Chapter Ten: What He Was Never Meant to Hear

The palace had quieted down.

The chaos of decisions, voices, and judgments had settled into an uneasy stillness. In the corridors of the Mewar estate in , silence stretched long and heavy, as if even the walls were tired of witnessing everything that had unfolded.

Veeresh Rathore walked in with measured steps, his expression as composed as ever. To anyone watching, nothing about him seemed different.

But something had shifted.

He had made a decision.

And now… he had come to face it.

Without asking for directions, without hesitation, he walked straight toward her room. As if he already knew where she would be.

The door was slightly ajar.

He pushed it open.

And paused.

Poornima was asleep.

Curled slightly on the bed, exhaustion written across her face, tear tracks still faintly visible against her skin. Even in sleep, her brows were slightly furrowed—as if peace was something she didn’t quite know how to hold onto.

For a brief moment…

Veeresh didn’t move.

His gaze shifted slowly—from her face… to her hand.

The ring.

Still there.

And then to her wrist.

The khandani bangle his mother had given her.

A symbol of acceptance.

A place in his world.

Something about that sight made his jaw tighten—just slightly.

Because she didn’t look like someone who had just been accepted into a family.

She looked like someone who had been broken… and left to piece herself together alone.

A soft voice interrupted his thoughts.

“Sir…”

Veeresh turned.

A maid stood at the door, hesitant, unsure if she should have spoken at all.

He stepped out quietly, closing the door behind him without another glance at Poornima.

“Yes?”

His tone was calm. Controlled.

But the maid hesitated, her hands fidgeting nervously.

“Sir… I… I need to tell you something.”

Veeresh’s eyes narrowed slightly.

“Speak.”

Her voice lowered, almost as if she feared the walls might hear.

“You should… cancel this marriage.”

The words were unexpected.

Veeresh’s expression didn’t change—but his gaze sharpened.

“Why?”

The question was simple.

But the silence that followed… wasn’t.

The maid swallowed hard before continuing.

“Sir… she…”

A pause.

As if even saying it felt wrong.

“She is her father’s mistress’s daughter.”

Veeresh’s eyes didn’t flicker.

But something inside him stilled.

“He never accepted her,” the maid continued, her voice trembling slightly. “No one here does. To the world, she is introduced as part of the family… but in truth…”

She shook her head softly.

“She is treated like she doesn’t belong.”

Each word landed.

Quiet.

Sharp.

“She grew up here… but not as a daughter,” the maid said. “More like… someone they were forced to keep.”

Veeresh’s gaze darkened.

The maid’s voice broke slightly now, emotion slipping through.

“From the time she was born, sir… he never loved her. Not once. He calls her illegitimate… even now.”

A pause.

“He never held her. Never cared for her. We… we raised her.”

Her hands clenched together.

“She’s been alone all her life.”

The corridor fell silent again.

But it was no longer the same silence.

This one carried weight.

Understanding.

Something Veeresh hadn’t expected.

His mind replayed everything—

Her calm at the party.
Her indifference.
Her quiet strength.
Her refusal to react to his taunts.

And now…

It made sense.

She wasn’t unaffected.

She was… trained to survive it.

“Sir…” the maid added softly, almost pleading now, “she deserves better. Not another life where she is forced into something without being asked.”

That line lingered.

Forced.

Without being asked.

For a brief second, Veeresh’s gaze shifted back to the closed door.

Behind it—

She slept.

Unaware.

Unprotected.

Unchosen.

His jaw tightened again, this time more visibly.

Because for the first time…

His decision didn’t feel as simple as it had earlier.

It wasn’t just a marriage.

It was a life.

Her life.

And whether he admitted it or not—

He had just stepped into it… without asking her.

The maid lowered her head, unsure if she had said too much.

But Veeresh didn’t stop her.

He didn’t dismiss her either.

He just stood there.

Still.

Thinking.

Because Veeresh Rathore had always believed he understood people.

But this time…

He realized—

He had seen Poornima Singh Mewar as a rival.
A challenge.
A woman who stood strong on her own.

He had not seen…

The girl who had never been loved.

And now that he had—

There was no going back to ignorance.