(Kruthi's POV)
The birds were chirping in the lush garden. Soft cool breeze engulfing the nature.
I was sitting in the room, gazing out of the window.
My old life.
My family.
All seemed like a distant dream now.
It's not like Vivaan will never allow me to meet them. He would.
But not now.
A marriage is such a big day for someone.
Everyone wants their loved ones to be present on the special day. The day when one heart finds the other, when two families and two different souls connect like missing pieces.
But perhaps in my story, such a luxury was not written.
I sighed, blinking away the tears which were forming in my eyes.
Here I was… performing post-marriage rituals,while no one knew this marriage wasn't even real.
Not my family.Not his family
and friends? well, I never had them...
A knock broke my thoughts.
Back to facade...
I opened the door and there was Naina.
Again...
"Ji?" I asked her gently, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear.
"Find the ring Rasam" she said with a smile. She was excited, happy.
"2 second, zara unko bulaane dijiye." (2 second, let me call him)
Her eyes widened in shock.
"What do you mean? bhai yahan nahi hai?" She asked back, her voice in a slightly higher pitch. (What do you mean ? is he not here?)
"Umm...nahi" I responded back awkwardly. What was with her reaction? it confused me.
She was staring at me...
WAIT!
Does that look mean I should call him?
Madam, I don't have his contact.
And nor do I have a death wish.
"K..Kya hua?" I finally asked her in low tone. (What happened?)
"Aap call karo na," she insisted. "Mera phone room mein hai."
Think. FAST.
"M…mera phone dead hai," I lied instantly.
Silence.
Her eyes stayed on me a second too long.
Then she nodded and left.
I shut the door and leaned against it, exhaling deeply.
Note to self: get his number before you accidentally expose your fake marriage.
Before I could calm down—
BANG!
The door slammed open so hard I flinched.
I turned, irritation already rising—
"Ab kya—"
A hand clamped over my mouth.
My scream died instantly.
My eyes widened in terror.
And when I looked up—
Rushaan.
My heart dropped.
"Bohot accha lag raha hoga na?"His voice was low. Dangerous.
(He shoved me against the wall.)
Tabhi, tabhi mere jaane par tumhe bilkul farq nahi pada. Padega bhi kaise? tumhare haath mein ek better lottery ticket tha toh- mera bhai Vivaan Malhotra.
Pause
This was your plan, wasn't it? First me… now him?. Meri biwi tak ko mere khilaaf kar diya?
(He held my hair tightly, pulling me closer to him dangerously)
(It must be feeling really good, right? (He pushed me against the nearby wall, finally releasing me) That's why,you didn't care at all when I left. How could you? You had a better lottery ticket in your hands—my brother Vivaan Malhotra. This was all your plan, right? First me, now him. You turned my wife against me? (He held my hair tightly, pulling me dangerously close to him)
"Sirf isliye? Kyunki maine tumhe dhokha diya?"His voice cracked with something ugly.
"Tum itni desperate thi?"
Fear tightened my chest.
His hand slid around my waist—
A broken cry escaped me.
"What do you think?" he hissed."By ruining me—you won?"
"NO."
His grip tightened.
"Only I will—"
Suddenly—
He was gone.
Not just pulled away.
Thrown.
Rushaan hit the floor with a harsh thud.
I gasped, stumbling back, clutching the wall for support.
Sweat gathered at my temples. My fingers refused to steady.
Now...
I was out of his grasp, but he was dangerously in the grasp of...
my husband- Vivaan.
And in that moment…
I realized something.
Rushaan was dangerous.
But Vivaan?
Vivaan was something else entirely.
(Vivaan's POV)
Rushaan hit the floor harder than I intended.
Not that I cared.
For a second, I just stood there.
Still.
Watching him. Breathing evenly.
But inside?
Something dark had already snapped.
My gaze flickered—just once—towards her.
Kruthi.
Pressed against the wall.Shaking.Eyes wide with fear.
That was enough.
I looked back at Rushaan.
And whatever restraint I had left… thinned.
"You touched her?"
My voice came out low.
Too low.
Not loud. Not angry.
Worse.
Rushaan let out a bitter laugh, wiping the corner of his lip.
"Oh please," he scoffed, pushing himself up slightly. "Don't act like some righteous husband. We both know what this marriage is—"
I moved.
Fast.
Before he could finish, my hand wrapped around his collar and slammed him back—hard enough for the air to leave his lungs.
A sharp gasp echoed behind me.
I leaned down, my grip tightening.
"Careful," I murmured, tilting my head slightly."Choose your next words… very carefully."
He froze.
Good.
For the first time since I entered, silence settled properly.
"You don't get to speak about my marriage," I continued, voice calm, almost bored."And you definitely don't get to touch my wife."
The last word came out sharper than intended.
Wife.
Strange.
Irrelevant.
Necessary.
Rushaan clenched his jaw, anger flashing in his eyes.
"She was mine first," he snapped.
That did it.
A humorless chuckle left my lips.
"Mine?" I repeated softly. "Is that what you call it?"
I leaned closer, my voice dropping further.
"Using women like disposable distractions… destroying their careers… breaking them for your ego—"
My grip tightened.
"That's not 'having' someone, Rushaan."
A pause.
Then—
"That's being incapable of being one."
His breathing turned uneven.
Not from pain. From humiliation.
Good.
Let him feel it.
I straightened slowly, adjusting my cuffs as if nothing had happened.
Composure restored.
Always.
"You should be grateful," I added casually.
He looked up, confused.
I met his eyes.
"Had I arrived a minute later…"
A faint smile touched my lips.
"…you wouldn't be walking out of this room."
Silence.
No one dared to move.
Then, as if remembering something insignificant, I glanced towards Kruthi again.
She hadn't moved.
Still shaken.
Still trying to steady herself.
My jaw tightened for a fraction of a second.
I looked back at Rushaan.
"Get out."
Two words.
Flat.
Final.
Rushaan didn't move.
So I stepped forward again.
Slowly.
That was enough.
He stood up immediately.
Smart. For once.
As he walked past me, I spoke again—
Not loud. But enough.
"If you ever come near her like that again…"
A pause.
"…I won't repeat myself."
He stopped for a second.
Then left.
Silence returned.
But this time—
It wasn't suffocating.
It was… controlled.
Only then did I turn fully towards her.
Kruthi.
For a brief moment, I said nothing.
Just observed.
The trembling hands.The uneven breaths.The way she avoided my gaze.
Fear.
Not of Rushaan anymore.
Of me.
Expected. Understandable.
I took a step closer.
Slow. Measured.
"Can you stand?" I asked.
My tone had changed.
Not soft.
Not gentle.
Just… steady.
No unnecessary reassurance. No false comfort. I wasn't that man.
But one thing was certain.
No one—
No one—
would touch what was under my protection again.
(Kruthi's POV)
He forwarded a glass of water to me.
I gulped it in one go. My heartbeat calmed slowly.
After few moments I asked him, while panting lightly, uneven breaths but still composed.
"Kahan thhe aap?" (Where were you?)
He glanced at me from his shoulder.
Sharp. Cold. Dangerous.
"You don't need to know." He responded back.
"I...have to." I whispered in a low voice and told him everything that happened before.
He listened.
No interruption.
No reaction.
Just silence.
The kind that makes you question everything you just said.
After a moment, he finally spoke.
"I see... if Naina got suspicious, we shouldn't give her more hints."
His voice was controlled.
As if assessing his decision, his action.
He took my phone and forwarded it to me.
"Password."
I hesitated for a fraction of a second.
Then unlocked it.
And in that exact moment—
It hit me.
I hadn't changed it.
It was still…
Rushaan's birthday.
My fingers stiffened.
Disgust flickered through me.
At myself.
And yes, he noticed.
Because I could see how his eyes gleamed with fire. Calm, but furious.
Before he could say anything, I spoke.
"Aapka birthday kab aata hai?" I asked him softly, but sharply.
"Insignificant."
Cold.
Dismissive.
"Significant. For me." I replied, meeting his tone.
He rolled away his eyes in irritation.
Glared at me once.
"3 Jan 1998." He spoke finally. "Yours?" He asked in a calculative tone.
"Insignificant." I responded back, in the same tone he used earlier while changing my password to his birthday.
His lips curved into a small smirk.
He lowered his eyes before setting them back on me.
"Significant- to me" He responded back, his tone slightly soft, but still controlled.
I glanced up at him.
Suppressed my smile while poking my tongue to my inner cheek.
"16 nov 1999"
He gave a slight nod, as if he acknowledged.
I handed my phone to him, as he insisted earlier.
With a deft typo, he handed me the phone back and turned around to attend a call.
I checked my phone and there it was
He saved his number in my contacts
what truly caught my attention was the title he typed for himself
I froze....
72******98- My darling husband.