EVERLESS.✔️

Chapter 25. The Silent Storm

Song:- Back to you. (Selena Gomez)

Third Person POV

Anaya stood there, stiff and tense. Her thoughts churned violently inside her chest. What just happened? Are they going to send her back? Strangely, the thought didn't terrify her—it gave her a twisted sense of relief. Maybe... maybe they would reject this sudden marriage. Maybe she would be free.

Free to return to her old life. Free to erase this madness.

But deep down... why did that idea ache?

"I hope everything is alright inside... Dadu Sa usually doesn't react like this." Aashi's worried voice pulled her from the storm of her thoughts. "Don't worry, Anaya. I'll be with you. But where the hell did Arjun Bhai vanish? If he had been here, this wouldn't have happened."

Anaya forced a small smile. She didn't want to be accepted. Not really. Maybe this was her chance. Maybe fate had gifted her an escape.

But fate wasn't done playing games with her.

"Why are you both outside?" A deep, stern voice sliced through the air like a blade. "Didn't I tell you, Ron, to take my wife inside?"

Arjun.

His voice—low, dangerous, cold.

They turned to him instantly. Aashi exhaled in relief.

"Thank God, Bhai, you're back. The thing is, Dadu Sa called everyone inside and asked us to wait here—"

Arjun's attention wasn't on her. It was fixed, razor-sharp, on Anaya.

Her calm face told him what her heart hid. She wanted out. She was ready to walk away.

He stepped closer, grasped her hand—not gently—and tightened his grip. His voice dropped to a whisper only she could hear, laced with darkness and obsession.

"Don't worry, wife. No one will separate us. I won't let them. You'll be with me... till your last breath. That's my promise."

He raised her trembling hand and kissed it—deliberately.

Anaya's eyes widened.

Aashi blinked, stunned. Was this... her Arjun Bhai?

Anaya instinctively tried to pull her hand back, but Arjun didn't loosen his grip.

He smirked.

"Let's go in, shall we?"

They reached the main door when a thunderous voice halted them.

"Stop right there. I told you, Aashi, to keep her outside. Didn't I?"

Rana Shiv Singh Rajvansh stood at the threshold, his expression stone cold.

Arjun's eyes darkened.

"Dadu Sa, may I know why? She is my wife. She has every right to walk into this house with me."

"This house," Rana Shiv replied calmly, "still belongs to me. And I decide who stays under this roof. Not you."

The tension thickened. Arjun's jaw clenched.

Inside, Pavitra had been trying to calm her husband. What's done was done. Everyone else had accepted it after Rana Udhav explained that Arjun loved the girl. And that the Rathod alliance was in place for Aashi.

But two people weren't ready to accept the new bride.

Chitra and her daughter-in-law, Shruti.

Their carefully laid plans had failed. Ruhani was meant to seduce Arjun—to control him.