CHAPTER 2:- THE COLLISION

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The ballroom at the Oberoi shimmered in gold and guilt. Rich people clinked glasses of vintage wine over charity for hospitals they’d never step into. Smiles were painted, conversations polished, and every compliment came with an expiration date.

Dr. Aarohi Mehta walked in like she didn’t belong—because she didn’t.

But she made sure they knew she didn’t care.

Draped in a wine-red saree with a daring slit and confidence that could blind the weak, she looked like sin dipped in sunlight. Her silver heels clicked with rhythmic sass as she adjusted her stethoscope pendant—worn more like a weapon than an accessory.

“Try not to kill anyone tonight,” Reet Khurana muttered beside her, rolling her eyes and fixing her own classy black gown.

“No promises,” Aarohi replied. “But if someone deserves a tongue-lashing, I’ll at least be poetic about it.”

Reet sighed. “How are you this hot and this terrifying?”

“Genetics and trauma.”

Across the room, Aarav Malhotra had just entered.

Clad in a sleek black suit, no tie, top buttons undone, he walked like the devil had personally gifted him the ground. Security guards kept a subtle circle around him—none too obvious, all too trained.

His eyes scanned the crowd with professional boredom. The gala was a business move—he was laundering money through “donations,” smoothing over dirty deals with clean names.

“Try to smile once,” Yuvaan Khan, his right-hand man, whispered, sipping whiskey. “You look like you’re about to shoot the violinist.”

“I don’t shoot people in public,” Aarav replied. “It ruins carpets.”

“You’re a whole cartoon villain sometimes, bro.”

“I’m worse.”

Yuvaan snorted. “Great. Just try not to traumatize the donors.”

✨ The Encounter

Meanwhile, Aarohi found herself cornered near the drinks counter by none other than Dr. Rakhi Gupta, who looked like she had bathed in bitterness and Chanel.

“I must say, Aarohi,” Rakhi cooed with a syrupy tone, “you clean up nicely. But remember, no matter how good you look, brains only get you so far. In this field, you survive by knowing your place.”

Aarohi smiled sweetly. Deadly.

“Ma’am, you’re absolutely right,” she said, sipping her mocktail. “But I prefer being known for my skill, not my silence.”

A few heads turned. Rakhi's eye twitched.

And that’s when he heard her.

Aarav paused mid-step, his drink halfway to his lips. He turned, curiosity piqued.

Then he saw her.

Not just another pretty face.

A fire. Walking. Talking. Untouchable.

Their eyes met. Aarohi saw a man with shadows stitched into his skin. Cold. Calculated. Watching her like she was a puzzle he had to solve.

He stepped forward.

“Harsh advice,” he said to Rakhi, voice smooth but blade-sharp. “I’ve heard better things from corpses.”

Rakhi turned, flustered. “Excuse me—who are you to interfere?”

Before he could speak, Aarohi interjected.

“And you are?” she asked the stranger, her gaze unwavering.

Aarav smiled faintly. “The man funding your hospital’s new surgical wing.”

Reet, watching from a distance, whispered, “Oh god, she’s gonna kill him.”

Aarohi arched a brow. “Is that supposed to impress me or scare me?”

“Neither,” Aarav replied. “But it’s true.”

She tilted her head. “You don’t look like a doctor.”

“And you don’t look like someone who takes orders.”

“That’s because I don’t.”

Rakhi tried to interrupt, but no one was listening anymore. Power had already shifted.

Yuvaan leaned toward Aarav and muttered, “You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

“No,” Aarav murmured, eyes still on her. “Worse. A challenge.”

Reet caught up to Aarohi as she walked away, heels loud, expression unreadable.

“Did you just sass a millionaire guy?”

“I sass everyone,” Aarohi replied.

“You do realize who that was, right?”

“I do now. Still not impressed.”

Yuvaan nudged Aarav with a smirk. “You thinking what I’m thinking?”

“She’s dangerous,” Aarav muttered.

“Exactly your type.”

Aarav didn’t reply. He simply watched the girl in red disappear into the crowd like a flame slipping through cracks.

Something had just shifted in his world.

And it started with a woman who didn’t flinch.

End of Chapter 2

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