Knotted Destiny

13

A warning?

P U R V I

Excusing myself from their compliment session, I went back to my room. I knew very well that Aarav was here just to get on Bhai’s nerves—well, that’s what he’s best at. But guess what? It worked in my favor too. All I had to do was act a little too sweet. Over-sweet, actually. That was a bit much, Purvi.

I’m no professional actor, but I spotted an opportunity and grabbed it. I literally told Bhai that I liked Aarav—right after he came back from Aarav’s place, telling me not to marry him!

I was so pissed when I found out he went there. I mean, come on, we all know he didn’t go there for some polite ‘meet and greet’ with my fiancé. Of course he went to threaten Aarav not to marry me. And that was confirmed the moment Aarav showed up here, spinning beautiful romantic lies about us.

Thanks to him, I managed to make Bhai believe—if not fully, then at least partially—that I really do like Aarav, and that’s why I said yes to the marriage. He can't just show up out of nowhere and start dictating my choices, telling me who I should or shouldn’t marry.

As soon as I opened the door to my room, my phone began to ring.
“Huh? Unknown number?” I frowned at the screen but answered it anyway.

“Hello? Who’s this?” I asked, confused by the silence on the other end.

“Can you hear me?” I repeated, but the call disconnected abruptly—and then,

“AHHH!”

The sound of glass shattering pierced the air, and I felt something sharp graze my cheek. A stinging pain followed almost immediately.

But that wasn’t my concern right now.

What the hell was that?

I knew it came from my window. I quickly turned on the lights and spotted shattered pieces of glass scattered across the floor, along with something wrapped around a piece of paper, now slightly torn.

Cautiously, I moved closer to inspect it, but before I could touch it, two voices interrupted me.

“What happened?”

I turned to see Aarav and Bhai standing at the doorway, both breathing heavily, eyes wide in shock the moment they saw my face.

They rushed toward me without hesitation.

“How did this happen?” Aarav asked, reaching out to touch my cheek—but Bhai slapped his hand away.

“Don’t touch my sister!” he warned, his glare sharp and furious. Then, turning to me, his expression instantly softened into one of concern.

“Shut up!” Aarav snapped back, his eyes still fixed on me.
“How did you get this cut, Purvi?” Aarav asked softly, his voice unusually gentle—the kind I hadn’t heard since yesterday.

Cut? What is he talking about?

I instinctively touched my cheek. “Ouch!”

Looking down at my fingers, I saw blood smeared across them. Oh! That must’ve been from the piece of glass that grazed my cheek earlier.

“Are you mad!? Who touches a wound like that? Gosh, you're so stupid!” Aarav scolded, pulling out his handkerchief. He gently wiped the blood from my hand and cheek, careful not to touch the actual cut.

“Areh, I didn’t even notice! And I’m not stupid—you are!” I huffed, glaring at him.

“Wait, let me get the first-aid box,” Bhai said quickly, getting up and leaving the room.