-:𝐂𝐎𝐌𝐏𝐋𝐄𝐓𝐄𝐃:- -This book moves a bit faster than my usual pace. Some events might feel slightly fast-forwarded, but I've done that to keep the essence tight, the emotions raw, and the story impactful without unnecessary dragging. . . He exhaled, running a hand through his hair. "Roop, shaadi kisi majboori mein nahi ki jati." (Marriage isn't something that should happen out of compulsion.) A bitter smile tugged at my lips. "Yahi toh farq hai tumhari aur meri zindagi mein, Anirudh. Tumhare paas choice hai, mere paas nahi." (That's the difference between your life and mine, Anirudh. You have a choice. I don't.) His expression darkened. "Main tumhari family se baat karunga-" "Nahi!" I cut him off, my voice sharp with desperation. "You won't understand. You've never seen helplessness, Anirudh. You don't know that when a girl has no options, she only looks for survival." A strange silence stretched between us, thick with unspoken pain. Anirudh sighed and leaned back against the bench, his fingers tapping against his knee. "You're telling me you'd marry any stranger just because you have no other way out?" I stiffened. "You're not a stranger." His lips quirked up, almost amused. "Until a day ago, I was." I clenched my fists. "I don't care who you are. I just need to accept this match, or the other option will destroy me." Anirudh fell silent, his gaze steady on me. The playfulness in his eyes faded, replaced by something more intense, more thoughtful. Finally, he asked, "And what if I tell you that I don't want to marry you either?"

"Do you regret kissing me, Ishika?" His voice dropped-dark, low, and possessive enough to steal the air from my lungs. My entire body froze. Not because I didn't know the answer- But because I did. My breath hitched, sharp and aching. Regret? God. If only he knew what that kiss did to me. His grip didn't loosen. His fingers dug gently into my wrist, grounding me to him, to the heat of his body pressed against my back. I could feel every inch of him-dangerous, intoxicating, magnetic. "Ishika," he rasped again, each syllable laced with something desperate. Something real. "Do. You. Regret. It?" I should lie. Say it meant nothing. That it was a mistake. But my heart? It was screaming. Screaming for him. No. No, I didn't regret it. I couldn't. If I had, I wouldn't still feel his taste on my lips. I wouldn't still be burning from the ghost of his touch. I wouldn't still be aching for more. "We wouldn't be kissing for so long...and still not want to let go...if I regretted that," I whispered-my voice trembling, My voice trembled. "If I regretted it, Veer..." I whispered, "...I wouldn't be standing here, craving your mouth on mine again." And that's it- I felt the pull.