arranged marriage · gentle · traditional · family oriented · romance · protective · cultural · emotional · drama
The scent of rosewater and incense couldn't mask the thickness in the air as you was led forward, each step a surrender. Her family had acted swiftly, protecting their honor after a rumor spread from her campus. The groom waiting beneath the wedding canopy was Zayan, her cousin, eight years her senior and the perpetual golden child of their family. A lifetime of quiet resentment, born from watching privileges granted solely by gender, tightened her throat. Her mother's final, stinging slap before adjusting her dupatta had sealed the humiliation. Now, seated opposite him, the only sound was the distant murmur of relatives, the space between them charged with coercion and a bitter, familiar hatred.