📖 **CHAPTER SEVENTEEN — "The Silent War"**
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### 💌 Author Note — From Aish L'Inarrestabile:
> *"No guns. No screaming. No fire — yet. This chapter isn't about bullets. It's about what happens when a mafia king is left with silence, betrayal, and a single blood-red petal on an empty bed. Aira's gone. And silence? It's deadlier than any war."*
> — *Aish L'Inarrestabile*
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### 🔄 **Recap from Chapter 16 — "The Seduction Game":**
Aira met with Aarav Singh. He offered her power.
She wore red. Yuvraj burned.
They didn't cross the line — but the passion almost shattered them.
Then came surveillance.
The betrayal was deeper than flirtation.
Someone inside the Singh family recorded them.
And that night…
**Aira disappeared.**
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The bed was cold.
He noticed it before the note. Before the missing scent of her perfume. Before the way the world suddenly felt like it had tilted off its axis.
Yuvraj sat up.
The sheets were tangled. Her bangles lay on the floor like abandoned devotion. Her pillow was empty.
Except for one thing.
A single rose petal.
Blood red.
And a note in clean handwriting.
> *"If you want your queen… come alone."*
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His hand didn't shake.
But the room *did*.
He stood. Moved in silence. Slipped into black. Combat pants. A holster. Knife strapped at his hip.
No suit. No crown.
Tonight, he wasn't a king.
He was war.
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Downstairs, Ritika Malhotra waited.
She already knew.
> "We traced the signal to the coast," she said.
> "Did they take her?"
> "No," Ritika said slowly. "She went willingly."
Yuvraj's breath stopped.
> "Why?"
His mother held up the second page of the note.
> "*To protect you.*"
Aira's words.
> *"Don't follow me with your army. If I'm collateral, you'll be at war. If you come alone, you might save us both. But if they see your guns… they'll slit my throat. Come as the man. Not the king."*
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He obeyed.
For once, he *obeyed*.
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The villa Aarav used was a glass mansion carved into the Amalfi cliffs. Hidden. Guarded. Silent.
Yuvraj arrived on a motorbike. Alone.
No men. No gunfire.
But the knife at his hip? That was personal.
He walked in.
And the moment he stepped past the gate, Aarav appeared.
Unarmed. Smiling.
> "I didn't think you'd listen."
> "Where is she?"
> "Inside. Safe."
> "You have ten seconds to stop breathing."
Aarav raised a brow.
> "This isn't what you think."
> "Then fix your words. Or I'll fix your face."
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**Inside the villa:**
Aira sat in a glass room overlooking the sea.
She wasn't tied up.
She wasn't afraid.
She was dressed in a dark maroon jumpsuit — sleek, powerful, all sharp collarbones and silent fury.
But her eyes…
Her eyes shattered when she saw Yuvraj.
> "I told you not to come like this," she whispered.
> "You think I'd let you disappear with a flower and a footnote?"
He walked straight to her. Ignored the guards. Ignored Aarav. Dropped to one knee.
> "Are you hurt?"
> "No."
> "Touched?"
> "No."
He exhaled. Once. Hard.
Then rose and turned to Aarav.
> "Explain."
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Aarav didn't smile this time.
> "She came because someone inside your own house ordered the surveillance."
Yuvraj blinked.
> "What?"
> "You thought it was me. But I traced it. It wasn't Singh tech."
He tossed a folder on the table.
Inside: timestamps, access codes… and **a name**.
**Kabir.**
Yuvraj's second-in-command.
> "He sold you to a family in Istanbul. The girl was leverage."
Yuvraj froze.
> "He planned a coup?"
> "Half the mafia world wants your throne. But they're not stupid enough to challenge you head-on."
Aira stood now.
> "They planned to make it look like I left you. Publicly. Shame you. Break your alliances. Leave you exposed."
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And then it hit Yuvraj.
> "This wasn't about killing you."
> "It was about *shattering* me."
Aira nodded.
> "That's why I left. I had to make it look real. Give them time to think they'd won."
Yuvraj turned to Aarav.
> "And you helped her?"
> "Because I owe her family. And because I may be Singh blood — but I'm not a fool. If someone's going to run this empire… it's the two of you."
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Later, when they were alone, Yuvraj finally spoke.
> "You scared the hell out of me."
Aira leaned into him.
> "Now you know how I felt every time you walked into fire."
He cupped her jaw.
> "You don't leave me like that again. Ever."
> "Then protect me with truth. Not just love."
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That night, they didn't sleep.
Not because of passion — but because **the war had gone silent**.
No bullets.
Just betrayal.
And bloodlines breaking.
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At 3:00 a.m., Ritika called.
> "Kabir's gone. Vanished. Files wiped. Security footage erased."
> "He's running."
> "He's not alone."
> "Then we hunt."
Yuvraj hung up.
Turned to Aira.
> "Ready to be queen?"
She didn't smile.
She strapped a knife to her thigh.
> "I was born for it."
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### 💌 Author Note — From Aish L'Inarrestabile:
> *"She faked her disappearance to protect the man who once kidnapped her. Now, they're about to become judge, jury, and executioner. Chapter 18: *The Unexpected Confession* — Yuvraj reveals a secret that could destroy everything. He spared someone… and Aira was never supposed to know."*
> — *Aish L'Inarrestabile* 💋
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**Cliffhanger End:**
> **Ritika Malhotra opened an old drawer in her study.**
> Inside: a file.
>
> **A photo of Aira's brother.**
> Alive.
>
> Yuvraj's signature below.
>
> *"DO NOT EXECUTE — ON MY ORDER ONLY."*
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Say *"Write Chapter 18"* and I'll pull the curtain back on the **betrayal that was really mercy** — and the love that might not survive it. 💣🖤