Ch7Ties of Fate The Wedding #3
When I stepped toward her, she instinctively took a step back. I didn’t waste another second. Without a word, I scooped her into my arms, ignoring the shock painted across her face.
“Don’t get the wrong idea, Mrs. Vardhan,” I muttered, my tone clipped but steady. “I’m only helping you.”
Carrying her past the entrance, I saw the staff rushing forward. At once, they lowered their heads in deep respect. Shock flickered in their eyes at seeing their new bride in my arms, but none dared to speak. They knew better.
“Five minutes,” I barked. “That mess outside better be gone in five minutes or you all know what will happen.”
Fear spread like wildfire. Four servants bolted toward the gates, already scrubbing at the stains with trembling hands.
And then, a soft voice broke through the tension.
“Suniye…?”
Her hesitant tone made me glance down at her. “Sunayiye…” I replied, almost amused at the irony of the exchange.
She looked at me nervously and whispered, “It’s enough now… could you please put me down?”
Her innocence caught me off guard. For the first time that night, a smirk tugged at my lips. I couldn’t help it. Without teasing her further, I gently lowered her to the ground.
Just then, my entire family entered the hall.
To my surprise, Rivanya’s father and her stepmother followed behind them.
While her father carried the weight of tension on his face, her stepmother’s eyes roamed shamelessly over my mansion, as though she had stepped into a palace for the very first time.
I narrowed my brows and asked in a cold tone,
“Mr. and Mrs. Bedi, what are you doing here?”
Naresh Bedi stepped forward and said,
“My daughter i want to talk to her about something… in private.”
I glanced behind me and noticed Rivanya hiding, her face pale but her voice steady as she whispered,
“I don’t want to speak to anyone. Not to anyone at all.”
Her refusal was strange, but I did not question her then.
“Please, beta…” her father pleaded softly.
I cut him off with a sharp voice that echoed across the hall,
“My wife has already told you she doesn’t wish to speak. That means she will not. You may leave now.”
The authority in my tone made him step back like a defeated man. But then his second wife, Samita, let out a sly, mocking laugh.
“No problem, Rivanya,” she said, her voice dripping with venom.
“If you won’t talk, then at least look I brought clothes for you. You came here without a proper send-off, without even carrying anything. These were Alisha’s… well, tried on by her, but you can wear them. At least you won’t sit here empty-handed.”
My jaw tightened, rage burning through me. My eyes locked on hers as I spoke, each word sharp as a blade.
“Do you even realize who you are speaking to? She is no longer just the daughter of the Bedi family. She is my wife, Rivanya Rudraksh Vardhan. If she wishes, she can buy the entire country’s collection of clothes in a single moment and yet,
you dare to insult her by offering her someone else’s cast-offs?”
Samita’s face drained of color. Before she could utter another word, I strode forward, grabbed the suitcase, and flung it open. Without hesitation, I took a nearby candle and set every piece of cloth inside ablaze.
Gasps echoed through the hall as the flames consumed the fabric.
Within minutes, at my signal, six or seven men rushed in carrying bundles of designer saris, jewelry, and exquisite outfits from the best boutiques in town.
“These,” I said with finality, “are the finest clothes and ornaments this city can offer. My wife will never lack anything least of all dignity. And she will never be reduced to wearing another woman’s discarded rags.”
Samita stood frozen, her pride shattered, before Naresh Bedi quietly led her out in silence.
When I turned back, my eyes met Rivanya’s.
For the first time, she looked up at me not with fear, but with something softer.
Her lips curved into the faintest smile, and that small, delicate expression struck my heart like a storm.
My chest tightened, my pulse raced yet I stood still, shaken by how a single smile could make the ruthless Rudraksh Vardhan falter.
My grandmother spoke up,
“Come on, Rudraksh. You’ve already brought your bride inside without following any of the rituals, so there’s nothing more to do here. I will conduct all the post-wedding ceremonies back at Vardhanpur.”
Pratap Raj Vardhan, my father, added,
“Rudraksh, as you said, you’ll stay here for a few days and then return to Vardhanpur with your wife. That will be fine for your Raj Tilak, right?”
I shot back, my voice sharp with anger,
“Breaking promises seems to be your nature, Rana Pratap Raj Vardhan—not mine. I never go back on my word.”
Hearing that, he fell silent, and the hall grew quiet. Everyone settled into their seats, the air filled with tense anticipation.
A little while later, both of my aunts and my grandmother escorted Rivanya to my room. They instructed me to head upstairs while they remained behind, sitting together in the hall. I began making my way upward, my mind still tangled with thoughts of her.