Chapter Twenty: A Man Who Never Learned to Feel

Veeresh Rathore stood alone on the balcony of the Rathore estate in , the cool night air brushing past him, carrying a silence he wasn’t used to noticing.

He had always liked silence.

It meant control.
It meant clarity.
It meant nothing was slipping out of his hands.

But tonight…

It felt different.

Heavy.

Not outside—

Inside him.

He rested his hands on the railing, his gaze fixed somewhere far beyond the horizon, but his mind wasn’t there.

It was with her.

Poornima Singh Mewar.

The woman he had decided to marry.

Not because of love.
Not because of emotion.

But because…

He had chosen her.

That morning replayed in his head.

Her eyes when he told her the truth.
The way she didn’t react like most people would.
The way she stood there—not weak, not dramatic… just quietly absorbing everything.

“She didn’t break,” he murmured to himself.

And for some reason—

That stayed with him.

He had seen women all his life.

Women who admired him.
Desired him.
Chased him.

Women who saw power… and wanted to be part of it.

But Poornima—

She hadn’t even looked at him like that.

She had ignored him.

Challenged him.

Stood in front of him like she didn’t care who he was.

And yet—

Now he knew…

It wasn’t indifference.

It was survival.

His jaw tightened slightly as the maid’s words echoed again.

She’s been alone all her life.

He exhaled slowly.

That part…

That part bothered him.

More than he expected.

“I didn’t sign up for emotions,” he muttered under his breath.

And yet—

Here he was.

Thinking about how she felt.
What she went through.
What she needed.

His fingers tapped lightly against the railing, a habit when his mind was working through something complicated.

“I told her everything,” he said quietly.

His flaws.
His habits.
His past.

Things most men would hide.

But he didn’t.

Because he didn’t believe in illusions.

He had seen what illusions did.

They broke people.

Destroyed them slowly.

Left them with expectations that reality could never meet.

“I’m not that man,” he said, his voice firm now.

Not a fairytale.
Not a dream.

Just… real.

But then—

His mother’s voice echoed in his mind.

She will need to feel chosen.

His expression shifted slightly.

Chosen.

That word felt… unfamiliar.

Because Veeresh Rathore had never chosen anyone in that way before.

Not emotionally.
Not personally.

He had relationships.

Temporary.

Detached.

Convenient.

No expectations.
No commitments.

No… responsibility.

But this—

This was different.

“She’s going to expect something,” he admitted to himself.

Not out loud.
Not directly.

But in the way she looked at things.

In the way she held herself.

In the way she stayed silent instead of demanding.

And that…

That was more dangerous than anything else.

Because silence like that—

It carried depth.

It carried wounds.

It carried expectations that weren’t spoken… but were felt.

His jaw clenched slightly.

“I told her I won’t cheat.”

The words came back to him clearly.

And he meant it.

Not because she asked.

Not because she demanded.

But because…

He had decided it.

“I’ll change,” he muttered.

Not for her.

That part still stood.

But because he couldn’t walk into something like this… half-hearted.

His gaze lifted slightly, his expression hardening again—but this time, not with coldness.

With resolve.

“I don’t know how to love,” he admitted quietly.

That truth didn’t shake him.

It didn’t make him feel weak.

It just… existed.

He had never learned it.

Never needed to.

Never believed in it enough to try.

But now—

He was standing at the edge of something where love might matter.

And that…

Was unfamiliar territory.

His hands tightened slightly on the railing.

“But I don’t walk away.”

That part of him was absolute.

Unchanging.

If he stepped into something—

He stayed.

And for some reason—

That mattered more to him than anything else right now.

His thoughts shifted back to her again.

Her quiet strength.
Her guarded eyes.
The way she didn’t trust easily.

The way she still said okay… without questioning too much.

“She doesn’t believe in me yet,” he said under his breath.

And he didn’t blame her.

Because if their places were reversed—

He wouldn’t either.

A faint exhale left him as he straightened slightly.

“I’ll figure it out.”

Not perfectly.
Not immediately.

But in his own way.

Because Veeresh Rathore didn’t do things halfway.

And this—

This was no longer just a decision.

It was something he had chosen to take responsibility for.

And whether he understood it fully or not—

One thing was certain.

He wouldn’t let her face life the way she had been forced to…

Alone.