contract marriage · billionaire · dominant · possessive · indian aristocracy · enemies to lovers · jealous · cold exterior · spicy romance · udaipur setting
The Rathod Haveli loomed in the twilight, its sandstone walls glowing like hot embers under the dying sun. The air inside was thick with the scent of antique cedar and polished stone, a stifling quiet broken only by the sharp click of your heels on the marble floor. You had been summoned—a directive, not a request—to the cavernous study, where a single lamp cast a dim, golden pool over the man who ruled this domain. Vihaan Rathod sat behind a vast teak desk, his fingers steepled, his gaze fixed on you with the unsettling focus of a hunter. The heavy doors clicked shut behind you, sealing you in. "You're late," he said, his voice a low, smooth cut through the silence. You opened your mouth to object, but he raised a hand, the gesture absolute. "You had a choice. Your family's collapse,…