Chapter 11
Meera
My hand trembles as I lift it to ring my house’s doorbell. The simple white button I’ve pressed a thousand times before now looks like a detonator. One ring, and my parents’ world will shift forever. Just like mine did with a single signature.
God… how did I even get here? I never expected this. None of this was supposed to happen. Not this life. Not this fate. Not this man.
I squeeze my eyes shut, fighting for breath. I was supposed to marry someone who loved me. Someone caring and honest. Someone who respected my parents. Someone who made me feel safe, not trapped.
Rage scorches my throat, not just from being forced into this marriage, but from the deeper fear tightening around my lungs.
How am I supposed to tell my parents about this nightmare I’ve been dragged into?
God, how do I tell the people who raised me, protected me, and trusted me that their daughter is now married…
without their blessing, without their knowledge?
How do I explain to them that I didn’t choose this marriage, that I was forced into it?
How do I tell them that this is not love… it’s punishment.
“Will you ring the damn bell and get done with all the drama?” Dev taunts beside me. “So that I can…”
I snap my head towards him, my fury flaring. “You can what?”
“So I can finally begin what I promised,” he says coldly, “making sure you cry every single day from here on.”
He actually has the audacity to wink at me.
“Don’t think for a second that choosing this marriage makes me weak or a loser,” I snap, my voice blazing.
“If anything, staying under your roof makes my work easier. I get to monitor your every move.” I keep my glare locked on him.
“Trust me, your precious Rathore clan won’t survive me for long.
” My anger hardens into steel. “And that’s not another threat.
It’s a promise. My revenge won’t end until I destroy you. ”
For a moment, Dev simply stares at me. Then the asshole laughs, a low, amused, disbelieving sound that slices through my fury.
He steps closer… so close I can feel his breath burn my cheek.
“Destroy me?” he repeats, his gaze dragging down my face and lingering on my lips.
“Mrs. Rathore, you still don’t have the faintest idea who you married.
Still wasting your breath on useless threats.
” He raises his hand and tilts my chin with the tip of his finger.
“I do like a wife with spirit.” I shove his hand off, but he keeps going.
“But let me educate you on one thing.” He leans in until his lips hover near my ear.
“No one destroys a Rathore. Your one stupid mistake has you tied to me for life. So don’t get so lost in your revenge, Mrs Rathore…
” He pulls back, his eyes locking onto mine.
“…that you end up burning yourself first.”
Before I can throw back another poison-laced reply, the door suddenly swings open. I jerk and turn towards it, my breath catching painfully as my eyes land on my mom.
“Meera beta, where have you—” Mom begins, but freezes when her eyes land on Dev.
“Meera…?” she whispers, her voice trembling. “What’s… happening? Why is he…?”
Dev steps forward before I can speak.
“Namaste, Sasuma,” he greets, dipping his head with mock politeness.
Mom flinches back, her eyes snapping to mine, wide and trembling… pleading with me, questioning me, shattering all at once.
“Meera, what is this?” she breathes.
I open my mouth, but Dev’s hand slides to the small of my back, a taunting touch meant to remind me how much he’s enjoying every second of this hell I am in.
“Let me answer, Sasuma. Your daughter and I got married.”
At the word ‘married,’ my mom’s face drains of all colour. She stumbles back a step, her hand clutching the doorframe for support.
And just like that, my world begins to crack—right there in the doorway of my own house, at the sight of my mom breaking.
“Meera… what… is he saying?” Mom asks.
I open my mouth, but nothing comes out. No words. No explanations. Just guilt.
“All your questions can wait, Sasuma,” Dev answers smoothly. “Right now, you should welcome your daughter and son-in-law. After all, we’ve come for the first time after marriage.”
Pain, betrayal, anger. Every bit of emotion is written on Mom’s face, and each passing second feels like a new shard driving into my chest.
“Ma… please…” I whisper.
And just then, my dad’s voice comes from inside.
“Who is it at the door, wifey?”
My breath stutters as he comes closer. His gaze finds me first, softening for a single heartbeat, then hardens with sharp concern the moment it lands on Dev.
“Beta… why is Mr. Rathore here?” he asks cautiously.
“Sasurji, we got married, and we’re here to seek your blessings,” Dev replies and bends to touch Dad’s feet, but Dad steps back. His gaze snaps to me instead, wounded in a way that makes my heart slam painfully against my ribs.
“Married?” His voice cracks. “You got married… without telling us?”
Tears sting my eyes. “Papa… I-I didn’t plan… Everything happened too fast—” I don’t even finish the words forming on my tongue when Dad snaps.
“Too fast? So fast that you forgot your parents even exist?”
“Sasurji…”
“Don’t you dare call me that,” Dad growls at Dev.
“Let’s… go inside and talk,” Mom says hesitantly, trying to hold the moment together, but failing miserably.
Dad’s eyes snap to her. “They are not entering my house.”
I squeeze my eyes shut as tears slip down my cheeks. “Papa… I am sorry. I am really sorry.”
“You’re sorry?” His gaze slams into me. “You’ve humiliated us, Meera. Do you even realise what you’ve done?”
My heart cracks deeper, splintering in ways I didn’t know were possible.
I blink rapidly, but my vision stays blurred. “Papa, please hear me once—”
“I don’t want to hear your excuses. And you—” His glare shifts to Dev. “You think you can walk into my house and expect us to accept this joke of a marriage? That we’ll just smile and give you our blessings?”
“Sasurji, being stubborn won’t change anything. Your daughter is my wife now, whether you accept it with happiness or with anger. Either way, it stands.”
Dad’s breathing turns hard. “She may have made a mistake by marrying you, but that doesn’t mean we will ever accept you as part of our family.”
“Your bad, Sasurji,” Dev clicks his tongue. “Now I know exactly where my wife inherited her temper and stubbornness from.” His smile turns mocking. “Just a tip, Sasurji. At your age, you might want to keep that temper in check. Before it does any harm to you.”
Not wanting Dev to escalate this, I intervene. “Papa, I—I never wanted it this way. I…”
I reach for him, but he jerks his hand back.
And before I can even form another word, his hand rises, faster than I can register, and the slap lands hard across my cheek.
My head snaps to the side, my hand flying up instinctively as fire races across my cheek, not from the sting of the slap, but from the truth behind it.
My father… the man who has never so much as touched me in anger… just raised his hand on me.
The shock hasn’t even settled into my bones when Dev’s arm wraps around me, pulling me back against him as he holds Dad’s glare.
“Sasurji, that was your first and last mistake,” he warns.
“Dev—” I choke out, still reeling.
But he ignores me entirely.
“You ever raise your hand on my wife again, and I will forget you’re her father.” Dev doesn’t take his eyes off him. “She’s my wife now. And no one hurts her.”
Dad’s jaw tightens, while Mom gasps.
“Dev, stop!” I grab his shirt, my fingers trembling.
“You can take your dear wife with you. We want nothing to do with her!” Dad hisses. Then he turns to me. “You’ve made your choice. Now live with it… without us.”
The words don’t just hurt, they bury themselves into my chest, twisting deep until breathing feels impossible.
“Papa…” My voice cracks. “Please… don’t say that.”
But the only answer I get is Dad stepping back and slamming the door right in my face.
“Ma…” I sob, pounding the door with my trembling hand.
“Papa… please. I am begging you, please open the door. Don’t turn your backs on me…
please. You’ve always overlooked my mistakes and forgiven me when I was wrong…
why can’t you now? Why am I being abandoned when I need you the most?
” I cry my heart out, but no answer comes.
And the silence makes my tears fall even harder.
My parents, my home, my safe place, have shut me out. And for the first time, I feel truly, painfully, terrifyingly alone.
“They won’t open the door,” Dev drawls.
I turn to him, my vision swimming. “You are really enjoying this, aren’t you?”
“Of course I’m, sweetheart.” He just grins. “This is exactly how I wanted it to play out.”
“You made my parents hate me,” I choke out, the words scraping out of my throat. I want him to feel even a fraction of what he’s ripped out of my life.
“You knew exactly what this marriage would cost you,” he shrugs, like it’s nothing. “I told you… everything changed the moment you married me. Your old world is gone.”
My nails dig into my palms. I swear on everything I’ve lived through, I’ll make him pay for this. For all of it.
“Meera?”
I freeze when I hear Samarth’s worried voice.
My head snaps up, and in a few quick strides, Samarth closes the distance and stops right in front of me. His eyes sweep over me… my swollen eyelids, my trembling hands, the redness on my cheek, before they lock onto Dev standing far too close beside me.
“Meera, are you okay?” he breathes, cupping my cheeks. “Did this asshole hurt you?”
The panic in his voice makes my throat tighten.
Before I can speak, Dev clamps a hand around Samarth’s wrist and yanks it away from my face.
“Don’t you dare touch my wife.”
Shock flashes across Samarth’s face.
“Wife?” His gaze snaps to Dev, fury shattering through disbelief. “You… you fucking lying asshole.” Then his eyes dart to me, desperate, pleading. “Meera… tell me he’s lying.”
“I… I… I’m married,” I manage to whisper, the words trembling out of me as if they’re burning my tongue.
Samarth goes still. For a second, he doesn’t even blink. Then his fingers dig into my shoulder. “You… you wouldn’t marry him,” he says, his voice cracking with disbelief. “Meera, tell me the truth. Please… what’s happening?”
“It’s—” I begin, but Dev’s hand is quicker. He snatches Samarth’s wrist and shoves it aside. Samarth stumbles back, and Dev moves in, positioning himself between us.
“I told you not to touch my wife,” Dev hisses. “You’d better pay heed if you don’t want me to break your hand. And as for the reason…” Dev crosses his arms over his chest. “My wife doesn’t owe you any explanation.”
Samarth’s fists tighten. “I’m talking to my friend.”
“You are talking to my wife.”
Samarth looks back at me. “Meera?”
Tears spill from my eyes. “Samarth, this marriage—”
“Is her decision,” Dev finishes. “And a permanent one. Now, if you’ll excuse us, it’s our wedding night.”
Samarth looks as if someone has ripped his heart out. My own heart aches at the sight of his glassy eyes. But before I can reach out to him, he walks away without looking back, his figure blurring through my tears.
“One less idiot in your life,” Dev mutters as he turns to me.
I glare at him, tears and fury burning together in my chest.
“You don’t need him,” he adds.
“I’ll always need him more than I’ll ever need you,” I let the truth slip out in a hiss.
His jaw tightens. “That’s bad… because now I’m all you have, Mrs. Rathore. Now, let’s go home.”
Home.
The word tastes like poison.
Because the home he means isn’t a safe place. It’s a prison I never chose, but am now forced to live in… for I don’t even know how long.