"Baba, what's wrong?"
Isabella's voice was soft, yet it quivered like a fragile note in the air. She could feel the tension in her father's hand: cold, shaking, a foreign thing she had never known from him.
Belrum turned to her, his face pale and slick with perspiration. His eyes darted toward the carved marble screen, fear shadowing every line of his expression.
"Go to your room, Isa," he said sharply, his voice rough and low, as if every word scraped his throat.
She blinked, startled. "But, Baba—"
"Now!"
The word cracked through the air like a whip.
Isabella stepped back, confusion and fear flickering across her delicate features. Her ghungroos chimed faintly — a cruel echo of innocence amidst the tension that seemed to choke the hall.
"Baba, you're scaring me," she whispered.
He swallowed hard, forcing a shaky smile. "It's nothing, Bella. I just… remembered something urgent. Please, go inside. I'll come soon."
She hesitated, searching his face-the man who had always seemed unshakeable now trembling like a child. Something inside her twisted.
"Please," he added softly, his eyes pleading this time.
She nodded in a moment and turned away, her anklets whispering with every step.
But just as she had reached the edge of the hallway, a flicker of movement caught her eye. She saw him through the intricate jali pattern in the marble wall-a shadow standing still among the storm.
Her breath caught.
Those eyes.
Grey. Cold. Yet burning.
She froze where she stood, unable to move, her pulse thrumming in her throat.
The man watched — not just looking, but seeing.
For a moment, the world hushed — no sound, no fear — just that silent exchange of wonder and danger neither could explain.
Belrum followed her gaze, and almost stumbled when he saw the direction of her eyes. "Isabella!" he barked, his tone sharper now. "Go upstairs now!"
She startled, looking away quickly. "I—I was just going, Baba, it's just.there was someone-" she murmured, turning toward the direction again but now it was empty.
"Baba do we have a guest?" Isabella turned to Belrum as she asked the question which made Belrum froze.
"H.he is just.a.a business partner.he will be leaving soon and we need to talk quickly. So please go back to your room." Belrum was looking here and there while answering Isabella.
".....okay Baba" she turns toward the stairs and went up. The anklet chimed with her every step as a rhythm.
No sooner was Isabella gone upstairs than Belrum, his throat dry with fear, ran towards the hallway.
Leo sat on one of the ornate chairs in the hall, his fingers tapping idly on the armrest; yet, his eyes still carried the image of her — the sway of her anklets, the softness of her skin.
Alex sat beside him, tense, trying to read his brother's mood. Belrum faced them, his mask of composure falling apart every second. "Brother where did you go?"
Leo doesn't respond as he leans back lazily, listening to footsteps running toward him.
"Ben Smith….you look more scared than before.I see" A wide grin appeared on Leonardo's face.
Bel'rum flinched. The name alone struck him harder than any blade could.
"I told you… I'll give you whatever you want," Belrum stammered, his voice shaking. "Just—just leave my family out of this."
A cold smirk curled Leo's lips. "Family? I never had the luxury of one after what you did."
He stood, looming over Belrum, his tone now much darker. "You'll pay for every night I watched my father bleed and every day my family built itself from ashes."
Belrum dropped to his knees, shaking. "Please… take the money, take everything… just let my daughter—"
Leo stepped closer, his gaze sharp as broken glass. "You should've thought about that before betraying a Romano."
---------
Upstairs, she closed her door quietly behind her. The air felt different, heavier. Her reflection in the mirror looked…restless.
What was that? Who was that man?
Her heart had never raced like that before - not even during her performances. It wasn't fear, really. It was something she couldn't name. Something that made her chest tighten and her breathing uneven.
She sat by her window, brushing her long chestnut brown hair, the faint streaks of gold glinting under the light. Her fingers hesitated mid-stroke as she thought of those eyes again — the kind that could strip a soul bare.
Perhaps he was one of her father's business associates?
Maybe he wasn't.
But the way he looked at her… it wasn't like anyone ever had.
Her phone suddenly buzzed in her hand, breaking her thoughts. She looked down and saw the name of her charity coordinator flashing across the screen.
"Hello?" she replied softly.
"Miss Moren, we need you right away," came the hurried voice. "The rehearsal's been shifted for tonight — we'll need your performance section done in full. Bring your saree and ghungroos, please."
Isabella blinked. "Tonight? Oh—alright, I'll be there soon."
She hung up and then went to her wardrobe, pulling out a crimson saree embroidered with delicate gold thread. Her mother's favorite. She hesitated for a heartbeat, fingers brushing the soft silk before wrapping it around herself with practiced grace.
Meanwhile Belrum's face turned pale. "Please… she has nothing to do with this—"
Leo leaned forward, and a cruel smirk tugged at his lips. "We'll see how much of your soul you can sell before you break. Go on, bring what you have. Let's see how desperate a coward can get."
Terrified, Belrum ran upstairs to get the money, but as he was leaving, a faint ringing noise resounded through the hallway.
The delicate chime of ghungroos.
Leo's head tilted slightly, his brows furrowing. That sound — it was hers.
Upstairs in her room, the mirror reflected a woman she almost didn't recognize — elegant, poised, beautiful in a way that made her heart ache.
She wrapped her silver ghungroos around her ankles, the soft sound of their chime faintly resounding in the quiet of her room.
Downstairs, her father's voice murmured in the hall — low and strained. She didn't want to interrupt whatever storm brewed there. So, she took her bag, lifted the edge of her saree a bit, and descended the stairs.
The sound of her anklets was in the air once again — delicate but commanding. And in the hall below, Leonardo Romano looked up.
For the first time, he saw her clearly-bathed in golden light, her honey-brown eyes catching his like two suns drawing a shadow closer. The flame-red sari flowed around her, and the glint of the ghungroos seemed like soft silver against her skin.
She didn't know who he was. But he… Already he knew that he would never forget her.
For the man who did not flinch at slitting throats, his pulse betrayed him now.
She hadn't seen him at first, busy adjusting her pallu, but as their eyes met again-she froze mid-step. She continued coming down the stairs with the chim as she walked looking down.
Oh God.he is here, too? Who is he? And we have two guests? Baba is not here, too. She thinks, looking here and there to locate Belrum.
"Looking for your dad?" Isabella turns her head toward the voice. That voice was hoarse and cold as ice but it still burned heat in her.
She nods looking at Leonardo.
"Oh he has gone in for some work miss" Alex replies like knowing her question already.
" Uh....if you don't mind...." glances at Leonardo. "Can you convey my message to my Baba telling I am going for my charity arrangement. Actually I am running late." As she utters it was for the first time Leonardo heard her voice so clearly. It was soft and sweet voice like a lullaby. Even before Leo or Alex could say anything, Isabella's phone rang.
"Hello?....oh yes....ooh.....okay." Isabella rushes out as she hurriedly stepped inside the car without even looking at the bloody messy surroundings as she left.