Chapter 1
The door to the large bedroom opened with a quiet creak.
Ameer Ibrahim stepped inside, tall and imposing in his ivory wedding sherwani. The celebration downstairs was still alive with laughter, music, and congratulatory voices, but the moment he entered the room, all of that noise seemed to fade away.
The bedroom had been transformed for the wedding night.Soft candlelight flickered in every corner, casting golden shadows across the walls. Fresh roses and jasmine were scattered over the bed and hung from delicate strings around the room. Their fragrance filled the air making it sweet, heavy, and suffocating.
Ameer hated it.
His jaw tightened as he glanced around the overly decorated room. The flowers, the candles, the softness of it all it felt ridiculous to him. Like a mockery of what tonight was supposed to represent.Ignoring the other presence in the room, Ameer walked in and slammed the door shut behind him.The loud bang echoed through the silence.The girl sitting on the edge of the bed flinched.
Ayra Sheikh sat rigidly on the mattress, her hands clenched tightly in the folds of her heavily embroidered bridal lehenga. Her head was slightly bowed, the delicate veil partially covering her face.She hadn't looked up since he entered.The events of the day still felt unreal to her.This wedding wasn't supposed to happen.She wasn't supposed to be here.Yet fate had twisted everything in a way she could never have imagined. Now she sat in the bedroom of the man who was officially her husband.A man she had only ever known as the son of her father's greatest rival.The silence stretched between them, thick and suffocating.
Ameer glanced at her once, his dark eyes cold.
Then he spoke.
"Get up from my bed."
His voice was low but sharp enough to cut through the room.Ayra didn't move.It wasn't that she wanted to disobey him. Her body simply refused to respond. Her mind was still trying to catch up with everything that had happened.The wedding.The vows.The ring on her finger.And the words he had whispered in her ear when none else could hear.
Her fingers unconsciously brushed the ring now.
The memory hit her like a storm.You are my possession now... my thing... my toy to play with. And I will do things to you that you can't even fathom. This I promise you.
His husky whisper had sent goosebumps across her skin then.It did even now."I said get up from my bed."
This time his voice rose like thunder.Ayra's heart pounded violently in her chest, yet her body remained frozen. Fear gripped her, but something else was rising beneath it.
A tiny spark of courage flickered within her.
When she finally spoke, her voice was quiet but firm.
"I will not move from here."Ameer's eyes darkened instantly.For a moment the room felt dangerously still.
"I'm repeating myself for the last time," he said, his voice now cold and controlled. "Get up from my bed."Ayra slowly lifted her head.Their eyes met for the first time that night."And I'm telling you for the last time," she replied, her voice steady despite the storm raging inside her chest, "I'm not moving from here."
She held his gaze.Challenging him.Daring him.
Something dangerous flashed across Ameer's face.
"Don't challenge me."His tone was quiet now but far more threatening.Ayra stood up from the bed.
The heavy jewelry around her neck and wrists clinked softly as she moved. Standing in front of him, she looked small compared to his tall frame, yet her chin lifted stubbornly."I'm not your slave, Ameer Ibrahim," she said.Her voice trembled slightly, but she didn't back down."I'm your wife. So you better behave like a husband... or I will be the worst thing that has ever happened to you."
Ameer's eyes flared with anger.
For a second, he simply stared at her, as if trying to decide whether to laugh or strangle her.Then suddenly, a slow mocking smile appeared on his lips."Fine," he said calmly.He took a step toward the bed."Be my wife then."Ayra's breath hitched as he moved closer.
"Come," he continued smoothly, "let's consummate this marriage. Then you can properly be my wife... and I'll be your doting husband."
The sarcasm in his voice was unmistakable.Ayra's anger flared."Don't you dare come close to me."
Ameer let out a quiet chuckle."Isn't this what you wanted, Ms. Sheikh?" he mocked.His fingers moved to the buttons of his kurta, slowly undoing them one by one."Or should I say..." his eyes glinted darkly, "Mrs. Ameer Ibrahim?"
"I'm not falling for your tricks," Ayra snapped.Her fists clenched at her sides."I know damn well what you're capable of."Her eyes burned with defiance."And I, Ayra Sheikh, will never become Mrs. Ameer Ibrahim."The declaration echoed through the room.For a moment neither of them moved.
Then Ameer snapped.In one swift movement he grabbed her arm, his grip tight and unforgiving.
Before Ayra could react, he dragged her toward the door.
"Let go of me!" she protested, struggling against him.
But Ameer was stronger.Much stronger.The bedroom door was yanked open.And the next second Ayra was shoved out into the dimly lit hallway.She stumbled, barely managing to keep her balance as she landed outside the room.Ameer stood in the doorway, towering over her. His face was hard as stone."This," he said coldly, "is where you belong in my life."His eyes held no warmth.
"Out of it."
The door slammed shut in her face.The sound echoed loudly through the silent corridor.For a moment Ayra stood there, completely still.The weight of everything finally crashed down on her.Her throat tightened painfully.Her vision blurred.The tears she had been holding back all day finally spilled down her cheeks.But she quickly wiped them away.She refused to cry.Not for him.Not for this marriage.And definitely not for the man behind that closed door.Yet despite her determination, the sting in her chest refused to fade.Because somewhere deep inside, Ayra knew one terrifying truth.
This was only the beginning.
