✦ ──── ✦ ──── ✦

People believe monsters are loud.

Violent.
Obvious.
Easy to recognize.

They are wrong.

The most dangerous monsters look perfectly normal.

They smile.
They sit beside you at dinner tables.
They walk freely among innocent people.

And sometimes...

They fall in love.

✦ ──── ✦ ──── ✦

The night was unusually quiet.

A man ran down a deserted street, his breath ragged, panic burning inside his chest. His footsteps echoed loudly against the empty road as he stumbled forward.

He didn't dare look behind him again.
Because he already knew.
Someone was following him.

Slow footsteps echoed in the darkness.

Unhurried.
Measured.
Patient.

The man's legs finally gave up. He tripped and fell onto the cold asphalt, scraping his palms as he tried to crawl backward.

"No... no... please..."

His voice cracked with terror.

The footsteps stopped.

For a moment, the entire street was silent except for the man's desperate breathing.

Then a shadow moved.

A tall figure stepped out from the shadows as if the darkness itself had given birth to him.

His face was partially hidden, but the cold gleam in his eyes was enough to freeze the blood in anyone's body.

The man's eyes widened in horror.

He couldn't clearly see the stranger's face, but the calmness in his posture was far more frightening than rage.

The stranger walked closer.
Slowly.
Carefully.

Like a predator approaching prey that had already accepted its fate.

The man immediately fell to his knees, tears streaming down his face.

"Please... I have a family... please let me go..."

The stranger tilted his head slightly, studying him.

Almost curiously.

"Everyone says that," he said quietly.

His voice was deep.
Calm.
Terrifyingly emotionless.

The man began sobbing harder. "Please... I swear... I will never betray you again!"

But the stranger had already lost interest.

Instead, he reached into his coat and pulled out something small.

A black notebook.

The man froze.

The stranger opened it slowly.

Page after page filled with names stared back at him.

Some had thick red crosses drawn over them.
Some remained untouched.

The stranger stopped on one name.
The man's name.

The stranger lifted his gaze.

"You should have thought about mercy," he said softly, "before your name was written here."

The man shook his head frantically.

"No—"

Suddenly, a gun appeared in the stranger's hand.

The movement was smooth.
Effortless.

The stranger pointed the gun straight at the man's forehead.

And with a faint smirk, he said,

"See you in hell."

The man barely had time to scream.

Bang.

A gunshot shattered the silence.

Everything went quiet.

The man's body collapsed onto the road, lifeless.

For a moment, the stranger simply watched the corpse.

His expression didn't change.

He crouched beside the body and opened the black notebook again.

The same name stared back at him from the page.

He dipped two fingers into the warm blood slowly spreading across the ground.

Dark red coated his skin.

Without hesitation, he dragged his fingers across the name.

One line.
Then another.
A cross.

The name was finished.
Erased.
Judged.

He stared at it for a moment before closing the notebook.

Another sin punished.
Another name erased.

He stood up calmly, slipping the notebook back into his coat.

And walked away into the darkness.

✦ ──── ✦ ──── ✦

Miles away, the world looked completely different.

Bright lights filled the streets.

Music played softly inside a cab moving through the evening traffic.

Tu agar meri, yeh hawayein teri...
Tu agar meri, saari raahein teri...

Aadhya Kashyap leaned her head against the window, watching the glowing city blur past her.

A small smile rested on her lips as she listened to music.

Her life was simple.
Peaceful.
Safe.

She had a loving family.
A comfortable home.
A future that looked perfectly normal.

She didn't know that somewhere...

A man had just crossed another name out of a notebook with blood.

A man whose life was built on blood, revenge, and darkness.

And she definitely didn't know that fate had already started pulling their lives together.

Because the devil was about to meet his softest sin.

And when that happens—
the world will burn with them.

Tu agar meri, Main hoon tera...

✦ ──── ✦ ──── ✦

TROPES ✦

• Enemies to Lovers... partially
• Dark Romance
• Opposites Attract
• Age Gap
• Slow Burn
• Devil × Sunshine
• Morally Grey Male Lead
• Tiny but Fiery Female Lead
• She Fell First (She Thinks)
• He Fell Deeper... and Darker
• Possessive Male Lead
• Protective Female Lead

✦ ──── ✦ ──── ✦

AUTHOR'S NOTE ✦

Hello dear readers,

Welcome to my story and also to the slightly chaotic world inside my imagination.

Before you begin reading, there are a few things you should know.

First: English is not my first language.
So if you see a small grammar mistake somewhere, please be kind and politely ignore it while sipping your tea.

Second: This story contains dark themes, emotional drama, and a male lead who probably should have chosen therapy... but instead chose revenge and violence.

Excellent life choices, obviously.

Third: If you fall in love with morally grey fictional men after reading this story... that is completely your responsibility.

I warned you.

This book was written with imagination, determination, tea, and a slightly dangerous obsession with dark romance stories.

So if you enjoy the story, please support it by voting and commenting. Your support means a lot and motivates me to keep writing.

Now grab your tea, get comfortable, and enter the world of The Devil's Softest Sin.

But remember...

Some devils are dangerous to the world.
And soft only for one person.

— Muskan✦