chapter 1: The night that changed everything

Kyara sat on the hospital bench, fingers clenched in her lap. The sterile white walls felt like they were closing in on her, the fluorescent lights too bright, too artificial. The words echoed in her mind—her father was gone. Just like that.

Her mother sat beside her, unmoving. She hadn't spoken in hours. Raj, her younger brother, clutched his knees, his head bowed, as if making himself smaller would somehow lessen the pain.

Kyara wanted to cry. To scream. To break something. But instead, she just sat there, hollow, numb.

A shadow loomed over her.

Something warm draped over her shoulders. The scent of coffee and cologne filled her senses.

Startled, she looked up.

A black jacket. Slightly oversized. Soft.

She turned quickly, searching for the owner, but he was already walking away.

A man. Tall. Dressed in dark jeans and a hoodie.

Before she could speak, before she could even process, he disappeared down the corridor.

Kyara clutched the jacket, confused. She didn't know him.

She didn't know that, in just a few days, she'd be sitting across from him—planning a contract marriage.