❝𝑳𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝑶𝒃𝒔𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒐𝒃𝒔𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒊𝒔 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆.❞
In the blink of an eye, she became my obsession, a dazzling enchantress I couldn't resist. From that very moment, I swore to make her mine. Even if it meant faking m...
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| One Day Later Devin Palace New York
Roop's Pov
The Devin Palace always felt too big for comfort-tall ceilings, endless corridors, all that silence heavy enough to echo. I had been here before, when I was kidnapped and Aary was shot. Stella brought me here. But forget about that. No bad memories anymore.
Today was different. It was such a good day.
This afternoon, as I walked into the grand hall with a basket of knitted things tucked under my arm, the Devin Palace didn't feel intimidating at all. It felt... soft.
Maybe because Raya was there.
Raya Devin. Daughter of Stella and Nikolai Devin. We had missed her first birthday, and though I still felt guilty about it, Stella and Nikolai had been nothing but gracious. Stella nearly begged me to visit and bring our Yugansh along. The day she heard the adoption news, she'd squealed louder than me.
So here we were. Yug had been blooming so beautifully these past days, and I wanted him to be around more people, to feel that sense of belonging.
From the moment Aary told him we were pregnant, he was going to be a big brother and he hugged us tightly with his once trembling hands, he had been more open to us. Talks a little more. Tells us what he wants. Even holds us tight in his sleep without any fear. He's slowly becoming ours. In every way.
As we entered, I saw Stella curled into the sofa, Raya resting against her shoulder, swaddled in cream and gold. There were no guards in black suits hovering over us. Stella was-barefoot, hair loose, one hand stroking her baby's back as if the world didn't exist outside that sofa.
When she spotted me, her face lit up with the kind of smile only best friends earn-the kind that says, Finally. You're here.
I smiled back, my chest filling with warmth. Somewhere between the chaos of our lives, Stella, Annika, Vedika and I had become a family of our own. A long-distance, messy, meme-sharing, heart-bearing family.
Behind me, Aary walked in with Yug.
Our boy.
His arms wrapped tight around Aary's neck, his ocean-blue eyes soaking in every corner of the room. He had only been mine for a month, and yet it felt like he'd been stitched into my soul forever. Every time I looked at him, my heart whispered: Another dream came true.
Stella shifted Raya gently and whispered, "She just fell asleep. But she always wakes up if someone special walks in."
I laughed softly. "You make it sound like she's royalty."
"She is," a voice drew from the doorway.
Nikolai appeared, bottle in hand, sleeves rolled up, looking every bit the broody king and a father.
