any trouble or mishap.

But they say- the wrecker is mostly an insider.

Inside the mansion, the huge living room had been decked up like a ballroom. And in the centre of the room were the three heirs of the Vardhaan clan- with their wives.

╰┈➤ Unknown POV

The three heirs of the Vardhaan clan with their wives slow danced in the middle of the room in all their glory.

And I watched. For years, I've been watching. From the shadows, just like now. They were never aware of my presence until I made my presence known.

The Vardhaans- the old money clan with chains of businesses across the country. They've had everything. Everything that was meant to be ours. But they had it instead.

I looked around in the room. My gaze stopped at the oldest couple of the family. The binding glue of this family. If it weren't for them, this family would have been broken years ago. But it's just a matter of time until they go down.

Next to the elderly couple were their three sons with their wives, standing with pride on their faces. Bloody pretentious.

And then, I glanced at them again. The heirs- dancing with their wives.

Whatever they have today, should've been mine. For years, I was planning to win this back from the shadows until.....I saw her.

The moment I laid my eyes on her- I started yearning...for her. And over the years that yearning turned into my obsession.

For her- I gave up the fight to win over this empire. My sole purpose was to win over her. To make her mine.

I had been protecting her all this time. For all these years, she had been living in a cage....my cage. But this cage was always invisible to her. I made sure to have her all for myself.

But these Vardhaans, they snatched her away too. My Dove was dancing with another man- one of the Vardhaan heirs- and I couldn't do anything but watch.

The moment I learnt that she got married into the family of Vardhaans, I was enraged.

But I will get her back....by crushing the Vardhaans. I will get back all of this because it belongs to me. This empire, this mansion and my Dove.

This isn't a war. This is going to be a silent storm that will engulf and wreck the Vardhaans and the best part- they will never know who was behind this.

And my biggest weapon in this- is the jealousy between the senior Vardhaan brothers and their hunger for power, to make their respective sons the sole heirs of the clan. But power can be deceptive.

Vardhaans will go down and my Dove will be back inside my cage again.