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Hi Guys.. I hope everybody is okay and doing great. So, I wanna share it with you in the next upcoming chapters Everybody call Sana as Riya, because nobody knows the secret about it...🍷

Haina...

Continue......

The priest started chanting holly mantras. The sacred fire crackled in the havan kund, its flames licking ghee-soaked wood. The couple stood As they circled the fire, his grip on her hand was icy.  

While taking phera, She stumbled he held her strongly but not harshly. Her bangles clashed like warning bells for her upcoming life. In last phera he finally caught her gaze. His thumb traced her wrist, hidden by their draped hands. The fire spat embers like blessings. The priest smiled."Now, you are one,Then announced the sindoor ritual".

Agastya dipped his ring finger into the tiny silver box of vermilion. The sindoor was the color of sunrise, of new beginnings. His hand hovered with a pause before he drew the line along her parting, she kept her gaze locked on the floor, her lashes casting knife-sharp shadows on her cheeks. Her breath hitched.The powder was warm and gritty. She closed her eyes a little amount of sindoor fall on her nose indicates it is a good omen and is believed to bring happiness and prosperity to the couple, a sign of pure love.

Ladies start giggling and talking like “Aww so cute,her husband always gonna love her"

The priest smiling offers the mangalsutra to Agastya—black beads strung on gold, heavier than it looked. His fingers fumbled at her nape; she felt her breath, uneven, as he tied the knot, and the priest announced them as wedded for eternity. 

Everybody shower them with rose petals. Atmosphere echo with hooting, shehnaai, firecracker and melodious songs.

After that they both stand up Agastya take her hand help her to get up and they knelt, their foreheads almost touching, as elders showered them with rice and petals as a blessing. 

"May you be like the Lord Shiva and Maa Gauri,"his grandmother whispered. 

The last ritual the vidai, Sana stood at the threshold, a handful of rice clutched in her fist a final offering to her parents’ home. She threw it backward without looking, grains scattering like tears and her unspoken words.

Rashi’s arms wrapped around her, crushing her chooda between them. “come back often” she said kissing her hair. Sidharth looked into her eyes, which wanted to apologize and thank her for her sacrifice. Sana nodded, but her throat is too tight for words. Riyan looked at her with guilt.

Then the car door shut. The engine roared, through the tinted window, she watched her life shrink within a moment, until all that remained was the echo of the shehnai and the weight of her new name.  

Seven steps around the fire.

Seven vows whispered to the gods. 

And now—a lifetime to keep them.

Midnight 2:00 am.

A lone highway cutting through empty fields. The moon hangs heavy, its pale light washing over the asphalt still damp from evening rains.

The car hums softly, the engine a quiet purr against the weight of the silence inside was a slow suffocation. 

The city has been cleared for this journey. Five black SUVs glide ahead in perfect formation. Five more follow close behind. Between them, a sleek armored Roll Royce moves like a shadow, its tinted windows reflecting nothing. 

Sana presses her forehead against the cool glass of the window,her lehenga a crushed puddle of red and gold around her she is staring at moon, Her reflection stares back at her chooda heavy on her wrists, the ghost of a bride she never meant to be... 

The radio in the lead SUV crackles:-"Clear path to compound. ETA fifteen minutes".

The mangalsutra lies heavy between her collarbones Sana's fingers twitch toward her mangalsutra once, twice - but she stops herself.

What have I done? Is it right or wrong?? The question loops in her mind, relentless.

She continuously thinks about Riya, where is she...? Why did she do that...? If She didn't want it, she could share it with me.

She thinks of the lies piling up, the way Agastya’s fingers had tightened around hers during the pheras, like he already knew something or he'll eventually know about it.  

And she can sence his eyes on her like a predator on his prey. A shiver runs down her spine. Her breath hitched and a lone tear slides down her cheeks.

Outside, the city blurred—streetlights smearing into streaks of orange, like the last embers of a fire that had burned too long, the leaves are shaking in the cold breeze.

Across the seat, In the rearview mirror, Agastya watches her, sits with his spine perfectly aligned against the leather seat. His left hand rests on his knee,his jaw set. The scent of her ittar—something floral, something fragile—clung to the air between them. 

Her profile is sharp against the window—the stubborn set of her jaw, the way her fingers twist her lehenga into knots. She hasn’t looked at him once since they left the venue.  

Is it guilt, regret or something hidden lie?, he thinks.  

But then—  A streetlight flickers, casting her face in sudden gold, and he sees it. A single tear, slipping down her cheek.  

His jaw clenched. 

45 minutes of silenced ride where only the voice of his cars are running wildly in the highway.

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