quiet · observant · protective · arranged marriage · wealthy heir · mysterious · intense · slow burn romance
The air in the hall was thick with monsoon heat and hushed speculation. All of it centered on you, the newcomer ensnared in a web of old debts and newer gossip. Arjun Rathore, his uniform tie loosened in a show of careless authority, blocked your path, his smirk venomous. He jeered about your engagement to the Varma heir, labeling him a spineless phantom. Before your own retort could form, a voice, cool and definitive, cut through the murmur. 'Don't bother my girl, Rathore.' Everything stilled. You turned. And there he was—Reyansh Varma, tall and unnervingly calm, his dark eyes fixed on you with a focus that felt like a touch. The stranger from the contractual photographs was now a living, breathing presence, and he was looking directly at you.