🎉 How was last Chapter did it make heart pump or stop.

🛎️ New to Nandini and Rajeev’s world? No worries! Catch up on Dil ke Karib (Chapters 1–15) on my website before diving in. Her story is just getting started… 💔✨

🔥 Don’t miss:
Married to My Brother-in-Law, In Love with His Brother — dropping Mon–Fri at 9 PM
Dil ke Karib — continuing Mon–Fri at 9 AM

✨ Two stories. Two time slots. One unforgettable journey.

Now, let’s dive back into the latest chapter… 👇

******

“Bhabhi…”

The word cut the air like a shard of broken glass.

A sharp hitch caught her breath, as if air itself was too heavy. Her fingers curled into the saree, nails digging shallow scars into her palm. Goosebumps marched up her arms, yet her skin smoldered with a heat that no cold could chase away.

She clenched her saree, the fabric biting into her palm. One word—and it crushed the air from her lungs.

And then—
the memories returned.

She wasn’t in the room anymore.

The sterile scent of Rajeev’s room faded, replaced by the sharp tang of dust and sweat. The laughter of children was gone, replaced by silence—broken only by a scream that wasn’t here, but hers.

The floor beneath her might as well have been dry leaves. The scent of talcum vanished—replaced by the raw, earthen sting of April air.

A scream.
Her own.
Choked and sharp, splitting the silence.

She remembered the way Vikrant had smiled when he broke her.

“You think a girl like you—poor, uneducated—could be good enough for me?”

She had given him everything for a promise. One he never meant to keep.

“Now look at you. Spoiled.”

She’d slapped him. She’d stood her ground.
But even then, she had known—truth doesn’t protect you. It only isolates you.

Rajeev had been there that day.
Not close enough to stop it.
But close enough to see her break.

He had wrapped his red gamcha around her shoulders like a shield, saying nothing, asking nothing.
He chose silence—not from apathy, but mercy. The world was already too loud with judgment.

And now, here she was, in his room. As his wife.
And the same man—the one who betrayed and discarded her—stood only steps away. Her devar. A curse of fate she couldn’t escape. A choice made out of love, now a prison of her own making.

Her breath caught in her throat as she struggled to hold herself together, the weight of her decisions pressing down.

“Bhabhi.” His voice came again—slow, dark.
She froze. Breath caught. No sound escaped.

His eyes dragged over her.

There was no veil to hide behind this time. How could she have forgotten to cover her face? He’d know now. Her identity was exposed.

Panic surged through her—this mistake, the consequences, all staring her in the face. Vikrant's piercing gaze stripped away every sliver of protection she thought she had.
And in those eyes—recognition. Satisfaction. Power.

He knew.
He remembered.
And he enjoyed it.

She saw it in the cruel twist of his mouth—the same smirk from beneath the banyan tree.

Only now, she wasn’t just a mistake.

She was his cousin’s wife.

His eyes gleamed with a predator’s satisfaction as he savored the taste of her defeat. "So this is where the leftovers end up," he whispered, venom dripping from each syllable.

Nandini felt herself crumble inside.
Her past and present collided so violently it left her breathless.

She wanted to scream. To hide. To disappear.

And then—

SLAM.

Footsteps echoed down the hallway, cutting through the tension.

“How dare you enter my room when I’m not here?”

Rajeev.

He stood beside her, jaw clenched, rage radiating off him like heat.
Rajeev’s stance was a wall between her and the darkness, silent but unyielding. The heat of his anger pressed against the threat like a shield forged from love and fury.

She finally exhaled, the tension unraveling in her shoulders as Rajeev stepped between her and the past. He wanted to shield her from it all.

For a split second, her knees buckled. But his presence held her steady.

Vikrant smirked. “I was just saying hello.”

“From the hallway,” Rajeev said coldly. “Not inside my wife’s space.”

Vikrant shrugged and backed away, smugness never leaving his face.

But Nandini…
Nandini felt her world tilt beneath her feet.

Because she knew this was only the beginning.

Vikrant wouldn’t stop. And now that he knew she was his bhabhi, the threat had teeth.

Her heart screamed to confess, to unburden this heavy secret—but fear clawed at her throat. If Rajeev turned away, would she be left even more broken? Yet silence would shatter her soul, piece by piece.

Like the banyan tree’s roots clutching earth through storms and the red gamcha wrapped tight against the chill, these memories held her steady, fierce, and unbroken.

She owed it to herself to speak.
Not just for the girl who had been betrayed—but for the woman standing here now, with so much more to lose.

She turned to Rajeev, eyes brimming. Her voice cracked, but her conviction didn’t.

Fear gripped her. If she spoke, she might lose him. But if she stayed silent, she’d already lost herself.

She met his eyes, heart hammering.

“Rajeev, when you hear the truth—
Will you walk away, like all the rest?
Or stand with me, silent but unbroken?”

As Vikrant retreated, Rajeev gently turned her toward him and draped the edge of her saree over her head. "Not to hide you," he whispered, "but to shield you from the man who tries to taint your light."

He kissed her forehead softly—then turned and walked away.

*****

_{Author’s Note} 💌

✨ Hey, lovely readers! ✨

Did that last line hit you like a lightning bolt ⚡? Because wow — Chapter 16 just stormed in with all the feels and some serious shadows lurking.

Nandini’s past isn’t done with her yet — and Vikrant? He’s the dark no one warned you about. 😳

Tell me — what do YOU think? Will Rajeev stand by her or will the secrets break them apart? Drop your thoughts below! 👇 Your reactions mean the world to me and keep this story alive.

Get ready, because things are only getting deeper and darker from here… 💔🔥

Can’t wait to see you back for Chapter 17! 💫

— Shaar Shree ✍️💕