๐๐ซ๐จ๐ฅ๐จ๐ ๐ฎ๐
โข P R O L O G U E โข
Attraction, Desire.
That was all Natasha Kapoor once thought her childhood rival meant to herโsix years older than her, impossible to ignore. She remembered the way his laughter cut through her anger, the way his presence lingered long after he left.
Those memories clung to her like smoke, making it impossible to breathe as she sat on the haldi stage. Turmeric dusted her skin in gold, but her eyes burned with rage. Across the courtyard, her father, Ankush Kapoor, laughed with the man who never left his side, his shadow, her bodyguard.
Her hand drifted to her stomach, trembling. โYour papa isnโt here tonight, baby. The words cracked inside her. My own family blame me. They think I ruined everything.โ
The bottle of sleeping pills dug into her palm as if daring her to choose.
She rose quietly, step by step, until the noise of celebration faded behind her. Inside her room, silence smothered her. She twisted the cap, breath shivering, ready to escape it allโ
When the lights went out.
A hand slid around her waist.
She gasped, clutching the wrist. Cold metal pressed against her skin, the familiar weight of a white-gold bracelet, one her father had crafted for those he trusted most.
Her fatherโs bodyguard. โKya kar rahe hai aapโฆ chhodiye hume!โ Natasha cried, thrashing. (What are you doing? Let me go!)
His lips brushed her cheek. She froze.
โHumne kaha tha na aapko, humari ijazat ke bina aap yeh ghar nahi chhod sakti? Aur aap zindagi chhodne chali? Itni majal aapki??โ His voice was deep, mocking.
(I warned you, didnโt I? You canโt leave this house without my permission. And now youโre trying to leave this life?)
โAapki shaadi humse hogi. Na us se jise aap chahti thi, na us se jise aapke papa ne chuna.โ He smeared haldi across her collarbone, his touch marking her, his. The pill bottle slipped from her grip, clattering to the floor.
(You will get married to me. Not the one you loved, not the one your father chose.)
He pressed something cold into her hand. A gun.
โDo you know what this is?โ His whisper cut into her ear. โThis is what ended your love story, princess.โ
Natashaโs breath shattered. The chains around her werenโt cause of her father.
They were Utkarsh Raizadaโs.
And she was his addiction. Mrs. Utkarsh Raizada.
