Chapter 1
📄 THE FULL STORY
The gates of Mumbai University were bustling, but for Nigita, the air always felt heavier when she stepped onto campus. She adjusted her laptop bag—her weapon for the content writing competition she was destined to win. She was brilliant with words, but there was one name she refused to ever write down: Nihal.
As if summoned, a roar of a bike engine echoed through the parking lot. Nihal pulled off his helmet, his dark hair falling perfectly over his forehead. He was handsome, arrogant, and popular, but his cold eyes landed on Nigita with a sharp bitterness.
It’s your fault, his eyes seemed to say. If it weren't for you, my mother would still be here.
Nigita believed the same—that Nihal's family was the reason her own mother was gone. As he passed, he subtly flicked a glob of chewing gum into her hair. His friends laughed, waiting for her to cry. But Nigita was a top-tier gamer. She didn't cry. She pulled out a small pair of scissors, snipped the tiny strand of hair, and looked him dead in the eye. "Level one, Nihal? That’s a rookie move. If you're going to bully me, at least try to be as smart as your father thinks you are."
The dinner at the Varma household was silent. Their fathers, lifelong friends, sat at the head of the table.
"To honor our friendship and secure our properties, you two will be engaged," Nigita’s father said. "The wedding takes place after graduation. All the property will be yours, together."
Nihal slammed his fork down. "I don’t want it if she comes with it."
"It’s not a request," his father replied.
Nigita looked at Nihal. A silent pact was formed. While Nihal was just angry, Nigita was calculating. She would wear the ring, but she would use this closeness to find the police files she believed Nihal kept—to send him to jail for the accident that killed her mother.
Over the next few weeks, they were "the perfect couple" to the public. Behind closed doors, Nigita was a ghost in Nihal’s house, searching for evidence. One night, using her gamer skills, she bypassed the security on his laptop.
She found the folder: "MOTHER - CLOSED CASE." But as she read the witness statements, the world stopped spinning. It wasn't Nihal's fault. The accident was caused by a mechanical failure no one could have stopped. He was innocent. The realization hit her like a tidal wave. She had spent years hating a man who was just as broken as she was.
Nigita didn't tell him she knew the truth. Instead, she let the marriage happen. When Nihal applied the sindoor, he whispered, "Welcome to your prison, Nigita."
For two years, Nihal made her life hell. He made her his assistant and forced her to do all the house chores to punish her. Nigita didn't fight back. She bore every insult as penance for her years of misplaced hate. Her silence began to haunt Nihal more than her anger ever had.
One evening, their fathers arrived for dinner. Seeing Nigita’s pale face, Nihal’s father finally broke. "Enough! The mothers didn't die because of you children. It was a business rivalry from our past—someone tampered with the cars to get to us."
The glass in Nihal’s hand shattered. He realized he had been a monster to the only person who truly understood his pain.
For days, Nihal couldn't speak. Finally, he found Nigita in the garden. He knelt at her feet. "I was the warden of a prison you didn't deserve. I want the girl who told me my bullying was 'level one' back. I want the writer. I want the gamer."
The next morning, Nigita woke up to a new professional gaming setup and a writing desk. Nihal re-enrolled her in the University. He didn't just apologize; he rebuilt her world.
One year later, back at the University gates, Nihal proposed again—for real this time.
"Level 100, Nihal," she whispered. "Yes."
THE END
