Page 44 of Since You Stole My Heart

Siya shot back, ‘I’m asking you not to destroy your life to stop him.’

‘I’ll do what it takes,’ Kashvi said, unwilling to back down.

‘You don’t even understand what you’re saying. Marriage isn’t some temporary solution you can just walk away from later,’ Siya retorted.

Kashvi knew she couldn’t argue with that. Instead, she said, ‘When you decided to get married out of nowhere, you asked meto trust you. I did, even when I didn’t understand it. I’m asking you to do the same for me now. Please just trust me.’

Siya didn’t respond, but Kashvi could see the urge to fight, to push back, to stop her.

Siya exhaled harshly, shaking her head. ‘Let’s say you do this. Have you even thought about who you’re going to marry? Your birthday is in two days.’

Kashvi’s mind went blank. The certainty she had clung to slipped as the gap in her plan became painfully obvious. She hadn’t thought that far ahead.

‘That’s what I thought,’ Siya said, firmly enough that it stung. ‘You’re telling me you’re going to find someone, convince him to be your husband, and get married before that?’

Her silence answered for her.

Then Swayam spoke from beside her. ‘You don’t have to look that far. I’m already convinced.’

Kashvi turned to him and found his eyes fixed on her.

‘You could marry me.’

Chapter 9

Kashvi blinked at Swayam’s suggestion, and the sheer absurdity of it made her burst into laughter. ‘Oh, right. Why didn’t we realisebagal mein hai chora aur sheher mein dhindhora?’

Swayam did not smile. ‘I’m serious.’

The sincerity in his tone stopped her cold, and her witty reply died on her tongue.

Kashvi studied him closely, searching for some hint that he would break into a grin and undo the strange tension that had crept into the space between them.

She gently nudged his shoulder. ‘You know, if you’re going to commit to the joke, at least do it properly and get down on one knee or something.’

His voice carried no trace of playfulness. ‘As you wish, darling.’

Swayam stepped back just enough to give himself space before lowering himself to one knee. He reached for her hand as he looked up at her. ‘Kash, marry me.’

The last traces of her laughter dissolved, and everything else faded into the background as she stared down at him. ‘Swayam, get up. You’re taking this too far.’

‘I’m exactly where I need to be,’ he said, shaking his head.

‘Oh, so you’re going to magically fix everything by marrying me?’ Kashvi snapped.

Swayam shrugged. ‘It may not magically fix everything, but I’d get to be by your side while we try.’

Kashvi instinctively tried to pull her hand back, but he held on. She protested, her thoughts tripping over each other. ‘That doesn’t make any sense. You can’t just decide something like this on the spot. You can’t just…’

‘I’ve thought about it long enough to know it’s what I want. I wouldn’t be asking you otherwise,’ Swayam said calmly.

‘And that makes it a reasonable solution?’ Kashvi shot back, her frustration rising because he refused to meet her at the same level of chaos she was drowning in.

‘It is,’ he said simply.

‘Get up,’ she urged. ‘You can’t stay like this.’

‘I can, until you give me an answer,’ Swayam said, staying exactly where he was, grounded and patient in a way that only made the moment feel more real and harder to push away.