Chapter 72

Hidden With You

Location: Isolated Farmhouse – Outskirts of Udaipur

The heavy wooden door slammed shut behind them.

Rhea stumbled inside, her bridal lehenga dragging across the dusty floor. Her gold jewelry clinked with every step, out of place in the quiet, abandoned farmhouse. She turned to Lex, eyes burning.

"You kidnapped me."

Lex locked the door.

"You were about to marry someone else. Carry my child and marry him like it meant nothing?"

Rhea's voice cracked. "You had no right."

He walked toward her slowly, calm and cold.

"I had every right. That baby inside you is mine. And if you won't protect it—I will."

Her hand instinctively moved to her belly. "You don't own me, Lex."

"No," he said. "But I won't let you give my child someone else's name. I won't let Cartwright take you again."

Rhea froze. "Cartwright?"

"They're watching. They've been tracking you ever since the Vienna files were opened. I know they want you back. Whatever they did to you two years ago—it isn't over."

Rhea took a shaky breath, feeling the walls close in. "You planned this. Didn't you?"

Lex nodded.

"No one can find us here. Not Manik. Not the police. Not even Sky. I took your phone. The SIM is destroyed."

He handed her a plain cotton dress and motioned toward a bedroom.

"Get changed. I'm burning that lehenga."

She didn't move.

"I won't be your prisoner," she whispered.

Lex's jaw tightened. "You won't be. The second you give birth… and give me my child… you're free to go. No one will stop you."

Rhea's eyes welled with silent fury and pain. "Six months. That's all."

He didn't answer. Just turned and walked into the kitchen.

---

Back in the city…

News exploded on every screen:

> BREAKING: Bride Vanishes From Palace Wedding

Police Investigating Possible Abduction

Groom Offers ₹10 Lakh Reward

Manik stood surrounded by officers, his face pale with rage.

"She didn't run," he growled. "She was taken."

His sister Priya whispered, "You think Lex did this?"

Manik didn't hesitate. "I know it."

---

Later That Night – Farmhouse

Rhea stood by the window in a faded kurta now, staring at the moon. Her wrists still bore marks from the bangles she'd ripped off. Her face was bare, her hair loose.

Lex entered with a plate of fruit and sat across from her without a word.

After a long silence, Rhea finally said, "You're not the same Lex I once knew."

"No," he said quietly. "You don't remember who I was to begin with."

She turned her head, voice shaking. "I hate you for this."

He looked at her—not angry, not cold. Just honest.

"I'll live with that. As long as the baby survives."

For a moment, the only sound was the wind against the windows.

Then, in the quietest voice, Rhea whispered, "It kicked for the first time last night."

Lex's breath caught.

He said nothing.

Just pressed his hand gently to her belly—asking permission.

She didn't stop him.

And for a moment… just a moment… they both listened to the quiet heartbeat of something neither of them could walk away from.