“Aren’t you coming in?” she asked softly.
His hand tightened around the steering wheel. “Get down.”
She hesitated. “But—”
“Get down, Mishti,” he shouted.
The guards near the gate looked up. She stepped out, fighting the sting in her eyes. The moment she closed the door, he slammed his foot on the accelerator, and the Mercedes roared into the night again.
The taillights vanished beyond the gates, leaving his bride standing under the same stars that had watched her promise forever to a man who’d just left her at the doorstep of it.
***************
Wadhwa Mansion – A few hours later
It was midnight by the time Mishti made her decision. She pushed the door open of Karan’s room and entered. She knew she had no right to be here. He had already warned her to stay away from this room, but she needed answers.From him.Where did he go every night? Why did he refuse to share a word, a bed, or even a look? Why did he put such brutal distance between them when only hours before they had exchanged vows? Why even marry her if this was how he had to treat her?
Mishti did not know where she found the courage. Maybe it was the same stubbornness that had kept her upright through a childhood of half-answers. Maybe it was that tiny, fierce voice inside her that would not be quiet anymore. Whatever it was, sheneeded to know where she stood in this marriage, and in Karan Wadhwa’s life.
As minutes passed, she didn’t realise that while waiting for him on his bed, she dozed off. Not until a harsh sound snapped her awake and there, he was…standing at the edge of the bed.
Seeing those furious expressions on his face, she almost scrambled to her feet. But before she could utter a word, he grabbed her wrist and hauled her toward the door again as if she were a trespasser.
“Karan!” she cried. “Stop. Please, you can’t—”
“I told you not to come in here,” he snapped. “I don’t like people not obeying my orders, Mishti.”
Both fury and hurt flared hot as she planted her feet and faced him.
“Why?” she demanded. “Why am I not allowed? You married me, didn’t you? We stood before the holy fire. We took vows. Then why can’t you share this room with me? Why won’t you give me the respect every wife deserves?”
“Because I hate you,” he said.
The words were too blunt, yet the declaration landed like a blow. Mishti’s knees wobbled, but she knew this was not the time to back off. She had rehearsed a dozen gentler ways to ask, but not anymore.
“Then why did you marry me? If you hate me so much, then why make me your wife?”
“I don’t need to tell you why.”
“You do,” she argued, firmly this time. “I am your wife, your better half, Karan. I deserve the truth.”
He took a breath before leaning closer, so close she could read the colour in his eyes.Red.
“You are my wife,yes, but you mean nothing to me. So never usethatas a leverage in our arguments.”
Heat flamed up behind her eyes. She swallowed the sob before meeting his eyes again.
“Fine. If this is how you see me, if this marriage means nothing to you and you won’t even tell me the truth, then I won’t stay here. I’m leaving. My life at home wasn’t perfect, Mr Karan Wadhwa, but it was kinder. At least there I wasn’t treated like this. As a no one. You are welcome to live in your house, as you always have.Alone.”
The moment she turned around to leave, he grabbed her wrist again, but she didn’t turn yet.
“Don’t go,” he said suddenly, almost pleading. “I didn’t mean what I said. You are right. I’ve been used to living in this house empty, used to waking without someone here. I don’t want to live alone like that anymore. Stay with me. Forever.”
She blinked, bewildered. Although she was confused by his sudden softness, part of her wanted to believe him. But the moment she turned around again, his face rearranged into that same cruel calm.
“If you think I’m going to say all that to keep you here,” he continued, “to stop you? Then you are wrong. This marriage was business, Mishti. A transaction,” he finally blurted out. “KW Capital Ventures thrives on taking over broken empires. I take over collapsing companies, strip them to their bones, and decide whether they’re worth saving or worth burying. This time, it was your brother’s company that needed saving. And his way of payment… wasyou. I saved his business. He gave me his sister in marriage. That was the deal.”
The room almost tilted around her. She had suspected a convenience in this marriage, but not this.
