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✨ Chapter 50: The Silence Between Shadows

The haveli woke to the pale light of morning, its corridors hushed, as if afraid to disturb the secrets that lingered in its walls.

Rajveer walked past the courtyard with deliberate stillness, his gaze fixed ahead, though each step betrayed his pull toward the chamber where Meenal sat. He did not look—he could not—but his body betrayed him. His skin prickled, his breath faltered, and in the corner of his vision he felt her presence like a flame he dared not touch.

He had even abandoned the morning prayer, fearing her presence more than the gods.

Meenal, seated by the window, stiffened when his shadow brushed past. Her fingers tightened around the edge of her saree. She forced her eyes to the world outside, to the neem tree swaying in the breeze, but her thoughts rebelled.

Her hand absentmindedly rubbed her bruised wrist, where her bangle should be but was now empty.

A shadow fell across her lap. She flinched, breath catching in her throat.

She turned her face, forced a smile, and greeted him with a strained voice, hiding the turmoil within her. Deep down, she knew the shadow would find her again.

"Thakur Shahab…" She mumbled even when her mind told her to call him by his name instead.