Contract of Hearts

Riya... Just riya. No surname... the kind of woman who blended into the background yet still managed to command a quiet sort of attention. She spoke little, choosing her words carefully, never wasting them. For the past three years, she had been his personal assistant-efficient, smart, and unfailingly reliable.

From not even knowing how to work a coffee machine to anticipating what Aarav wanted before he even asked-she had grown so much.

To most people, she seemed simply reserved, maybe even distant. But there was a heaviness in her eyes, an unspoken story she carried in silence, waiting for the moment it could no longer stay hidden.

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Aarav Malhotra... a man people didn't argue with. CEO and director of his father's legacy company, he ran his office like a battlefield. Strict. Disciplined. Uncompromising. Mistakes weren't forgiven. Mediocrity wasn't tolerated. He was sharp, cold, and precise-a presence that demanded attention.

Yet behind the suit and the stern expressions, there was another side to him. Around family, his walls came down. The sharp edges softened. He became gentle, caring, fiercely loyal.

To most, he was unapproachable. But to the few he allowed close, he was everything he seemed not to be.

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What happens when aarav asks Riya's hand in marriage? Just for convenience? Would their story only be limited to convenience? Or will the two lives bloom into something beautiful?

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Age gap (6 years)
Arranged marriage
Trauma healing
Slow burn