Sanskriti P.O.V-

It’s been a week since Maa left.And still…the home felt empty without her.

I lie on my bed for hours,staring at the ceiling, letting memories fall over me like rain I can’t escape.Her voice,her touch,the way she used to look at me when she thought I wasn’t watching. Every corner of the mansion was reminding me that she was gone and that no one will ever love me the way she did.

Her words keep echoing in my mind.

“You are going to motivate him…He is a good man… He will keep you safe.”

At first, I didn’t understand what she meant.

I didn’t want to understand now.

All I could think about was how wrong everything felt how forced my life had become, how trapped I was in a marriage I never asked for.

Atharva’s first impression...his arrogance,his confidence,the way he had claimed me like something already owned it had scared me.

And then there were the rumors.About him. About his nights outside the palace.About how he careless he is.

I believed all of it.

And yet…

When Maa fell ill,when the world started collapsing around me he was there.

He didn’t say much.In fact, he barely said anything at all.But he showed up.Every time. When the doctor came.When arrangements were needed.When silence became unbearable. He stood where a husband should stand quietly,without drama,without expectation.

He didn’t hold my hand.

He didn’t ask me for anything.

He just… stayed.

And after Maa’s death,he started coming back to the palace.He doesn’t sleep in my room we still live on opposite sides of a wall hut his presence in the same house feels different.Like the palace is no longer swallowing me whole.

I still don’t know what he feels.

I still don’t know what I feel.

But when the nights get heavy… and grief presses against my chest… I remind myself of one thing.

I am not alone in this palace anymore.

And for now…that is enough to let me breathe.

Lying there in the quiet of my room,I made myself face a truth I had been avoiding.

Atharva had done his duty.

When my world fell apart,he stood where a husband was supposed to stand.He didn’t run when my family needed.He didn’t hide.He didn’t abandon responsibility.

And if he could do that much…then maybe I should too.

I don’t know if I can care for him.

I don’t know if I can ever love him.

But I can try to be his wife in the way this palace expects me to be.Not with my heart but with my actions.

I whispered to myself,If he is fulfilling his responsibilities,then so will I.

It’s not like he needs a loving wife anyway.

He is a prince.Handsome.Powerful.Admired. There must already be countless girls outside these walls who dote on him,who dream of him, who want his attention.

What he needs here is not romance I think he married me because he wanted to dutiful wife who can tolerate his actions or his Casanova image.

And maybe…that is the role I can to play.

(She didn't even know that Atharva married her because he loved her deeply.She was his first love )

         ____________________________

One Month later,

Night had settled over the city,and Paradise was glowing the way it always did soft lights,quiet music,and the kind of calm that hid heavy hearts.

Atharva sat with his friends at their usual table, a glass untouched in his hand.His face looked composed,princely even…but his eyes were far away.

Too far.

Yuvansh noticed it the moment he walked in.

He dropped into the chair beside him and grinned,breaking the silence.

“Wow, Prince Sahab…sitting in Paradise like a broken poet.Should I call you Majnu ofRajgarh now?”

Atharva didn’t react.

So Yuvansh leaned closer, dramatic.

“Don’t tell me…marriage already broke you? Bro,you didn’t even survive one week?”

That got a faint exhale from Atharva’s lips not quite a smile,but close enough.

Shaurya joined them,calm as ever,his eyes scanning Atharva’s face.He didn’t joke.He never did.He just sat there, quietly present.

Devika came a few moments later.

She took the seat across from Atharva.One look at him and she knew he was carrying something alone.Like always.

Yuvansh,still playing his role,clapped his hands.

“Okay, okay.Enough seriousness.This is Paradise,not a funeral hall.Somebody  pour drinks before our Maharaj starts reciting tragic poetry.”

Devika smirked.

“Relax, Yuvansh.If he starts poetry,I’ll direct a film on it.”

That finally made Atharva lift his eyes.

“You both are really childish,”he said quietly.

“But useful,” Yuvansh replied.“Especially when someone is pretending he’s fine while clearly not.”

The table went still.

Atharva looked away again.

Shaurya spoke softly,“You don’t have to say anything, Atharva.Just… don’t sit here like you’re alone.”

Devika watched him, her heart aching in a way she never showed.

“You don’t carry things well,” she said gently. “You carry them silently.”

Atharva finally looked at them all.

“I’m fine,” he said.

But none of them believed him.

And that was the problem.

Because this time even Paradise couldn’t hide what he was breaking inside.

Devika suddenly broke the silence at the table, her eyes shining with a quiet excitement she had been holding back for days.

“There’s something I haven’t told you all yet,” she said, trying to sound calm, though her voice betrayed her. “Yuvansh and I… we’ve finally been signed as the lead pair in a film.”

For a second,no one spoke.Then Yuvansh’s eyes widened dramatically.

He shot up from his chair and declared with full flair,

“Ladies and gentlemen,today it’s just for a film… but soon,it will be for a lifetime!”

Devika rolled her eyes and gave him a sarcastic, sideways smile.

“Sit down, superstar.You’re acting like this is your wedding announcement.”

They all laughed,and the heaviness at the table finally began to lift.

Then Devika continued,her voice softer now.

“My mother is inviting all of you for dinner. We’ve cleared every debt we had, and… the Opera House will finally start showing films again.”

Shaurya leaned forward, genuinely happy.

“That’s incredible, Devika.You and your mother never gave up.You both deserve this.”

Atharva nodded.

“You earned it.Every bit of it.”

The praise broke something inside her.

Her eyes filled, and a single tear of joy slipped down her cheek.She tried to hide it, but Yuvansh noticed immediately.

“Hey… no crying,” he said, standing up and pulling her into a hug.

Shaurya joined in,then Atharva,until she was surrounded by them all.

“We’re proud of you,”Shaurya said.

“And we’re not letting you celebrate this alone,” Yuvansh added. “Tonight… this is everyone’s victory.”

Devika laughed through her tears, holding them tighter.

For the first time in a long while,her dreams didn’t feel distant anymore.

They felt real.

Devika smiled at all of them and said she would call soon with the venue details for the dinner. By the time they checked their watches,it was already around nine.

“I should leave,” she said,standing up and picking up her bag.

Shaurya immediately looked at Yuvansh.“Drop her safely.We’re not letting her go alone at this hour.”

Devika raised an eyebrow.“I came with my driver.”

“That’s not the point,”Atharva said calmly, standing too.“You’re not going alone.”

Yuvansh smirked.

"Wow, look at this royal security system.Two princes and one superstar to escort one actress. Should I bring the army too?”

Devika shook her head with a faint smile. “You’re impossible.”

And just like that,Yuvansh and Devika walked out together,their laughter fading into the night.

Back at the table,Atharva kept drinking.

One glass turned into another.

Shaurya watched him quietly,worry settling into his chest.

After a while, he finally said, “Atharva… what’s eating you?”

Atharva didn’t answer at first.Then,slowly,he exhaled and looked at his friend.

Atharva hadn’t told Devika or Yuvansh anything about what was truly going on in his life.It wasn’t because he didn’t trust them,but because he didn’t want their concern to turn into pity.Devika was already carrying too many burdens of her own, and Yuvansh carefree by nature was not someone Atharva could open up to seriously.

But with Shaurya,it was different.

Shaurya had always been there.Quiet.Steady. Uncomplicated.With him,Atharva didn’t have to pretend he was fine.

So that night,sitting in Paradise with a drink in his hand and a storm in his chest,Atharva

finally let the truth slip out to the one person he felt safe enough to be honest with.

Shaurya didn’t interrupt.

“She hates me,”Atharva continued.

“Not indifference, no confusion,From the first night itself.She told me never to touch her again.”

Shaurya’s jaw tightened.“I tried to understand,”Atharva said, anger creeping into his voice.“But tell me,Shaurya… it’s been more than seven months now.How much time does a person need?”

He slammed the glass down.

“If she didn’t want the marriage,why didn’t she say it when I went to her house?Why play along with everything and then turn into a stranger after the wedding?”

His voice dropped.

“I don’t know what’s wrong with her.And honestly… I don’t care anymore.”

He drank again.

Shaurya stayed silent for a moment, then said carefully,

“I think you should give her time.Her mother was strict.Then suddenly this marriage happened.She’s young,Atharva.Maybe she was angry Or scared.We all know how this alliance was arranged.”

Atharva laughed bitterly.

“Time? It’s been seven months.How much more time do you think she needs?A lifetime?”

Shaurya had no answer.

But he still tried.

“I… I understand more than you think.I’m in love too.”

Atharva froze.He looked at him in disbelief.

“You?” Then he burst out laughing. “The silent, introverted Shaurya? In love? Wow.Who’s the unlucky girl?”

Shaurya gave him a sharp death glare.

“You deserve that treatment, you know.”

Then, calmly, he added,

“It’s Princess Anamika.”

Atharva’s laughter stopped.His eyes widened.

“That girl? The one who debates instead of talking? Shaurya,you’ve really trapped yourself.”

He laughed again,louder this time,careless and amused.

Shaurya just stood there,watching him.

Just a few minutes ago,this same man had been broken.

Now he was joking like nothing ever hurt him.

And that… scared Shaurya more than his silence ever had.

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