BEYOND UNFINISHED✔️

Chapter 46. Shadows Beneath the Crown

Song :- Kuch Khas Hai. (Fashion).

You are as important in my life,
as the beat is to heart......

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Third POV.

Anaya's head rested on Arjun's shoulder, his protective embrace shielding her from the harshness of the world. His fingers moved gently through her hair, his touch soft, yet possessive.

Then, in a low, dark murmur, his voice broke the silence. "I was ten years old when Bhai started rebelling against Dad... He never wanted this royal life... Dad wanted him to be the next heir, the crown prince. But Bhai... he just wanted peace, a normal life. That difference shattered everything in our family."

Anaya's brows furrowed, sensing the shift in his voice. She didn't move. She just listened.

"Maa... always loved Bhai more. Krish was her favorite," he confessed, bitterness cutting through his voice like a cold wind. "I don't blame her... but she never saw me. Not really. After the fights started, she gave all her attention to Bhai—saying Dad was too harsh on him. Maybe he was. But she never once looked back at me or Aashi the same way again."

Anaya tightened her hold around his torso, trying to comfort the broken boy buried deep beneath the hard man.

"Maa left with Bhai and Aashi one day... just like that. Took them to her parents' home. Left me alone. A ten-year-old boy in a giant palace. I stood by the gate, waiting... thinking she'd come back. One day. Two days. Then a week... but she never did."

Arjun's voice cracked now, and Anaya could feel the weight of the memory suffocating him.

"Do you know what that does to a child?" he whispered. "No mother. No sibling. Just guards and shadows and silence. Dad wasn't even there. He was too busy preparing me to be the next Yuvraj. My body was trained like a soldier. But my soul... it was breaking. Every. Single. Day."

His hand curled into a fist, the pain flashing in his eyes.

"They beat me, Anaya. The trainers. The seniors at boarding school. But I never cried. Because the one person I wanted to cry to... had left me. My mother never came back for me. And when she did, after three years, I wasn't her son anymore. She still pampered Krish. Coddled Aashi. I... was just The Rajvansh heir."

Tears slipped from Anaya's eyes. She couldn't stop them. That small, abandoned boy was still inside Arjun, screaming in silence. She pulled him closer, wrapping her arms around his waist, her touch saying what words never could: I see you. I'm here.

"I was a name, a crown. Not a son. Not a brother. I stopped expecting love... I stopped believing in it."

He turned his face toward her, his eyes vulnerable for the first time. "But then... you came. A gust of fresh air. You made me feel again. And that scared the hell out of me."

Anaya, overwhelmed, looked up at him through teary lashes. Arjun's eyes softened. Their faces were close—breaths mingling.

She closed her eyes.

And he kissed her.

Soft. Deep. Raw. His lips trembled with emotion he could no longer suppress. She now knew why he was this way. Why his love came wrapped in walls and shadows. And she vowed to never abandon him. To pull him out of that dark place—no matter how long it took.

He kissed her temple and whispered against her skin, "Don't leave me, Anaya. You're my home. Let's give us a chance... together."

She nodded, whispering back, "Never."