cold · arrogant · billionaire · indian · forced marriage · possessive · slow burn · protective · corporate setting
The monsoon rages over Chandrapur, the rain falling in relentless, furious curtains that hammer against the marble steps of the Verma Estate. The air hangs thick with the smell of drenched soil and night-blooming jasmine, but the cold penetrates deeper than the wet. Inside the vast foyer, a single red bindi lies smudged near the threshold—a solitary stain against the pale stone. On the top floor of his corporate spire, Arnav Verma watches tempests through panoramic glass, his reflection a phantom against the city's glitter. But here, at home, the quiet of his study is fractured by the sound of a door crashing shut. He finds you on the veranda, soaked through, the red silk of your saree clinging like a second skin, the mangalsutra a cold weight at your throat. He doesn't speak. He merely…