CHAPTER 5

Avni had grown up without a family.

The orphanage was the only home she had ever known.

But even there, she had never truly felt safe.

From a very young age, people noticed her beauty.

And the man who ran the orphanage learned how to use it.

He would allow certain people to visit whenever they wanted.

Men whose eyes made Avni uncomfortable.

Men she never wanted near her.

The orphanage master treated their interest in her as an opportunity.

And Avni learned very early how to protect herself.

Sometimes she would lock herself inside her room.

Sometimes she would run to the farthest corner of the building.

Sometimes she would pretend not to notice the uncomfortable gazes following her.

Even as a child, she understood that something about those looks was wrong.

She hated them.

But she had no one to complain to.

No father.

No mother.

No family waiting to protect her.

So she learned to protect herself.

And she learned to survive.

───

Years Later

Avni refused to let the circumstances of her childhood decide her future.

She studied whenever she could.

She worked harder than everyone around her.

Eventually, her efforts earned her a scholarship to pursue higher education in another state.

She left the orphanage and went to Banaras.

For the first time, she experienced something that felt like freedom.

She studied.

She built friendships.

She worked toward a career.

And eventually, she completed her MBA.

She had finally built a life that belonged to her.

But she still had one unfinished connection to her past.

The orphanage.

So she returned.

She should never have gone back.

───

The moment Avni stepped through the gates, she knew something was wrong.

The orphanage master looked at her differently.

Not like someone returning home.

Like someone calculating her worth.

She soon discovered why.

He had accumulated an enormous debt.

Nearly one crore rupees.

And one of the men he owed money to had been interested in Avni for years.

The orphanage master had decided to use her to settle the debt.

Avni refused.

She argued.

She begged.

She tried to make him understand that she was no longer a helpless child under his control.

But he didn't care.

According to him, he had raised her.

He claimed he had the right to decide her future.

And the man waiting to marry her was someone she wanted nothing to do with.

The pressure became unbearable.

So Avni did the only thing she knew how to do.

She ran.

───

(4 months ago) , That Night

The streets were almost empty.

Avni ran without knowing where she was going.

Her breathing was uneven.

Tears blurred her vision.

Behind her, several men were chasing her.

“Catch her!”

Avni looked back.

They were getting closer.

“Someone…”

Her voice broke.

“Please…”

She kept running.

Then—

HORN!

Headlights suddenly flooded her vision.

A black Rolls-Royce came speeding toward the intersection.

Avni tried to move.

But it was too late.

The car struck her.

She fell onto the road.

The impact wasn't severe enough to cause a major injury, but the shock left her disoriented.

Before she could stand, the men chasing her reached her.

One of them grabbed her arm.

“Let go of me!”

She struggled desperately.

“Someone please help me!”

The rear door of the Rolls-Royce opened.

A man stepped out.

At the same moment, several black SUVs pulled up behind the car.

Men in formal black suits stepped out.

The atmosphere changed instantly.

The men holding Avni froze.

Then they recognized the man standing before them.

Harshvardhan Singh Rayzada.

His gaze was enough to silence everyone.

“Let her go.”

The men hesitated.

Harshvardhan's voice became colder.

“I won't repeat myself.”

They released her.

Avni immediately stumbled away from them and fell to the ground.

She began sobbing.

Harshvardhan walked toward her.

He didn't rush.

He simply stopped in front of her and extended a handkerchief.

Avni stared at it through tear-filled eyes.

Then slowly took it.

“Let's go to the hospital.”

She looked at him uncertainly.

She didn't know him.

Didn't know why he was helping her.

But she knew one thing.

Staying alone on that road was far more dangerous.

She accepted his hand.

───

The Hospital

The doctor confirmed that Avni had suffered only minor injuries.

Harshvardhan waited until the examination was complete.

Avni eventually approached him.

“Thank you, sir.”

Harshvardhan looked at her.

She looked exhausted.

Not simply physically.

There was something defeated in her eyes.

He had seen fear before.

But this wasn't ordinary fear.

This was the look of someone who had spent too long believing that nobody would come when she asked for help.

For a brief moment, Harshvardhan felt something he rarely allowed himself to show.

Sympathy.

But his expression remained composed.

“You don't have to thank me.”

Avni looked at him.

“My driver hit you.”

He paused.

“Taking responsibility was the least I could do.”

Avni nodded.

Then she lowered her head.

Tears began falling again.

Harshvardhan watched her silently.

“Where will you go?”

Avni didn't answer.

He understood the answer without hearing it.

Nowhere.

Harshvardhan glanced toward his lawyer standing nearby.

Then back at Avni.

“You said you completed an MBA?”

Avni looked surprised.

“How do you know?”

“You mentioned it to the doctor.”

She nodded.

“Yes.”

Harshvardhan thought for a moment.

“I can offer you a temporary place to stay.”

Avni immediately looked up.

“I don't want charity.”

His expression remained calm.

“I'm not offering charity.”

He paused.

“Rayzada Empires has an opening in one of our departments.”

“You can join as an intern.”

Avni stared at him.

“An internship?”

“Yes.”

“Your performance will determine whether you are offered a permanent position.”

He continued in the same matter-of-fact tone.

“You'll receive a salary.”

“You'll have accommodation.”

“And once you're financially independent, you can decide where you want to go.”

Avni couldn't believe what she was hearing.

“Why are you helping me?”

Harshvardhan's expression didn't change.

“Because someone should.”

He turned away.

Then stopped.

“And because I don't believe a person should be forced to pay for someone else's mistakes.”

Avni looked down.

For the first time that night, something other than fear entered her eyes.

Hope.

───

The Following Months

Harshvardhan kept his promise.

He never treated Avni like someone he had rescued.

He never reminded her of what he had done.

He never demanded gratitude.

Avni started working at Rayzada Empires.

At first, she struggled.

She was determined to prove that she deserved the opportunity.

She worked late.

Learned quickly.

Took every task seriously.

Slowly, she began rebuilding herself.

She had a room.

A job.

Financial independence.

And most importantly—

a life of her own.

For the first time, Avni wasn't surviving.

She was living.

And she knew exactly whom she had to thank for it.

Harshvardhan Singh Rayzada.

He hadn't merely saved her that night.

He had given her a door out of the life she had been trapped in.

A chance to start again.

A chance to become someone beyond the girl from the orphanage.

───

Back to the Present

Avni sat on the edge of her bed inside the Rayzada mansion.

She remembered everything.

The night on the road.

The hospital.

The internship.

The first salary she had earned.

The first time she had realized she could take care of herself.

And then…

Harshvardhan's request.

The contract.

The fake pregnancy.

The fake marriage story.

The deception she had agreed to.

She knew what she was doing wasn't right.

She knew Revti's tears were real.

She knew the hope she had given this family was built on a lie.

But when Harshvardhan had asked her to help him bring his son home…

she

couldn't forget what he had done for her.

He had given her a second chance when she had nowhere else to go.

So she had decided to repay that debt in the only way she knew how.

By becoming part of his final wager.

Avni closed her eyes.

A faint whisper escaped her lips.

“Thank you, sir…”

“For saving me.”

“For giving me a life.”

“And for giving me a reason to believe that people can still be good.”

She opened her eyes again.

END OF CHAPTER 5