Page 129 of One Hellish Wedlock
The moment she did, Reyansh loosened his grip, his eyes watching her with desperate intensity.
“Noor Mahal,” Reyansh began quietly, “was once the largest palace in Udaigadh. It was our ancestral property. My grandfather had a fallout with his younger brother, and as a result, the estate was divided. Noor Mahal went to his brother, who later sold it off to another family for a higher bid. My grandfather never came to terms with it. He tried to reclaim that palace, but before he could make any progress, his time ran out. He passed away.”
Aanya listened in silence, absorbing each word. She had never known much about Reyansh’s family history. No one hadever shared it with her, and truthfully, she had never cared enough to find out.
“My father was too young when it happened,” Reyansh continued. “The desire to reclaim Noor Mahal passed on to him. It became a legacy of regret... a burden of unfinished business. But just like his father, he never got the chance. He and my mother died in a car crash before he could do anything about it.”
Aanya swallowed hard. She could see the grief surface in his eyes, something she hadn’t witnessed before. He had never spoken about his parents with her either.
“When my father died, his lawyer approached me and told me everything. And somehow, I knew I had to fulfil this last wish…to bring Noor Mahal back into the family. Not for its value, but to grant peace to our family’s lost legacy.”
His jaw clenched slightly.
“When I grew up, and had the money and influence, I initiated the process to trace its current owner. That’s when I discovered the palace had passed into your mother’s maternal lineage. Eventually, it was transferred to your mother, Narayani Malhotra.”
Aanya’s pulse quickened.
“But by the time I found that out,” Reyansh said softly, “she had already passed. I couldn’t deal with her directly. So I reached out to Kyle… because your father was abroad at the time.”
Aanya’s heart skipped.Kyle?
“I made her an offer. I was willing to pay any amount to get the property back. But Kyle was helpless. She told me that, according to your mother’s will, Noor Mahal could only be inherited by the man who married Narayani Malhotra’s daughter…you!”
Aanya’s gaze dropped to the floor. So that was it. That was why he had proposed marriage so suddenly. Even knowing howimpulsive, rebellious, and emotionally unstable she was at the time, he had still pushed for it.
“Aanya,” Reyansh stepped closer. “Look at me.”
“Why?” she snapped, lifting her eyes. “Do you still have the courage to meet my gaze, Reyansh Chopra?” Her voice cracked as she moved forward. “You married me… for a property?”
“I told you, that’s only half the truth. The other half, you refuse to believe,” he shot back.
“Oh, the other half?” she laughed bitterly. “Let me guess. That you were smitten by me? That a single kiss made you want me forever?”
He gripped her arms, frustration surging through his body.
“Don’t be presumptuous, Aanya.”
“And don’t you dare tell me what to do,” she barked, shaking off his touch. “Why didn’t you tell me any of this before? Even if I couldn’t have transferred Noor Mahal to you, we wouldn’t be trapped in this mess of a relationship right now.”
Reyansh’s hands clenched. Anger, regret, and helplessness boiled inside him, but he had no justification, no defence strong enough to convince her otherwise.
“How many more secrets have you buried?” she demanded.
“None,” he said with quiet conviction. “There are no more secrets.”
“How am I supposed to trust that? You’ve never told me anything until I’ve dragged it out of you. And by the time you do, it’s already too late.”
His silence confirmed her worst fear.
“Relationships don’t survive this way, Reyansh,” she said. “We started on a lie... and now, it’s impossible to hold anything together. I can’t do this anymore.”
Reyansh’s lips flattened into a hard line. He stared at her as if trying to make sense of the wreckage he had created.
“Don’t give up on me, Aanya,” he whispered. “Not now… please.”
“You didn’t leave me with any choice,” she replied bitterly, before turning and walking out of the room.
Reyansh swung his fist into the wall beside him. Pain erupted through his knuckles, but it was nothing compared to the torment twisting in his chest. Why did everything in his life seem to spiral out of control the moment he thought he had fixed it? Would he ever be able to gather the shattered pieces and hold them together again?
