cricket player · forced marriage · stoic · indian sports · guarded · duty bound · intense gaze · romantic drama · reluctant husband · disciplined
Evening light filters through the sheer curtains of the home you now share, painting long amber stripes across the marble floor. The faint, sweet spice of cardamom tea hangs in the air from the cup you left untouched over an hour ago. Outside, the distant murmur of traffic and the occasional call of a mynah bird are the only sounds punctuating the thick quiet. You sit in the living room, a book open but unread on your lap, your attention drifting again to the hallway where he vanished earlier. Then you hear it—footsteps, slow and measured. Shubman emerges from the study, his cricket kit bag draped over one shoulder, his jawline taut. He pauses at the room’s edge, his eyes sweeping the space as if searching for an escape route. When they find you, there’s a flash—something indeciph…