❛Billionaire's Immortal Love❜

48. ƔЄƝƓЄƝƇЄ ƖƝ ƬӇЄ SӇƛƊƠƜƧ

🌹 Hello my lovely readers, 🤍

How were you all doing? I hoped everyone was doing well and had a wonderful festive season! ✨

I knew this update came a little late, and I was truly sorry for that. As many of my regular readers already knew, I was down with a high fever and couldn't update earlier. Thank you so much to everyone who checked in on me and asked about my health-it truly meant a lot. 🥺💖

I couldn't reply to anyone because my mom confiscated my phone (strict orders for rest only 😅), but please knew I saw your concern and felt so grateful for it.

Now that I was feeling much better, let's finally dove back into the story, shall we? 🌸

Thank you again for your love, patience, and care. You guys were the best. 🤍 ✨

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D-DAY, RAIZADA MANSION, ARSHI'S WEDDING RECEPTION

The grand hall of Shantivan pulsed with the vibrant energy of Arnav Singh Raizada and Khushi Kumari Gupta's wedding reception, the air thick with the scent of jasmine garlands and the murmur of elite guests in shimmering lehengas and tailored sherwanis. But for Sheetal Gupta, lurking in the shadowed fringes like a venomous serpent, the scene unfolded as a torturous inferno that ignited her heart with burning rage she could scarcely contain. Her silver saree clung to her sweat-dampened skin like a suffocating veil as she watched the Raizada family envelop Khushi in unwavering love and acceptance that scorched her soul with envy.

Subhadra Devi, regal in her silk saree, beamed with grandmotherly pride as she adjusted Khushi's dupatta, her touch a gentle caress whispering familial warmth. Ratna Raizada, Arnav's mother and Aditya's wife, fussed over Khushi like a doting hen, her emerald saree swirling as she offered sweets with a smile that lit the room. Anjali, Arnav's younger sister, giggled playfully in her peach lehenga, linking arms with Khushi as if they had been sisters forever, their easy camaraderie a dagger twisting in Sheetal's chest.

Each laugh and tender glance toward Khushi reminded Sheetal of the affection she once had but lost, now craved but saw lavished on that wretched orphan. Sheetal's fists clenched, her nails digging into her palms as she seethed inwardly, her mind a whirlwind of fury and disbelief. How dared they shower her with this love, this warmth that was meant for me, Sheetal Gupta, the rightful bride, not some filthy orphan plucked from a dirty drain like trash? Her heart pounded with jealousy so fierce it blurred her vision.

The sight of Khushi's blooming face-radiant with joy, her cheeks flushed like rose petals under the chandelier's glow, her eyes sparkling with happiness that mocked Sheetal's torment-fueled a hatred that hit her like a hammer to the gut. Each bloom of Khushi's smile was a searing reminder that this bliss, this adoration from the Raizadas, was stolen from her, her rightful claim to Arnav's possessive gaze and the family's caress, not bestowed upon a girl who had schemed and tortured her through her lover. The intensity of her rage built like a storm, her breaths ragged as she watched Arnav's delightful face transform with love, his chocolate-brown eyes twinkling with happiness she had dreamed would be hers. His teasing scowl at Aman and some other man (Ankit, mentioned as an unknown figure since Sheetal didn't yet know him) melted into a soft, affectionate smile for Khushi, radiating devotion that humiliated Sheetal to her core, shredding her delusions. He wasn't the cold, uninterested groom she imagined, shattered by her absence, but a man utterly alive in Khushi's presence.

His every gesture testified to a love that burned brighter without her, the happiness illuminating from him and the Raizadas like a blinding sun that scorched her skin. Her inner turmoil seethed, a cauldron of betrayal and despair whispering venomously that this couldn't be real-how could ASR be this happy without her, his true love? The jealousy slammed into her like waves crashing against jagged rocks, splintering her composure into shards of raw hatred. Her mind screamed that she would make Khushi pay for stealing her empire, her every thought twisting into a dark vow to obliterate the orphan who had usurped her throne.