♡ Welcome to Chapter 3, my lovelies.
Grab your heart, breathe in deep...
because this is where their worlds quietly begin to shift.
Happy Reading! 🤗🫶
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If destiny were a silent thief, this was the day it stole everything from Roohi Mishra—
her innocence, her dreams, her home, her childhood trust,
and the one hope she had clung to all her life.
The day began softly, like any other ordinary day.
But ordinary days sometimes carry storms hidden under their quietness.
And Roohi had no idea that her life was about to be rewritten forever.
“Roohi! Come out quickly! The car is waiting!” Sarika’s voice echoed through the hallway, sharp and irritated.
Roohi stood in front of the mirror in her tiny room, adjusting her simple peach salwar suit. She applied a light pink lip tint—barely visible—because she never liked makeup. Too much colour made her feel like she was pretending to be someone else.
She brushed her long, soft brown hair behind her shoulders.
Her eyes—large, quiet, and doe-like—carried a gentleness that didn’t belong in this harsh world.
She wasn’t breathtaking because of glamour.
She was beautiful because she didn’t know she was.
Her innocence was untouched.
Her heart was still soft.
Her smile still hesitant.
Her beauty was the kind that made people pause without knowing why.
But Sarika saw none of that.
Sarika only saw a threat.
Sarika stood at the door, arms crossed, irritation twisting her mouth.
Her daughter, Rinki, stood beside her—draped in excessive makeup and jewelry, yet looked dull beside Roohi’s effortless grace.
Sarika stared at Roohi’s reflection like she was staring at a wound she wanted to tear open.
“Why are you taking so long? Raghav sent his car for you? How dare he?” her voice dripped with venom.
Roohi lowered her eyes.
“I didn’t ask him to, Maa. He said he wanted to meet… properly.”
Sarika scoffed.
“My daughter was supposed to get this proposal! Not you!”
Roohi’s fingers tightened around her dupatta.
She had grown up hearing these lines.
“You were never supposed to take her place,” Sarika said, stepping closer, voice low, bitter.
“You are just a burden. A reminder.”
A reminder of what?
Of her father’s first wife.
Of a woman Sarika hated because she could never be her.
Rinki pushed Roohi’s shoulder lightly.
“Don’t act innocent. Men always fall for girls who pretend to be shy.”
“I—I’m not pretending,” Roohi whispered.
Sarika rolled her eyes.
“Stop your drama. Let’s go.”
As Roohi followed them through the hallway, she thought of the day when she was six years old, hiding behind her bed because she spilled milk on the carpet.
She remembered Sarika dragging her out, slapping her until her cheek burned, calling her names she didn’t even understand at that age.
She remembered Rinki throwing her favourite doll into the fire “for fun”.
She remembered crying quietly at night because she never received the hugs she saw Sarika giving Rinki.
But she also remembered one thing:
She always forgave them.
Even when they didn’t deserve it.
Sometimes, I wonder… why did I want to step outside?
Why did I agree to meet Raghav?
Why did he pick me?
If I had just stayed in my room…
If I had just stayed invisible…
Maa wouldn’t be this angry.
Rinki wouldn’t hate me more.
Things wouldn’t feel so heavy.
Maybe this is my fault too.
Everything always becomes my fault…
The car Raghav sent was luxurious—sleek black, polished, with a personal driver waiting respectfully outside their house.
Sarika’s eyes widened at the sight, jealousy burning like acid in her veins.
“Look at this!” she hissed under her breath.
“A rich man like Raghav sending a car for you? For you?”
Rinki clicked her tongue.
“He must be blind.”
Roohi sat quietly in the car, clutching her dupatta tightly.
When they arrived at the venue—a private banquet hall—Sarika’s breath caught in her throat.
The entrance alone was decorated with fresh orchids.
Men in suits opened doors.
Crystal chandeliers lit the lobby in warm gold.
Soft violin music filled the air.
People whispered,
“A billionaire family event.”
“Raghav’s welcome party.”
“Only high-status guests invited.”
Sarika’s jaw clenched in disbelief.
This was the life she had always wanted for her daughter.
But destiny had smiled at the wrong girl.
Roohi felt small walking inside—like she didn’t belong in such a place.
But beside her, Sarika’s eyes scanned everything with envy.
Then she noticed something—
Everyone looked at Roohi.
Not because she was glamorous.
But because she was simple.
Soft.
Gracefully silent.
Even simplicity becomes royal when it’s genuine.
Sarika’s jealousy sharpened.
She whispered to Rinki,
“She will survive in this rich world. I can’t let that happen.”
At the center of the hall, Raghav stood waiting—handsome, graceful, smiling, instantly walking toward them.
His eyes lit up when he saw Roohi.
Sarika saw that.
Her daughter saw that.
And both their hearts twisted in anger.
“Roohi,” Raghav said warmly, “you look beautiful.”
Roohi blushed lightly.
“Thank you…”
Sarika forced a smile, but her nails dug into her palm.
As they walked toward the table, Sarika whispered sharply to Rinki,
“We start now.”
Rinki nodded.
Sarika approached the drink counter, took two glasses of juice, and slipped a dissolving sleeping tablet into one of them.
Her hands didn’t shake.
Her eyes didn’t blink.
Jealous women don’t fear consequences.
As Sarika carried the two glasses back, someone bumped into her lightly—
a tall man in a dark suit, walking past without noticing her at all.
Siddharth.
Sarika stumbled, the drinks almost slipping.
“Careful,” he said flatly and walked away, uninterested and unaware.
But in that small push, the glasses switched hands.
Sarika unknowingly handed the drugged drink to Roohi…
and the safe drink to Raghav.
A servant offered another drink to Siddharth at the same moment—
the one Sarika did spike for Roohi later—
and he accepted it distractedly, sipping it while checking his phone.
Two wrong drinks.
Two wrong people.
One disaster waiting to explode.
Sarika placed a hand on Roohi’s arm.
“Beta, drink this. You’ll feel relaxed,” she said with fake motherly warmth.
Roohi gave a small hesitant smile—
because she always melted at kindness, even the fake kind.
She drank.
Within minutes, her vision blurred.
Her head felt heavy.
The floor felt far.
Her heartbeat slowed.
“Maa… I feel… dizzy…”
Sarika held her dramatically.
“Oh no! My poor child! Somebody help! She’s fainting!”
She wasn’t worried.
She was excited.
Raghav rushed forward in panic.
“What happened? Roohi!”
Roohi tried to speak—
but collapsed .
Sarika immediately took control.
“Don’t worry! We’ll take her to a room!”
Raghav nodded, anxious.
But as soon as they reached the corridor, Sarika’s expression changed.
Cold.
Cruel.
Triumphant.
“Rinki, bring the boy we arranged. Hurry.”
But the boy Sarika planned to use was missing—
panicked after seeing Roohi collapse.
At the same time—
Siddharth, further down the corridor, felt the drug affecting him, making him unsteady.
He rested briefly in a guest room to regain balance.
Sarika saw the open room.
Saw the half-conscious Siddharth inside.
She didn’t know him.
Didn’t care who he was.
She only saw an opportunity.
“That room,” she whispered.
“Quick.”
Rinki helped her drag the unconscious Roohi into the room.
They laid her next to Siddharth.
Sarika smiled coldly at her daughter.
“Now her life is finished.”
She closed the door.
And walked away.
Not knowing she had just trapped her stepdaughter
with one of the richest and most feared men in the city.
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Soft sunlight touched the room first—
then Siddharth’s face.
He woke up slowly, his head pounding like it was filled with smoke.
He blinked hard, scanning the unfamiliar room.
Where am I?
Why am I here?
Then he froze.
A girl lay beside him—
her head resting near his shoulder,
her dupatta slightly shifted,
her eyelashes trembling against her cheek.
He sat up sharply.
“What the hell—”
He looked around the room again, confused, angry, disgusted at the scenario.
His voice was cold steel.
“Who are you?” he demanded sharply.
“How did you come here?”
Roohi stirred, her hand tightening briefly on the bedsheet.
She opened her eyes slowly—
saw a stranger—
and screamed.
Siddharth flinched at the loudness but didn’t soften.
“Stop shouting!” he snapped.
Her eyes filled with tears instantly.
“I—I don’t know— I don’t know how I came here—”
Before he could respond, the door burst open.
Sarika ran inside dramatically with fake horror.
“Roohi! What did you do?? How could you do this!!”
Raghav followed, his face turning pale at the scene.
His heartbeat dropped.
Roohi cried, shaking her head violently.
“No! No Maa! I didn’t do anything! I don’t know how I came—”
Sarika fell on the floor with fake sobs.
“My daughter… my child… how could she betray us like this?”
Roohi reached out to her, voice trembling.
“Maa please… believe me…”
Raghav stepped back, voice cracking.
“Roohi… why…?”
“No!” she cried. “I didn’t—”
Sarika screamed again,
“What kind of girl are you!? Spending the night with a stranger!? In a room!?”
Siddharth clenched his jaw in irritation,
“I think you are misunderstanding something—”
But Sarika cut him off.
“YOU stay out of this! She has ruined everything!”
Roohi knelt on the floor, crying uncontrollably.
Raghav shook his head slowly.
“I can’t… I can’t marry someone like you.”
His words stabbed her like knives.
He walked away.
Just like that.
Her father arrived moments later—
and without asking anything—
slapped her so hard she fell to the floor.
“CHARACTERLESS GIRL!” he shouted.
“You brought shame! Now who will marry you!? You should die instead!”
Roohi’s breath broke.
Her world broke.
Her innocence broke.
She looked around for someone—anyone—to believe her.
No one did.
Except one.
Siddharth had no reason to step in.
No reason to get involved.
He didn’t even know her name.
But the scene unfolding before his eyes pierced something inside him.
His mother’s teachings echoed in his mind—
"Respect a girl’s dignity even when you don’t understand her truth."
"Never let a woman be humiliated, even if she is a stranger."
"Protect, even when it’s inconvenient."
He didn’t know why,
or how,
or what made him speak.
But he stepped forward.
His voice cut through the chaos—
cold but steady.
“Stop.”
Everyone froze.
Siddharth looked at Roohi—
broken, shaking, crying on the floor.
Then he looked at her father.
“She is not characterless,” Siddharth said firmly.
“I was the one in the room with her.”
Sarika gasped.
It wasn’t part of her plan.
Roohi looked up, tears falling silently.
Siddharth continued,
“She fainted. I was dizzy too. Nothing happened.”
“But—” her father stuttered.
Siddharth’s jaw tightened.
“And if her respect is being questioned because she was with me…
then I will take responsibility.”
Roohi’s breath stopped.
Sarika stumbled backward in shock.
Rinki’s mouth fell open.
Raghav froze mid-step.
Her father stared in disbelief.
Siddharth walked toward Roohi, extended his hand, and said:
“I will marry her.”
Roohi looked at him through tears, voice trembling.
“W-Why… are you doing this…?”
Siddha
rth didn’t smile.
Didn’t soften.
But his words held quiet strength.
“Because no girl deserves to be destroyed like this.
Because I was present.
Because it is the right thing to do.”
His eyes met hers.
“And because you deserve dignity.”
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Thank you for reading, pretties!🎀
Something huge is about to happen next -🤯
and it will change everything for both Roohi and Siddharth.
Stay tuned for Chapter 4! ♡
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