SOFT ROMANCE🎀
Devyani still clung to him, her trembling fingers fisting his shirt as her tears continued soaking through the expensive fabric. He didn't care. He never cared.
Rivan pushed the door shut with his leg, the heavy sound echoing through the quiet room. The chaos, the screams, the panic of minutes ago everything stayed behind that door.
Now, it was just him and her.
He walked slowly toward the bed, every step careful, afraid that even his movements might scare her.
Sitting down, he adjusted her gently on his lap his arm circling her waist protectively while the other rose to the back of her head. She didn't move. Didn't speak. Her face was buried against his neck, her breathing shallow and broken.
He didn't say a word either. Words were useless now.
He simply pulled her closer closer until their heartbeats began to sync, until her hiccups started to fade. His hand moved slowly up and down her back, the roughness of his palm calming her uneven breaths.
The silence that filled the room wasn't empty it was peaceful, healing, the kind of silence that speaks louder than words.
For the first time in a long time, Rivan Thakur sat still...
and held someone as if his entire world could fall apart if he let go.
Then suddenly, her hiccups grew harsher her fragile body shaking against him with every uneven breath.
Rivan's jaw tightened, his hand pausing on her back for a moment before he whispered in his low, rough voice,
"Bas kar do, kitten...aap ro rahi hai, aur dard mujhe ho raha hai."
(Stop it, kitten... you're crying, but the pain is mine.)
His tone wasn't pleading it was restrained, almost gritted, like a man fighting his own storm inside. His thumb brushed the corner of her damp cheek, his eyes flickering with a strange ache that he quickly hid behind his usual coldness.
He wasn't made for comforting, wasn't made for softness yet somehow, with her in his arms, the ice in him began to tremble.
He gently caressed her back, his voice dropping to a low, steady murmur,
"Shhhh... bacche, main hoon na. I'm here now. We're not in that room anymore. You're safe... you're with me. Please, stop crying it really... it really gives me pain."
But instead of stopping, Devyani only clutched him tighter, her tears soaking deeper into his shirt as soft sobs escaped her lips.
Rivan exhaled slowly, the weight in his chest tightening. He glanced down at her trembling form and muttered, half to himself, half to her,
"Okay... what should I do for you, hmm? Tell me, kitten... what should I do so you'll stop crying?"
No answer. No movement. Her face still buried in the crook of his neck, refusing to even look at him as if that was the only safe place she knew.
With a quiet sigh, he rose to his feet, still holding her close, and walked toward the balcony. The air brushed against them as he sat down on the chair, settling her carefully on his lap again. He thought maybe the soft breeze would calm her... make her breathe a little easier.
But she remained the same stubbornly silent, her small hands gripping his shirt, refusing to move or speak. It wasn't anger. It was fear... exhaustion... and maybe, the beginning of trust she didn't know how to handle.
After what felt like hours, her sobs finally began to fade just faint hiccups breaking the silence. Slowly, Devyani lifted her face from the crook of his neck, her breaths uneven, lashes wet and trembling.
For the first time, their eyes met.
Her swollen, tear-stained eyes were like daggers to Rivan's chest. Something dark flickered behind his calm expression a quiet fury. Fury at himself, at the world, at whoever dared to make her cry like this. But he swallowed it down, forcing his storm to stay hidden behind the cold mask he wore.
Without a word, he raised his hand and brushed his thumb across her cheek, wiping away the tears that still refused to stop. She flinched slightly at his touch but didn't pull away. Instead, fresh tears slipped from her lashes, and Rivan's jaw tightened.
"Should I... go?" he asked quietly, his voice uncharacteristically soft. "If you're not comfortable?"
Her head moved weakly.....no.
Devyani tried to speak, but her voice came out in broken hiccups,
"She... she locked... me... in... that room. I... was... so... scared..."
Rivan's fingers froze against her skin. For a moment, the silence around them grew heavier. Then he leaned closer, his tone deep and hushed,
"Shhhhhh... now you're safe. With me. No one will ever lock you anywhere again, kitten. Stop crying, please..."
But she shook her head slowly, tears threatening again.
"I... want... to... cry..." she whispered, her voice small, trembling like a child's.
Rivan exhaled, his throat tightening. "It's... paining me, kitten," he murmured, brushing his thumb over her trembling lips. "Please, stop crying. It hurts... it really hurts."
Devyani just looked up at him with her big, tearful doe eyes. Her face flushed, soft, fragile looked almost unreal under the sky. Her lips quivered, her nose and eyes red, her skin glowing faintly from the tears still clinging to her cheeks.
For the first time in his life, Rivan Thakur the man who made others tremble—felt his own heart tremble instead.
He took out his handkerchief silently, unfolding it with care, and began wiping her face each tear, each drop of fear like he was erasing her pain one touch at a time. Devyani just stared at him, her eyes filled with confusion and unspoken questions.
So many thoughts ran through her mind. Why did he come for her?
Why did his voice sound so... worried? Why was he being gentle the same man who once scared her to silence?
She wanted to ask everything, but her throat was too tight, choked with emotions.
Sometimes the heart carries so much that the mouth forgets how to speak.
Her gaze lingered on him, lost somewhere between disbelief and something softer. Rivan noticed her silence, the way her eyes spoke even when her lips didn't.
"Want to rest?" he asked quietly.
Devyani nodded her head slowly, still looking at him. Without saying another word, he slid one arm beneath her and scooped her up effortlessly, holding her as if she were made of glass.
He laid her gently on the bed, his hand brushing away the strands of hair stuck to her damp face. "Want to eat something?" he asked, his tone calm but laced with worry.
She didn't reply just kept staring at him like she was seeing him for the first time.
"Want to go outside for a bit?" he tried again. No response.
He exhaled through his nose and said quietly, "Then should I call someone? Maybe... Jinal?"
Still, she said nothing her silence echoing louder than words ever could.
Rivan paused for a moment, studying her pale, tear-streaked face. Then, in a tone softer than she had ever heard from him, he asked,
"Umm... can I sleep beside you?"
A faint sound escaped her lips just a small "hmm," tired and fragile.
Without wasting a second, he lay down beside her, pulling her close, her head resting on his arm. The moment his warmth wrapped around her, something in her broke her walls, her fears. She clutched his shirt tightly, burying herself in his chest like a child scared to lose her only safe place.
And Rivan... he didn't move. Didn't speak. Just tightened his hold on her, afraid that if he let go, she might disappear again like the nightmare he never wanted to see twice.
Rivan's fingers moved in slow, steady circles across her back, his touch gentle enough to calm her trembling but firm enough to remind her she was no longer alone.
After a while, her soft, broken voice came, muffled against his chest.
"You won't... leave me, right?"
Rivan's hand froze mid-motion. For a heartbeat, he couldn't breathe.
That single question so small, so innocent pierced straight through the armor he had built around himself for years.
His jaw tightened. His throat felt dry. He wanted to say no, wanted to promise her he would never let her out of his sight again. But promises were dangerous and he had already broken too many.
So he said nothing.
The silence was his answer.
Devyani didn't ask again. She just closed her eyes, her face buried deeper into his chest, as if afraid the world might take him away. Within minutes, her breathing slowed, the exhaustion of fear finally pulling her into sleep.
Rivan stayed still, staring at the ceiling.
Her question kept echoing in his mind. You won't leave me, right?
He looked down at her her face soft now, peaceful, her lashes still wet from tears. His thumb brushed her cheek, and his chest ached in a way that terrified him.
Leaning closer, he whispered so quietly that even the night couldn't hear,
"I don't know how to leave you... even if I try."
He pressed a kiss to her forehead a rare, fragile thing from a man who had forgotten tenderness.
As he held her closer, their breaths mingled two lost souls wrapped in each other's warmth, carrying different storms in their minds but finding the same fragile peace in that moment.
The palace was silent now. Evening shadows stretched long through the corridors, and the air carried a strange heaviness as if it, too, had witnessed everything that happened today.
In her room, Yashodha sat quietly, her hands clasped together, eyes distant. The soft light from the lamp flickered against her tear-stained face. When Virendra entered, he stopped at the door noticing how fragile she looked, yet trying to hold herself together.
"What happened, Yashodha?" he asked softly, though he already feared the answer.
She didn't look at him. Her gaze stayed fixed on the floor, her voice trembling when she finally spoke.
"Did you see him, Virendra?"
He stilled. The way she said his name not Thakur, not ji, just Virendra carried a storm of pain and distance. It hurt, not because she was angry with him, but because she was breaking.
"I know why you're worried," Virendra said after a long pause, his tone heavy, cautious. "But slowly... everything will change. Give him time."
Yashodha finally lifted her eyes to him red, weary, full of anguish.
"Change?" she whispered, her voice cracking. "Do you even understand what our son is going through?"
Virendra tried to speak, but words refused to come.
"He's hurting himself, Virendra," Yashodha continued, her voice rising just a little with desperation. "Every time he loses control, he bleeds. He bleeds because he doesn't know how to cry... because he doesn't know how to ask for help."
Tears slipped down her cheeks, one after another. "And we just stand there watching him destroy himself little by little. Tell me, what kind of parents are we?"
Virendra exhaled, closing his eyes for a moment. He knew she was right. Every wound Rivan carried was a silent scream they never managed to hear in time.
He went closer, kneeling slightly beside her.
"Yashodha," he said quietly, "he's been fighting his demons alone for years. I couldn't reach him... neither could you. But today, when he took her name—"
She looked at him, startled.
Virendra continued, his voice trembling with something close to hope, "—for the first time, I saw something in his eyes. Fear, yes... but also care. Devyani... she might be the only one who can pull him out of that darkness."
Yashodha wiped her tears but her voice still quivered, "And if he hurts her too?"
Virendra fell silent, his jaw tightening. He didn't have an answer.
But in his heart, he prayed not for his son's power or pride but for the first time, for his peace.
Yashodha's words fell like a blade sharp, precise, impossible to ignore. "Tell me the truth, Virendra."
He looked at her, startled, then guarded. "What truth?" he asked, but she already had him caught in the net of her certainty. Her voice was steady, but her eyes were molten with pain. "Don't try to lie. You know me I see through you. I know when you hide things."
When she finally asked "Who is Devyani?
" the room seemed to stop breathing.
For a single suspended moment the clock on the mantel ticked like a distant drum and the lamplight threw long, accusing shadows across the floor.
Virendra felt the world narrow to the space between them, as if the question had pulled every secret into the open air.
He answered finally, the words thin and brittle: "She is your daughter-in-law. Why do you ask?" The plainness of the reply couldn't hide the tremor beneath it. He had expected a softer storm, not the fierce tide that rolled up in Yashodha's eyes.
"No, Virendra," she cut him off, every syllable a wound.
"I know you. There is something buried under all this something you won't speak of.
The way you watch her, the way you protect her.
.. it isn't ordinary. You care for her in a way that goes beyond duty or mercy.
More than Aradhya, more than the others.
" Her words were not accusation alone; they were a mother's alarm, sharp with the fear that a wound in one child will bleed the whole family.
Virendra opened his mouth, then closed it.
He wanted to deny it, to smooth it away with some polite excuse about responsibility or compassion.
He wanted to lie and keep the past folded and safe.
But Yashodha's gaze did not relent; it was the look of a woman who'd raised men and seen them break, who knew the shape secrets made when they turned into storms.
"You think something hidden will break them both?
" he asked softly, because he knew the truth of her worry, and because the question had already lived in his chest for longer than he admitted.
She nodded, the motion small but absolute.
"If any secret comes to light, and either of them is ruined for it.
.. I'll not stay." The warning in her voice was clear leave, or be left.
For a long moment Virendra felt the full weight of being a patriarch: the duty to protect, the guilt of decisions that cost others sleep, and the hollow ache that comes from choosing who bears the burden of truth.
He thought of Devyani's frightened face in the hall, of Rivan's raw, shattered edge.
He thought of the bargains he had once made promises carved out of fear and survival and how those bargains had wrapped themselves quietly around the lives of the young.
He stepped closer, voice threaded with a tired tenderness.
"Yashodha, you are right to be ruthless when it comes to our children.
I would never ask you to stay where your heart says leave.
I've kept things from you to protect the family, and perhaps that was cowardice as much as calculation.
But listen I will not let either of them be broken because of what I hide. "
Yashodha's eyes softened, but the fear did not leave her. She pressed her palms together as if in prayer, more for strength than for supplication. "Promise me," she whispered, "that you will choose them over pride. Promise me you will not let secrets be shackles."
Virendra's answer was a slow, solemn nod. "I can't promise," he said. "But I think I can fix everything,and I will take the pain first. If pain must come, it will be on me."
As Yashodha turned away, there was no triumphant smile, only the quiet iron of a woman who had said her piece and would accept nothing less than action.
Virendra remained by the window. He breathed once, the breath of a man who would now carry two burdens: the secret he safeguarded and the promise he had made to someone else.
.
.
.
The siblings sat in the grand lounge, the silence between them thick yet oddly peaceful a strange mix of relief and unease floating in the air. The palace was still humming with whispers of what had just happened Rivan Thakur, the untouchable, had claimed someone as his own.
Rudraksh leaned back on the couch, exhaling slowly. "I've seen him angry... I've seen him ruthless... but today," he said, shaking his head in disbelief, "I saw him terrified. I swear, it was the first time I saw fear in his eyes."
Payal, sitting cross-legged beside Aradhya, nodded quickly. "Yes, it was unexpected. The way he announced her name — Devyani Rivan Thakur — it sent chills down my spine. I never thought I'd see Bhai that vulnerable, that... desperate."
Aradhya's eyes softened, her fingers nervously fidgeting with her bracelet. "What do you think he'll do with Kashvi?" she asked hesitantly, her voice trembling with both pity and dread.
Rudraksh's jaw tightened, his expression hardening. "Worse than death," he replied coldly. "For now, death is a luxury she doesn't deserve. What she did..." He paused, his eyes darkening. "She won't walk away from it unscarred. Not after what she put Bhabhi through."
Payal looked down, her lips pressed into a thin line. None of them could deny Kashvi's punishment would be brutal but what haunted them more was the look in their brother's eyes when he found Devyani. It wasn't rage that scared them... it was love the kind that could destroy everything in its way.
Aradhya whispered after a long pause, her voice fragile but full of meaning, "Still.
.. I saw him differently today. For the first time, I saw Rivan, not the Thakur everyone fears.
" She smiled faintly, tears pricking her eyes.
"The brother I used to know the one who used to protect me from the dark, who smiled without reason I saw a glimpse of him again. "
Rudraksh sighed deeply. "Maybe Devyani bhabhi is the only one who can reach that part of him again... the part even he buried long ago."
Payal nodded softly, glancing toward the corridor where Rivan's footsteps had last echoed. "Maybe she's not just his wife," she murmured. "Maybe she's the only reason he still feels human."
The room fell silent again, each of them lost in their thoughts torn between fear of what was to come and a quiet, trembling hope that perhaps.
.. just perhaps... Devyani had begun to awaken the heart their brother had long convinced himself was dead.
.
.
.
Rajan entered Virendra's room with hesitant steps, his face pale and voice trembling.
The tension in the palace still hadn't faded, and even the walls seemed to remember the echo of Rivan Thakur's warning.
"Mr Thakur," Rajan said softly, bowing his head in shame, "I... I'm extremely sorry for Kashvi's behaviour. She crossed every limit today. Please forgive her. I'll make sure she's sent back immediately she won't show her face in front of your family again."
Virendra, who had been standing near the window with his arms folded, turned slowly. His face was calm, but his silence carried the weight of a storm. After a moment, he said quietly, "Rajan, you know Rivan... it's better we don't talk about this. I can't interfere when it comes to him."
Rajan froze, his throat going dry. He knew what that meant Rivan would handle it his own way, and no one, not even Virendra Thakur,could stop him. The older man exhaled and gave a short nod, not daring to push further.
"I understand," Rajan said, voice low. "I've... also cancelled tonight's party. We'll move it to tomorrow. Everyone needs time after what happened."
Virendra nodded slightly. "Yes... they all do. Especially her." His tone softened at the last word, an emotion flickering in his eyes that Rajan couldn't quite place pain, relief, or perhaps something deeper.
Rajan managed a small, polite smile. "Still, congratulations. Truly. I didn't believe the day would come when we'd hear Rivan Thakur introducing someone as his wife. Seems like destiny finally found its way."
Virendra's lips curved into a faint, knowing smile — tired yet proud. "Hmm... destiny doesn't ask, Rajan. It just... happens."
With a respectful nod, Rajan took his leave. The sound of the door closing echoed softly through the study, leaving Virendra once again in silence a silence filled with a thousand unspoken truths, and the heavy knowledge that destiny had only just begun its game.
.
.
.
.
It was deep into the evening.The room was silent except for the faint sound of the wind brushing against the curtains. The moonlight fell softly on the bed where Devyani slept in Rivan's arms her face still tear-stained, her breaths uneven.
Suddenly, she jolted awake. Her eyes darted around the dark room, confusion and terror flooding them. Her heartbeat raced, and before she could understand where she was, she pressed her hands tightly against her ears trying to shut out the echoes of her own screams that still haunted her mind.
Rivan immediately sat up beside her, his brows furrowing in worry. "kitten—what happened?" he asked, his voice low yet firm.
But she didn't respond. Her body was trembling, her breaths short and harsh. She was trapped again in that dark, isolated room of her memories.
Rivan hesitated only for a second, then gently reached for her wrists. His touch was firm but tender as he slowly pulled her hands away from her ears. "Shh... look at me," he whispered.
She still wouldn't. Her eyes were glassy, lost.
So he cupped her face with both hands and softly pressed his forehead against hers closing his eyes, letting his breath mingle with hers. "You're not there, kitten... you're here. With me."
His voice dropped lower, rough yet gentle, almost a lullaby. "No darkness now... just us. Just me."
He rubbed slow circles over her trembling shoulders, his thumbs tracing comfort into her skin. When she still couldn't calm, he took her back into his arms, wrapping her tightly against his chest.
Her small hands clutched his shirt, her sobs muffled against him. "It's okay," he murmured against her hair. "Let it out. I'm right here. No one will touch you."
After a few moments, her breathing began to slow, her trembling eased. Rivan brushed her hair aside and placed a soft kiss on her temple.
"Whenever the dark comes," he said quietly, "I'll be your light, kitten."
Her lips quivered, and she whispered faintly, "Promise?"
Rivan didn't answer in words he just tightened his arms around her and kissed her forehead again, silently promising with the warmth of his touch what his cold heart couldn't yet speak aloud.
She curled into his lap like a small bird seeking shelter, and at last the torrent of fear found words.
"You know what happened today?" she asked, voice thin.
He drew her closer, his thumb tracing slow circles on her back. "Yes," he said quietly, "but I want to hear it from you."
Devyani blinked, innocent and fragile. "You won't scold me?"
RIVAN's mouth twitched half-anger, half-amusement. "Why would I bacche?"
She swallowed and forced the memory out. "She locked me in that room... and she—she held my throat tight." Her hands curled into his shirt as if holding herself together by doing so.
RIVAN's fingers found the tender spot beneath her ear and rested there, gentle as prayer. "Here?" he asked.
She nodded. His face softened for the fraction of a breath it took to break him.
Then, almost without thinking, he leaned in and pressed the side of his mouth to the place where her pulse fluttered.
One kiss soft, protective. It made her shiver from crown to heel.
He kissed her neck again, twice more, warm and insistently tender, as if erasing the memory with heat.
Her breath hitched as his lips again touched her neck, feather-light yet enough to send a wave of warmth through her.
She didn't know why her heart began to race or why her body felt drawn toward him instead of pulling away.
Everything about the moment felt new gentle, confusing, but strangely comforting.
When she looked up, his eyes were already on her, soft and searching, as if asking for a permission she didn't know how to give.
And in that silence, something unspoken passed between them fragile, tender, and impossibly real.
"How are you feeling now?" he asked, voice low.
She only stared with those wide, deer-like eyes soaked with fear, rimmed in red, unable to answer.
He shifted, easing his back against the bed, letting her settle more comfortably on his lap.
The room smelled of distant rain and the faint musk of his cologne.
In that small, quiet island of him, she felt safer than she had in hours.
"The room was dark," she whispered, words tumbling out in broken breaths. "There were monsters. Voices. They all scared me."
RIVAN's jaw tightened. A dark humour that belonged only to him surfaced for a heartbeat. "So many things scared my baby," he said, the nickname rough with possessiveness. "Do you want me to punish that ghost?"
"Will you?" Her hope was a small, trembling thing.
"Yes," he said, certain and flat. "I will."
"That girl she trapped me. I didn't do anything wrong. I didn't even—" Her voice faltered as she searched for a word she didn't know. "—I didn't even mean to upset her. She was so rude. So... so bad."
RIVAN's hand tightened, not hard enough to hurt but enough to let her feel the promise in his grip. "Bad girls get punished," he murmured, and there was no joking in it only a calm, cold vow that carried the weight of a man who kept his word through action, not talk.
Devyani's voice broke in the middle of her sentence, her trembling fingers clutching the edge of his shirt.
"You know... she even said I'm so cheap," she whispered, her eyes glistening with fresh tears.
"And even... she hates me... I didn't do anything wrong. She scolded me for being with Aradhya, Payal, Jinal... she said she—"
She stopped abruptly, biting her lip hard, not wanting to say more. Her throat felt tight, her chest heavy.
Rivan, who had been silently watching her, clenched his jaw. His eyes darkened, but his voice came out softer than she expected.
"Enough," he said.
Rivan's hand gently reached out, brushing a tear from her cheek with his thumb.
"You don't need to explain anything to me," he said in that low, calm tone that carried authority and comfort together.
"I know you didn't do anything wrong,my baccha will never be wrong."
He took a breath, trying to control the quiet rage that trembled behind his words.
He sighed deeply, lowering his gaze for a second, his voice softening again.
"Don't waste your tears on people who don't deserve them, kitten," he murmured.
"They can't see what I see in you."
Devyani froze for a second, her heart stuttering at his words.
He looked at her again calm, collected, but his eyes were a storm.
"Next time someone tries to make you feel small..." he leaned closer, his voice barely above a whisper, "tell them you're mine. That's enough to shut the whole world."
She let out a shaky breath and nodded. He smoothed a stray curl from her forehead and pressed a light kiss there this time not to erase a memory but to stitch a new one: warmth, protection, a quiet promise in a dangerous world.
They stayed like that for a long time no more talking, just the steady rhythm of two hearts learning to trust the same breath.
RIVAN's tone dropped, quiet but firm. "Want to eat something? You haven't had a single bite since morning."
Devyani blinked up at him, still half lost in the fog of exhaustion. "Yes... I'm hungry. So much."
He nodded, brushing his thumb across her cheek. "Let's go then."
She tried to stand, but the moment her foot touched the floor, she winced in pain. RIVAN's eyes immediately flicked to her leg, his expression darkening. Before she could say anything more, he bent and scooped her into his arms effortlessly.
.she gasped softly, clutching his shirt, "what are you doing? Please put me down."
He looked straight ahead, his voice low and steady. "Carrying my world. Now shhhh... relax."
His words stilled her completely. Her heartbeat stumbled, and all she could do was hide her face in his chest as he walked through the corridor, his footsteps echoing against the marble floors.
When they entered the grand dining hall, every conversation came to a halt.
All eyes turned toward them toward him, the cold, ruthless RIVAN THAKUR carrying his delicate wife as though she were made of glass.
For a moment, the air itself softened.
Yashodha's lips curved in the faintest smile, and even Virendra's heart eased seeing this rare gentleness in his son.
RIVAN gently lowered her onto a chair, making sure her leg rested comfortably. Then he took the chair behind her, sitting close enough that his presence felt like a shield.
Virendra leaned forward with a warm tone that carried both affection and apology. "How is my daughter?"
Devyani blinked and smiled faintly. "I'm fine, papa."
The single word papa hit RIVAN like a silent jolt. His hand, halfway to his plate, froze. He hadn't expected it from her, or from himself to feel anything at that word. Something strange twisted in his chest before he masked it away with his usual calm.
Without a word, he filled a plate. Devyani quietly waited, assuming he was only serving himself. She lowered her gaze and reached to fill her own plate but before her hand could touch the spoon, his fingers brushed hers.
"Don't," he said, taking the spoon himself.
And to everyone's disbelief, RIVAN began feeding her calmly, silently, as though the entire world didn't exist around them.
The hall fell utterly silent. Even the sound of cutlery stopped.
Oberois, Thakurs everyone watched the same impossible sight: the untouchable, feared RIVAN THAKUR, gently blowing on a spoonful of rice and bringing it to his wife's lips as if she were the only soul in existence.
Devyani's eyes widened, her breath catching. "... everyone's watching."
He didn't even glance around. His gaze stayed fixed on her, voice firm and low enough for her ears only.
"Let them watch. They'll understand tonight whom I belong to and who belongs to me."
And as she hesitantly took the first bite, the hall exhaled some in shock, some in awe.
But one truth settled in every heart that night:
RIVAN THAKUR's world didn't revolve around power, money, or fear anymore.
It revolved around one fragile girl
DEVYANI RIVAN THAKUR
Devyani softly touched his wrist, her voice barely above a whisper.
"Enough na... I'm full now."
RIVAN looked at her for a moment, then silently set the spoon down. No questions, no argumentsjust a small nod as he wiped the corner of her lips with the edge of his thumb, the gesture unexpectedly tender.
The hall remained wrapped in quiet awe. No one dared to breathe too loud, let alone speak until Rajveer finally found his voice.
"RIVAN, about Kashvi—"
RIVAN's head turned sharply, his eyes narrowing.
His tone was cold, final. "No. Not now."
That single sentence was enough to silence the entire room.
Rajveer swallowed hard, realizing this wasn't the time to discuss anything that involved anger or blood.
RIVAN then pushed his chair back and stood up, his movements smooth but commanding.
Without saying another word, he walked to Devyani's side and gently helped her to stand. His hand never left her back, a quiet promise of protection.
They both turned to leave. The faint click of his shoes and the soft rustle of her dress were the only sounds echoing through the marble hall.
Every eye followed them
The beast of the Thakur empire walking beside his queen.
And though no one dared to speak it aloud, one thought lingered in everyone's mind:
We both entered the room.
There was a strange silence heavy yet calm like the air itself had softened around him. For the first time since I've known him, there wasn't fire in his eyes, only something unreadable... something that scared me in a different way.
I don't know why, but the calmness felt more terrifying than his anger.
His face still carried the traces of fear I had seen earlier fear, in him. That alone was shocking. The man who made others tremble had looked terrified... because of me?
But why would he care?
Why did he come for me?
Why did he hold me like I mattered?
Questions circled my head like restless whispers.
Maybe... maybe he wanted something in return.
But what do I even have to give?
Nothing. I have nothing to offer him.
I quietly walked to the balcony, letting the cold air touch my skin. I sat down on the marble floor, pulling my knees close to my chest. I didn't want to talk to him. Not tonight. Not when my heart was already breaking under the weight of confusion.
A few minutes later, I heard footsteps his.
He didn't say anything, just came and sat beside me.
So close... yet so silent.
I looked at him, my eyes searching his face, and for a fleeting moment, I wondered
Who is he?
This isn't the man who once scared me to the point of shivering.
This isn't the same Thakur who warned me not to call him my husband.
That memory hit me hard. My chest tightened again.
Maybe this was all pity.
Maybe he just felt sorry seeing me so scared and broken.
Maybe all of this his gentleness, his care was just an act.
I whispered to myself, Don't get too attached, Devyani... you'll only regret it.
But then, another thought stabbed deeper—Kashvi's words.
"I'm going to be his wife."
My stomach twisted.
He never even told me.
How could he? If he was planning to marry her... then what was I?
A tear rolled down my cheek before I could stop it.
He didn't even trust me enough to tell me the truth.
And yet... my heart still betrayed me by aching for him.
He's the same man who once made me tremble in fear, the same man who could shatter anyone's courage with just one look.
It shouldn't feel like this.
He's still the same pati Parmeshwar ji the one everyone fears, the one I was supposed to stay away from.
Then why, when he looks at me, do I forget everything he's done?
Why does my heart whisper things that my mind refuses to accept?
I press my hand over my chest.
It hurts... but it's not the kind of pain that comes from fear.
It's softer.
It's strange.
It's something I can't name.
Maybe it's wrong...
Maybe it's dangerous...
But for the first time, I feel alive in his presence.
And that's what scares me the most.
Devyani stood up suddenly, her voice trembling yet laced with quiet anger. "I don't want to see you," she whispered, her eyes refusing to meet his.
Rivan, taken aback, rose from his place too, confusion clouding his face.
"What happened?" he asked softly, genuinely lost.
"Nothing," she said, avoiding his gaze. "Just go and leave... with her."
"Her?" His brows furrowed, trying to understand. "Who are you talking about?"
"The one you're going to marry," she replied bitterly, her voice cracking at the end.
Rivan's expression froze.
Marry?
He murmured to himself, "I... am going to marry?" as if the words themselves made no sense to him.
Devyani didn't wait for an answer. "You won't go fine, I'll go," she said sharply, turning away.
And before Rivan could say another word, she left the room, leaving him standing there utterly confused, half-amused, and half-worried.
he lowered his head...
And pressed his lips to her breasts.
Devyani gasped.
A tiny, shaky, innocent sound that made him groan softly against her skin.
He kissed her there again
warmer, slower
his hand sliding to her waist, grounding her, holding her gently.
Her skin trembled beneath his lips.
"Ahhhhh..." she moaned, voice breaking.
He lifted his head just enough to whisper against her flesh,
"Shhh... I'm not hurting you, am I?"
She shook her head instantly, cheeks burning, breath quivering.
"No... I just... it feels... different..."
His eyes softened, darkened.