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With anxious and hasty steps, she walked over to the reception desk, which was four feet farther from the cabin in the five-storey building. She didn't want it. No way could she deal with that person on a Saturday morning. If there was anything she wanted at that point, it was peace, but ever since the person showed up, she had been frustrated. Not because he vexed her, that was another case, but because she was yet to find a solution for him. He was the only challenge she had reluctantly agreed she was failing in.

It didn't matter that she was a well-known psychiatrist who worked for Aces, a covert organization fighting the mafia. So what if she was aligned to work for the mental health being of aces and their immediate near ones? This one ace had kept her on her toes and had aggravated her as nobody else did. Dealing with that ace was not a piece of cake. And if she thought the third ace was terrible, she was in for a ride with the fourth one.

Her personal favorites till now had been Dhriti and Saavi, wives of the two aces Namit Khanna and Dhruv Kapoor. They exhibited cooperation, unlike anyone else. Although they didn't rank high on her list of favourites, Namit and Dhruv were tolerable. Arjun and his wife were in a different dimension. They weren't her favourites, and they weren't even bearable. Furthermore, neither of the two wanted to be on those lists. Nitya threw a fit when she took her statement regarding her husband in the wrong way. While Arjun, well, Arjun Malhotra did not attend any session without a buffet arranged. It was never possible to get him to speak up without food and a picture of his beloved wife.

"Dr. Jones." Julia Jones' assistant waiting at the reception desk addressed her

"Shelly, please tell me he is not here." Shelly's expression revealed everything she did not want to know just yet.

"What do you want? Truth or lie?"

"Whatever news that does not choke me to death."

Shelly said, "Your cabin is empty and you can work all by yourself just as you imagined," taking her words literally. Julia attempted to confirm as she cast a quick glance down the hallway that led to her cabin.

"Is it actually empty?"

"Are you opting for the truth?" There was no way out for Julia because she knew what was coming for her.

"Yes, I am."

No matter what, she could not avoid him if he was there. She also had updates to give Mrs. Acharya, the person responsible for the Aces' medical needs. One additional thing: despite feeling unqualified for this ace, she persisted in trying. She was obviously afraid of this ace, but she did not want to give up on him now that she was so familiar with him.

"He is here."

"Fuck my life!" Julia groaned and swore.

"It's too soon to say that. The day is going to be a long one." Knowing it would be a long day, Julia chose not to respond. With that ace, seconds or minutes seem to last for days. Although patience was a virtue in her line of work, she required gallons of it with this one.

When Dr. Julia Jones was given the fourth ace, the Royal Prince Hredhaan Rajvansh, whom she thought would be one of her simple assignments, as her next challenge, she thought it would be child's play. Even though she had dealt with him for years, she would occasionally feel afraid for him or because of him. In addition, the number of sessions has increased lately. But because she was a professional, she wouldn't let her challenges interfere.

Walking to her cabin, Julia braced herself. After taking several long, deep breaths, she pushed open the cabin door while beaming. She anticipated him to be there but was surprised to find the usual spot he would take deserted. She searched the area but found no one. Her attention shifted to one of the open windows when she felt a breeze blow past her. She became alarmed when she noticed the drapes were flying in and out. In a hurry, she ran to the window and peered outside. She was essentially scanning the ground for any trace of blood or a body. There wasn't anything like that, which made her worry more now.

"I did not jump."

She almost shrieked when she heard the familiar masculine voice.

Julia turned around to discover the six feet four-inch sturdy physique laying on the couch, which was insufficient for someone of his height. Nevertheless, he was lying on it, his legs splayed out and propped up on one of the couch's armrests with his hands under his head.

"Not yet," he added with a sigh as if he craved to do it, as though he longed to take his life.

Exhaling relief, she asked him, "Why is the window open?" She knew he did not like windows opened for some reason he had not told her yet.

"The sun is lovely today." He kept looking up at the ceiling. That was Hredhaan Rajvansh to her: erratic, frightening, and capable of far more than he was letting on.

She moved closer to where he was and took the water bottle from the coffee table that was placed on the left side of the couch.

"Water?" she offered.

"Thanks, but no" She nodded and poured herself a drink since she needed it badly. After finishing her drink, she returned the glass and bottle to the table and sat down on the recliner sofa right to the sofa Hredhaan was lying on.

"I am obsessed."

She heard him say.

Unlike before, he was not silent and was speaking at his own discretion. It appeared to Julia that it was progress. As she settled into her opulent recliner, she opened her notepad. If Hredhaan's openness surprised her, Julia was about to experience something she had never thought even existed.

She saw Hredhaan smile.

She could not believe it, whether it was real or phony. But it was too good to be fake. Besides, a forty-year-old woman rarely dreams of men younger than her smiling, so it was probably real and not some sort of dream or whatever.

"It's been twenty-three years." Julia was yet to ask for the clarification behind his words, but Hredhaan beat her to it.

"Do you think I am crazy?"

He was suddenly sitting on the couch and looking inquisitively at her. The pale rays of the sun fell across the room, illuminating his features, and giving him a Godly Royal appearance.

"Crazy is a subjective term. As per me, you are not, but for you, depends on what you consider being crazy. Will you enlighten me?"

He leaned forward and sighed. He put his elbows on his spread knees with the fingers of both of his hands intertwined.

"I know how she smells. I am aware of what she eats, when, and how. She aggravates me to the core that I feel like something is ripping out of my body, yet I just keep going round and round the circle. She is the epicenter of everything. My epicenter." His eyes sparkled as he continued to gush about her. And Julia knew who he was referring to. In all those sessions, he had rarely mentioned to her that too, after Julia's insistence. Hearing more about her not had her left surprised but mystified too.

"You have a great memory, I would presume, instead of calling you crazy."

"Memory?" He shook his head as he muttered softly, "Oh, yeah, memory."

For Hredhaan, that phrase was the most distressing, and Julia was aware of this. She understood how he felt because of his excellent memory. He hated himself for remembering everything that had ever happened to him or that he had ever seen.

"I mean, we can always find good in it." Julia tried to divert his attention from that memory aspect. Fortunately, Hredhaan did not even bring it up; instead, he returned his attention to the earlier discussion of her.

"She has always been there. But now she lives everywhere."

"Everywhere?" she asked, confused. As she awaited his reaction, her brows wrinkled.

"Around me. In me. She has not noticed it yet. I am around her when she works. I am there when she shops and I am there when she cries." Hredhaan reclined on the couch's back. Just like before, his eyes were fixed on the ceiling.

"She cries."

"I hate that. Her tears infuriate me."'

Julia did not know what power the woman Hredhaan mentioned had over him. She was oblivious to the reasons, too. But now that she was hearing him talk about her, seeing him talk about her, and observing the frequent changes in his facial features he had not displayed in years, she concluded that the lady was an important part of Hredhaan's life.

"Have you ever been scared, Julia?" He was seated cross-legged and fixated on her. She hesitated to respond, despite wanting to. She did not want to interrupt him or take away from him the opportunity to open up, even though it was an unusual way he was opening up to her.

"You know how I felt when she stood on the brink of the hospital's terrace railing?"

Julia's face went ashen. She hadn't expected him to be aware of it. As per the instructions she had gotten from Mrs. Acharya, she had immaculately kept that information from him.

"I was there."

Hredhaan stood up and strolled over to her. She kept talking to herself in her head all the time that he would not harm her. Why would he, when she was trying to help him? Did he, however, really think that getting help was even a concern?

He leaned forward and grasped the recliner's armrests such that his knuckles turned white. Julia hurled herself backward while hoping for the torment to stop.

"It felt like someone curled their hand around my neck. I felt my insides churning and the air being sucked out of my body. I felt it all intensely. My trachea constricted, the walls of my lungs getting squeezed. Do you have any idea how that feels?" Julia felt breath mixed with rage fanning her face.

"I was instructed to maintain the secrecy." She stated firmly, and it was true. She didn't want to hide that information, but it was part of her job.

"All at once, thousands of needles seemed like they were pricking my skin. My body was put into flames that I had escaped years ago, in which I had seen people I cared for once burning alive, right in front of my eyes." 

"I did my job." She gave him a stern look as her tone became more severe. She had to be harsh because she was not just a therapist but the only therapist who worked for an anti-mafia organization.

"I saw everything. Her breaking down. I saw fear in her eyes, one which mirrored mine. Do you know how it feels?"

"Hredhaan." She called his name firmly.

He stepped back, his demeanour suddenly becoming calm and collected.

"She is fine now, though." He acted as if he had not just indirectly threatened Julia. She could read him by his expression and his carefree body language. Concerned, she got up from her seat and inquired, "What did you do?"

"Not much at all." He answered her.

"Not much at all." This time, he said to himself.

"You were never going to give up on her. Were you?"

"Give up?" He chortled as if he heard a joke.

"On her?" He shook his head, laughing. Even Shelly placed her ear to the door because of the resonance of his voice. His laugh had startled Shelly and she could not miss a chance to hear what was going on inside.

"How do you give up on someone who lives in your veins ever since you get to know what a smile is?"

Hredhaan swiveled in the direction of the exit. He had stated implicitly that he did not want anyone to interfere with his life, thus he had no intention of being there any longer.

"She is carrying another person's child. Are you capable of handling this?" Hredhaan came to a complete stop. Although he was not ignorant of the knowledge, he was baffled as to why she was bringing it up. Julia merely intended to test the waters; she had no intention of offending him or demeaning her.

"She is carrying someone else's chil..."

"Child." He immediately corrected her and shot her one menacing glance.

"Her child. Hers." Julia did not like how the session was ending. She was uneasy, scared, and worried, for him and for her.

"Have you seen her eyes? It glitters. But these days, it's glittering more."

Before she knew it, Hredhaan had left her cabin and discovered Shelly listening in on their conversation, leaving her feeling embarrassed and frightened.

"Shelly."

"Mr. Rajvansh... I... uh.. have a nice day."

"You too."

He didn't appear to be the same man Shelly had heard laughing earlier. Hredhaan left the health center of the aces, making himself clear to Julia in a way that she was not seeing him anytime soon or maybe ever, which meant the world was on the brink of despoliation he was going to unleash.