/pyāra/

Love, endearment, passion,

an intense feeling of deep affection, fondness, dearness, etc.

/nafarata/

Hatred, an extremely strong feeling of dislike for someone or something.

Love and Hate, two intense feelings, two opposite emotions, two base factors that decide the fate of everything around us, but there is a thin line between love and hate.

When hatred turns into love, everything becomes beautiful, the world becomes cheerful, and everything appears to become brighter and happier. However, when love turns into hatred, something much more intense occurs. Every single ray of light turns into complete darkness, each and every happiness in your life seems to be engulfed by a black hole, your body feels like it is trapped in a whirlpool of emotions, and every single breath seems to be so difficult to take, you just want to die, but your autonomic nervous system won't set you free from the storm of emotions.

I sighed, twirling a pen in my left hand while sipping my dark coffee with my right, then remembered what happened yesterday. She was still the same yet she looked different, her hair which were longer than shoulder length before, were now short, shorter than ever I have seen on her, her grey eyes were beautiful yet they felt lifeless, her body structure has changed so much, before she was chubbier and cuter, but now she was hotter, but she still hadn't changed her sweet yet bitter coffee fragrance. It made my blood boil and my jaw clenched, I threw the cup against the floor, making its contents spill on the marble. I took out my phone from the tabletop and dialled the number of my assistant, Grayson.

Grayson was not only my assistant, but also the only loyal person left with me beside my cousin Jake, who deals with the 'business deals' of our Empire, while Grayson works under me.

*Knock-Knock*

Someone knocked on the door and, knowing it was Grayson, I permitted him to enter.

There, Grayson entered the room with a tablet in his hand. His eyes travelled to the coffee mug shattered on my floor and then to my face, then he raised his brows and took the seat in front of me without even bothering to ask.

I rolled my eyes at his lack of professionalism. I was already used to him, as he had assigned himself as 'my brother' without even taking knowledge of my say in that.

"Was the coffee too good for you to digest?" He asked, looking at me while turning on his tablet, and I just gave him a blank stare, too tired to deal with his shit.

"Who was the girl with her?" I asked, and he raised his brows at me and gave me a fake questioning innocent look.

"Who and with whom?" he batted his brows, and I shook my head, annoyed, knowing that he already knew who I was talking about.

"You know who,"

"Ohh-that cute redhead right? The one with beautiful green eyes and the hottest red gown ever, the one-"

"Yes!! Stop talking! Who is she?" I scooffed.

"...."

"Answer me!"

"You told me to stop."

"Ughhhh, can't you just stop being an idiot for a single day?" I groaned, and he chuckled, shaking his head as no.

I gave him a blank stare which my mom used to give me. There is indeed something in Asian motherly eyes that can make you shiver, but not in a good way. They can even give you nightmares if they are angry or upset about something.

"Okay-okay, enough with your weird look. I'm telling you so stop it already! " He dramatically covered his face with his hands, as if my eyes were shooting daggers at him, and I only raised my brows at him, still maintaining the stare.

"From resources, I can confirm she is the leader of the Zodiac Empire." He informed me, and I got even more confused about what the fuck Krystal was even doing with the fifth-ranked group leader.

If she was trying to gain support or something which was not even required by her, then she could have chosen the third or fourth groups with ease, as the leaders are literally head-over-heels for her.

"What the fuck is that bitch planning to do." I groaned, rubbing my head in frustration.

"I don't know, but the leader of Blue Pearl informed me that Krystal and the zodiac girl went to his boutique together."

"What?" This shit is getting even more confusing.

"And the zodiac girl told him that they were on a date-"

"Pffft-What that bitch doesn't date." I chucked at the idea of Krystal finally dating someone.

"How can you be so sure, San?" he questioned, and I just rolled my eyes at him.

"Believe me, I know her even more than she knows herself."

"But-"

"No buts, as much as I know her, I can assure you that this bitch is planning to do something, something obviously against us, but I just can't figure out how that Zodiac girl is involved in this." I leaned back in my chair and closed my eyes.

"Perhaps she is trying to combine the Zodiacs against us-'" Grayson commented, and I sighed.

"No-No- Gray- That's too easy and guessable. Plus, the DarkMoons don't need more people than they already have to attack us if they somehow get to know about our location. "

"Well then, perhaps she is seeking our location from the Zodiacs," he commented, and I opened my eyes. Perhaps he was right, but how come that cat-like girl could know our location?

"But how?" I mumbled, and Grayson shrugged.

"That's the only practical thing I can think of," he leaned back in his chair and crossed his left leg over his right and I nodded.

"Gather all the information you can regarding that Zodiac girl, and yes-yes, go scan every member. We can't afford to deal with a mole if your theory is right. Shooo-" I commanded, and he reluctantly stood up from his comfortable position and dramatically yawned before exiting the room.

"AND CALL SOMEONE TO CLEAN THIS MESS!" I yelled, and then I heard a long dramatic sigh and rolled my eyes at him. Gosh, I just hate dramatic people... ugh!

The soul of our empire is its secrecy. We change our location thrice in a year and all our members have a chip hidden in their right hand, about which they don't even know. We placed the chips inside their bodies when they received their Cobra Mark tattoos, and the chip is just a few millimetres large, so they can't really point out any difference in their bodies. But the chip lets us detect any mole in our gang and we just eradicate them right on the spot. That's one of the secret reasons why we have been away from the eyes of any rival gangs for eleven fucking years.

*Knock, knock*

I permitted the maid and she started cleaning my mess.

I stood up from my chair and stretched my limbs as I made my way towards Seshu's cage, where I leaned against the wall beside the cage in which my baby was resting peacefully on a tree branch.

Eleven years-just eleven years turned my life pi radians inverse.

I closed my eyes remembering how I lost my friend, my father, my mother, and my lover-

{"Want to clear it?" I asked.

"1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, "

*kiss*

She smiled at me.

"Noooo Kry Kry, you have to explain why you are spending more time with Jake than with me." I huffed and pouted.

"Awww Sanny, are you jealous? " She teased.

"What no me and being jealous? No way!!!" I scoffed, and crossed my arms.

"Awwww, Princess, you're jelly! How cute!" She exclaimed, and teased me again, and I ran away from her room.}

I unconsciously smiled, remembering the old memories of us when we were toddlers.

From friends to best friends to double-sided crushes,

I still remember the days when she used to climb my terrace in a rush.

I'm talking about the era before tik-tok or even candy crush...

From jumping on each other's roofs to play badminton,

To watch her fight ruthlessly in the dungeon,

I remember the balloons, the chocolates, the dog, the park-

All the sweet memories are still intact,

But now you see, we want to stop each other's hearts...

She was like the rescuer of my soul.

She was like a beautiful poem,

which I loved to hear every passing second,

She reminded me of a summer evening, After a heavy rain,

I don't know why, but whenever I was around her, there was less pain...

The Cobra and The Darkmoon empires were not rivals before. My mother and Krystal's mother were really close friends, and so were our fathers (well, not the alter of my father). They were so close that the two empires' buildings were constructed adjacent to each other. We grew up together, from playing chess, badminton, shooting to play...err. nevermind.

From the day my mother killed my father, she took over the throne and everything seemed to be coming on the tract.

But life is never that easy.

I still remember each detail of that dark night.

{I was doing my martial arts practise when the sirens echoed in the hallway. I froze in my spot and saw Jake rushing in my direction.

"T-they attacked us-, T-they are coming-". Jake said breathlessly, in a panicked tone and I immediately ran in the direction of the security office.

"Call the Assassins to be activated and double the security of the gates." I commanded my fellow guards and opened the CCTV cameras in the halls in a rush.

My breathing stopped from what I saw. My heart just wasn't ready to comprehend. There were many people fighting against my members, blood was everywhere, and numerous bodies were lying on the ground, but the thing that I didn't wanted to believe was that the humans who were killing my people had a wolf tattoo with a dark red moon on their necks.

I immediately left the security office and rushed towards my mother's room through the secret passages which were built for emergencies like this. My heart was beating so fast that I could even feel it's sound in my ears, My mouth was becoming dryer by every second and I ran through the passage.

Finally, I reached my mother's room and opened it-

That was my worst nightmare came true, my mother was lying lifeless on the ground, her neck was slashed and thick crimson liquid was oozing out from the gash, her white silk blouse was soaked in the pool of her own blood, her beautiful eyes were opened and staring above the sealing, and when I averted my gaze from her body, there my senses lost, Krystal, my best friend, my first love, my girlfriend, was holding a dagger in her hand which was covered in blood. My eyes were just seeing blood, My brain was unable to comprehend what my optic receptors were trying to show, My body felt numb, All I could comprehend was the sound of sirens ringing throughout the mansion.

"S-Sandra I-I didn't." She shuttered when she looked at me standing in front.

"H-how could you-" Tears were forming in my eyes, and Krystal was on the verge of crying too.

"I s-swear I didn't."

"Don't give me bullshit!" I exclaimed, and rushed in her direction and grabbed her by the collar.

"S-Sandra-"

*Slap*

"So this is what you wanted, huh? power." I spat on her face and she froze.

"P-Princess-"

*Slap*

"Don't you fucking dare to call me that! Don't you fucking dare!" I growled, but then my breathing became harder due to my clogged nose with tears.

I freed her collar from my hand and she fell on the floor from the impact and groaned in pain.

I started to make my way out of my room to help my people, I could have killed her right there, but my heart was not ready to believe that she was the one who killed my mother.

"W-Wait - D-Don't leave me," she pleaded, her voice broken.

"You are pathetic, you power-seeking bitch-"

"No- I-I- A-Am S-Sorry for w-whatever I did, but please don't leave me-" She begged, but the fuck 'whatever she did', huh? She called betraying the Cobras and killing my mother whatever huh-

"I hate you-" I yelled with all my heart, but I couldn't make my heart ready to kill her, so I decided to leave her to Jake and then I left the room. That was my worst mistake.}

A woman with a hollow heart,

A book torn apart,

A withered and dying soul.

A life with no spark.

I will not rest until the day you die,

I know this isn't going to be an easy ride.

I will give you the amount of pain you have never dreamed.

I will crush each and every bone in your body until you stop to scream.

************************

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