Gazi’s car rolled to a smooth stop outside the school gates.

The moment the guards standing nearby noticed the familiar black car, they straightened automatically. Not because of Gazi. Because everyone knew whose daughter sat inside.

Inside the car, Rudrakshi was still adjusting her blazer when Gazi leaned back and picked up her bag from the backseat before she could even touch it.

“Guiya,” he said seriously while picking up her bag, “study properly and after school, you will find me exactly where I always am.”

Rudrakshi looked at him with soft, affectionate eyes, unable to stop the smile tugging at her lips like always because that's how much Gazi always cherishes her.

“You say that every single day.”

“Well, if I don’t come, then who will? My Guiya, I’m a very responsible lover.”  he replied proudly.

She shook her head fondly and reached for her phone, checking the dashboard and cup holder. Then her brows frowned slightly. “My phone is missing.”

Gazi glanced around once before saying casually, “You probably left it at home.”

“Oh no.”

“Don’t worry.” He immediately picked up his phone and handed it to her. “Here, keep mine.”

Rudrakshi blinked. “Then what about you? You will need it.”

“I will manage something,” he said dismissively. “You need it more. What if there is an emergency? And you need me or have to call Sasur ji?”

Rudrakshi laughed and said, “Papa won’t pick up anyway after seeing your number.”

“That’s true,” Gazi laughed along with her. “Then just call me instead.”

“But you need it too…”

“I am dropping you at school, not going to war,” he replied dramatically. “And I have a spare phone at home anyway. I will pick it up on my way to university.”

Before she could argue further, Gazi stepped out from his side. Then, as always, he walked around the car and opened her door for her.

But instead of simply opening it, he bent slightly at the waist in an exaggerated royal bow. “Your Highness,” he said solemnly.

Rudrakshi burst into laughter. “You are impossible.”

“Correction. I'm deeply devoted to my Guiya,” he corrected proudly.

Still smiling, she stepped out.

Immediately, Gazi lifted her bag himself and placed it carefully onto her shoulder properly so it would not feel heavy.

Then he adjusted one loose strand of hair near her face before stepping back with satisfaction, looking at her like she was the greatest masterpiece ever created. “Perfect.”

Rudrakshi’s cheeks warmed slightly under the intensity of his gaze.

“Alright, tell me what you want for lunch. I’ll ask Begum to make it,” Gazi asked.

“Noor Aunty’s famous biryani… and if Dadi is free, then her kheer and French toast too,” Rudrakshi said happily.

“For my Guiya, Dadi is always free,” Gazi replied with his famous dimpled smile and just like always, Rudrakshi completely melted.

“Go now,” he said softly. “And if anyone annoys you, tell me their name.”

She laughed lightly. “You are not the Chief Minister.”

“No,” he agreed confidently. “But I am the future Son-in-law and current headache of the Chief Minister.”

That made her laugh again.

Finally, she walked toward the school building while Gazi stood there watching until she disappeared inside and only then did he leave.

Unfortunately for Rudrakshi, half the girls in school had also witnessed the entire scene as if people didn’t already see them together every single day.

But she didn’t care and the moment she entered the corridor, she could already feel the stares.

Some are admiring. Some curious and some… burning with jealousy. Because Rudrakshi Rathore was impossible to ignore.

Chief Minister’s daughter. London returned. Beautiful. Confident. Academically brilliant. Good at sports. Good at debates.

Good at literally everything that irritated people who secretly wished they were her because of how she is pampered by the most handsome and richest boy in Delhi.

As she walked through the corridor gracefully, a group of girls standing near the corridor lowered their voices deliberately loudly enough for her to hear.

“Of course she comes like this. With a designer bag and a boyfriend.” one girl muttered while flipping her hair. “As if she’s some queen.”

Another snorted softly. “She acts like it too.”

“And that boy…” a third one added bitterly. “God, he literally worships the ground she walks on. It’s embarrassing.”

Rudrakshi heard every single word. But her expression did not change even slightly because she hears all of this every single day now and she doesn’t pay attention to the nonsense of people who hold no importance in her life.

She simply continued walking calmly and that seemed to annoy them even more.

One of the girls stepped forward slightly, a sugary smile pasted across her face. “Rudrakshi.”

Rudrakshi stopped gracefully and turned toward them. “Yes?”

The girl tilted her head innocently. “Nothing. We were just wondering about something.”

Another one giggled softly. “Actually, we were wondering about a lot of things.”

Rudrakshi waited patiently.

The first girl’s eyes deliberately drifted toward the school gates outside. “Your boyfriend is… very…ummm..what word should I use for him…..umm” She paused deliberately in a mocking tone “….dedicated.”

A third girl smirked. “Dedicated? Please. He practically worships her.”

“Honestly,” another added with fake sympathy, “if a boy followed me around like that some watch dog all day, I’d suffocate.”

One girl laughed under her breath. “No, but seriously… it’s actually embarrassing how obsessed he is.”

Rudrakshi listened quietly. Calm. Unreadable but the use of the word dog against her Gazi boiled her blood.

Still she kept her composure because people like them did not even deserve enough importance to disturb her peace, let alone control her reactions.

That only irritated them more because people like them wanted reactions. Wanted insecurity. Wanted discomfort.

One of the girls folded her arms. “Then again, maybe boys like that are useful.”

“How?” another asked dramatically.

“Well…” the girl shrugged sweetly. “One boy for emotional drama. One for studies. One for attention. London girls are usually very… socially active.”

A few girls snickered.

Another one added casually, “I mean, we saw you helping the boys in class too. Your networking skills are impressive.”

The insult was coated in honey. Exactly the kind designed to look harmless if questioned later.

Rudrakshi looked at them for a few seconds. Then smiled. Not fake. Not bitter. Just calm enough to make them uncomfortable.

“You girls spend a concerning amount of time discussing my life,” she said softly. “I’m starting to feel important.”

A few expressions stiffened.

One girl laughed sarcastically. “Trust me, nobody is jealous of you.”

“Good,” Rudrakshi replied smoothly. “Jealousy ruins skin.”

That shut two of them up instantly. But another stepped closer, eyes narrowing slightly. “You know what your problem is? You think being rich and having boys around makes you superior.”

Rudrakshi tilted her head slightly. “No. Education, discipline, confidence, and self respect usually do that.”

The girl’s face fell.

Another one scoffed loudly. “Confidence? Please. Any girl would feel confident if some rich guy followed her around carrying her bag.”

Rudrakshi’s smile softened faintly. “You’re right,” she agreed unexpectedly. “It does feel nice being loved properly. But unfortunately, not everyone receives that kind of love and the result is a trauma so deep that people begin prioritizing others’ lives more than their own.”

Silence. Complete silence crept into that corridor for a moment.

One of the girls rolled her eyes aggressively. “God, the superiority complex.”

Rudrakshi adjusted the strap of her bag lightly before replying in the same composed tone. “There’s a difference between superiority and self worth. You should learn that distinction. It helps in life.”

Another girl laughed mockingly. “And what exactly are we supposed to learn from you?”

Rudrakshi’s gaze moved across all of them calmly. “That a woman being respected shouldn’t look unnatural to other women.”

The corridor went quiet for a second. Then one girl muttered bitterly, “Easy to say when you have boys lining up around you.”

Rudrakshi’s expression did not change. “You know,” she said gently, “the saddest thing isn’t that some men disrespect women.”

The girls looked at her.

“It’s that some women get so unfamiliar with respect… they start mocking the women who receive it.”

Nobody spoke because suddenly the conversation no longer felt childish. It felt exposing.

One girl forced out a dry laugh. “You talk too much like a politician.”

“She’s the Chief Minister’s daughter after all,” one girl scoffed mockingly.

“So talking like this is in her blood,” another added.

Rudrakshi smiled beautifully at that. “No. Before being a politician’s daughter, I’m my father’s daughter,” she replied softly. “Politicians usually avoid answering directly and my father is the longest-serving Chief Minister in Delhi’s history, he never avoids giving any answer, and that’s exactly what he taught me.”

A few students nearby accidentally laughed hearing that and the girls’ expressions darkened further.

But Rudrakshi still stood there completely composed. No raised voice. No anger. No visible hurt.

Only grace sharp enough to cut without sounding cruel.

Then she looked at the clock on the corridor wall. “Oh,” she said politely. “You all should head to class. Attendance affects internal marks.”

And with that, she walked away calmly. Head high. Steps steady. Leaving behind a silence far louder than any argument.

Because unlike them, Rudrakshi never needed to humiliate people to establish her place in a room.

She simply knew who she was and that confidence was exactly what made people resent her the most.

The rest of the morning passed normally. At least on the surface.

Rudrakshi attended her classes quietly, answered questions whenever teachers asked, and stayed composed exactly the way she always did.

But whispers followed her everywhere. Some subtle. Some intentional. Some cruel enough to leave scratches even when spoken softly.

By lunch break, most people had already forgotten about their studies and moved on to discussing the morning scene outside the school gates.

Especially the girls.

Because nothing irritated insecure people more than watching someone loved openly and effortlessly.

During the next class, the teacher was discussing an economics topic when a boy from the row beside Rudrakshi leaned slightly toward her desk the moment the teacher left the class after the period was over.

“Hey,” he whispered politely, pointing at his notebook. “I didn’t understand this graph properly. Can you explain it once?”

Rudrakshi glanced at the page. “Oh, this?” she said naturally. “You’re mixing up the demand shift with movement along the curve.”

She took his pencil casually and drew two quick arrows beside the graph. “If the price changes, movement happens here,” she explained patiently. “But if outside factors change, then the whole curve shifts. See?”

The boy stared at her for a second longer than necessary before smiling. “Oh damn. You explain way better than sir.”

Rudrakshi laughed lightly. “That’s because I’m explaining it in survival language.”

He chuckled. “Thanks.”

“No problem.”

Simple. Normal. Harmless. At least for mature people.

Unfortunately, maturity was extremely rare in that classroom.

From the back row, one of the girls from the morning corridor conversation, Nitika, leaned toward her friend dramatically.

Because she has a crush on that boy, Sidharth, and even him talking to Rudrakshi a little was enough to make her so jealous that she stooped to such disgusting behavior.

“Aww,” she said loudly enough to hear. “Look at that. Another one.”

A few girls snickered immediately.

The boy beside Rudrakshi frowned slightly.

Another girl rested her chin on her palm mockingly. “Honestly, one boyfriend isn’t enough for you, is it?”

The classroom quieted a little and Rudrakshi’s fingers stilled over her notebook.

The girl continued sweetly, “Girls like you always need several guys at the same time, right?”

A couple boys exchanged uncomfortable glances.

“That’s why you keep not only that rich boy but half the school’s boys trailing after you.” She tilted her head with fake innocence. “You’re so desperate.”

The smile on Rudrakshi’s face disappeared completely now. But her posture remained composed.

The girl leaned back lazily. “I don’t know what girls like you are called in London,” she said softly, cruelly, “but here… people use some very ugly names for them.”

A few people laughed nervously. Others looked away. Because everyone understood exactly what she was implying.

The boy beside Rudrakshi immediately spoke up, trying to sound bold. “That’s enough. She was literally just helping me with studies.”

The girl looked at him sharply. “Why? Did she promise to help you privately later too?”

The class burst into ugly laughter. The boy’s face reddened instantly and Rudrakshi… For the first time that day… Actually felt something stab inside her chest.

Not because she was weak. But because dignity being questioned always hurts.

Especially for a girl. Especially publicly.

Still, she inhaled slowly and looked toward the girl calmly.

“So this is your problem?” Rudrakshi asked softly. “That I spoke to a classmate?”

The girl shrugged mockingly. “No. My problem is girls pretending to be innocent while collecting male attention everywhere they go.”

Rudrakshi smiled faintly. A dangerous kind of calm.

“You know,” she said gently, “there’s something deeply concerning about people who cannot imagine basic respect between a man and a woman without turning it into something dirty.”

The smile faded slightly from the girl’s face.

Rudrakshi continued evenly, “It says far more about their upbringing than the people they judge.”

A few students went silent instantly.

The boy beside her looked impressed now. Which Rudrakshi noticed immediately.

So before he could jump in again trying to become her hero, she added calmly without even looking at him, “And no, before anyone misunderstands further, helping someone understand a graph is not flirting.”

That caused a few embarrassed coughs around the room.

The girl scoffed loudly. “Please. You enjoy the attention.”

Rudrakshi tilted her head slightly. “No,” she replied smoothly. “I just don’t treat human interaction like a scandal.”

The teacher entered right then, ending the conversation before it escalated further.

But the damage had already been done. Because whispers continued the entire day.

The boy from earlier tried talking to Rudrakshi twice after that.

Not because he genuinely needed help anymore. But because now he wanted to stay in her good books.

And Rudrakshi understood that perfectly. So she remained polite. Distant. Civil enough to not embarrass him. Cold enough to establish a boundary.

By the final period, exhaustion had settled into her bones.

Then came dismissal.

Students started packing their bags noisily.

Rudrakshi quietly bent down to pick up her notebook from beneath the desk.

And that was the exact moment the same girl deliberately dragged her chair backward. A sharp metal edge jutting out from the broken side of the chair hooked into Rudrakshi’s designer bag hanging beside the desk.

The sound of fabric ripping echoed sharply through the classroom.

Rudrakshi froze.

For one second… she genuinely froze.

Then her bag split open completely from the side. Books. Pens. Wallet. Notes. Everything spilled across the classroom floor.

A few girls immediately burst into laughter.

“Oh no,” the girl gasped dramatically, placing a hand over her mouth with fake concern. “Designer bag… and it couldn’t even hold this little weight?”

More laughter erupted. Someone even took out their phone.

Rudrakshi looked down silently at the bag lying torn open on the floor and suddenly none of the voices mattered anymore.

Because that was not just a bag. It was Gazi’s love. He had gotten it specially customized in Rudrakshi’s favorite color and bought it for her with his own hard-earned money.

Months of internships in his father’s and Mammu’s company working late nights.

He even did any small job he could just to collect the enough amount to purchase the bag.

He even washed Hamza's cars just to save more money secretly.

Doing everything possible just to buy her something special with his own earnings instead of family money.

He had gifted it to her on her last birthday with that proud smile on his face. “First luxury thing bought entirely from my own money for my Guiya.”

Her fingers tightened slowly. For the first time in a very long time… Rudrakshi genuinely wanted to slap someone hard.

The humiliation. The laughter. The insult. The deliberate cruelty. Everything burned inside her chest.

But then another thought rose stronger.

Abhiraaj Singh Rathore. Her father. The CM of the capital.

She's his daughter and people here already waited for mistakes from her.

One reaction. One loss of control and tomorrow the story would become something else entirely.

So she swallowed every ounce of anger. Every ounce and without saying a single word, Rudrakshi slowly crouched down and started gathering her belongings from the floor herself.

No drama. No crying. No shouting.

That somehow made the classroom quieter than screaming would have.

The same boy from earlier bent slightly. “I can help…”

Rudrakshi looked at him once. Not rudely. But firmly enough that he stopped immediately. Because she did not want sympathy either.

She quietly collected everything, then somehow pushed the torn sides of the bag together and clutched it tightly against herself with both arms so nothing else would fall out.

The classroom remained awkwardly silent now. Because suddenly the joke did not look funny anymore. It looked cruel.

But Rudrakshi still said nothing. Not one word.

Head held high despite the humiliation clawing at her chest, she walked out of the classroom quietly.

And only after she disappeared beyond the corridor…did the guilt finally begin settling over a few faces inside that room. But not the one who did it deliberately.

Rudrakshi walked out of the school building with her torn bag clutched tightly against her chest.

The humiliation of those words still stung. The whispers..The laughter. The character assassination.

But strangely… none of that hurt as much as the sight of that torn bag in her arms..Because it was not just leather and fabric.

It was Gazi’s love. His effort. His pride. His sleepless nights. His stupid secret internships. His excitement while gifting it to her.

Every tiny memory attached to it kept replaying in her head, making her chest ache more painfully with every step.

By the time she reached the school gate, she was already emotionally exhausted from trying not to cry.

And there he was. Exactly where he always promised he would be.

Gazi stood leaning casually against his car, sunlight falling across his face while he waited for her like it was the favorite part of his day.

The moment he spotted her from a distance, his entire face lit up instantly.

That smile. That stupidly soft smile reserved only for her.

And despite everything breaking inside her today… Rudrakshi still forced herself to smile back only because she could never bear ruining his happiness.

But Gazi’s eyes dropped lower while walking toward her.

Then suddenly his expression changed. “Guiya.”

Without wasting even a second, he hurried toward her and kneeled down directly in front of her near the school gate.

Rudrakshi blinked in surprise.

Gazi frowned while holding the loose lace of her shoe gently in his fingers. “What do you even do, hmm?” he muttered softly while tying it carefully. “You don’t take care of yourself at all. What if you had fallen?”

People around them slowed down watching. But Gazi did not care. Not even a little.

He stayed kneeling there on the ground like it was the most natural thing in the world for him to lower himself before her if it meant protecting her from even something as small as tripping.

His fingers moved carefully over the laces, tightening them properly before double knotting them like she was something precious.

Like she was royalty and she was for him.

Like loving her openly was never something to be embarrassed about and it wasn't. Never.

Rudrakshi looked down at him quietly and that was it. That was the exact moment her control broke.

One tear escaped silently from her eye and landed directly on Gazi’s hand.

And Gazi froze. Completely. The smile disappeared from his face instantly..Slowly… very slowly… he looked up at her. “Guiya…?”

Rudrakshi’s breath shook.

No.

No no no. Not this. Not in front of him. Because she knew Gazi.

One tear from her and this boy would burn the world down smiling.

So before he could ask anything else, she immediately turned away without looking at him properly and hurried toward the car.

In her panic, the torn side of the bag loosened again and everything spilled onto the ground once more near the school gate.

Gazi stared blankly for one second. Then his eyes slowly shifted toward the torn bag and something inside him went terrifyingly still.

He immediately got up, ran and crouched down to gather her things.

At the same time, the guards’ vehicle that always followed them was standing nearby and two guards quickly stepped out to help.

“Madam, we’ll do it,” one of them said quickly.

But before anyone could collect everything… A loud mocking laugh echoed nearby.

“Oh wow,” Nitika’s voice rang out cruelly. “The designer bag exploded again?”

Another girl laughed.

“And look,” Nitika added in that same disgusting tone, “Rani Sahiba (Queen) is back on the ground picking up her things with her pet dog.”

Silence. Absolute silence. Rudrakshi’s eyes widened instantly and Gazi was already back on his feet.

“Gazi, no.” Rudrakshi tried to stop him. But it was already too late.

Far too late. Because Gazi had heard every single word. Slowly… he stood up and turned.

On the other hand Nitika was still laughing while looking down at a phone screen where one of her friends had apparently recorded the classroom incident. Completely unaware of the storm marching towards her.

“So embarrassing,” she snickered. “Look at her face when the bag ripped. Trying to seduce my Sidharth. Such a slut…”

And the next moment a loud echo of a slap sounded so loudly outside the school gate that even nearby students froze.

Nitika crashed sideways onto the ground instantly, one hand flying to her throbbing cheek in complete shock.

Nobody moved. Nobody even breathed properly. Because Gazi stood there looking absolutely terrifying.

Not loud. Not screaming. Just calm and that calmness was horrifying.

Rudrakshi’s heartbeat spiked. “Gazi!”

But he did not even look at her. He slowly picked up the phone from the ground then watched the video.

Every second. Every laugh. Every insult. Every frame of Rudrakshi silently picking her belongings from the floor while the classroom mocked her.

One of the girls tried grabbing her phone back nervously. “Hey! Give me my phone!”

But he didn't give it back. He was still watching and the more he watched… The quieter he became.

And no one besides Rudrakshi knows that silence was far more dangerous than rage.

The girl tried speaking again. “I said give my phone ba…”

One sharp look from Gazi shut her mouth immediately.

Rudrakshi reached him quickly and held his arm tightly. “Gazi, let’s go home. Please.”

But he simply stood there staring at the screen. Then finally… He lowered the phone and looked toward Nitika, who was still sitting on the ground holding her cheek.

The slap had landed so hard that her ears were still ringing.

Without a word, Gazi bent down and picked up her school bag from beside her.

“Gazi…” Rudrakshi whispered in warning.

Too late.

With one brutal pull with his bare hands, he tore the bag open completely and threw everything onto the ground.

Books scattered. Makeup spilled. Pens rolled across the pavement.

Nitika gasped in horror and stood up immediately. “What the hell is wrong with y…”

“Shut up.” His voice was low. Deadly calm. “Not one word.” He stepped closer slowly. “Or I can do far worse than that slap.”

Nitika actually stepped backward. Because there was something genuinely frightening in his eyes now.

“How dare you,” he said quietly, “use that word for my Guiya?”

A group of boys from their class finally came rushing out after hearing the commotion.

One of them immediately shouted, “What kind of hooliganism is this? Hitting girls?”

Sidharth stepped forward too, acting overly brave now that people were gathering and interfered, “Hey! What do you think of yourself” 

Gazi looked at him once. “Don’t interfere. I’m not talking to you.”

But Sidharth kept going anyway, trying to play the hero because he's aware of Nitika's crush on him. “Maybe if Rudrakshi didn’t instigate people all the time in her arrogance…”

That was it. Gazi grabbed him by the collar so fast nobody even processed it.

The first punch landed directly across his jaw and Sidharth stumbled backward into the school wall.

Gasps erupted everywhere. But Gazi did not stop. He punched him again and again.

Sidharth tried swinging back once but Gazi caught his wrist midway and slammed him hard against a parked van nearby. Blood appeared near Sidharth’s lip instantly.

Students started screaming now.

“Stop them!”

“Oh my God!”

The school watchman came running from near the vans where he was looking after the students boarded buses.

Rudrakshi’s guards rushed forward too.

Rudrakshi grabbed Gazi’s arm desperately. “Gazi stop! Please stop!”

But he wasn’t listening anymore.

Sidharth tried speaking through pain, “You psycho…”

Another punch. Harder this time. A chair from nearby crashed during the struggle.

The guards finally grabbed Gazi from behind with great difficulty but even then he kept trying to lunge forward.

“Leave me!” His voice thundered across the school entrance. “How dare they talk about her like that!”

Teachers finally came running outside after hearing the commotion.

Then the principal. “What is happening here?!”

Everyone froze slightly.

Sidharth stood bleeding from his lip and nose. Nitika held her swollen cheek crying now. Students surrounded the entire scene whispering in panic.

And in the middle of all of it stood Rudrakshi gripping Gazi’s arm tightly while trying to calm him down.

The principal looked horrified. “Everyone. Office. Right now.”

Nobody argued, followed quietly and a guard had already informed Dilawar on phone about what had happened here and he rushed to Abhiraaj so he could inform him.

Inside the principal’s office, tension suffocated the entire room.

The principal looked furious. “Call all their parents immediately. Is this a school or some criminal ground?”

Nearly after forty minutes the principal’s office, chaos had completely taken over.

The parents of both students were shouting nonstop.

“How dare he hit my daughter!”

“This is criminal behavior!”

“What kind of upbringing is this?!”

“That boy should be thrown behind bars!”

Nitika stood near her mother crying dramatically while holding her cheek.

Sidharth looked furious too despite the blood near his mouth and nose.

Teachers stood awkwardly in corners trying to calm the situation but nobody was listening anymore.

The principal himself looked one second away from losing his mind and in the middle of all that chaos… Gazi stood completely calm.

Too calm.

His knuckles were still slightly bruised. His jaw was tight. His expression is unreadable.

Beside him, Rudrakshi still held his wrist tightly because somewhere deep down, she knew if anyone insulted her again right now… Gazi would genuinely destroy something.

Nitika’s father pointed angrily toward Gazi. “What values have your parents taught you?”

“Very good……the kind you failed to give your own daughter,” Gazi replied calmly.

“Gazi Randhawa!” The principal glared at him and said his name sharply. “You studied in this very school. You weren’t like this before. And now you’re behaving like this in front of your teachers and former principal?”

Nitika’s father kept going in his anger. “Raising your hand on a girl? Shame on you! Boys like you belong in jail!”

Rudrakshi’s grip tightened instantly. But before she could speak, Gazi answered first calmly and coldly. “Really?” he asked softly.

The room quieted slightly.

Gazi tilted his head a little. “Interesting.” The sarcasm in his voice was dangerous. “Because usually people talk about equality a lot these days, don’t they?” he continued evenly. “Equal rights for women. Equal respect for women. Equal treatment for women.”

Nobody interrupted him.

His eyes slowly shifted toward Nitika. “So tell me something.” His voice remained terrifyingly calm. “Where exactly does that equality disappear when the person insulting someone happens to be a girl?”

The man frowned angrily. “Don’t try justifying…”

“No, let me finish,” Gazi cut him off sharply for the first time.

The room fell silent again. Every teacher including the principal was taken aback because he wasn't looking like the boy who used to study here.

“If I had called a girl a slut today,” he said slowly, each word precise, “would I have deserved a slap or not?”

Nobody answered.

Gazi gave a humorless smile. “Exactly.”

Then his eyes darkened completely. “So when your daughter used that word for my Guiya…” his voice dropped lower, “I simply returned the same respect she offered first.”

Nitika’s mother gasped angrily. “How dare you!”

“How dare she?” Gazi shot back instantly, his calmness finally cracking slightly.

That silence afterward felt heavy. Painfully heavy. Because for the first time since entering the office, people started realizing this was not just random violence.

Something ugly had happened before it.

Gazi laughed once bitterly and rubbed his tongue against the inside of his cheek trying to control himself.

“You people are shocked I slapped her?” he asked quietly. “I’m shocked your daughter thought she could publicly destroy a girl’s dignity and walk away comfortably afterward. Is this what you taught your daughter?”

Rudrakshi looked at him silently and for the first time since the entire incident… Her chest hurt in a different way.

Because he was standing there taking everyone’s hatred without regretting a single thing he did for her. Even now. Even after everything.

The principal finally intervened sternly. “Enough. Violence cannot be justified under any circumstances.”

Gazi looked at him directly. “And character assassination can?”

That shut the room up again.

Nitika’s father pointed angrily. “This boy is mannerless!”

“No,” Gazi replied quietly. “My parents taught me very well how to tell right from wrong and how to raise my voice against what’s wrong. Though some people mistake that for being mannerless.”

Rudrakshi’s breath caught slightly.

“And unfortunately for everyone in this room,” he continued while finally looking toward Nitika again, “when it comes to my Guiya, I stop seeing who is a boy, who is a girl, who is rich, who is powerful. I only see whether they hurt her or not.”

The room went dead silent. Even the teachers looked stunned now. Because there was something raw in his voice. Something frighteningly honest.

Not arrogance. Not ego. Just pure uncontrollable love and somehow that made it heavier. More dangerous. More real.

Then suddenly the office door opened and the moment Abhiraaj Singh Rathore stepped inside, the entire room fell silent instantly.

Not because he said anything..Because power entered with him naturally. Even the air in the room shifted.

Teachers straightened unconsciously. Students lowered their heads. Even the parents who had been shouting moments ago suddenly went quiet for a second.

He had clearly rushed straight from the assembly.

His expression was cold. Controlled. But the faint crease near his forehead showed exactly how abruptly he must have left an important session to get here.

His sharp eyes scanned the room in one cold sweep.

A boy stood there with blood smeared near his mouth and nose.

A girl stood beside him clutching her swollen cheek while crying angrily.

Teachers looked tense. The principal looked furious and in the middle of all that chaos…

His daughter stood gripping Gazi’s hand tightly, their fingers intertwined as if trying to stop him from doing something worse.

That alone told him enough about who had been the real storm in this room.

Right behind Abhiraaj, Noor and Veer rushed inside breathing heavily, clearly having driven like maniacs the moment they got informed because Gazi was not only involved in any fight, he was included in former school’s fight.

The moment the principal saw them, he immediately pointed toward Gazi in outrage. “Mr. and Mrs. Randhawa,” he said angrily, “look what your son has done inside school premises!”

Veer inhaled deeply and stepped forward with forced calmness. “I’m sure there must be some…”

But before he could complete the sentence, Abhiraaj interrupted flatly while keeping his eyes on the principal. “Yes, we already know that whatever happened must definitely be Gazi’s fault.”

The room went silent again.

Rudrakshi’s head snapped toward her father in disbelief. Noor blinked at him in shock. Even Veer slowly turned to stare at Abhiraaj like he had genuinely lost his mind.

Meanwhile Gazi simply closed his eyes for one second and rolled them upward like he already knew that would happen.

“Wonderful,” he muttered sarcastically under his breath.

Abhiraaj ignored him completely and continued in the same cold tone. “So whatever action needs to be taken, take it. Punish him, send him to jail if you want.”

“Papa!” Rudrakshi finally burst out in disbelief.

“Raaj!” Noor looked horrified.

Veer actually rubbed his forehead tiredly. “At least ask what happened first…”

But Abhiraaj remained expressionless. “I know exactly what happened. Your son saw civilization and chose violence.”

Gazi stared at him for a long moment. Then suddenly laughed once. A dry, sarcastic laugh and deliberately, in front of everyone, instead of calling him Sasur ji like always, he straightened slightly and said with exaggerated politeness,

“CM Uncle…”

The title itself made Rudrakshi press her lips together because she already knew from that tone alone that Gazi was about to become unbearable.

“Maybe we should leave our personal and extremely childish rivalry for home and first discuss, like responsible adults, what these disgusting people actually did to my Guiya.”

His voice stayed calm. Too calm and that calmness was exactly why Noor got nervous. Because she knew her son.

When Gazi shouted, he could still be handled. But when he became this quiet… especially when Rudrakshi is involved. That was dangerous.

He tilted his head slightly toward the crying girl and the injured boy.

“Because I’m very sure,” he continued with a humorless smile, “once you hear the full story, your current desire to send someone to jail might very emotionally shift from me… to entirely different people.”

The sarcasm hit perfectly. A few teachers awkwardly looked away. Even Veer coughed to hide his laugh.

“Because I have evidence.” Gazi said with his signature grin while showing that phone in his hand.