Chapter 256: Next Morning!
The morning sun had barely risen over Mumbai when the smell of freshly brewed coffee began drifting through the open kitchen of Lotus Crown Villa.
Alex stood at the marble counter in a loose grey t-shirt and shorts, cracking eggs into a bowl.
The kitchen was already set with three plates, a stack of buttered toast, a bowl of sliced fruit, and a jar of orange juice that probably cost more than most people’s weekly groceries.
Riya appeared first.
She walked in wearing an oversized white shirt that clearly belonged to Alex and a pair of cotton shorts, her hair still slightly damp from a shower.
She didn’t acknowledge him immediately. Instead, she walked past him to the coffee machine, poured herself a cup, and leaned against the opposite counter.
Alex looked at her, raising his eyebrows.
"Still angry?" he asked carefully.
"I wasn’t angry," Riya said flatly, sipping her coffee.
"Oh... so it’s not you who slammed the door in my face yesterday."
"Aww... are you hurt, baby?"
Alex opened his mouth, then wisely decided to close it again.
He turned back to the eggs and began whisking them with renewed focus, as if the fate of the world depended on how well these omelettes turned out.
Riya watched him silently for a moment over the rim of her cup. The corner of her lips twitched.
"You made her cry, Alex... that’s why."
"I was joking."
"As if I didn’t know that..."
"I was joking, really. How was I supposed to know she would react like that? She literally kicked a grown man across a street three hours earlier. And you know that there might be so many cameras that captured her. Even after what I’ve done through Sahil, there’s a chance that some footage might have leaked..."
"Oh, for God’s sake... She was already on the edge. And the first thing you did was put on a serious face and interrogate her."
Riya set down her cup. "You need to understand something, Alex. She doesn’t pick up on it when you’re being sarcastic. She takes everything at face value. If you look angry, she thinks you’re angry."
Alex was quiet for a moment. He flipped the omelette in the pan with a practiced wrist movement.
"Fine... I’ll apologize," he said simply.
"Good."
"Right now?"
"After breakfast. Let her sleep a bit longer. She was up late yesterday..."
As if summoned by the mention of her name, a soft creak came from the hallway.
Lucy appeared at the kitchen entrance, looking slightly uncertain about whether she was allowed to be there.
She was wearing a simple light blue cotton dress that Riya had picked out for her earlier that week, and her long black hair fell loosely past her shoulders.
She looked between Alex and Riya with cautious eyes, clearly trying to read the atmosphere before committing to entering the room.
"Good morning," Riya said warmly, waving her over. "Come sit. Alex made breakfast for you specially."
Lucy hesitated for just a second before walking in.
She sat down across from Riya, her back perfectly straight, her hands folded neatly in her lap.
"Good morning, Big Sister. Good morning, Brother Alex."
Alex turned from the stove and placed a plate in front of her. A fluffy omelette, two slices of toast, and a small portion of fruit arranged neatly.
"Morning. Are you okay?" he said casually. Then he paused for a beat and added, "About last night. I wasn’t actually angry with you. I was trying to make a joke. A bad one, apparently."
Lucy looked at him for a moment, then lowered her gaze softly.
"Hmm... I know."
Alex turned to Riya. "See? I told you she understands."
He placed the second plate in front of Riya and sat down with his own. "By the way, I’m impressed. It looks like Jacob trained you well since the last incident."
Lucy blushed.
"Thank you, Brother Alex."
Riya reached over and squeezed Lucy’s hand. "See? I told you. Everything’s fine."
Lucy nodded and picked up her fork, finally beginning to eat. She took a small bite of the omelette and her eyes widened slightly.
"This is really good," she said softly, sounding genuinely surprised.
"Don’t sound so shocked," Alex said dryly. "I can cook."
Lucy looked at him sideways, a tiny giggle escaping her lips before she quickly covered her mouth with her hand.
The sound was so unexpected and so genuinely delightful that both Alex and Riya couldn’t help but laugh.
Lucy’s blush deepened, but this time she didn’t try to hide the small smile that lingered on her face. She went back to eating quietly, occasionally sneaking glances at the two of them.
The morning felt strangely peaceful.
Three people from different worlds, sitting around a kitchen island, eating eggs and toast.
The large flat-screen television mounted on the wall opposite the kitchen island had been on since morning, playing at a low volume that none of them had been paying any attention to. Some rerun of a morning astrology show had been droning on for the past twenty minutes.
But just as Lucy reached for her second slice of toast, the screen cut abruptly to a red banner.
BREAKING NEWS! BREAKING NEWS!
"Good morning. We are interrupting our regularly scheduled programming to bring you a breaking story from South Mumbai."
The anchor, a sharply dressed woman in her mid-thirties with perfect posture and an even more perfect media voice, looked directly into the camera.
"Late last night, an attempted kidnapping took place right outside the popular upscale nightclub Zenith in the Colaba district. According to the police report, a black van pulled up outside the venue at approximately 1:45 AM, and several masked men attempted to abduct a young woman who was exiting the club with a group of friends."
The screen shifted to shaky mobile phone footage.
The video was grainy and clearly recorded from across the street at a considerable distance. The angle was poor, the lighting was bad, and the figures were mostly silhouettes against the streetlights.
But what was visible was enough.
A petite figure in what appeared to be a dark dress delivering a devastating kick to one of the masked attackers. The man flew several feet backward and hit the ground hard. Even in the low-quality footage, the impact was shocking to watch.
The clip continued, showing the same small figure systematically taking down three more men in rapid succession, moving with a fluidity and speed that seemed completely at odds with her size.
"As you can see from this footage, which was captured by a bystander from across the road, a young woman who appears to have been part of the group fought back against the attackers single-handedly. The video has been circulating on social media since early this morning and has already gone viral, with millions of views across multiple platforms."