Chapter 1 - "The Call That Breaks Every Morning"

Aayat's POV

I always wake up the same way.

Not to an alarm.

Not to light.

But to a nightmare I can never escape.

I'm back in it again.

The air feels heavy, like it knows what is coming.

Meher is standing far away-too far away. A dim hallway that never ends. Her face is pale, but her voice is clear.

"Aayu..."

I try to run toward her, but my feet don't move.

As if the ground has decided I don't deserve to reach her.

Her phone is pressed tightly to her ear.

I hear her breathing first.

Then her voice breaks through.

Aayu... he threatened to kill me. I am coming back.

My heart collapses inside my chest.

"Meher!" I try to scream.

No sound comes.

Only silence answers me.

The hallway shifts again.

Now she is somewhere darker. Colder. A place that smells like endings.

Her hands are shaking as she holds her phone.

"Please... just listen to me once," she whispers.

But the line keeps breaking.

Beep.

Silence.

Beep.

Silence.

And then-

A voice answers her.

Low. Cold. Unforgiving.

I cannot hear everything, but I see her expression change instantly.

Fear.

Real fear.

Not the kind she ever showed in court.

The kind that makes strong people look human.

She takes a step back.

"No... you don't understand," she says quickly into the phone. "I'm not leaving it like this. I will come back and I will tell everything."

Her voice is shaking, but determined.

My chest tightens.

"Meher don't-" I whisper helplessly.

But she doesn't hear me.

She never hears me in this place.

Then she looks up.

Straight at me.

As if she finally remembers I exist.

"Aayu..." she whispers again.

And this time, her voice breaks completely.

The line goes dead.

I wake up gasping.

My hand is clenched so tightly the nails press into my skin.

Same nightmare.

Same ending.

Different pain every time.

The room in Jaipur is silent, but my mind is not.

It is still trapped in her voice.

Always her voice.

My phone lights up.

Unknown number.

I stare at it for a second longer than I should.

Then I answer.

"Miss Aayat Kapoor?"

"Yes."

A pause.

Too long.

"I'm sorry to inform you that Ms. Meher Kapoor has passed away."

The phone falls from my hand.

But I don't move.

I don't cry immediately.

My body already knows this pain too well to react quickly.

It just... shuts down first.

Morning comes anyway.

Or maybe I force it into existence.

I stand in front of the mirror.

Black suit.

Sharp lines.

Perfect hair.

Controlled face.

A lawyer.

That is what they see.

But I am not just a lawyer.

I walk out into the city of Jaipur.

The world is already awake.

Cars moving. People laughing. Lives continuing.

As if nothing ever ends.

Kapoor Legal Chambers rises in front of me.

Glass. Steel. Power.

My empire.

Built from nothing.

Built from everything I lost.

I step inside.

Heads turn immediately.

"Good morning, Ma'am," my assistant says quickly.

I nod once.

"Clear my evening. I don't want distractions."

"Yes, Ma'am."

She hesitates. "Are you-"

"I'm fine," I cut softly.

It is not anger.

Just habit.

People ask questions they don't want real answers to.

My office is on the top floor.

Floor-to-ceiling glass overlooks the city.

From here, everything looks controlled.

Everything looks mine.

Files are already stacked on my desk. Case briefs. Corporate disputes. Criminal litigation.

I built this firm after Meher died.

Not because I wanted success.

Because I needed something strong enough to hold the rage.

Something to turn grief into structure.

Into power.

Into control.

People call it an empire now.

A young lawyer who rose too fast.

Too sharp. Too fearless.

They don't know the truth.

That every case I win is stitched together with the memory of her voice.

That every argument I destroy in court is fueled by a single question I never stopped asking:

Why did she not come back?

My phone vibrates again.

Work messages. Meetings. Clients.

Life refusing to pause.

I open my laptop and begin typing without thinking.

My fingers move faster than my thoughts.

Contracts. Strategies. Legal arguments.

My mind becomes sharp again.

Too sharp.

Because softness is not allowed anymore.

At noon, my assistant enters carefully.

"Ma'am, your father called. He wants you home this weekend."

I pause for half a second.

Home.

The word feels heavier now.

"...Okay," I say.

She nods and leaves.

I look out of the glass wall again.

Jaipur looks peaceful from here.

It always does.

But peace is something I no longer trust.

Because I know what it hides.

I know what silence does.

I know what unanswered phone calls mean.

Meher's voice still lives somewhere inside me.

Not as memory.

But as fuel.

As pressure.

As the reason I built something strong enough that no one could ever take anything from me again.

And yet...

Every night, I still wake up in the same nightmare.

Still hear the same phone call.

Still reach for a sister who never comes back.

And every morning after that-

I walk into my empire.

Like nothing inside me is still breaking.

***Download NovelToon to enjoy a better reading experience!***