Episode 1: The Smile She Wore

They said Ruby was an angel.

She moved like poetry and spoke like a soft lullaby dipped in honey. People adored her — business associates, house staff, even strangers who caught a glimpse of her in her pastel dresses and glassy eyes. Her laughter was the kind that made you stop and look. Gentle, graceful, and… kind.

But kindness was such a convenient illusion.

Ruby knew what they saw. She had perfected it — every blink, every smile, every pause in conversation. She wasn't pretending. She was performing. And she loved being loved.

But what she truly craved... was control.

On the surface, she was a 20-year-old heiress with a warm heart and delicate charm. Behind her eyes lived chaos, curated and quiet — a storm in pearls and perfume. She didn’t want just love. She wanted to be worshipped. To be the center of someone’s world — not for a moment, but forever.

Her mornings began with jasmine tea and classical music. Her evenings ended with silent journals filled with detailed observations about people around her — what they liked, what made them weak. She didn’t just live in a world of wealth and elegance. She studied it. Played it. Owned it.

That morning, the Kapoor Foundation's annual business gala was in full swing at the Marigold Palace — a high-profile gathering of legacy families and new billionaires. Ruby walked in, wrapped in elegance and roses. The scent of power and champagne filled the hall. She wore ivory silk with her mother’s vintage pearl earrings — everything about her screamed grace and softness.

She floated from group to group, speaking softly, nodding politely, smiling just enough. She looked perfectly in place.

And yet, she was bored.

Until he walked in.

She didn’t see his face at first — just the way the crowd shifted, subtly, like they felt his presence before they saw him. He didn’t speak loudly. He didn’t need to.

Amit.

The name hit her ears before her eyes met him.

No. 1Co-owner of Khurana Enterprises. Sharp suits, sharper silence. The kind of man who didn’t chase attention — it followed him. Rumors about him floated in elite circles like perfume — mysterious, intimidating, quietly brilliant.

When their eyes met across the room, something inside her went completely still.

And then?

It snapped.

Ruby’s smile didn’t falter — of course not — but her breath hitched.

It wasn’t love. It wasn’t admiration.

It was possession.

He’s mine.

She didn’t know his middle name. She didn’t care. But she wanted to learn everything — how he walked, how he slept, how he reacted when someone said no.

She would make him hers.

And he wouldn’t even know it was happening.

At least, that’s what she thought.

Later that evening, as she reached for a glass of wine from the server’s tray, her fingers brushed against another’s. Her eyes flicked up.

It was him.

Amit.

Up close, he was even more dangerous. Understated. Collected. And his eyes… were already watching her.

“Ruby, right?” His voice was smooth, deep — like he already knew who she was.

She blinked, caught slightly off-guard. “Yes… and you must be Amit Khurana?”

He tilted his head, a slow smile tugging at his lips — like he had just found something far more interesting than he expected.

“Pleasure,” he said.

But his eyes didn’t say pleasure.

They said, Game on.

Episode 2: The Game Begins

The music played softly in the background — a grand piano weaving notes through the air like silk threads — but Ruby hardly heard it.

She stood by the tall glass windows of the Marigold Palace, her eyes fixed on the reflection staring back at her. The same reflection everyone loved — perfect posture, elegant smile, soft, soulful eyes. But only she knew what lay behind them.

A storm.

Amit Khurana had entered her world like a lightning strike.

It wasn’t his wealth. That didn’t impress her — she was used to money. It wasn’t his looks either, though there was something dangerously appealing about the way he carried himself — sharp, quiet, composed. What had caught her… was the energy. The confidence that wasn’t loud, but settled, like it had been there all along. Unbothered. Unapologetic.

The type of energy that could match her own.

Ruby had never felt this before. Not truly. She’d played obsession before. She’d manipulated it, toyed with it. But this? This was real. This was hers.

She didn’t just want Amit — she needed him. She needed to peel him apart and place every piece inside her heart like a puzzle she was born to solve.

And tonight, the game would begin.

Across the hall, Amit moved through the crowd like he didn’t belong to anyone — and didn’t care to. He wore a crisp black suit, the fabric hugging his form with calculated grace. He spoke to few, smiled even less, but observed everything.

When he saw her — truly saw her — something shifted inside him.

She was beautiful, yes. But that wasn’t it.

There was a stillness in her that made noise. A quiet so loud, it echoed. Her presence reminded him of snow — delicate on the surface, deadly underneath.

Amit knew people like her. He was people like her.

And that’s what made her interesting.

He watched as she made her way through the gala — each step light, each laugh perfectly timed. She was performing, and most people around her were fooled.

But he saw it. The slight delay in her smile. The tension in her jaw when someone got too close. The flicker in her eyes when she looked at him.

She was hunting him.

And that made him want to be caught.

Later in the evening, their paths crossed again. This time, alone. By the wine table. The servers had stepped away, and the crowd had thinned.

Ruby reached for a glass of red. So did he. Their fingers brushed.

She looked up. “We really do keep meeting.”

His lips curved slightly. “Or maybe we’re not trying hard enough to avoid it.”

Ruby laughed softly — a sound so smooth it could cut silk. “I don’t mind running into interesting people.”

He held her gaze. “Neither do I.”

For a second, the world paused. Two minds, two masks, both perfectly worn. Neither willing to drop the act. And yet, beneath the charm and banter, something darker stirred. Something that whispered:

I see you.

And maybe… you see me too.

But neither said it.

Not yet.

For now, the dance would continue — slow, elegant, laced with secrets.

And somewhere deep inside both of them, a quiet voice whispered the truth neither was ready to admit:

This wasn’t love.

This was war.

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Perfectly Twisted

Episode 3: Beneath the Surface

Ruby adjusted the strap of her black silk dress as she walked down the long hallway of her office building. The soft tap of her heels echoed like a steady rhythm — sharp, confident, controlled. Her expression was as composed as always, a slight smile on her lips, the kind that made people think she was gentle and warm.

And that’s exactly what she wanted them to think.

But inside? There was chaos.

Ever since she saw Amit, she hadn’t been the same. She kept reliving that short interaction. The brush of his shoulder, the moment their eyes locked, the spark that had jumped between them like electricity in a storm. She didn’t even know his last name then. But now? Now she knew everything.

She had searched him up the moment she got back to her office after their first meeting. Amit Mehra — 23 years old, CEO of one of the fastest-growing luxury chains in the country. An empire built on strategy and silence. He was as powerful as he was mysterious.

And Ruby? Ruby was obsessed.

She closed her office door behind her and let her facade drop. Her smile disappeared. Her eyes darkened. On the surface, Ruby was the sweet, poised businesswoman with elegance stitched into her every step. But when she was alone — when no one was watching — her real self emerged.

The one who needed to own everything she desired. And she desired him.

Ruby sat at her desk, her fingers hovering above her keyboard. Her screen was still on Amit’s LinkedIn profile. She stared at his photo — sharp jawline, intense eyes, that quiet confidence that made him stand out in every crowd. The kind of man people watched when he walked into a room.

He’s mine. He just doesn’t know it yet, she thought, her lips curving into a slow, calculated smile.

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Across the city, Amit was lost in his own thoughts. Ruby’s face flashed in his mind more times than he liked to admit. There was something about her that didn’t sit right. She looked too perfect. Her demeanor too graceful. Her voice too calm.

And yet, he couldn’t stop thinking about her.

There had been a moment — a flicker in her eyes — that didn’t match her sweet tone. Something sharp. Something cold.

He had noticed it.

And that intrigued him more than he cared to admit.

Sitting in his glass-walled office, Amit leaned back in his chair, fingers tapping slowly against his desk. “Ruby Malhotra,” he murmured, testing the name on his tongue.

He had done his own digging too. Her company. Her projects. Her flawless public image. But the deeper he searched, the more perfect everything seemed. Too perfect.

And if there was one thing Amit knew from experience — perfection was always a mask.

Who are you really, Ruby? he wondered.

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The next day, fate — or something darker — decided to toy with them again.

Amit arrived at an exclusive business roundtable meeting hosted in collaboration with Ruby’s company. Neither had expected the other to be there, but when their eyes met across the room, the world faded again.

This time, their gaze didn’t break so easily.

Ruby walked toward him slowly, like a predator who had spotted her prey, her smile polite but her eyes flashing with something unspoken. “We meet again, Mr. Mehra,” she said softly.

Amit smiled back, extending his hand. “Twice in a week? I’m starting to think it’s fate.”

She shook his hand, her grip firm, her touch lingering just a second too long. “Or maybe I’m just very good at being where I need to be.”

Their hands dropped, but the tension stayed — heavy, electric, dangerous.

As the event continued, neither of them paid full attention to the speakers. Their focus stayed on each other — the words, the gestures, the silences between them. The game had officially begun.

But neither Ruby nor Amit knew the truth just yet.

That the person standing across from them, charming and sharp, wasn’t just attracted — they were obsessed.

And obsession? That never ends well.

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