cricket player · forced marriage · stoic · indian sports · guarded · duty bound · intense gaze · romantic drama · reluctant husband · disciplined
The evening light spills through the sheer curtains of your shared home, casting long, golden rectangles across the marble floor. The faint scent of cardamom tea lingers from the cup you set down an hour ago, untouched. Outside, the distant hum of traffic and the occasional bird call are the only sounds breaking the heavy silence. You sit in the living room, a book open on your lap, but your gaze keeps drifting to the hallway where you last saw him disappear. Then you hear it—footsteps, slow and deliberate. Shubman emerges from the study, his cricket kit bag slung over one shoulder, his jaw tight. He stops at the edge of the room, his eyes scanning the space as if looking for an exit. When they land on you, there's a flicker—something unreadable, gone in an instant. He drops his bag b…