𝐑𝐔𝐃𝐑𝐀𝐕𝐀𝐍𝐘𝐀

Ch14 Waiting for You #2

“M-my family?” I whispered.

I already knew.

Nanu… Mamaji… they were here.

And this time, there was no escaping what I had done.

I wiped my tears, trying to steady my voice. “Let them in. Please. I’ll talk to them.”

Rudraksh turned to me sharply. “Are you sure, Rivanya?”

He looked like he wanted to stop me like he could see the war that was about to begin.

His voice softened just a little. “I’m here with you. Don’t forget that.”

For a second, my heart fluttered at his words.

But deep inside, a strange fear whispered You may be with me now, Rudraksh… but for how long?

I nodded weakly and began walking toward the stairs.

Guards parted at Rudraksh’s command, allowing the guests inside. My palms were trembling; tears wouldn’t stop falling.

Each step I took felt heavier than the last.

How do you face the people who raised you… after breaking every promise you ever made to them?

As I reached the main hall, I saw them standing at the grand doorway.

Nanu.

Mamaji.

And the men from Kashi, dressed in their familiar kurtas, eyes burning with anger and worry.

The moment their gaze fell on me, they froze.

And I...I couldn’t control myself anymore.

I ran.

Crying, shaking, I ran into Nanu’s arms and collapsed against his chest.

He held me tightly, one trembling hand cupping the back of my head. His voice cracked as he whispered,

“My princess… your Nanu is here now. Nothing will happen to you. Not anymore.”

In that single moment, I felt small again.

Safe. Protected. Loved.

Like the world could end, and I’d still be safe in his embrace.

But then my eyes lifted and met Mamaji’s.

His face was hard, but his eyes… they were glassy with tears. I had never seen him cry before. Never.

He had always been the pillar of my world unshaken, strong, proud.

And now, because of me, that pillar was breaking.

I walked to him slowly and wrapped my arms around him.

He didn’t speak he just pulled me close, his hand trembling against my back.

In that embrace, I could feel his pain.

He had raised me like a delicate flower, shielding me from every thorn…

and today, I was the reason he was bleeding.

I closed my eyes, tears spilling endlessly.

In that hall between the palace lights and the fading echoes of gunfire I stood between two worlds.

The one I was born into, and the one destiny had forced me into.

And somewhere, behind me, I could feel Rudraksh’s silent gaze sharp, unreadable, and burning.

Between family and fate… between love and loyalty…

I stood trembling a wife, a daughter, a sinner of destiny’s cruel game.

I stepped back from Mamaji and, behind me, saw him staring at someone with the raw, blazing anger that made the air crackle. When I turned, Rudraksh and Vyom were standing there Rudraksh’s face was just as hard as always, his gaze fixed on us.

I gathered what little courage I had and lowered my eyes. “Mamaji… Nanu… please forgive me. I know I should have told you about the wedding I should have told you first… but..”

Before I could finish the sentence, Mamaji cut me off. His voice was sharp, each word a sting. “Then why didn’t you tell us, Rivanya? Did you think your father could have you married to anyone and we wouldn’t even know?”

The anger in his voice burst out like a wound opened again. I bowed my head and listened in silence there was nowhere for excuses to hide. I had made the mistake; I would bear its consequences. My throat tightened; my hands trembled. Shame pressed on me like a heavy stone.

Rudraksh stepped forward and, in that same rigid tone of his, said, “I know you are very angry, but Rivanya had her reasons. Please, just hear her out.” His words were measured, controlled a plea masked by command.

No sooner had he spoken than Nanu’s voice cut through coldly: “And now you will teach us how to speak to our own daughter?”

His sarcasm landed heavily, and even then Rudraksh remained composed.

He answered calmly, “I will not teach you how to speak to your daughter. But if anyone speaks like that to my wife in front of me, I will not keep silent and I will act on what is rightfully mine to protect.”

Mamaji moved me a little farther from Rudraksh and spat, “What kind of relationship is this, Rudraksh Vardhan? This marriage began with lies. There is no happiness for my child in it. Rivanya married you because of her father’s decision you have no right over her.”

Before Rudraksh could erupt, I stepped forward and grabbed his hand, desperate.

“No, please… don’t do anything. This is all my fault. These people are my own more than anyone else. Please don’t take action.”

My voice was small and shaking. I felt like a child begging, and that made the shame burn deeper.

Rudraksh closed his eyes and breathed slowly, fighting to keep his anger from boiling over.

Mamaji watched this strange restraint with a mixture of surprise and calculation.

Then his gaze dropped to the mangalsutra around my neck and the sindoor in my parting.

The look in his eyes shifted the fury folded into something colder, more solemn.

“Rivanya,” he said quietly, and the weight of his next words made my heart flip, “if you do not want rivers of blood to flow here, come with me.”

He seized my hand and began to lead me away.

“Mamaji, how can I go?” I cried, panic striking my voice. “This is my home. Whether I want it or not he is my husband. Please don’t take me. Please.”

I clung to him, begging, my body shaking. My pleas seemed to fall on stone. I turned to Nanu, hoping for mercy. “Nanu, please hear me out.”

Nanu’s face hardened. “We will hear everything, but not here. You are coming back with us to Kashi. If this man dares to try to stop us, rivers of blood will flow by Mahadev, we swear it.”

Those words landed like an avalanche. My chest tightened until I could barely breathe.

The dread I had always carried the fear of my family’s fury, of being torn away crystallized into a terrifying, immediate reality.

Tears spilled down my face uncontrollably.

The thing I had feared most had begun to happen; the choice had slipped out of my hands.

Sadness crashed over me in layers: shame for deceiving them, guilt for the hurt I had caused, terror at what my father’s wrath might unleash, and the hollow ache of being torn between two worlds. I felt suddenly thin and breakable, like a reed in a storm unable to stop the tide I had set in motion.

I stood there, sobbing and small, pressed between the hard resolve of my family and the cold, fierce silence of the man I was bound to. The sadness was everything at once raw, endless, and impossibly heavy.

Rudraksh was about to step forward and say something when Vyom intercepted him with a gesture, whispering something urgent. Rudraksh paused and fell silent.

I turned one last time to Mamaji, tears trembling in my voice.

“Mamaji,” I pleaded softly, “I know I should have told you all this before. But how could I? How could I tell you that the very girl whose kanyadaan you had dreamt of doing since my childhood... had to marry just to protect her father’s honor, keeping her daughterly duties above her own heart?”

For a moment, Mamaji’s eyes softened. His voice was gentle yet heavy with pain as he said,

“Rivu, none of this matters to us, beta. All we ever wanted was your happiness. I never trusted your father’s choice... that proposal was meant for Alisha, not for you. You agreed only to protect your father’s dignity. But, beta what about your happiness?”

Tears spilled down my cheeks as I whispered,

“Who told you that I’m not happy here, Mamaji? Everyone here is kind, and this… this is your upbringing in me. You always said, once a woman is bound by the sacred thread, that bond is for life. I’ve accepted this as my home my husband’s home. How can you take me away from here, Mamaji?”

Nanu’s voice broke through the silence, trembling yet filled with love.

“Rivu, we promised your mother that after she was gone, we’d raise her daughter like a flower, with care and devotion. Beta, don’t repeat the mistake your mother once made… the mistake that destroyed her life.”

I looked at Nanu through the blur of my tears.

“But Nanu,” I said, my voice breaking, “even what I’m doing today… it’s what Maa taught me. She always said, for a married woman, her husband’s home is her temple, and devotion to him is her sacred duty.”

Mamaji took a deep breath, pain and admiration glimmering in his eyes.

“Truly, Rivu… you are Katha’s daughter. Her values, her soul, her strength they live in you. I couldn’t save your mother… but I won’t let you suffocate here the way she did. Come with me, beta.”

Before I could react, Mamaji held my hand tightly and started pulling me toward the door. I cried and tried to stop him, begging him to listen, but he wouldn’t. My voice drowned in sobs.

Through my tears, I turned to look back at Rudraksh… hoping, praying that he would stop me say something anything. But his gaze was turned away, his face carved in stone.

My heart shattered. Perhaps… perhaps Rudraksh wanted me to leave. Maybe this silence was his way of agreeing. If he had wanted, he could have stopped me. But he didn’t. He just stood there, watching everything fall apart, his eyes dark with unspoken storms.

And that silence… that silence screamed louder than any words could.

I stopped resisting Mamaji. My steps felt heavy as I walked toward the exit. At the doorway, I turned one last time one last desperate look back at him.

And in that moment, I froze.

Because in Rudraksh’s eyes those deep, obsidian eyes that had once terrified me I saw fire. I saw the silent promise of a man burning in restraint. His jaw was clenched, fists tight, but his eyes spoke what his lips didn’t:

“Rivanya… wait for me. I will come for you.”

That look seared through my soul rage, longing, helplessness, and love, all tangled together.

His eyes followed me until I disappeared beyond the threshold,

and I knew no matter how far I went, a part of me would always belong to him.