The heavy oak doors of the bedroom slammed shut, echoing like a death sentence in the silent mansion. I stood there, shivering in my heavy red bridal dress, the intricate embroidery suddenly feeling like chains dragging me down.
Footsteps. Slow, deliberate, and predatory.
Rudra emerged from the shadows. He didn't look like a new husband; he looked like a hunter who had finally cornered his prey. His jaw was tightly clenched, and his dark eyes held a terrifying storm of cold fury.
"Did you really think," his voice was a low, dangerous whisper that made my blood run cold, "that wearing this dress makes you my wife?"
He took a step closer, trapping me against the cold marble wall.
"This marriage is not a union," he sneered, his fingers gripping my chin with a bruising force, forcing me to look into his merciless eyes. "It is your punishment. And your hell begins tonight."