The courtyard of the Khurana ancestral estate was transformed into a sun-drenched sanctuary. Thousands of marigolds hung in thick, orange and yellow garlands from the ancient banyan trees, their scent heavy and sweet in the afternoon heat.
The "Ice King" had spared no expense. Every major news outlet was stationed outside the gates, desperate for a glimpse of the woman who had managed to tame the most ruthless man in India. But inside, the atmosphere was unexpectedly intimate.
Reyansh sat on a low, silver-carved wooden stool, looking devastatingly handsome in a simple, off-white silk kurta that he had already unbuttoned at the top. The dark purple bite mark Myra had left on his neck weeks ago had faded to a faint shadow, but as his cousins and remaining family members began to smear the bright yellow turmeric paste on his face and arms, he looked unusually relaxed.
His eyes, however, never stopped scanning the crowd. They only softened when they landed on the curtained entrance where Myra was being held.
"You look like a man who's finally found his peace, Reyansh," his aunt whispered as she touched the paste to his forehead.
"I've found my anchor," Reyansh replied, his voice a low, steady rumble.
Then, the music changed. The traditional shehnai swelled, and Myra emerged.
She was a vision of radiant gold. She wore a simple, yellow lehenga made of hand-spun raw silk, adorned with real jasmine flowers instead of heavy jewelry. She looked ethereal, her skin glowing with a natural light that had intensified since the pregnancy began
As she walked toward the center of the courtyard, her eyes met Reyansh's. The air between them crackled, the memory of their darker nights—the "Push and Pull," the boardroom humiliation, the rain-soaked shower—flashing between them like a secret language.
Reyansh stood up, ignoring the tradition that said the bride and groom shouldn't touch too much during the ritual. He walked toward her, the turmeric already staining his hands.
"You're shaking," he murmured, his voice only for her ears.
"It's just... everyone is watching," Myra whispered, looking at the high-society guests and the watchful eyes of the board members who had once looked down on her.
"Let them watch," Reyansh said, his gaze turning possessive. "Let them see exactly who owns my heart."
He took a handful of the cold, fragrant turmeric paste. Instead of a light touch, he applied it to her cheeks with a slow, lingering deliberate motion. His thumbs traced the line of her jaw, his eyes darkening as he marked her in the bright daylight just as he had marked her in the shadows of the penthouse
Myra laughed, a bright, clear sound, and reached into her own bowl. She smeared the gold paste across his broad chest, her fingers trailing over the muscles she had clung to in her moments of greatest despair and greatest ecstasy.
Suddenly, the ceremony turned into a riot of color and laughter. The guests joined in, but Reyansh stayed close to Myra, his arm draped protectively around her waist, his hand resting instinctively over her stomach.
As the sun began to set, casting long, amber shadows across the courtyard, Reyansh pulled Myra into a quiet corner behind a wall of flowers.
"The world thinks this is a celebration of a merger," he said, wiping a stray drop of turmeric from her lip with his thumb. "But I want you to know... this is the day the monster died. I don't want to be the Ice King anymore, Myra. I just want to be the man who deserves you."
Myra looked at him—the yellow paste on his face, the jasmine in her hair, and the genuine, raw love in his eyes. The debt was gone. The blueprints were finished. The only thing left to build was their life.
"You already deserve me, Reyansh," she said, leaning in to kiss him. "You saved me from the world, and I saved you from yourself."
As the Haldi ceremony concluded, the golden stains on their skin served as a reminder: they were no longer strangers, no longer property. They were a legacy in the making.
Author's Thought
THE GOLDEN TRANSFORMATION! 😱💛 Seeing Reyansh covered in Haldi and smiling is a total 180 from Chapter 1! He has officially transitioned from "Dark ML" to "Devoted Husband." 🚩➡️💖