BOUND BY DUTIES

❝निगाहें तेरी, चाँदनी जैसे, ❝Your gaze, like the moonlight,
हर पल रोशन, हर पल प्यासी। Ever radiant, ever longing.
एक झलक में, दुनिया भूल जाऊँ, In just one glance, I forget the world,
इन आँखों की गहराई ऐसी।❞ Such is the depth of your eyes.❞

𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚 𝐛𝐫𝐨𝐤𝐞𝐧 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭. 𝐇𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐄𝐎 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚𝐧 𝐢𝐜𝐞-𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐥. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐥-𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐥 𝐢𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞.

Shreya Patil learned the hard way that love was nothing but a beautifully packaged lie. Betrayed by the man she once trusted, she's spent the last four years shielding her heart, focusing on the only thing that matters-her daughter. But when her father forces her into an arranged marriage to clean up the family's scandals, she finds herself bound to a man who is everything she swore to avoid.

Lakshay Malhotra has built his empire on control, logic, and ruthless ambition. Marriage was never in his plans-until an irresistible opportunity landed at his feet. Marrying Shreya gives him the one thing money can't buy: an unshakable seat among India's elite. Their arrangement is simple. No emotions. No expectations. No love.

She's his wife on paper, nothing more.
He's her last mistake, or so she tells herself.
But in a game where power and passion collide, the hardest rule to follow is the one that forbids them from falling in love.