꧁༒༻༺༒꧂꧁༒༻༺༒꧂
༺༻Chapter 5: Scars༺༻
꧁༒༻༺༒꧂꧁༒༻༺༒꧂
The early morning sun began to burn away the hazy mist when Priya received the call that a Russian had taken Kalu.
Her blood went cold. The previous time someone had taken Kalu had almost cost her her life. Without a second thought, she pulled on her police jacket, shoved her feet into her police boots, and strode down her street with her imagination flying to worst-case scenarios.
The mansion would be the very definition of ostentatious - the architectural design was the best of the West but the essence was understated elegance, though it still stood like a royal in front of a kingdom that needed to bow. Tall and brightly white, surrounded by guards in suits, Priya could only welcome the bricks in the bold colour that signified positivity. Priya walked through the gate without acknowledging them, suppressing the outrage that beat alive inside her.
Priya thinking at last neet zayne said he dont have house and now this grand mansion…
Priya walked through the grand entrance and noticed he was in their living room sitting in an armchair made of leather trying to look authoritative wearing a white shirt with sleeves rolled nonchalantly lazily to his elbows reading the newspaper like he owned the world.
"You!"
Zayne barely had time to glance up before Priya intervened. She strode toward him in half a second with a fuelled anger that would lay still the flames of Hell. She pointed a finger at him, panting with anger.
"You stole Kalu!"
The accusation hovered in the room. Before she could finish speaking, a blur of fur was running toward her. Kalu was barking and wagging his tail. Priya knelt to scoop him up and hug him to her chest, her relief rushing through her body.
Zayne set down the newspaper he was reading and stood up slowly. He seemed mildly surprised with her sudden sad face , but he displayed no signs of guilt.
"Priya..." His voice was casual and calm in stark contrast to her anger. "Kalu was hungry and alone."
Priya pulled the shaking dog further into her chest and for a moment, her anger softened into concern. Then the fire of her rage pricked again.
"You steal dogs now?" she yelled, her voice dripping with accusatory tone. "God knows what else you're doing to them." She pulled Kalu into her chest, filled with imaginings and morbid thoughts. "I don't know... maybe you sell them? Or eat them?"
At her ridiculous accusation, Zayne's lips twitched, a slight smirk flickering in his dark eyes. "Eat them?" He took a step closer, his voice dripping sarcasm. "Really, Priya? That's your hypothesis?"
Ignoring him, Priya hugged Kalu, as if the dog would disappear again.
Kalu, however, was wagging his tail in blissful indifference towards her rage. When she gazed into his small, brown seal-like eyes, he slowly shook his head, which seemed like a response to her unvoiced question.
"Thank God," she muttered, her heart finally easing.
Zayne stood there with his arms folded, watching her with a look she couldn't define. "Actually..." he said, letting the word sink in. "He's been fed, bathed, and has a bed more comfortable than mine." He glanced at her with a slight smirk. "I may be Russian, but I don't cruelly harm dogs, Priya."
Her anger receded and was replaced by pangs of guilt. She had jumped to conclusions. "I'm sorry," she whispered, not looking at him.
His sharp features softened to a smirk. "Apology accepted."
He looked down at Kalu, who was wagging his tail between them like an excited kid. "But next time you feel the need to accuse someone of being a 'dog smuggler,' maybe check the facts first?"
She exhaled and her shoulders dropped. "To be honest..."she paused. "Kalu was kidnapped once. That's why I'm overprotective.
, "Kidnapped?" His voice was lower now, the Russian accent thickening.
"In India, people steal dogs, and force them to breed, and sell the puppies for very high prices," she elaborated, her fingers squeezing tightly against Kalu's fur.
Zayne's jaw clenched. He had witnessed the horrors of puppy mills: piles of dogs wedged into cages, only used until they were sick, then tossed away like rubbish. He clenched his fist tighter, staring blankly…
"Well, then he was very lucky that someone didn't breed him to death," he muttered more to himself than her.
Priya's eyes darkened, her pain palpable, "He was lucky I got to him just in time."
Zayne was looking at her then, really looking at her. "How old was he?"
"One year old." Her voice lowered, "I was new on the police force when I found him," she said hesitantly, as she pointed with a finger to her lower lip, "You see this cut? It is from that incident."
His sharp glare zeroed in on her lip. He hadn't noticed the small jagged scar, until he was looking at her dip right above the curve of her mouth. He felt his fingers twitch with the battling urge to touch her lip and see the scar for himself.
"You saved him…" he said, his voice quieter. "At your own cost."
Priya shrugged, but tightened her grip on Kalu. "They cut my lip with a knife."
His whole body went still. The air in the room felt like it dropped several degrees. His jaw clenched so hard it made a muscle tick in his cheek. "Fuck." His voice was a whisper that was heavily laced with quiet fury. "Those bastards."
He reached out before he could think. His thumb grazed the scar. Priya gasped as the unexpected touch made her breath catch. His fingers were rough and calloused, but he touched her with the kind of tenderness that made her stomach twist.
"Did you arrest them?" His voice was dangerously low, almost a growl.
She nodded.
"You made them regret it," he said. It was not a question, but a statement.
A smirk flickered across her lips. "Hmm."
Zayne looked down at Kalu and then back to Priya. "Can I adopt him?"
Priya blinked and then looked surprised. "You... want him?"
"I already do," he said simply.
Something in the way he said it left no room for disagreement. Kalu was barking happily, as though approving his new master. Priya felt a weight lift off her chest.
"Thanks, Mr. Kim," she said.
He frowned. "Zayne. Call me Zayne."
"Okay…" she faltered. "Zayne."
Before more words could escape from Zayne's lips, he reached again for her lip, and this time, to measure, the depth of the scar. Priya's heart was racing at the preposterous intimacy of the gesture.
Then—
A slow, sarcastic clap broke the comfortable atmosphere.
"Bravo!"
Priya pulled herself away from Zayne's touch and turned towards the sound.
A blonde woman hovered in the doorway, her red lips twisted into a snarling sneer. She was tall and draped in an expensive designer dress with clicking heels on the marble floor.
It was Masha.
"The great Zayne is touching a mere filthy Indian cop!" She mocked, laughter spilling from her lips unabashedly. She twirled her hair back and Priya could see the malice in her sparkling eyes. "You know what they say about Indians, right?"
Anger twisted in Priya's stomach and she felt herself stiffen. Before she could even react, she saw the smirk on Masha's face.
"Maybe you're his new slut?" Masha said, scoffing and crossing her arms. "His new sugar baby?"
Priya's mind went black. Was she—was this woman Zayne's girlfriend?
Before Priya could even feel things, Zayne spoke out, in the same angry tone he always used, but now it felt as if he were shaping ice cubes.
"Masha," he said, slowly. There was a hint of danger laced into his thick Russian accent. "Shut. Up."
But Masha ignored Zayne. She leaned in toward Priya, smiling, then pointing with smirking eyes at Zayne, "Didn't you know? He has a type." She winked, then said, "Sugar babies, whores—"
Zayne put himself in front of Masha. He stood over her. "You're my old sugar baby, Masha. Nothing more."
Priya's heart twisted in her chest.
Masha leaned into Zayne, not afraid at all. Her red nails grazed Zayne's chest as she leaned in about, "I know what your dick needs."
Priya turned from her face to the door. She had to hear no more. She turned on her heel and boarded her police bike.
Masha sat watching. With a smirk, she seized Zayne by the collar and pecked his cheek with her lips.
It was the last thing Priya saw as she revived the engine and pulled out of the parking lot, kicking up dirt as she drove away.
꧁༒༻༺༒꧂꧁༒༻༺༒꧂
༶•┈┈┈༓༓༓༓༓༓༓༓༓┈┈┈༶
༺ To be continued… ༻
꧁༒༻༺༒꧂꧂༒༻༺༒꧂
© 2025 Cub Vailisa - All Rights Reserved ⚖️ - Copyright Infringement, Distribution or Plagiarization is Indicted - ⚖️ - You could be held liable for damages - ⚠️
📚 To All My Fabulous cubs,,,Read Mafia's Touch & More 📚
✨ I am ecstatic!!! Animation has been created for my stories on my YouTube Channel! ✨
🎥 You can find all types of animated adaptations on Cub Vailisa YouTube." Some of your favorite chapters, behind-the-scened content and some exclusive videos "You don't want to miss!" 🎥
🔔 Don't forget to subscribe and hit the bell to get notification alerts to fall into my world I created in my novels! 🔔