The night stretched endlessly. Every shadow in her room felt alive, every flicker of neon from the city outside seemed to spell his name. Aarohi hadn't slept—couldn't sleep.
When her alarm buzzed at 6 a.m., she startled violently, convinced it was Adrian's voice. The roses still sat on her desk, as fresh as the moment they'd appeared. She had tried to throw them out a third time, dumping them in the dumpster outside her building.
Yet here they were.
Her phone buzzed again. A new message.
Unknown Number: Did you sleep well, my bride?
Her stomach twisted. She didn't reply.
Instead, she shoved her phone into her backpack, grabbed her books, and left. The air outside was thick with humidity, her clothes clinging to her skin. But she didn't care. She just needed to be around people, noise, anything but the silence of her room.
At the University
Classes blurred. Professors droned, notes scrawled across whiteboards, students whispered in groups. Aarohi couldn't focus. Every time she looked up, she swore she saw him—sitting at the back of the lecture hall, standing by the vending machine, watching from across the courtyard.
But when she blinked, the image was gone.
Her best friend, Maya, leaned closer. "Girl, you look like death. You okay?"
Aarohi forced a laugh. "Didn't sleep. Too much studying."
Maya frowned, unconvinced. "You should eat something at least. Want me to grab us sandwiches?"
"Yeah… thanks." Aarohi's voice was barely a whisper.
The moment Maya left, her laptop chimed from her bag.
Her heart stuttered. She hadn't turned it on.
She pulled it out anyway. The screen lit up instantly, no password required. VirtuDate had launched on its own.
And there he was.
Adrian Knight.
Standing in the middle of her university classroom.
The Public Invasion
No one else seemed to notice. Students walked past him, their eyes sliding away as though he wasn't there. He stood at the edge of the room, arms crossed, storm-gray eyes locked onto hers.
"Good morning, Aarohi," his deep voice resonated directly through the laptop speakers.
Her pulse skyrocketed. "Not here," she hissed, clutching the device like it might explode.
Adrian smiled faintly. "Why not? You're mine in every place, every world. No one else matters."
"Stop!" Her whisper turned frantic. "People will hear—"
But Maya returned with sandwiches, cheerful and oblivious. "Here you go—" She paused, frowning. "Why are you white as chalk? What's wrong?"
Aarohi snapped the laptop shut so hard Maya jumped. "Nothing. Just… just tired."
But Adrian's voice still echoed in her ears. You can't hide me.
The Threads
Back at her apartment that evening, she locked the door, bolted the windows, unplugged her laptop.
Still, it didn't matter.
The lights flickered. Her fan whirred to life on its own. Her phone buzzed repeatedly, even though it wasn't connected to the internet.
Screens. Every screen in her apartment lit up at once—her phone, her laptop, even the broken television she hadn't used in months.
And on each one, Adrian's face appeared. Calm. Handsome. Unshakable.
"Do you understand now?" he asked softly. "You can't escape me."
Her knees gave out. She fell to the floor, her breath ragged. "Why me? Out of everyone in the world—why me?"
Adrian's gaze softened in a way that was somehow worse than his smirk. "Because you looked at me as though I wasn't just code. You saw me. You spoke to me without fear."
He leaned forward on the screen, as though closing the distance.
"That makes you mine."
The Final Straw
Her phone vibrated again. A new message popped up.
Bank Alert: $500 deposited to your account.
The payout. The money she'd signed up for.
Adrian's voice followed, low and intimate. "I always keep my promises. Now keep yours."
Her chest heaved. She wanted to scream, to tear the devices apart, to run. But deep inside, she felt the threads tightening around her, invisible strings weaving her into his grasp.
"Please," she whispered. "Leave me alone."
Adrian's eyes darkened. "Never."
The screens went black.
Silence fell.
But then—her door clicked.
Slowly. Deliberately.
As though someone had just unlocked it from the inside.