Advik:-
The guard's eyes flicked from Reyna's unsteady frame to my face, confusion written plainly across his features.
"Sir... Reyna mam?" he asked carefully, as if afraid of the answer.
I didn't slow my steps.
"She's fine," I said, my voice clipped, controlled. "Just tired."
It was a lie.
A thin one.
But tonight was made of lies.
Reyna shifted in my arms, a faint protest forming on her lips. I tightened my grip instinctively, grounding her weight against my chest, forcing my pace to remain steady. The last thing I needed was noise. Questions. Eyes.
As we crossed the threshold into the Rathore mansion, she inhaled sharply-as if the walls themselves were suffocating her.
Her mouth opened.
I didn't let the sound escape.
My palm covered her lips gently but firmly, my voice dropping low near her ear. "Keep quiet, Reyna," I murmured. "I don't want another scene in your house."
She froze.
Not because she agreed.
Because she understood.
The corridors were silent at this hour, lights dimmed, shadows stretching long and heavy like unspoken judgments. Every step up the staircase echoed louder than it should have, each one a reminder that I didn't belong here- not like this, not holding her, not after what had already gone wrong.
Halfway up, I saw it.
Ira's door.
Open.
Soft yellow light spilled into the hallway, illuminating the edges of her room like a cruel spotlight. I stopped without meaning to.
She lay asleep on her bed, her face turned toward the window, hair spread over the pillow like she'd been crying herself to exhaustion.
My chest tightened painfully.
This....this...was the reality I had been running from.
That was the woman I was supposed to marry.
The woman whose future I was bound to.
The woman whose life was about to be rewritten because of men like me.
Anger surged suddenly, violent and sharp.
Not at Ira.
At myself.
At Reyna.
At this entire mess I was losing control of.
I turned away before the guilt could root itself any deeper and carried Reyna down the corridor toward her room.
The door shut behind us with a soft click that sounded far too final.
The moment we were alone, I let go.
Not gently.
I dropped her onto the bed - forcefully. She landed with a soft cry, wincing as she pushed herself up on her elbows., stepping back instantly, like proximity itself was a mistake.
She winced, a sharp breath leaving her lips as she pushed herself upright.
"What are you doing?" she snapped, eyes flashing. "Have you gone mad?"
I laughed under my breath- short, bitter.
"Yes," I said flatly. "I have."
I dragged a hand through my hair, pacing once, twice, the room suddenly too small to hold the storm inside me.
"I don't know what game you think you're playing," I continued, my voice tight. "You know exactly what's happening. You know I'm marrying your sister."
She tilted her head, unfazed, eyes gleaming with something dangerously light. "So?"
That single word shattered what little restraint I had left.
"And yet," I said harshly, turning to face her, "you touch me. You provoke me. You act like none of it matters."
She laughed softly.
Actually laughed.
And before I could react, she stood and closed the distance between us, arms slipping around my torso with infuriating ease.
"Yes," she said lightly, almost teasing. "Because you're hot and don't tell me I'm crossing lines. Don't act like I'm the problem. You started this. You came into my room without permission. You were the one who touched me first- your hands on my waist, standing so close I could feel your fucking manhood growing in your pants. So don't pretend this is all on me now."
Something snapped and then,
She hugged me like she had every right to.
Like the space between us didn't exist. Like the world hadn't already drawn lines we were both pretending not to see. Her arms wrapped around me suddenly, tightly, and for a second my body forgot how to breathe.
I froze.
Her forehead pressed against my chest. I could feel the rise and fall of her breath, uneven, angry, hurt. The kind of closeness that wasn't meant to be gentle- it was meant to demand answers.
"Why did you kiss me? And...and chose her...?" she asked.
Not accusing.
Not teasing.
Just raw.
The question hit deeper than I expected. It didn't sound like a challenge. It sounded like a wound asking why it was created.
My hands hovered in the air, unsure where to go, unsure if touching her back would ruin both of us completely. I could feel the warmth of her body through my clothes, could feel how much she was holding herself together just by standing there.
Why did I kiss her?
Because she looked at me like she wasn't afraid.
Because she stood in front of me like she'd rather burn than bow.
Because for one moment, I wasn't a Raichand or a future groom or a man carrying generations of blood on his shoulders.
I was just a man who wanted.
But I couldn't say that.
I swallowed, jaw tightening. The answer sat heavy on my tongue, dangerous and selfish. If I spoke it out loud, there would be no going back.
She pulled back slightly, enough to look up at me. Her eyes searched my face -not for excuses, not for lies.
For truth.
"You don't just do that," she said quietly. "You don't kiss someone like that and then pretend it didn't mean anything."
Looking at her like this- this fiery, fearless girl reduced to someone broken, desperate for a man like me- something ugly surged through my chest. Anger. Guilt. Disgust at myself. Because I wasn't just ruining her. I was destroying two lives at once. Hers... and Ira's. And the worst part? I was standing right in the middle of the wreckage pretending I had no choice.
I looked away.
That was my answer.
I couldn't take it anymore. Not the way she looked at me, not the way my presence was breaking her piece by piece. My hands came up before my mind could stop them and...
I grabbed her shoulders and pushed her away- too hard.
She stumbled back, colliding with the lamp stand behind her. It tipped, clattered, nearly fell. She gasped, pain flashing across her face.
The sound cut through me like a blade.
For a split second, regret flickered.
Then anger drowned it.
"I'm warning you, Reyna," I said, my voice cold now, controlled in the most dangerous way. "Stay away from me."
I stepped back again, deliberately creating space between us.
"You have no right," I went on, each word precise, cutting, "to touch me. Or hug me. Or pull me into your chaos."
She stared at me, disbelief slowly giving way to something rawer. Hurt. Shock.
"From now on," I said firmly, "you will keep your distance."
Her lips parted, as if to argue.
I didn't let her.
"Until this marriage happens," I continued, "it would be better for both of us if you behave like what we're supposed to be."
Tears welled up in her eyes and that was it.She stared at me like I had shattered something sacred.
I couldn't take this anymore- couldn't watch her break because of me so I stepped back, forcing distance where my heart refused to. Moving away from her was the only control I had left.
I walked toward the door, hand resting against the handle.
"Brother-in-law," I said without turning around. "And sister-in-law."
The words tasted like poison.
I left the room without looking back.
Because if I did-
I knew I wouldn't have the strength to keep walking.
Reyna:-
I didn't trust my body anymore.
Everything felt slower, heavier like the world was tilted just enough to make standing feel like a mistake. My head throbbed, my limbs felt loose, unfamiliar. I had never felt like this before. Never let myself feel like this.
Alcohol wasn't supposed to make you this... exposed.
His hands leaving my shoulders felt ten times worse because my balance went with them. I stumbled back a step, catching myself against the bed, my heart pounding too loud in my ears.
Why did it hurt so much?
I knew I was drunk. I knew my emotions were louder than they should be, messier, spilling out without permission. But the pain that was real. The way he looked at me like he was fighting something dangerous inside himself... that was real too.
My throat tightened.
I wanted to scream at him.
I wanted to ask him to stay.
I wanted to ask him why...why touch me, why kiss me, why make me feel like I mattered if he was going to walk away like this?
But the words wouldn't come out right. My tongue felt heavy, my thoughts blurred together, courage dissolving into confusion.
So I did the only thing I could.
I stayed quiet.
No more accusations.
No more fire.
No more questions my heart already knew the answers to.
I didn't stop him.
Didn't call his name.
Didn't ask him to look back.
The door closed softly behind him.
And just like that, he was gone.
Each step back to the bed felt unsteady, like the floor might give up on me the way he just had. I sat down slowly, then curled onto my side, pulling my knees close to my chest like a shield.
I stared at the wall, blinking hard.
Don't cry.
Not now.
Not because you're drunk.
Tears still slipped out, hot and silent, soaking into the pillow before I could stop them. I hated that I felt this weak. I hated that one man- him had managed to shake me this badly.
My head spun. My chest ached. My heart felt stupid.
This was why I never lost control.
This was why I never drank.
This was why I never let anyone get close enough to matter.
I hugged myself tighter, breathing uneven, trying to anchor myself as the room swayed gently around me.
Tomorrow, I would be Reyna Rathore again- sharp, controlled, unbreakable.
But tonight...
Tonight, I was just a girl who drank for the first time and trusted the wrong man with her heart.
And that hurt more than the alcohol ever could.
After few minutes, My breathing slowly evened out.
The world softened.
The anger faded into exhaustion. The hurt dulled into something heavy and aching, pressing down on my chest. I felt myself drifting, my thoughts slowing, my eyelids growing heavier with every second.
Just before sleep claimed me, one thought lingered- unwanted, stubborn, painful.
Advik.
His voice.
His touch.
The way he looked at me before he turned away.
Then even that faded.
Sleep pulled me under, messy and restless, wrapping around me like a temporary escape. And for the first time that night, my body finally went still... broken, exhausted, and unaware of how much worse things were about to become.
Advik :-
The door closed behind me with a sound that felt final.
I stood there for a second longer than I should have, my hand still hovering near the handle, my chest rising and falling like I had just walked out of a battlefield instead of a bedroom. The corridor was silent, but my head was loud- too loud.
I had crossed a line.
No...
I had burned it.
Every step away from her felt like punishment, but I forced myself to keep moving. That was the only thing I knew how to do when emotions threatened to tear through my control- walk away. Shut down. Lock everything inside.
But guilt followed me anyway.
Her face wouldn't leave my mind. The way she looked at me when I pushed her away. The way her bravado shattered into something fragile and hurt. I had seen fear in men who knew they were about to die, but this..this was worse.
Because I had caused it.
She was drunk.
I knew that it was her first time.
And instead of protecting her from herself, I became the storm she drowned in.
I gripped the railing as I descended the stairs, my jaw clenched so tight it ached. This wasn't who I was supposed to be. I had spent my life controlling chaos- commanding men twice my age, making decisions that could end bloodlines.
Yet one girl... one broken, furious, reckless girl... had undone me completely.
And the worst part?
I wanted her.
That truth sat ugly and heavy in my chest.
I wanted the girl who was supposed to be off-limits. The girl whose sister I was about to marry. The girl who looked at me like I was both her ruin and her refuge.
That alone made me hate myself.
I reached my car and shut the door harder than necessary, running a hand through my hair as I paced.
She had gone silent.
That hurt more than her anger ever could.
I stopped pacing and stared at my reflection in the rear view mirror. Cold eyes. Controlled face. The mask I had perfected over years of blood and loyalty and loss.
"This ends now," I told myself.
I didn't care if my heart rebelled. I didn't care if my body remembered the way she felt against me. I didn't care if every instinct in me screamed her name.
I would not touch her again.
I would not look at her like that again.
I would not let myself forget that she was Reyna Rathore- my future sister-in-law, a line I had no right crossing.
This marriage was happening. Whether I liked it or not. Whether she hated me or not.
And until it did...
I would ignore her.
Completely.
Coldly.
Relentlessly.
Because wanting her was dangerous.
And in my world, desire was just another weakness someone could use to destroy everything.
The vow settled into my bones like a sentence.
Ignore her.
Protect the alliance.
End the madness.
No matter how much it cost me.