Chapter 14: Bound Yet Searching for Peace

Poornima sat in her room, her hands still decorated with mehendi, bangles softly clinking whenever she moved.

Everything around her said one thing.

She was getting married.

But inside… she didn’t feel like a bride.

She didn’t like this marriage.

Not the man.

Not the life that was being decided for her.

But she had no way out.

She was bound to him.

Bound by promises made long ago, by her father’s word, by the expectations of everyone around her.

She couldn’t say no.

She couldn’t stop it.

She couldn’t do anything.

Her eyes slowly moved toward the door, hearing laughter outside. Her family was happy, relatives were happy, everyone was celebrating her future.

She looked at her hands.

Mehendi darkening.

Bangles shining.

Everything looked perfect.

But she felt nothing.

Just a quiet heaviness sitting in her chest.

A smile appeared on her lips when someone called her from outside, but the moment she was alone again, it disappeared.

She leaned back slightly, closing her eyes.

Just for a moment, she wanted silence.

Just for a moment, she wanted to breathe.

Her phone buzzed.

She opened her eyes.

One message.

Tea.

She didn’t think.

She just got up.

Walked to the kitchen.

Prepared it the way he liked, strong, warm, steady.

Her hands moved automatically, like this was the only thing she still had control over.

She carried the cup upstairs and went to his room.

He looked tired.

Not just physically.

Something deeper.

She handed him the tea.

“Thank you,” he said.

A simple word.

But it stayed.

She nodded slightly and turned to leave.

No extra words.

No lingering.

She walked back to her room.

Closed the door.

Lay down on the bed.

And this time, sleep came quickly.

Not peaceful.

Just tired.

Trying to escape everything for a while.

Night passed quietly.

Then, sometime in the middle of the night, the door opened softly.

Veeresh.

He walked in without making a sound.

She was asleep.

Her face calm, but her fingers slightly curled, as if even in sleep she was holding something in.

He stood there for a moment, looking at her.

Then slowly, he moved closer and lay down beside her.

Not on her lap this time.

Beside her.

Close enough to feel that familiar silence.

She stirred slightly.

Not fully awake.

But aware.

Her hand moved on its own, reaching his head, her fingers slipping into his hair.

Pressing gently.

Massaging slowly.

Half asleep.

Half aware.

Like her body remembered before her mind did.

He closed his eyes.

The tension eased.

The noise inside him quietened.

And for her…

For a moment, everything faded.

No marriage.

No pressure.

No fear.

Just this.

This silence.

This closeness.

This strange peace they never spoke about.

Her fingers slowed.

Her breathing softened.

And she fell asleep again.

Beside him.

Holding onto the only place where her heart didn’t feel trapped.

For a few hours…

They both found peace.

In a world that was slowly taking everything else away.