CHAPTER:3

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Sitting in front of the mirror, I looked at my reflection, a mix of vulnerability and helplessness washing over me

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Sitting in front of the mirror, I looked at my reflection, a mix of vulnerability and helplessness washing over me. The man I love, the one who holds my heart in the palm of his hand, is the very person I can't have. I laughed bitterly at the irony, the sound hollow in the silence of the room.

Dressed in a bottle-green Anarkali suit with delicate balloon sleeves, I paired it with simple jhumkas that swayed gently as I moved. The outfit was meant to bring out the best in me, but all it seemed to do now was highlight the sadness in my eyes. The tears I held back threatened to spill, but I wouldn't let them.

I don't want to marry anyone other than him, but I can't do anything now

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I don't want to marry anyone other than him, but I can't do anything now. People will think I'm heartless, wondering how I can marry someone else when my heart belongs to another. But they don't see the chains that bind me, the obligations that hold me back.

The people who became my family after my parents' death mean everything to me. They've given me a life I could never have dreamed of, and I can't bear the thought of letting them down in front of others. If I've achieved anything in my career, it's because of them-their love, their support. They never made me feel like an outsider, never compared me to their own children.

Chachu is more than an uncle; he's been a father to me in every way. He doesn't just call me his princess-he makes sure I feel like one, fulfilling my every wish before I even voice it. Chachi Ma has been the mother I lost, loving me more than her own son, feeding me before him, being there for me whenever I missed my mother or needed comfort. And Arjun Bhai, my protector-when I was bullied in college, he was the one who stood up for me, shielding me from the world. How can I turn my back on them now?

It's not that I didn't want to tell them about my love. I did. The day I gathered all my courage to tell them about HIM, I found myself agreeing to the arranged marriage they had found for me instead. I just couldn't bring myself to say no. How could I, when I've never seen anything but love and care from them?

Yesterday, after coming home from the hospital, I said yes.

I tried to call HIM, to tell him everything, but he didn't pick up. He messaged saying he was busy with something important, and when I replied, he left me on read.

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