Mere pati Parmeshwar ji banengge aap? #2
Not because she wanted to.
Because her body refused to take another step.
She stood barely an arm's length away from him.
Her chest rose and fell violently.
Every breath was uneven.
Her eyes were swollen from crying.
Tears still rolled down her cheeks without stopping.
For a long moment...
Neither of them spoke.
Rivan simply looked at her.
As if he was afraid that blinking would make her disappear.
His heart pounded so hard that it almost hurt.
She came...
She actually came.
Not because someone forced her.
Not because Reyansh asked her.
She came on her own.
Slowly...
Very slowly...
He raised one hand.
His fingers trembled slightly as they hovered near her face.
He hesitated.
He wanted to touch her.
But after everything...
He wasn't sure he still had that right.
Seeing his hesitation broke something inside Devyani.
Without thinking, she took the remaining step herself.
Her trembling hands reached for his wrist.
Gently...
Almost reverently...
She guided his palm to her cheek.
The moment his warm hand cupped her face...
She closed her eyes.
A broken breath escaped her lips.
For the first time in what felt like forever...
That touch didn't feel unfamiliar.
It felt like home.
Rivan's own breathing faltered.
His rough thumb brushed away a tear from beneath her eye.
Then another.
And another.
But they refused to stop falling.
His voice came out low.
Barely a whisper.
"Why are you crying so much, Kitten?"
The nickname...
The one she had tried so hard to ignore...
Destroyed the last wall around her heart.
Fresh tears spilled over.
She shook her head helplessly.
"I..."
Her voice cracked.
"I don't know where to begin."
Rivan gave a faint, heartbreaking smile.
"Then don't."
"Just..."
He swallowed.
"...stand here for a while."
"I'm okay with the silence."
She looked into his eyes.
Really looked.
For the first time in two years.
She saw exhaustion hidden beneath confidence.
Loneliness behind arrogance.
Pain beneath every smile.
And something else...
Love.
The kind that hadn't disappeared despite time, distance, or heartbreak.
Without realizing it, she stepped even closer.
There was hardly any space left between them.
She could hear his heartbeat.
Strong.
Rapid.
Almost as restless as her own.
Her trembling lips found his in a soft, lingering kiss.
There was no urgency.
No desperation.
Just two broken hearts meeting after carrying far too much pain.
Warm.
Gentle.
Quiet.
For a few endless seconds, the world around them disappeared.
The wind stilled.
The voices faded.
Even time seemed to hold its breath.
Rivan didn't move.
His entire body went rigid, his mind refusing to believe what was happening. His eyes remained open in stunned disbelief before they slowly fluttered shut, surrendering to the impossible reality that the woman he had dreamed about every single night was kissing him of her own accord.
His heartbeat thundered in his ears.
This wasn't a dream...
...was it?
Devyani slowly drew back, her lips leaving his with heartbreaking reluctance.
But she didn't step away.
She couldn't.
Instead, with a broken sob escaping her lips, she threw herself into him.
Her arms wrapped tightly around his neck.
Not gently.
Not hesitantly.
She held him with every ounce of strength she had left, clinging to him as though if she loosened her grip even slightly, he would disappear all over again.
Her fingers curled into the fabric of his shirt.
Her entire body shook violently.
For a brief moment...
Rivan simply stood there.
Frozen.
His mind desperately trying to understand what had just happened.
"Kitten..."
The word escaped him as nothing more than a whisper.
"...Devyani?"
His voice carried confusion...
Hope...
Fear...
And a tenderness he never allowed anyone else to hear.
When she didn't answer
When all he felt was her trembling against him
His own arms finally moved.
Slowly...
Carefully...
Almost reverently...
He wrapped them around her.
One hand settled protectively at the small of her back while the other cradled the back of her head, drawing her impossibly closer until there wasn't the slightest space left between them.
"It's okay..."
he whispered instinctively.
"I've got you."
The words weren't planned.
They simply came from somewhere deep inside him.
The moment she felt his embrace tighten, the wall she had been holding together finally collapsed.
A broken sob tore from her chest.
She buried her face deeper into the crook of his neck.
Hot tears soaked through his shirt within seconds.
Her breathing came in uneven, ragged gasps.
Every inhale sounded painful.
Every exhale carried another piece of the burden she had been carrying alone.
Rivan could feel her tears against his skin.
He could feel the frantic rhythm of her heartbeat.
He could feel the way she kept clutching at him as though reassuring herself that he was truly here.
His own eyes burned.
He closed them tightly and rested his cheek lightly against her hair.
"I'm here now..."
he murmured.
"I'm not going anywhere."
He didn't know whether he was comforting her...
...or himself.
Around them, the entire Thakur family stood rooted to their places.
No one spoke.
Virendra quietly removed his glasses, discreetly wiping at the corner of one eye.
Yashodha pressed trembling fingers over her lips as silent tears streamed down her face.
Even Reyansh...
Who rarely showed emotion...
Lowered his gaze for a moment, letting out a slow breath.
And Zaid...
Standing several feet away...
Simply watched.
His chest tightened painfully.
He had never seen Devyani like this.
Never.
Not once.
The woman who always hid her pain...
Who smiled through heartbreak...
Who carried everyone's burdens without complaint...
Was now crying like a child in her man's arms.
Not because she was weak.
Because she had finally reached the place where she no longer needed to be strong.
Rivan gently stroked her hair, his movements slow and soothing.
"You ran all this way..."
he whispered.
"You should've called me."
She shook her head against his shoulder, unable to speak.
Words refused to come.
Only tears.
Only sobs.
Only relief.
As he shifted slightly to hold her more securely, something caught his attention.
His gaze drifted downward.
For a second...
He didn't understand what he was seeing.
Then his breath stopped.
Tiny crimson droplets stained the white marble beneath them.
One...
Two...
Three...
They formed a trail leading all the way from the entrance gate.
His eyes dropped to her feet.
Bare.
Dust-covered.
Covered in tiny cuts.
One deep gash across her sole continued to bleed, streaking bright red across her pale skin.
His expression changed instantly.
The softness vanished.
Concern crashed into him like a storm.
His grip on her tightened instinctively.
"Kitten..."
His voice was barely audible.
"What have you done to yourself?"
She looked down for the first time.
As if only now realizing she had run the entire distance barefoot.
She blinked.
Almost absentmindedly.
"I..."
she whispered.
"I didn't even feel it."
Those words shattered whatever remained of Rivan's composure.
His jaw clenched.
His eyes glistened.
Without another word, he bent down in front of her, reaching carefully for her injured foot with hands that had once built an empire but now touched her as though she were the most fragile thing in the world.
The sight of the blood shattered whatever restraint Rivan had been holding onto.
One heartbeat.
That was all it took.
The confusion disappeared.
The disbelief vanished.
What remained was something far more instinctive.
Protective.
Primal.
His eyes darkened as they remained fixed on the crimson staining her feet.
For a terrifying second, the entire garden watched Rivan Thakur become the man everyone feared not because of anger directed at her, but because someone, somewhere, had allowed the woman he loved to reach this state.
Without asking.
Without thinking.
He slipped one arm beneath her knees and the other behind her back.
In one effortless motion, he lifted her into his arms.
As though she weighed nothing.
As though carrying her was the most natural thing in the world.
A soft gasp escaped Devyani's lips.
Instinctively, her arms circled his neck.
Her forehead found the familiar warmth beneath his jaw.
The moment she settled against his chest, another broken sob escaped her.
She clung to him desperately.
Not because she was afraid of falling.
Because after everything she had learned...
Everything she had felt...
This was the only place where her trembling heart seemed capable of slowing down.
Rivan adjusted his hold carefully, making sure not even the smallest movement would hurt her injured foot.
His grip remained impossibly gentle.
Completely opposite to the storm raging inside him.
His jaw stayed locked.
Every muscle in his body was tense.
He walked across the garden with long, purposeful strides.
The entire family instinctively stepped aside.
No one dared stop him.
No one dared ask questions.
There was something in his expression that silenced everyone.
His eyes scanned every corner of the estate.
Every security guard.
Every servant.
Every face.
As though searching for the person responsible.
Searching for someone to blame.
Searching for someone to destroy.
He finally reached the old stone bench beneath the sprawling willow tree.
Very carefully...
He lowered her onto the bench.
His hands never left her.
One remained securely around her waist, steadying her trembling body.
The other brushed a loose strand of hair away from her tear-soaked face.
Only then did he truly look at her.
Her swollen eyes.
Her trembling lips.
Her uneven breathing.
The streaks of dust on her cheeks where tears had carved their path.
She looked exhausted.
Broken.
And something inside him cracked.
His voice came out rough.