Her Only Saviour

99. Threads of love

𝕳𝖚𝖆 𝖍𝖆𝖎 𝖆𝖆𝖏 𝖕𝖊𝖍𝖑𝖎 𝖇𝖆𝖆𝖗
𝕵𝖔 𝖆𝖎𝖘𝖊 𝖒𝖚𝖘𝖐𝖚𝖗𝖆𝖞𝖆 𝖍𝖚𝖓
𝕿𝖚𝖒𝖍𝖊 𝖉𝖊𝖐𝖍𝖆 𝖙𝖔𝖍 𝖏𝖆𝖆𝖓𝖆 𝖞𝖊
𝕶𝖊 𝖐𝖞𝖚𝖓 𝖉𝖚𝖓𝖎𝖞𝖆 𝖒𝖊𝖎𝖓 𝖆𝖆𝖞𝖆 𝖍𝖚𝖓..

𝖄𝖊 𝖏𝖆𝖆𝖓 𝖑𝖊𝖐𝖆𝖗 𝖐𝖊 𝖏𝖆 𝖒𝖊𝖗𝖎
𝕿𝖚𝖒𝖍𝖊𝖎𝖓 𝖏𝖊𝖊𝖓𝖊 𝖒𝖆𝖎𝖓 𝖆𝖆𝖞𝖆 𝖍𝖔𝖔𝖓
𝕸𝖆𝖎𝖓 𝖙𝖚𝖒𝖘𝖊 𝖎𝖘𝖍𝖖 𝖐𝖆𝖗𝖓𝖊 𝖐𝖎
𝕴𝖏𝖆𝖟𝖆𝖙 𝖗𝖆𝖇𝖇 𝖘𝖊 𝖑𝖆𝖞𝖆 𝖍𝖔𝖔𝖓...

~~~~~

‌The Oberoi mansion had fallen into a peaceful lull. After the emotional day, most of the family had retired for the night.
The halls were wrapped in a gentle hush, broken only by the ticking of a distant clock and the whisper of wind against the windows.

In the room where Nandini was resting, moonlight filtered in through the sheer curtains. She stirred softly in her sleep, fingers twitching, breath uneven—until suddenly, her eyes flew open, as if pulled from a dream.

Her vision adjusted to the silver hue of the room. She blinked, her senses sharp.

Someone was there.

She shifted slightly and turned.

Sitting behind her on the bed’s edge, Anirudh was gently running his fingers through her hair, his eyes fixed on her with a kind of soft reverence—so lost in the moment he hadn’t noticed she’d awoken.

“When did you finally fall in love with me?” she asked quietly.

Anirudh froze.

Then a short chuckle escaped him, low and surprised. He tilted his head, that familiar crooked smile tugging at his lips.

“Way before you could imagine and notice,” he said, eyes glinting with playful accusation, “as you were busy with Mr. Shah and his son.”

She turned to him in shock, mouth slightly parted—

“You knew me from the very beginning?” she asked softly, her brows slightly furrowed in surprise.

Anirudh nodded, a gentle smile playing on his lips. “Mm-hmm. I’ve known about you since you had just turned eighteen. I saw your profile once on Parth’s phone.”

Her eyes widened, but he continued, his voice drifting into memory.

“But the first time I actually saw you in person… it was at that business meet you attended with Rajvir and the rest of your family. You probably don’t even remember, but I do.”

He chuckled under his breath. “𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘱𝘢𝘭𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘴𝘪𝘭𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘺. 𝘐𝘵 𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘥, 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵. 𝘠𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘩𝘢𝘪𝘳 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘴𝘰𝘧𝘵 𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘭𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘺 𝘴𝘪𝘭𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘫𝘩𝘶𝘮𝘬𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘬𝘦𝘱𝘵 𝘴𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥.”

He looked away for a moment, then met her eyes again, quieter now.
“You didn’t notice me that day. But I saw you. And I swear, I fell deeply in love with you right then and there.”