The next three days were enough to convince Yusra that she had somehow managed to invite a personal disaster into her perfectly ordinary life.

And the worst part? The disaster had a name.

Uzair Chaudhry.

It started the very next morning when Yusra woke up to a message from an unknown number.

‘Good morning, sweetheart.’

She stared at it for exactly three seconds before blocking the number.

Five minutes later, another message arrived.

‘I hope you slept well.’

Blocked.

Then another.

‘Don't skip breakfast.’

Blocked.

And then….

‘You look cute when you're angry, by the way.’

Yusra stared at the screen. "Unbelievable."

Blocked.

She's so frustrated that she wanted to pull his hair and smack his head with her sandal. 

By the time she reached school, she had already blocked four different numbers and somehow, Uzair still managed to win.

Because when Yusra walked into her classroom, she found a beautifully wrapped box sitting on her desk.

She stopped and her eyes narrowed suspiciously.

Aastha, who was arranging some notebooks nearby, noticed her expression. "What happened?"

Yusra pointed toward the box without touching it. "What's that?"

Aastha shrugged. "It was delivered for you."

"By whom?" Yusra frowned.

"I don't know." Aastha shrugged again. “I thought maybe some student's parents must have left it for you.”

Yusra slowly walked closer. A small card was attached to the box. She picked it up cautiously and that's what was written on it, ‘For the most fearless woman I've ever met.’

Her eyes widened. "Oh, no."

Aastha asked, looking up from the notebook. "What?"

Yusra immediately shoved the card into her bag before Aastha could read it properly. "Nothing."

She opened the box and found chocolates. Expensive ones. Her expression went completely blank.

"Is he insane?" She mumbled.

Aastha looked between her and the chocolates. "Who?"

Yusra froze and for one dangerous second, she almost answered.

Uzair.

But then Friday's conversation came rushing back to her. ‘You were wrong, Yusra. You shouldn't have dragged a stranger into this.’

She had assured Aastha nothing would happen and now here she is trapped in a worst nightmare.

So she simply looked away. "Nobody." And was about to throw the box in dustbin.

Aastha stared at her suspiciously. But before she could ask anything else, a tiny voice came from the doorway. "Phupho!"

Yusra immediately turned.

“Nhi…..Solly…Yusla Miss.” Zayan came running into the classroom, his little backpack bouncing against his shoulders and the moment his eyes landed on the open chocolate box, he stopped. His entire face lit up. "Chotolate!"

"Absolutely not."

Zayan's smile disappeared. “Pletty pease..."

"No."

"Just one."

"Zayan."

"Half?"

"No."

"Little piece?" His lower lip pulled out with the most pitiful puppy eyes.

Yusra sighed because that little boy knew exactly how to negotiate with her. "Fine. One."

Zayan's face brightened instantly. He hurried toward the box, picked one chocolate, and happily popped it into his mouth. "Mmm."

Yusra shook her head. "Only one, okay?"

Zayan nodded enthusiastically. "Okay."

Two seconds later, his tiny hand slowly moved toward another chocolate but Yusra caught him. "Zayan."

He froze. "But Phup.. nhi….Yusla Miss..."

"One means one." Yusra gave him a deadly glare.

He looked at the chocolate and then at her and then again back at the chocolate. "But this one looting lonely."

Aastha burst out laughing and Yusra stared at him in disbelief. "Chocolate cannot be lonely."

"Yes, it can." He nodded his head very seriously like an old man.

"No, it can't."

"It can." He said cutely.

"Zayan." Yusra screeched.

He sighed dramatically and put the chocolate back. "Fine."

Yusra smiled despite herself but that smile didn't last long because at that exact moment her phone vibrated. She glanced at the screen.

‘Did Zayan like the chocolates?’

Her smile disappeared.She looked around the classroom and then at Zayan and then at the box. "How does he know?" She mumbled underneath her breath.

But the next message popped up on the screen instantly, “I know you must be wondering, how do I know? Well, I know you very well. I know you won’t easily accept anything I give you.”

She immediately typed. ‘STOP’

The reply came almost instantly. ‘No.’

Yusra's jaw clenched. She blocked the number.

AGAIN.

She had barely put her phone away when Zayan tugged at her sleeve. "Phupho…Nhi.. Yusla Miss."

"What?" She asked.

"Can I have one more?" He raised his tiny finger. “Pease.”

"No." She denied instantly.

"Why?" He stomped his feet cutely.

"Because I said no." Yusra crossed her arms.

He looked up at her with those innocent eyes. "But you said one."

"Exactly and you already ate one." Yusra said, "That's why you can't have another."

He thought about it for a moment and asked hopefully. "Then tomollow?"

Yusra sighed. "We'll see."

Zayan grinned. "That means yes."

"No, it doesn't." Yusra denied and then distributed the rest of the chocolate to other kids.

After a long day of chasing restless children, correcting worksheets, and breaking up tiny wars before they exploded, Yusra finally reached home.

She barely muttered a greeting before locking herself in her room. The deadline was a living thing breathing down her neck. The publisher needed the manuscript soon, and she could not afford to waste another evening.

She opened her laptop, logged into the document, and scrolled to the exact place she had left Vincent and Vanessa the night before. Her fingers hovered over the keys and then she froze.

The last line she had written stared back at her.

Vanessa’s fingers hovered over the melted chocolate…

Yusra blinked. Once. Twice.

“Not again,” she muttered under her breath, already irritated enough because of the one thing she loves most, all thanks to Uzair.

She closed her eyes, dragged in a slow breath, and gave herself a firm little pep talk.

“Focus Yusra. Just write. Ignore everything else. The book needs to be finished. Nothing else matters right now. You can do it.”

And she finally started writing and when her mother called her for dinner, Yusra refused without even opening the door.

She stayed locked inside, fingers flying across the keyboard, pouring every ounce of concentration into the scene.

The words came faster, darker, more intense than she expected. She wrote for hours, completely lost in the world she was creating.

 The room was dark. Soft. Quiet.

Cool sheets whispered against her bare back. Soft silk ropes bit gently into her wrists and ankles, binding her tightly to the four posts of the bed so she could only shift a few inches either way. A thin strip of black silk covered her eyes, turning the world into pure sensation. 

She wore nothing but a delicate, nearly transparent black lingerie set, the kind that clung to every curve and left almost nothing to the imagination.

The cool air kissed the half-naked skin of her stomach, the soft undersides of her breasts, the insides of her thighs.

And that's when she heard footsteps. Slow, heavy and deliberate.

Her breath caught. She could feel someone moving closer, the air shifting, the floorboards giving the faintest creak.

A warm presence hovered over her body, close enough that she felt the heat of him radiating down onto her skin.

Then came the first touch: hot breath drifting across the sensitive hollow of her collarbone, trailing lower in a slow, deliberate path.

Her body tensed. Her breathing grew quicker, shallower.

A deep, rough voice brushed against the shell of her ear, so close the words vibrated against her skin. The voice she had heard before but not like this. Not that husky and dark.

“You didn’t eat the chocolate,” the voice murmured, low and dark. “But I want to eat mine.”

Before she could react, something warm and thick and liquid landed between the soft curves of her breasts.

Melted chocolate, rich and sticky.

A second later a hot tongue dragged slowly across the same path, licking the liquid away with deliberate, almost reverent care. The wet heat of that tongue made her stomach clench.

“uhmmm!” A soft, helpless sound escaped her throat.

The tongue did not stop. It continued its slow, sensual path across her skin, tasting every inch it could reach, along the slope of one breast, down the valley between them, up the other side. Warm breath followed every stroke.

Her bound hands pulled uselessly against the restraints. Her thighs shifted restlessly, the soft fabric of her panties already dampening against her.

The voice returned, lower this time, rough with hunger. “So restless already.”

Fingers brushed the thin straps of her good for nothing bra. One by one they slid the delicate material down her shoulders, baring her completely.

Cool air kissed her nipples and they tightened instantly into hard, aching peaks.

Then a warm mouth closed over one sensitive tip, sucking gently at first, just enough pressure to make her arch then harder. Teeth scraped lightly. A tongue circled and flicked and teased until she was straining against the ropes, trying to push more of herself into that wet heat.

“Aaahhhh!” She moaned. Soft at first. Then louder. Her hips twisted. Her fingers curled into fists.

The other nipple received the same thorough, merciless attention. Every flick of that tongue sent sharp sparks racing straight down between her legs.

She pulled at the restraints again, desperate for more and terrified of how much she already wanted it.

Then he tore the panties with a sharp tug and threw them away somewhere on the floor. Cool air touched her completely bare skin.

A moment later warm liquid dripped slowly over the soft, drenched, swollen folds between her thighs, thick, sticky chocolate landing directly on her clit and sliding lower.

She gasped, hips jerking.

“Please…” The word slipped out before she could stop it. “Please…”

A low, dangerous growl answered her. Hot breath brushed directly against her most private place, so close she could feel the heat of his mouth without the actual touch.

The sensation made her thighs clench hard around nothing before he parted them with his rough calloused hands.

The deep voice spoke again, thick with hunger. “Now I’m going to eat what belongs to only me.”

The possessiveness in that hungry voice twisted her stomach in a beautiful way that a fresh gush of wetness leaked through her thighs mixing with the melted chocolate.

Then the soft fabric covering her eyes was suddenly pulled away.

She blinked her eyes trying to adjust her gaze into that dimly lit room when they settled between her legs.

Those same dark, intense eyes were staring up at her from between her spread thighs and her heartbeat quickened and breathing uneven.

His hungry gaze locked on hers for one burning second, hungry, possessive, almost feral before he lowered his mouth and claimed her completely like a man starved before she even could understand anything.

His tongue attacked her wet folds, tasting her like she was the only thing he had ever wanted. He growled against her skin, the vibration shooting straight through her clit making her eyes shut in sheer overwhelming pleasure.

He licked her again, slower this time, parting her with the flat of his tongue and dragging from entrance to clit in one long, filthy stroke. Then he sealed his mouth over her and sucked hard while his tongue worked in tight, relentless circles. Chocolate and her own wetness mixed on his tongue. He made a low, satisfied sound, like he was finally getting exactly what he had been starving for.

“This sweet little cunt is only mine.”

“Uzair!” She moaned his name before she could stop herself.

Yusra’s eyes flew open.

She sat up with a sharp gasp, heart pounding so hard it hurt. Her skin was damp with sweat. Her night clothes clung to her body. Between her thighs she was soaked, aching, pulsing, completely awake and still half-convinced she could feel the phantom press of his mouth.

She stared at the dark room in pure shock, still breathing hard and then back at her abandoned laptop which was still on.

She doesn't know when her eyelids grew heavy and the sentences began to blur. She never noticed the moment her head slowly tipped forward and when she slept.

She knows nothing.

She scrambled out of bed, almost tripping over her own feet as she rushed toward the bathroom.

“What the fuck is wrong with you Yusra, have you gone completely mad?” she whispered furiously to her reflection while splashing cold water on her face. “Why the hell are you having wet dreams about that man? You need to finish your book. Focus. Just finish the damn book. Don't let some fucking stranger screw your mind.”

She pressed her forehead against the cool tiles, eyes squeezed shut, trying to force the lingering heat out of her body.

It refused to leave.

The ghost of his tongue still dragged between her legs. The memory of that low, possessive growl still vibrated against her clit. And no matter how many times she told herself it was only a dream, her body kept answering like it had been claimed.

The next morning when she reached school, there were flowers.

Not roses.

A small, elegant bouquet of white lilies sat on Yusra's desk. No note. Just her name written on a tiny card.

Yusra.

She stared at it for several seconds before storming out of her class and found Aastha walking towards and then pushed it toward Aastha. "Take them."

Aastha blinked. "What?"

"Take them."

“Did you bring them for me?" Aastha asked.

"Yes.” Yusra lied.

Aastha smiled brightly. "They're pretty."

"Exactly. They'll look better somewhere far away from me." Yusra grumbled.

Aastha gave her a strange look but took them anyway.

Yusra's phone vibrated again and she checked it.

‘And you gave my flowers away as well, didn't you?’

Her eyes widened thinking how he could know her too well. She also slowly looked around the room thinking he might be hiding somewhere but nope there was no one.

"Is he spying on me?" She mumbled to herself before typing furiously.

‘STOP SENDING ME THINGS.’

The reply came almost immediately. ‘Then stop giving them away.’

Yusra stared at the screen. “Fuck you, you creepy stalker!”

Another message appeared. ‘Did you eat breakfast?’

She frowned but before she could even think or block him another message popped up.

‘Lunch too. Don't skip it.’

She blocked the number without replying to anything.

Aastha, who had been watching her from across the room, raised an eyebrow. "You alright?"

"Perfect."

"You look like you want to murder someone."

"I do."

"Who?"

Yusra paused. "...Nobody."

Aastha's expression changed. She looked at Yusra for a long moment. "Yusra."

Yusra avoided her eyes. "I said nobody."

Aastha didn't push. But her silence carried a warning all on its own and Yusra was grateful for it. Because she wasn't ready to explain Uzair Chaudhry.

Not to Aastha. Not to anyone. Especially not after Aastha had already warned her once.

By the third day, Yusra had officially reached her limit. Her phone had become her greatest enemy.

Six messages.

Six different numbers.

Six blocks.

By the time she reached school, she was already exhausted and then she found another box on her desk.

She stared at it. "Absolutely not."

Zayan appeared beside her almost immediately. "Chotolate? Adain?"

Yusra looked at him and he quickly picked up one and popped it into his mouth before Yusra could stop him.

“ZAYAN!” She pulled his ear.

"I was just looting." He answered cutely.

"With your mouth?"

He giggled and Yusra shook her head helplessly and pushed the box toward him because she didn't have the energy. "Go."

He happily ran away with his chocolate.

A few minutes later, Yusra's phone vibrated. She already knew.

‘So what do you think?’

She typed one sentence. ‘You're creepy.’

The reply arrived. ‘And you're adorable when you're annoyed.’

‘I’m going to report you.’ She typed before blocking him again and this time she had already made up her mind to tell her brother about him.

Yes, her brother will be extremely angry with her for beating Fahad in the middle of the market. He'll scold her badly too, but she's willing to face all of that now if it means putting an end to this torture.

Later that afternoon, Yusra sat in the staff room with her forehead pressed against the table when Aastha walked in. She stopped when she saw her. "Are you okay?"

Yusra slowly lifted her head. "No."

“What happened?”

“I don't know.”

"You look exhausted."

"I am exhausted."

"Why?"

Yusra stared at her. For one terrifying second, she almost told her everything. She almost said the stranger from the market that day wouldn't stop messaging her. That he kept sending gifts. That he somehow knew things he shouldn't know. That every time she blocked him, another number appeared. That she had no idea whether she was irritated, frightened, or simply losing her mind.

But then she remembered Aastha's warning. You were wrong. You shouldn't have dragged a stranger into this.

Yusra immediately looked away. "Nothing."

Aastha studied her. "You're hiding something."

Yusra's fingers tightened around her phone. "No."

"Yusra…"

"I said nothing."

Aastha went quiet. She didn't push and Yusra silently thanked her for that.

A few seconds later, her phone buzzed again. She looked down. One new message. ‘Did you eat lunch?’

She closed her eyes.

For the first time in three days, she didn't block the number. She simply stared at the message. Then whispered under her breath, "You're making this way too complicated, Uzair."

And somewhere behind that irritation was a feeling she absolutely refused to name.

Because Uzair Chaudhry wasn't supposed to become a part of her life. He was supposed to be a mistake. A temporary one.

But somehow, in just three days, he had already found his way into her mornings, her classroom, her phone… And apparently, even into Zayan's chocolate supply.

She came back to her classroom and found Zayan already waiting at her desk and a message again came to her phone, ‘I know you're angry but eat the pastry.’

Yusra threw her head back.."Why?"

Zayan looked over. "What wlong Phu…..Nhi.. Yusla Miss?"

"Nothing."

"You loot lite you ale doing to cly."

"I'm not going to cry."

"Then why ale you shoutind at the ceiling?"

Yusra closed her eyes. "Because apparently Allah has personally assigned me one very irritating man."

Zayan nodded thoughtfully. "Sounds selious."

"It is." Yusra sighed.

That evening, Yusra finally decided she couldn't take it anymore. She wants to tell it to her brother but there was only one person who could possibly help her.

Zara.

When she reached home she dragged Zara upstairs by grabbing her wrist. "Come with me."

Zara blinked. "Where?"

"Somewhere private." She dragged her into the room and shut the door.

"Okay. Why do you look like you've committed a crime?" Zara looked at her suspiciously. “Now quickly tell me what you do. Your brother is waiting for me downstairs. Make this quick."

Yusra paced into the room but didn't say anything.

Zara folded her arms. "Yusra, what happened?"

Yusra took a deep breath then finally… Everything came out in a go. Everything that happened and what is happening.

Zara listened to the entire story calmly, without interrupting even once.

Yusra finally let out a frustrated sigh. “I lied that day and told him he was my boyfriend. Now he wants to make that lie true. He's saying he even has a video. I don't know what I'm supposed to do. I was only trying to save myself from your Bhadwa brother, and instead, I ended up dragging an entirely new problem into my life.”

Zara remained quiet for a moment then she simply said, “Well... you brought the problem home. Now deal with it.”

Yusra stared at her. “Have you gone crazy?”

Zara shrugged. “Look... he's even more handsome than my brother.”

Yusra frowned.

“He's only asking you to give it a try. Then try. And if it works? Good. And if it doesn't? Even better.” Zara shrugged.

Yusra blinked at her in disbelief.

Zara continued casually, “He goes his way, you go yours.” She paused before adding, “And if it actually works...Then you'll get the marriage you've always wanted.” Zara smiled. "And he's asking you to try…. So just…Try dating him."

"ABSOLUTELY NOT!"