Malhar's grip around Jahnvi's wrist was iron — unyielding, unshaking — as he pulled her through the winding stone corridors of the palace, his pace relentless. Jahnvi stumbled beside him, nearly breathless, her other hand clutching the edge of her bridal saree to keep from falling. The clang of her wedding anklets echoed behind them, a cruel, mocking music.

"Malhar—stop!" she protested, twisting in his hold. "You're hurting me!"

But he didn't so much as flinch. His jaw was set, eyes burning straight ahead like twin embers, unblinking and focused.

Guards turned their heads as the pair passed, confused murmurs blooming in the air. No one dared stop him. No one dared question the wrath of the Maratha lion in motion.

He reached the private wing , his side of the palace and barked at the stunned guards stationed at the arched threshold.

"No one enters. No one breathes in this corridor unless I say so."

The words fell like a royal decree, it was the royal decree. The guards exchanged a glance and then stood straighter, heads bowing in unison.

The heavy doors of Malhar's chamber which always remained open slammed shut behind them, reverberating through the corridor like a war drum.

Jahnvi stood in the middle of the inner courtyard , her body trembling—not from fear, but from the fury boiling in her veins.

Her bridal jewellery clinked with every heave of her chest, a cruel reminder of a ceremony halted and desecrated.

Malhar who had let go off her hand now stood by the door, still cloaked in the remnants of rage, his eyes never leaving her face.

Jahnvi staggered back, rubbing her wrist, eyes blazing. "Have you lost your mind?! What are you doing? What was that back there—how dare you—"

"What was that?" Malhar barked, voice rough, nearly breaking. "I should be the one asking that question. You were about to become someone else's wife, Jahnvi. His. Right in front of me. You really would've let it happen?"

She spun around to face him, her voice brittle with emotion. "You humiliated me in front of the entire court."

His expression didn't flinch. "I stopped a mistake from being completed."

"A mistake?" she laughed, the sound sharp and bitter. "A mistake ! You poured water over the sacred fire, Malhar. You dragged me from the mandap like I was a prisoner and paraded me through the corridors like your possession."

Malhar took a step closer, eyes dark. "I was doing what should've been done long ago. You don't belong to Abhinav. You never did."

"And who do I belong to then?" she snapped, her voice rising. "You?"

He didn't answer. That silence — the very silence she had grown used to — hit her harder than any spoken cruelty.

Jahnvi turned from him, her fingers trembling as they reached for the heavy bangles weighing her wrists down. One by one, they clattered to the marble floor, sharp, metallic echoes slicing the air between them.

"You think you're different," she said softly, her back still to him. She yanked the garland off her neck. "You think because you didn't shackle me in chains, because you put a roof over my head and silk on my back, that you are better than them."

Malhar's brow furrowed, but he said nothing. He could feel the fury building in her bones.

She finally turned to face him, eyes dark with something deeper than anger—something raw, something ancient. "You're just another man who saw me as something to win."

Her voice rose now, trembling with emotion that had long been kept buried beneath the weight of silence. "Do you know how I landed in your palace, Malhar? My own brother wagered me away in a game of dice—my own blood. He didn't lose just a sister. He lost a woman, a person, like she was nothing but another pile of gold."

She took a shaky step closer, and Malhar's eyes locked with hers—storm against storm.

"Then came the Nizam of Hyderabad. Another dice throw. Another bet. Another man who thought he could win me and parade me like a prize. He didn't chain me either. No, he gave me emeralds and perfumes. Another women in his collection, a vessel he was hoping which would bring him an heir."

Her voice broke, but her fury did not.

"And then...there was you."

The words landed like a blade.

"You—who bought me with blood and glory. You didn't tie me in shackles, Malhar. You wrapped me in gold and called it mercy. You gave me a palace, but not a name. You offered me a place beside your throne, but never truly beside you. Not as your equal. Not as your beloved. Not as anything but your conquest."

Malhar flinched for the first time, as if her words had finally broken through the armour he wore.

"You let me exist in this gilded cage, smiled at the world like you had done me a favour. And just like the rest of them, when the time came, you dragged me—not as a woman you loved—but as a possession you couldn't bear to lose."

Tears burned in her eyes, but she refused to let them fall.

"You never saw me, Malhar. You never chose me. Not once. You let me walk to that mandap. You so far came and gave me your blessing. And now? Now you set fire to my wedding like a man claiming stolen property—because that's all I've ever been to you. Not a woman. Not a partner. Not a soul. Just something you won on the battlefield."

Her words echoed into silence, ringing louder than any scream.

Malhar stood still, his chest rising and falling, his fists clenched at his sides.

"Do you think so low of -."

"I do." Jahnvi said without hesitation. Jahnvi stood still for a moment, her breathing ragged, chest heaving under the weight of everything she'd carried alone for so long. The silence in the chamber was thick, but it didn't soothe—it suffocated. Her voice broke through it, not soft this time, but cutting, sharp as a blade unsheathed.

"You know what you've done today, Malhar?" she asked, her voice trembling with fury, with grief. "You didn't just stop a wedding. You didn't just drag me from a mandap. You didn't just douse a sacred flame with your arrogance. You burned me. You set fire to what little honour I had left."

She took a step toward him, her eyes glinting—not with tears now, but with a fury born of betrayal. "You took every whisper about me—every hushed accusation, every rumour that I was nothing more than the king's whore—and you turned them into truth. You made those vile words real today."

Malhar flinched, but didn't speak.

Jahnvi laughed, bitter and hollow. "Do you think they'll ever look at me the same again? The court, the staff, your people—they will call me your keep. Not a princess of some foreign land. Not your equal. Just your possession. A war trophy you couldn't part with."

She stopped right in front of him now, her face inches from his, trembling with rage. "And you didn't stop at destroying me."

Her voice cracked as she said, "You've thrown filth on Gauri too. You've humiliated her in front of the whole kingdom. She was meant to be your queen—my best friend—and now they'll all say you brought her close just to keep her near your concubine."

Malhar's eyes widened, his jaw clenched.

"You've ruined her life, Malhar. You."

And then, just like that, her body gave way—like a paper lantern caught in a storm. The rage that had kept her upright, the fire that had held her together, vanished in a breath. Her knees buckled, her face went slack, and her body folded into itself.

"Jahnvi!" Malhar caught her just before she hit the ground, panic slicing through his chest like a knife. Her skin was cold, her breathing shallow. He cradled her in his arms, his heart pounding in a way it never had—not on the battlefield, not even when he'd first taken her as a prisoner of war. This was fear of a different kind. Personal. Raw.

Without wasting a moment, he swept her off her feet and carried her deeper into his wing of the palace. The walk to his chambers felt longer than ever, though the walls were all too familiar—the same faded blues, the same scent of cedar and incense. But tonight, they felt sterile, hollow. Mocking. He laid her carefully onto the velvet-covered bed, her hand slipping from his grasp, limp and pale.

He stared at her for a moment. Just stared. Then turned abruptly on his heel, striding back out of the chamber with purpose burning in his every step. His voice boomed across the corridor, loud and sharp as a gunshot.

"Get the doctor. Now."

At the far end of the corridor, the commotion had already drawn attention.

Nanda stood just beyond the guards with Jai beside her, trying to keep calm, but even his fists were clenched at his sides. Gauri stood between them, her eyes wide, her voice hoarse from pleading.

"Move aside!" she snapped at the guards, trying to push through. "She's my friend—I need to see her!"

One of the guards gently but firmly held her back. "Raje has ordered—no one enters."

"Let me speak to him," Nanda said firmly, her voice regaining its regal sharpness.

At that moment, Malhar came into view, emerging from the shadows like the tempest he had become. His gaze swept over the scene, the cacophony, the ripple of shocked silence that followed the sight of him—shirt rumpled, his jaw clenched like a vise, eyes still storming from the chaos behind him.

"Malhar!" Gauri called out the moment she saw him. "Please! Just let me see her. I don't care about anything else—I need to know she's okay."

"Don't worry about her Gauri." Malhar said. "Jai please take Gauri back to her chamber for now. Please." He said looking at his best friend who nodded at him.

Nanda's voice rang out from behind. "Enough of this, Malhar!" Her voice trembled not with fear, but with fury. "You think you've won? That dragging her away from the mandap makes her yours? This farce of a claim—you've undone everything. Let the wedding happen, Malhar. End this madness while there's still time to make it right."

Malhar turned his gaze on her slowly, the look in his eyes chilling. "Nobody enters unless I say so," he said, his voice thunderous in its calm. Then, to the guard at his side: "Get the physician. Now."

The guard nodded, already sprinting down the corridor.

And with that, Malhar turned his back to all of them. The doors groaned shut behind him again, sealing off the world, sealing in the storm.

AN: Sooooo what do you think !
I love you guys for being such amazing readers, votes or not, I love I'll update for those of you who keep my spirits high.

Again let's try a 100

Next chapter is a banger for sure.

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