Suraj Singh sat in the inner courtyard of his ancestral haveli, sipping his evening tea in silence. The sun dipped low, shadows lengthening across the stone floor, and the heat of the day finally giving way to a faint, almost forgiving breeze. But his heart felt heavier than it had ever been in years.
He had ruled this village with fairness for decades, settling disputes, guiding festivals, helping the needy. Yet today, the same people he had protected for years had turned their gaze toward his only child with suspicion.
He looked up as the voice of Daya Kaka echoed through the stone corridors.
“Suraj bhai, time is running out. If you don’t decide soon, they will. And you know how harsh they can be.”
Suraj looked into his cup, as if seeking answers in the amber swirl. “They’ve already decided. They’re only giving me the illusion of choice.”
Daya sat across from him, wiping his forehead with a stained handkerchief. “This isn’t about fairness anymore. This is about reputation. They’re afraid that if your daughter...your daughter can be seen alone with a city boy and walk away unwed, their daughters will follow.”
Suraj exhaled sharply. “She’s done nothing wrong.”
“She doesn’t have to. She just has to be yours.”
There was a long silence between the two old men.
“I raised her with love, Daya,” Suraj said at last, his voice cracking. “I never rushed her into marriage like others did with their daughters. I thought… maybe she could choose her life. Her man. Her time.”
“She was your strength, Suraj. But now she’s their example. They won’t let her walk free.”
---
Aadhvita sat on the terrace, legs pulled up to her chest, her chin resting on her knees. The stars were beginning to shimmer in the wide, open sky, a thousand little lanterns floating in the dark.
She could hear her father’s voice in the courtyard below quiet, but tense. She could hear words like “dignity,” “marriage,” and “decision.” Each syllable felt like a stone thrown into still water, sending ripples through the calm she had clung to all her life.
She wasn’t angry.
Just... scared.
Rudra had been kind. Gentle. Silent like her. She had watched him from behind doors and window corners, not because of any attraction, but because he was the first outsider who didn’t make noise in her world. He had stepped in to help a child, not knowing he was being watched. He had offered her water when she tripped near the well, without asking for thanks.
And now… he was going to be tied to her name forever. Not by choice, but by pressure.
She hadn’t spoken since the rumors began. Not to her father. Not to anyone. Her silence had always been her safety but now it was making her invisible in a decision that would change everything.
---
Rudra paced inside the small guest room he had been given. He could hear the echo of conversations beyond the stone walls snippets of old men discussing honor, women discussing shame, children whispering questions they didn’t yet understand.
He was a man who had given up everything to protect one life. Abhimanyu. And now he was being forced to take on another, without even being asked.
He thought about Aadhvita.
He didn’t know her.
And yet… he could not picture walking away and leaving her to bear the weight of this alone.
He glanced at the window, where the wind teased at the curtain. He didn’t believe in fate, but something in this place, this girl, this moment felt more than coincidence.
A knock interrupted his thoughts.
It was Suraj Singh.
“They will come tomorrow morning,” he said, voice gravelly. “The panchayat.”
Rudra met his eyes. “For what?”
“To demand the wedding. Publicly.”
Rudra didn’t speak.
“I won’t force you,” Suraj said quietly. “I may be a village head, but I’m a father first. I know what this feels like. Wrong. Rushed. Unfair.”
Rudra swallowed. “And Aadhvita?”
“She won’t say anything. She never does.”
The old man’s voice cracked at the edges. “But if you walk away, Rudra… they will say she is ruined. They will call her names, treat her like a curse. I cannot protect her from that.”
Rudra stared at the floor. He had walked away from his own powerful family for a baby who wasn’t even his. He had taken that step because it was the right thing to do even if it cost him everything.
And now, once again, life asked for a choice.
A choice between silence and responsibility. Between walking away and standing firm.
He didn’t know if he loved her. Hell he didn't even know her.
He didn’t even know if she wanted this.
But he knew one thing he could not let another innocent soul carry the weight
of others’ choices.
He nodded slowly.
“I’ll marry her.”
---
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