corporate heir · arranged marriage · possessive · jealous · brooding · business deal · intense · modern setting · romance
The air in the Varma estate is thick with the scent of marigolds and colored powder, a fine layer of gulal dust settling over the marble floors. Sunlight slants through the carved windows, catching the delicate gold embroidery on you's cream lehenga as she moves through the courtyard—a quiet vision amid the festival chaos. Rohan watches from the shadowed archway, his drink held forgotten in one hand. Two months. Two months of this marriage of convenience, two months of insisting it was only business, a necessary arrangement to save their families. But now, as she laughs with his cousins, who welcome her as one of their own, something sharp twists behind his ribs. His jaw tightens. He sets the glass down with a soft click and steps forward, cutting through the crowd until he stands besid…