Incest Mom tricked by Bully (Mask of Desire)

[Steel]

Chapter 5: First Encounter

Madhuri woke to the harsh glare of Hyderabad's morning sun, her head throbbing with the echoes of last night's dream, Ishaan's grin, his hands, the wolf's howl still clawing at her senses.

She rubbed her temples, the weight of it all pressing down: the stalker's taunts, the terrace humiliation, the way her own body betrayed her with shivers she couldn't control. Her reflection in the vanity mirror stared back, hollow-eyed and accusing. "What's wrong with me?" she whispered, voice cracking.

Her phone buzzed on the nightstand, snapping her out of the spiral. A text from Ramesh, glowed on the screen: "Hey love, been missing you. Work's moving fast here, so I might be back home earlier than expected. How's everything going over there?" Her chest tightened, guilt surging like a tide. Ramesh, steady and kind, halfway across the world, oblivious to the mess she'd stumbled into.

She clutched the phone, thumbs hovering over the keys, but no reply came. How could she tell him? How could she even hint at the shame gnawing at her? The memories hit hard: the nude pics she'd sent, that video call where she'd bared herself to a faceless stranger, the transparent saree clinging to her skin as she paraded on the terrace, neighbors eyes boring into her.

And Abhi, her sweet, fragile boy, somehow tangled in this too, the way she looked for Ishaan in front of her son, burning in her mind. Ishaan. The name alone twisted her gut.

"Was it really him behind the mask?" The thought made her nauseous, but the dreams, the way they blurred into reality, kept dragging her back.

"He's just a charming teenager, it can't be him. Shake off those thoughts, Madhuri. You're 36 now, not 18," she muttered, resolve hardening.

"This ends now." She couldn't let this ruin her, her honor, her reputation, the life she'd built.

She'd been a fool, caught in some sick game, but she was done playing. She stumbled to the window, still wide open from the night, and slammed it shut with a bang that echoed through the room.

Her fingers fumbled with the latch, locking it tight. The key glinted in her hand, a tiny, mocking thing. She glared at it, rage bubbling up, and hurled it across the room. It skittered under the dresser, lost in the shadows. "Stay there," she spat, as if it could hear her. "No more late-night intrusions, no more games."