The bass of Sarpam pulsed through Rhea's body like a second heartbeat. Unlike her birthday, when the music felt like freedom, tonight it sounded like a death knell.
She sat alone in a corner booth, a line of empty shot glasses arranged before her like a crystal graveyard. Her makeup was smeared. Her crimson hair hung limp and tangled. The designer dress she had thrown on without thinking was wrinkled, a testament to her unraveling.
The revelations of the past few days played on an endless loop in her mind: Prachi is my sister. My mother fought for me. My father is a coward. Everyone lied. Everyone.
She reached for another shot, but a hand intercepted hers.
"There you are," Tanya said. Tanya's voice was like honey laced with arsenic. She slid into the booth beside Rhea, her sharp eyes gleaming with predatory satisfaction. "I've been looking everywhere for you, babe."
Rhea didn't look at her. "Go away."
"Now, is that any way to talk to the only person who actually cares about you?" Tanya signaled the waiter for two more shots. "I heard about the big family reunion. It must have been... intense."
Rhea's jaw tightened. "I don't want to talk about it."
"Of course you don't." Tanya's hand found Rhea's thigh beneath the table, her touch light yet possessive. "You don't have to talk at all. You just need to feel. Let me help you forget."
The shots arrived. Rhea grabbed one and threw it back; the tequila burned a path down her throat. She welcomed the pain. It was easier than the other pain—the sharp, relentless pain that lived in her chest.
"See? Everyone leaves you." Tanya's lips brushed Rhea's ear, her voice a poisonous whisper. "Your mother abandoned you. It doesn't matter if she had reasons; she still wasn't there. Your sister stole Suyash right out from under you. Even your father chose his pathetic career over protecting you. But I'm still here, Rhea. I'll always be here."
Rhea's eyes burned. She hated how badly she wanted to believe those words. She hated how desperately she needed someone—anyone—to want her.
"Take me home," she whispered.
Tanya's smile was victorious. "I thought you'd never ask."
---
Tanya's Dorm Room — Late Night
The room was a reflection of its owner—sleek, cold, and meticulously curated. Tanya pushed Rhea onto the king-sized bed, her movements rough and demanding. The mattress bounced beneath Rhea's weight.
"You don't need Suyash," Tanya said, crawling over her like a predator cornering prey. "You don't need anyone. You just need to feel good. Let me make you feel good."
Rhea, drunk and desperate, let her. She closed her eyes and pretended that the hands on her body belonged to someone else. Someone gentle. Someone who saw her.
Tanya's mouth found Rhea's neck, not kissing but biting hard enough to leave marks. Hard enough to leave marks. Her hands were rough as she tore at Rhea's dress, exposing her breasts to the cool air.
"Look at you," Tanya murmured, her voice clinical. "Perfect tits. Perfect skin. And you waste it all on a man who doesn't even want you."
Rhea flinched but didn't push her away. She couldn't. She was too hollow, too exhausted, and too desperate to feel anything other than the gaping void inside her.
Tanya's mouth descended. She took Rhea's nipple between her lips and sucked—not with passion, but with mechanical precision. Her tongue worked the stiff peak, her teeth grazing just hard enough to make Rhea gasp.
"Ah... haa..." Rhea's back arched involuntarily; her body responded despite her mind's detachment.
"See?" Tanya pulled back, curling her lips. "Your body knows what it wants, even if your brain is too stupid to admit it." She switched to the other breast, giving it the same cold, efficient attention. "You get wet so easily. Such a slut."
Rhea clenched her fists in the sheets. The word stung, but she couldn't argue. Her body was responding—her nipples were hard and aching, and her pussy was growing slick between her thighs. But her heart felt nothing. Just emptiness.
Tanya's mouth traveled lower, pressing wet kisses down Rhea's stomach and dipping her tongue into her navel. When she reached the waistband of Rhea's thong, she hooked her fingers beneath the fabric and pulled it down in one swift motion.
Rhea's pussy was exposed—smooth and hairless from regular waxing, its folds already glistening with unwanted arousal.
"Wow." Tanya's voice was mocking. "You're soaked. And I haven't even touched you properly yet." She spread Rhea's thighs wide, her eyes fixed on the wet, pink flesh. "You really are desperate, aren't you?"
"Just...just do it," Rhea whispered, her voice cracking. "Stop talking."
"As you wish, princess."
Tanya lowered her mouth to Rhea's pussy. Her tongue traced a slow, deliberate path from Rhea's entrance to her clit, collecting her arousal as if tasting a fine wine.
"Mmm... haa..." Rhea's hips twitched; her body craved more, even though her mind screamed, "This is wrong! This is wrong! This is wrong!"
Tanya's tongue circled Rhea's clit—not teasingly, but clinically. She mapped the swollen bud with the same detached precision she applied to everything. When Rhea's breathing quickened, Tanya increased the pressure, sucking the sensitive nub between her lips.
"Ah... ahh...!" Rhea's fingers tangled in Tanya's hair, pulling her closer. "Don't stop..."
"I wasn't planning to." Tanya's voice was muffled against Rhea's flesh. She slid two fingers inside Rhea's wet opening, curling them upward to stimulate her sensitive spot.
Rhea's back arched off the bed. "Fuck... haa... right there..."
Tanya worked her with mechanical skill, thrusting her fingers and flicking her tongue, bringing Rhea to the edge again and again, but never letting her fall. Each time Rhea's breathing hitched and her inner walls began to flutter, Tanya pulled back, leaving Rhea gasping and desperate.
"Please," Rhea begged, tears streaming down her cheeks. "Please, let me come. I need... I need to feel something..."
"Begging suits you," Tanya observed coldly. "But I'll decide when you come. Not you."
She resumed her torture—licking, sucking, and fingering—building Rhea up and tearing her down until she was a sobbing, trembling mess.
Finally, when Rhea was on the verge of breaking completely, Tanya pressed her thumb against her clitoris and curled her fingers deep inside her.
"Come," she commanded. "Now."
Rhea shattered.
"Ahhh... haa... I'm... I'm coming!" Her body convulsed, her inner walls clamping down on Tanya's fingers as her release flooded out in hot, pulsing waves. But even as the orgasm ripped through her, she felt nothing. No warmth. No connection. Just a mechanical release of pressure.
When the spasms subsided, Tanya pulled her fingers out and wiped them on the sheets. She rolled away from Rhea, reached for a cigarette on the nightstand, and lit it with practiced ease.
"See?" she said, exhaling a plume of smoke. "That's all you need: Pleasure. Nothing else matters. Not your mother. Not your sister. Not Suyash. Just this."
Rhea lay there, staring at the ceiling, tears streaming silently down her cheeks. Her body still trembled from the aftershocks, but inside, she felt hollow. Used. Empty.
Suyash would have held me, she thought. He would have kissed her. He would have whispered that she mattered.
But Tanya didn't kiss her. Tanya didn't hold her, either. Tanya didn't whisper anything except poison.
With devastating clarity, she realized that Tanya didn't care about her. Tanya only cared about control—about dominating and discarding someone more broken than herself.
Rhea waited until Tanya's breathing evened out, until the cigarette burned down to ash, and until she was certain that Tanya was asleep. Then, slowly and carefully, she slipped out of bed.
Her clothes were torn. She didn't care. She grabbed Tanya's discarded robe from the floor and wrapped it around herself. Her legs were shaky and her pussy was still slick and aching, but she forced herself to move.
She paused at the door and looked back at Tanya's sleeping form. A single tear slipped down her cheek.
"I deserve better than this," she thought. "I deserve someone who stays."
She slipped out into the night, the door clicking softly behind her.
---
Rhea walked aimlessly, her bare feet padding against the cool cobblestones. The island was silent, wrapped in the deep hush of the early morning. The cold, distant stars above offered no comfort.
She didn't know where she was going. She only knew that she couldn't stay in that room, in that bed, with the woman who had used her like a toy.
Her phone buzzed in the robe's pocket. She ignored it. It buzzed again. And again.
Finally, she pulled it out and looked at the screen.
Prachi: Where are you? I'm worried."
Prachi: Please answer. I can't sleep."
Prachi: Rhea: Please.
Rhea stared at the messages, her vision blurring with fresh tears. Her sister. The girl she had tormented and humiliated. The girl she had tried to destroy. The girl who had every right to hate her.
And she was worried. She couldn't sleep. She was reaching out.
Rhea's fingers trembled as she typed a response: "I'm okay. I just needed some air. I'll be back soon."
She wasn't sure if that was true. She didn't know if she would ever be "okay." But, for the first time in her life, she wanted to try.
She kept walking, the robe wrapped tightly around her. The cool night air stung her tear-stained cheeks. She didn't know where she was going. But she knew with surprising certainty that she wasn't going back to Tanya.
Not ever again.
—