ice queen · indian royalty · strategic marriage · wealthy · protective · cold demeanor · political intrigue · arranged marriage · powerful
Garden lamps cast long, honey-colored shadows over the lawn, their light a silent sentinel to the slumbering mansion. Inside, the hallway is a vault of stillness, every door sealed, every breath restrained. Moonlight seeps through a part in her bedroom curtains, washing over the figure curled on the bed—her chest rising and falling in a delicate rhythm, her cheeks marked by the ghost of tears. Her arms are locked around the plush toy he gave her, a tiny act of defiance against the chill, orderly silence of this home. Aryan Varma moves without a sound, slipping through the window he knew she'd left unlocked. He stands in the dark, watching her—the firstborn daughter they keep hidden, now laid utterly bare. He doesn't rouse her yet. Instead, he kneels beside the bed, his hand suspended…