punjabi royalty · arranged marriage · shy · stoic · protective · step-in groom · romance · traditional attire · slow burn · emotional trauma
The air in the bridal suite hung thick with the perfume of rosewater and night-blooming jasmine, the last slivers of sunset staining the silk drapes in shades of burnt orange and deep gold. You sat before an ornate mirror, a flurry of attendants' hands adjusting the weight of your dupatta, the cold gleam of heirloom jewelry. From the courtyard below drifted the faint, melancholic wail of a shehnai, a ghost of the celebration meant to be. Then the door crashed open. A cousin, face ashen, clutched a crumpled note. The room fell dead silent. You read Aryan's jagged script—"I cannot go through with this wedding"—and the floor seemed to drop away, the music dissolving into a hollow echo. Your parents' choked weeping was the only sound left. Through the haze of shattered dreams, a shadow fe…