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✨ Chapter 49: The Dawn They Forget

The haveli had stilled after the storm. Shadows stretched long across the corridors, the air damp with the scent of rain on earth. From somewhere distant came the sound of dripping water, rhythmic as a heartbeat.

Rajveer stirred, his body aching as though he had fought a battle in his sleep. His head pounded, his throat was dry, but what unsettled him most were the faint bruises tracing his arms and the tenderness at his mouth.

A faint ache lingered in both body and mind, one he could not place or understand. It was as if his body had been through more than just a restless night's sleep.

His clothes offered no memory of how they had found their way there, wrinkled and stained with dirt. His kurta lay crumpled on the divan, his chest bare, his dhoti hanging loosely at his waist. Rajveer's heart raced as he tried to piece together the events of the night before. Fragments fluttered through his mind—Meenal’s eyes in the candlelight, the storm pressing against the windows, a closeness he could not name. He closed his eyes, willing the images to return, but they slipped like sand through his fingers.

The echo of thunder lingered in his ears, merging with the pounding of his heart until he could no longer tell one from the other.

As his eyes landed on pieces of broken glass bangles scattered on the floor, confusion clouded his thoughts.

He pressed his palm against his lips, frowning. What happened last night?

He whispered her name, so softly it was almost a prayer.
“Meenal…”