Page 129 of The Redemption
I simply stare at her, frowning. I have no idea what is happening to me. No one should have this kind of effect on me. And yet she does. Siya is quickly becoming a weakness powerful enough to ruin me.
She shifts slightly in her sleep, but doesn’t wake up. An amused breath escapes me before I finally lie down beside her. Not touching her. Just close enough to feel her presence beside me. And for the first time in years, sleep comes easier than I expected it to.
***************
Few Hours Later
Peace never lasts long for men like me. The nightmare comes just before dawn.
There is blood everywhere. Dead bodies are scattered across the darkness. Men are screaming. Gunshots echo endlessly around me. But I keep walking forward through pilesof corpses without stopping. Every face belongs to someone who crossed me once. Every man lying dead deserved it.
I keep moving deeper into the darkness with a gun in hand, until suddenly, someone grabs my wrist… firm enough to stop me.
I look down at the hand stopping me from pulling the trigger again. Slowly, I lift my gaze and freeze. It’s Siya’s mother… Rukmini Vardhaan.
My eyes snap open, and the nightmare shatters instantly. I jerk upright in bed, breathing heavily as sweat clings to my skin. The room is still bathed in the darkness of early morning, and for a second, I just stare ahead trying to get my breathing under control.
Then I look at Siya beside me. She’s fast asleep, oblivious to the war raging inside my head. I drag a rough hand down my face and exhale slowly.
Why the hell did I see Rukmini Vardhaan’s face?
Maybe it’s because no woman has ever looked at me with that kind of fury and slapped me like she had every right to. Or maybe it’s because, when she had hit me last night, for a second, it felt like being scolded by the mother I never had.
Then another thought hits me.
Maybe… it’s because I was beginning to see Siya’s mother as my own.
No!
I push that thought away before it can settle any deeper and swing my legs off the bed. There’s no point letting it get under my skin, so I head straight for the shower and think about my day ahead.
Rukmini Vardhaan is Siya’s mother. Not mine.
SIYA
Two hours later
I wake up feeling strangely rested. For a few seconds, I don’t even remember where I am before reality crashes back in. I’m in RK Estate. In Raghav’s bedroom. On his bed. As his wife. The thought instantly sours my mood.
Thankfully, he isn’t in the room. The other side of the bed is empty, but the slight creases on the sheets tell me he must have come back at some point during the night and slept beside me.
How the hell did I sleep so peacefully then?
And how did my body relax enough to fall asleep beside a man like him?A man who forcefully married me and dragged me into his world without my permission.
Last night, after Raghav warned me to stay in his bedroom, the urge to defy him had been right there in my head, strong enough to make me walk out just to piss him off. But I didn’t. I knew that defying him on impulse would only make him angry for a few minutes. He expects rebellion from me, and he’s going to get plenty of it.
Because last night, I had silently promised myself that I would make him regret this marriage, not through reckless arguments or childish acts of defiance, but slowly and patiently. I would start changing things in his life one by one until he finally realised that forcing me into his world had been the biggest mistake of his life.
That still doesn’t mean I’m ready to share a bed with him.Absolutely not.
Usually, a master bedroom this size has a sitting area with a couch and a coffee table. Then why the hell is this room so empty? I frown.Fine.I’ll ask someone to bring a couch up todayitself. Once it’s here, Raghav can sleep on that while I take the bed.
Yes.That would be the first change in the long list of things I’m about to change in Raghav Kundra’s life.
Satisfied with my plan, I toss the blanket aside and head straight towards the bathroom. An hour later, I step out of the villa dressed in fitted blue jeans and an oversized cream sweatshirt that slips slightly off one shoulder. My damp hair falls over my back, still half-wet after the hasty shower I took.
As soon as I step outside, I breathe in the crisp mountain air. For the first time since arriving here, I feel like I can actually breathe. Because inside that villa, especially in his bedroom, I felt suffocated. Every wall in that house reminded me of my new identity… that I’m now Raghav’s wife, even if I choose not to wear the mangalsutra and sindoor.
