3.

--------------‐----------------------------------

ये कैसा इश्क़ है,

जो बंदूक की नोक पे खड़ा है,

तुम सज़ा भी हो मेरी...

और तुम ही खुदा है...

To bina bakwas kiye shuru krte h 💓..

--------------‐----------------------------------

○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○

~ HIMADRI POV ~

○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○

I leaned my head against the cold glass in the whole ride.

One hour. He said one hour.

One hour sitting next to a man who just forced me to marry with him or else he killed my family. How rubbish is this.. now he scrolling through his phone like he'd just finished a grocery run. Not a single word. Not a single glance.

I hate him. I hate him so much it feels like something physical sitting in my chest.

But somewhere between the streetlights and the silence, exhaustion pulled me under and I fell asleep against that window without meaning to.

I didn't even realize it until the car stopped

<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

~ AUTHOR POV ~

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

The SUV stopped in front of the Singhania vilaa.

villa is not the right word. Villas are warm. Villas have flowers near the gate and lights that feel welcoming.

This was a fortress.

Black marble. Glass walls that reflected the dark sky back at you. Tall iron gates that opened without anyone touching them. The kind of place that doesn't say come in - it says you don't leave.

Himadri woke up when the engine cut off. She sat up straight, pushed her glasses up her nose on instinct, and then remembered she wasn't wearing them. She'd left without anything. Her glasses were on her side table. Her phone was on her charger. Her whole life was back in that house. That house she spent her whole life and that house became curse too..

She looked at the building in front of her.

Her jaw tightened. Dark just like a fantasy..

Veeranshu got out. Adjusted his jacket - that habit he had, like everything always had to be perfectly in place. He didn't open her door. One of the guards did.

She stepped out into the cold morning air.

He was already walking toward the entrance. Not waiting. Not looking back.

"Keep up," he said. That was it.

She wanted to stand right there and not move just to annoy him. But her legs carried her forward anyway because what other option did she have right now.

None. Absolutely none.

He stopped just inside the main doors and turned to a guard. Said something low that she couldn't hear. The guard nodded and disappeared.

Two minutes passed.

When the guard came back he was carrying two things.

An iron chain. Thick. Heavy. Old-looking, like it had been brought out specifically for tonight.

And a plate. Covered with a red cloth.

Himadri stared at both.

What.

Veeranshu didn't explain. He walked straight to her, grabbed her wrist - hard - and before she could even react he was wrapping the chain around her hands.

"Ahh-" The metal bit into her skin immediately. Cold and tight and unforgiving. "Veeranshu! Leave my hand - it's hurting-"

He tightened it.

She looked up at him. He was already looking at her. And the way he was looking at her - direct, steady, completely unmoved -

"Jaan," he said quietly. So quietly. "Jo dard tumne mujhe diya hai... uske aage ye to kuch bhi nahi hai."

("The pain you gave me - this is nothing compared to that.")

He released her wrist with a sudden jerk.

She stumbled slightly. Caught herself. Looked down at the chain around her hands and pulled at it - once, twice - but it wasn't moving. She rubbed her wrists against it trying to find a weak point.

Nothing.

A guard stepped forward with the plate and set it on the floor in front of her. Veeranshu nodded at him. The cloth was pulled back.

Broken glass.

Jagged, sharp pieces arranged on the plate like they meant something.

Himadri looked at the glass. Then at Veeranshu.

Okay what is actually happening right now.

He read her face - she could tell, the way his eyes shifted slightly - and he spoke before she could.

"In our culture," he said, voice low and even, "the bride who enters this house brings luck with her.

She walks in with goodness." A pause. "But you didn't bring luck into my family, Himadri. You brought death. My brother's blood is on the road because of you."

His black eyes didn't move from her face. "So tonight - your blood will be on my floor."

The words landed like stones.

For exactly three seconds Himadri stood there processing them.

And then something snapped.

She looked at the plate. At the broken glass sitting there so carefully arranged, so deliberate, like some kind of sick ritual he'd planned-

She kicked it.

Hard.

The plate flew. Glass scattered across the marble floor of the villa with a sound that echoed through the entire entrance - sharp and loud and final - like something breaking that couldn't be unbroken.

The sound bounced off every wall and then died.

Silence.

Two guards froze. The third took a step forward and then stopped when Veeranshu raised one hand slightly without even looking at him.

Veeranshu looked at the glass on his floor.

Then he looked at her.

And for one second - just one - something moved behind his eyes. Not anger exactly. Something almost like... damn.

○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○

~ HIMADRI POV ~

○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○

I turned to face him fully.

My hands were chained and I was standing in a stranger's house at 5 AM in my night suit with no glasses and no phone and no idea what was going to happen next.

And in all this random shits Veeranshu forced me to put my feets in that plate..

Disgusting.. never.

But I was not going to stand there quietly.

"WTF, Mr. Veeranshu." My voice was shaking but not from fear - from pure rage.

"Ek toh tumne aadhi raat ko mere ghar aake, meri dosto ko pakad ke, meri hi family ko gunpoint pe rakh ke, mujhse zabardasti shaadi ki-"

I took a breath.

"Are you out of your mind.?? Do you have any idea what you did tonight?"

I could feel my eyes burning. I was NOT going to cry. I refused.

"Mere parents ko abhi kuch pata bhi nahi hai. Woh Switzerland mein hain soch ke unki beti safe hai. Unhe kya pata unki beti kisi ke ghar mein chain pehne khadi hai." My voice cracked on the last word and I hated myself for it.

Veeranshu said nothing.

He just looked at me. That same steady, unreadable look. Like he was watching something from a distance he'd already calculated.

"Bolo kuch." I snapped. "Say something. Defend yourself. Tell me I'm wrong."

Still nothing.

And somehow the silence was worse than anything he could have said.

I looked away first. Looked at the glass on his marble floor. At the chain on my hands. At the ceiling of this fortress that was now apparently my home.

I pressed my lips together hard.

Warrior. You are a warrior. Warriors don't cry in front of the enemy.

Especially not this one.

-------------------------------------------------

~ VEERANSHU POV ~

-------------------------------------------------

I watched her-chains on her wrists, anger burning in her eyes-and somehow she still looked like she was ready to fight everything in front of her.

Six years.

I had seen that same fire from a distance, in moments that never belonged to me. I thought I understood it back then. I didn't. Not really. It's different when it's right in front of you, when it refuses to bend even now.

I looked away first.

"Take her to her room," I said, my tone flat. "Third floor. Lock the door. She doesn't leave until morning."

The guard moved immediately. I didn't wait to see anything else. I just started walking toward my office.

But near the turn, I slowed.

The glass was still scattered across the floor.

Sharp. Careless. Dangerous.

For a second, my eyes shifted back to her.

She wouldn't step on it. I knew that much. She's not someone who follows orders blindly-especially not mine. She'd argue, resist, probably break something again before she ever obeyed like that.

...still.

What if she did?

The thought came out of nowhere, and I didn't like it.

My jaw tightened.

No. That's not how this works.

Not with her.

Not because of me.

I exhaled slowly and looked away again.

This wasn't how any of this was supposed to be. Not like this. Not with chains, not with her standing there like I'm someone she has to survive instead of-

I cut the thought off.

It doesn't matter.

If she gets hurt... if there's even a single mark on her-

My hand clenched slightly.

I shouldn't even be thinking like that.

Because I'm the one who brought her here.

And that's the part that doesn't change, no matter what I feel about it.

My brother is still dead.

That truth doesn't bend for anything. Not for her. Not for me.

So this... whatever this is... it stays.

I walked away without looking back this time.

I wanted fire in this house.

Now I have it.

He'd wanted fire in his house.

He was starting to understand he had no idea what he'd actually brought home....

♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡

Vote target 10

Comment 4 .. then updated....

My insta acc- author.hillyyzzz... keep supporting...

My dears pretties ... ahhh in rewrite this again because tbh i also didn't like the first chapter but now I'm trying to write it more good as can as possible ....I gave my best and I hope you all like it now....

Tell me how was the chapter????

Is you curious about the next part????

Also voteee for ittt... love you allllllllllll..💋

1.6k wordsss....wohhhhhhh......