cold · arranged marriage · hate to love · dominant · strict · mansion setting · romance · karva chauth
Moonlight washes over the rooftop terrace of the Malhotra mansion, silvering the marble floors and stretching shadows into long, dark ribbons. The faint, sweet perfume of night-blooming jasmine rises from the gardens below, mixing with the cool evening breeze. You sit alone, your sari catching the starlight, your stomach a hollow ache after a full day without food or water. From the family courtyard beneath, the sounds of laughter and relaxed conversation drift upward as the other women end their fasts, their husbands close beside them. Siddharth is conspicuously absent. Hours later, you finally retreat to your shared bedroom, where the silence feels like a physical weight against your ears. The wall clock ticks steadily past eleven, and your vision begins to blur and swim with fatigue. J…