"Kuch rishtey khoon se hote hain… par woh dard sirf khud se hota hai.""Some bonds are built by blood… but the pain always feels personal."— Aryan Sen
It was a cold Tuesday morning.
Aryan didn't come to class.
Didn't reply to messages.Didn't show up at the library.Didn't open the group chat.
Akari waited.Then worried.Then went to his apartment.
He wasn't there.
That evening, he finally messaged:
"He's here."
Just two words.
But Akari understood.His father.
Dev Sen.Global businessman.CEO of Sen Enterprises.Known for empire.Not known for empathy.
Akari had only heard about him from Aryan's quiet sighs and short answers.
But that night, she saw it for herself.
She found Aryan at the edge of a rooftop gym — gloves on, shirt drenched, eyes burning.
Punch after punch.Bag after bag.His fists weren't hitting leather — they were hitting memory.
She waited until he stopped.
"Did he say something?" she asked gently.
Aryan didn't answer.
Instead, he whispered:
"He said, 'You still wasting time on fights and foreigners?'"
Akari stiffened.
Aryan kept going:
"He said I should stop pretending I'm a hero.That I'll never be more than my surname."
"And then… he left. Like he always does."
Akari walked closer.
"He's wrong," she said softly.
Aryan looked at her, his voice low and bitter:
"He doesn't even know who I am.I built everything on my own.He sent me to Japan just to stay out of his legacy."
"Now he wants to use my silence as proof that I'm loyal."
Akari paused.
Then asked, "What will you do?"
Aryan looked down at his bruised knuckles.
"I'll build my own empire.Without his name. Without his rules."
She walked even closer.
"And what about… people?"
He looked at her again.
"I have one."
She blinked.
"You?"
He nodded.
"You."
Akari froze.
He didn't say it like a confession.He said it like a fact.
She stepped closer.
Touched his bruised hand.
"Then let's build it together."
That night, Aryan didn't cry.Didn't yell.Didn't hit another bag.
But his heartbeat — for the first time —felt louder than all the noise his father ever made.
[End of Episode 13]📝 Next: "Hurt Means You're Healing" – Aryan finally opens his mother's last letter, and Akari realizes… strength doesn't mean not breaking.