CHAPTER 25 #2
Before I can ask her to stop, I feel a sudden warmth settle against my waist. My body stiffens instantly, knowing who it is.
Raghav’s hand slides firmly around my waist, pulling me back against his side possessively, as if it belongs there.
My breath catches for one infuriating second at how natural the gesture feels.
I glare sideways at him, but he completely ignores my anger. Everybody around us has gone silent. Every staff member nearby is staring at us.
Dressed in a dark full-sleeved shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his forearms and a pair of rugged jeans, he looks exactly like the ruthless, dangerous man who came to Cape Town to ruin my world. Gone is his polished businessman image. The mafia in him overshadows everything else.
Even Esha looks momentarily stunned by the transformation. Raghav looks at her calmly and says in that deep voice of his, “Siya isn’t staying in the resort cottage anymore.” His fingers tighten slightly against my waist. “She’s staying in my villa… as my wife.”
The lobby goes dead silent. Every head turns towards us in shock, drawn first to the hand resting possessively against my waist and then to the man proudly claiming me in front of the entire world. In front of his world. In front of all of RK Estate.
That’s when I notice Kriti near the reception desk, holding a few files and speaking to two staff members. The moment Raghav announces that I’m living in his villa as his wife, her entire expression changes.
Not just from shock. Something far uglier flashes across her face. It’s disbelief. It’s as if her mind outright refuses to accept what she just heard. Even the files in her hand nearly slip as her gaze darts from me to Raghav’s arm locked around my waist.
Everybody here knows that I arrived at RK Estate weeks ago as another man’s fiancée. And now, suddenly, I’m standing beside Raghav Kundra as his wife. I can see the confusion spreading across their faces.
Raghav, however, looks completely unbothered by the attention. He tightens his grip around my waist before speaking again, this time looking directly at me. “We got married in Cape Town two days ago.”
The entire lobby erupts at once.
“Wow…”
“Congratulations, sir!”
“Congratulations, Ma’am!”
“Oh my God!”
“This is such good news!”
Everybody starts talking at once, smiling, congratulating, and looking genuinely happy for us. Meanwhile, I stand there frozen, because none of them know the truth about this marriage. As I accept their good wishes, this marriage suddenly feels too real, too permanent.
Beside me, Raghav acknowledges the greetings with silent, broody nods. No smile. No excitement. No softness. Just that same cold, arrogant calmness. Like a mafia prince accepting congratulations after claiming victory in a war.
Then, before I can gather my thoughts, Esha throws her arms around me. “Oh my God, Siya Ma’am!” she squeals in excitement. “I knew it! I swear I knew there was something between you two.”
I stiffen slightly because she sounds genuinely happy.
Esha and Haider had seen Raghav kiss me that night at the temple. They had noticed the tension between us long before that as well. In her head, this probably feels like some beautiful love story finally reaching its happy ending.
She pulls away, smiling brightly.
“I’m so happy for you,” she says again.
I somehow force a faint smile, even though it feels impossible right now. Before I can say anything, Haider walks into the lobby with a serious expression and heads straight towards Raghav. He leans in and murmurs something quietly, but I overhear it too.
“The Shergills are here,” he says.
My eyes snap to Raghav. His family is here?
Raghav’s entire body goes rigid beside me.
The warmth in his eyes disappears immediately.
Without saying another word, he suddenly grabs my hand, his fingers sliding between mine in a firm, possessive hold.
Then he starts dragging me out of the lobby and back towards the villa…
straight towards whatever storm is waiting for us.
****************
Raghav’s Villa @ RK Estate
The moment we reach the villa, the first person I notice is Kailash Uncle standing in the middle of the living room. Beside him is a woman I recognise instantly from the video call with Raghav that I accidentally barged into. She is Ayaan’s wife… Meher.
She looks even more pretty in real life. Soft-featured, elegant, and visibly pregnant. One protective hand rests on her stomach while her worried gaze remains fixed on Raghav.
And standing beside her is Ayaan Shergill himself.
Raghav’s fraternal twin brother. My breath catches for a second.
Although I’d seen him during that video call, seeing them side by side makes the resemblance impossible to ignore.
Raghav and Ayaan may not be identical twins, yet they look similar enough for anyone to know they belong to the same bloodline.
They share the same height, same commanding presence, and the same dangerously intense eyes that seem capable of seeing far more than they should.
And yet, there is a stark difference between them. Where Raghav looks rugged, dark, brutally untamed… Ayaan looks sharper, more polished, and far more controlled.
In other words, Raghav is violence wrapped in expensive clothes, while Ayaan looks like the kind of man who knows exactly how to mask that same violence beneath sophistication and charm. Then, for one stupid second, another thought slips into my mind almost unwittingly.
Both brothers are ridiculously handsome.
What the hell is wrong with me?
I immediately push the thought away and look at Mom, who is standing a little behind Kailash Uncle, visibly confused. By now, she already knows who everyone is, but even she looks tense, as if sensing the storm that is about to explode inside this villa.
The moment Raghav steps inside, that storm finally detonates. He doesn’t look at Kailash Uncle, nor does he greet Meher. He doesn’t say a single word to anyone. His eyes lock directly onto Ayaan.
The shift in the atmosphere is instant.
Before I know it, both brothers are already striding towards each other like two bulls about to lock horns. The energy between them is so intense that my heartbeat spikes before either of them even speaks.
Oh God. Are they actually going to fight?
“How dare you—” Ayaan yells first, grabbing Raghav’s collar tightly.
“No… How dare you, Ayaan?” Raghav cuts him off savagely, gripping Ayaan’s collar in return. “You changed the f*cking plans behind my back.”
The sudden silence inside the villa becomes almost suffocating. The way they are standing chest to chest, breathing heavily and glaring at each other… it doesn’t look like they’re brothers. They look more like two mafia kings standing seconds away from drawing blood.
Meher looks shocked. But strangely, she doesn’t look afraid. It’s almost as if she has seen this before and already knows how it will pan out.
“You lost your f*cking mind in Cape Town!” Ayaan snarls, then punches Raghav straight across the face.
I gasp loudly. But before anyone can react, Raghav drives his fist straight into Ayaan’s jaw with enough force to send him stumbling backwards. “Because you backstabbed me,” he retorts. And just like that, all hell breaks loose.
Both brothers lunge at each other again, violently trading punches and shoving one another. They crash into the furniture, and a decorative showpiece shatters on the floor when Ayaan slams into the wall beside it. The couch scrapes across the floor as Raghav collides with it.
Mom instantly moves closer to me, and I grab her hand tightly without even realising it. My heart is pounding wildly because I genuinely have no idea what I’m witnessing right now. These two are actually trying to kill each other.
Another loud crash echoes through the villa as both brothers slam into a wall, hard enough to make me flinch.
“Why?” Raghav demands, grabbing Ayaan by the collar again. “You knew I wanted Siya here at RK Estate. Then how could you even think about moving her out of my reach?”
“I was trying to save you from that world, you idiot!” Ayaan fires back, shoving him away just as forcefully. Their heads nearly smash into each other in pure rage. Again. As though the rest of the room has ceased to exist.
“What are you doing standing there?” Mom asks, turning to at Kailash Uncle in alarm. “Go and stop them!”
But Kailash Uncle doesn’t move. His tired gaze remains fixed on his sons as he exhales heavily.
“No,” he says quietly. “Let them fight it out.”
Mom stares at him in disbelief. So do I. Uncle rubs a hand over his face before continuing. “They have too much buried inside them right now,” he explains. “Too much anger. Too much fear. This is better than letting it rot inside.”
I look at Mom in complete shock. And from her expression, I can tell she is just as stunned as I am. Because apparently, in this family, even an all-out war between brothers is considered perfectly normal.
“Yeah, let them fight,” Meher says calmly, one hand still resting over her baby bump.
“The last time these two fought like this was at my dad’s political rally,” she adds, shaking her head dramatically.
“Unfortunately, I wasn’t there to witness it.
To be honest, I think I’m enjoying this a little too much. Maybe it’s the pregnancy hormones.”
I turn towards her in disbelief. She actually looks… entertained. What kind of family is this?
Even Haider is standing at the doorway with his hands folded, watching, but making no attempt to intervene. And somehow, I think I understand why.