For Lily Carter, being sent to Kingswood felt like a punishment.
She stood in front of the small shrine in the corner of the house, staring at the statue of the Goddess she had prayed to since childhood.
Her eyes were full of frustration.
"So this is how you treat me?" Lily muttered softly. "You let everyone blame me… and now I have to leave my own home."
Behind her, suitcases lay open on the bed.
Her life was being packed away piece by piece.
"And all because of that horrible man," she continued angrily. "That arrogant… red-governor!"
Lily folded her arms.
"Fine," she said stubbornly. "If this is how you treat me, I'm not talking to you anymore."
Of course, Lily didn't realize something.
Sometimes destiny works in strange ways.
Sometimes the path that feels like punishment is actually leading you exactly where you are meant to be.
And right now, fate was sending Lily Carter to Kingswood.
To the man who would one day change her life forever.
Adrian Blake.
As Lily stepped outside the house, she almost collided with someone.
It was Samuel Morgan.
He smiled warmly.
"Oh! Lily," he said pleasantly. "I was actually looking for your father. I found his wallet yesterday and came to return it."
Lily nodded politely, though she found the timing a little strange.
Samuel seemed to appear whenever something happened.
But Lily brushed the thought aside.
"Thank you," she said.
Samuel handed over the wallet and then glanced at the suitcases.
"Going somewhere?"
"We're leaving for Kingswood," Lily replied quietly.
Samuel smiled thoughtfully.
"Kingswood," he said slowly. "That city has a very special heartbeat."
Lily looked confused.
"What do you mean?"
Samuel tapped his chest lightly.
"The heartbeat of Kingswood… you can feel it everywhere. Dhak-dhak. Dhak-dhak. Fast, powerful… full of life."
Lily laughed faintly.
She had no idea how true those words would become.
Because soon her heart would begin to race every time she saw a certain man.
Inside the house, Emily Carter carefully packed the last of their clothes.
The room looked strangely empty.
"Can you believe it?" Emily said quietly. "We're actually leaving."
Lily looked around the room.
Every corner held memories of their childhood.
"I didn't think one night could change everything," she whispered.
Emily smiled sadly.
"Sometimes life changes faster than we expect."
Neither of them realized something important.
This was their goodbye to the home where they had grown up.
But it wasn't the joyful farewell they had imagined.
There were no wedding celebrations… no music… no laughter.
Instead, they were leaving quietly before sunrise.
Trying to escape the humiliation that threatened to follow them.
The next morning, their train finally arrived in Kingswood.
The city was loud, crowded, and overwhelming.
Cars honked endlessly.
People hurried through the streets.
For two girls who had grown up in a quiet town, Kingswood felt like a storm.
They had escaped one disaster…
Only to arrive in the middle of another.
Meanwhile, across the city, Adrian Blake sat inside his sleek white Toyota.
He was on the phone with one of his employees.
"Yes?" he said impatiently.
The employee's voice came through the speaker.
"Sir, that girl from the fashion show… the one from Lucknow. People say she was forced to leave the city after the video spread everywhere."
Adrian's expression remained cold.
"It doesn't matter to me," he said dismissively.
He leaned back in his seat.
"Even if that girl leaves the country… it makes no difference to me."
But the moment he said those words, something appeared in his side mirror.
A small scooter driving up the road.
On it was a girl wearing a simple scarf, her hair fluttering in the wind.
The words printed on the mirror were small but clear:
Objects in the mirror are closer than they appear.
Adrian glanced at it casually—
Then froze.
Because the girl on the scooter looked very familiar.
Before he could react—
CRASH!
The scooter slammed directly into the side of his car.
The mirror broke with a sharp crack.
The scooter wobbled to a stop.
Lily Carter jumped off immediately and stared at the damaged scooter mirror in horror.
"Oh no…" she muttered.
Then she looked up.
Standing in front of her was a tall man wearing dark sunglasses.
Adrian Blake had already recognized her.
Even behind the glasses, surprise flickered across his face.
Lily blinked in disbelief.
"Aap?!"
Her voice was full of shock.
Because of all the people in the enormous city of Kingswood…
The first person she had crashed into
was Adrian Blake.
And this time…
fate had only just begun.