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Chapter 3

The marriage was done. I had kept a few conditions before the ceremony, one of which happened to be that there would be no reception. The groom's side was more than happy to comply with this condition of mine, at least we match somewhere. The party was still there but just with father, mother and the rest of the people from my side.

While I and the rest of the groom's side were on our way to their house. It was the longest half an hour of my life and I made sure to text Lily, my PA, to buy a house at this wretched place and also to send all of my stuff here.

The car came to a stop in front of a gigantic set of gates,  carved intricately. They opened as soon as the cars reached them and we were let into a long drive way. There was a garden that looked small compared to the huge area it was surrounded in. It had a fountain and a few other figurines placed around it. On the other side I also noticed a bigger garden. The view was obstructed by a few trees but you could see the beautiful flowers and the gazebo there. Everywhere you looked, all you could see were acres and acres of land and nothing else. If someone were to kill me here, no one and I mean absolutely no one would be able to find out.

The mansion.....no, the palace slowly came into view. It was majestic to say the least. Towers that almost touched the skies, glass domes and old Indian-arabic architecture. It was surely renovated to a much modern style but the resemblence to the olden era and maybe even the history of the palace was clearly evident.

The car came to a stop by the entrence of the palace. Everyone got down and I followed their lead. The groom.....Ritvik got off and went ahead without a glance my way. I followed them to the doorstep where we were stopped by an elderly woman, I'm guessing his Dadi.

"Push the kalash and step in" she said after doing our aarti.

I pushed the kalash lightly with my feet, making the rice inside it fall. The next step I took was into a plate filled with water mixed with vermillion. I sighed internally. I took a few steps into the house, leaving my footprints behind. Oddly, Ritvik stayed by my side.Once all this was done everyone scattered, leaving me to find my way here.

I took a moment to look around. I was standing in a huge living room. The place looked much modern than it did from the outside. There were long L shaped couches and matching recliners surrounding a small table at the centre of the room. There were multiple exits which I assumed would lead to different hallways or rooms. There was a grand chandelier hanging from the ceiling. To one side there was a double staircase and....

Two kids, a boy and a girl, around 6-7 years old stood there, staring directly at me. The girl had shoulder length black wavy hair, with chubby cheeks and a little baby fat on her arms. She was surely the cutest kid I'd ever seen. On the other hand the boy looked like an exact replica of......Ritvik?

He had thick black hair and brown eyes that matched perfectly with Ritvik. Both the kids had scowls on their faces while their eyes were blank. I was taken aback for a moment. I could not understand what could have happened to make kids their age have such emotionless eyes. They held eye contact with me for a moment but then turned around and left.

"Maam, please follow me and I'll take you to your room" a woman who seemed to be in her mid thirties told me.

I followed her up the grand staircase and through different hallways up onto another floor. She informed me that this is the floor I'll be sharing with Ritvik. Throughout the way I took note of all the exits. I also noticed the amount of guards inside as well as outside the house. Every nook and corner of this place had men in black, it seemed like not even a fly could enter this place without their consent.

The floor that she left me in was huge. It had a living room like the one I saw downstairs but alongside that it also had an open kitchen. I walked across the room and into a hallway which had two doors, one of which had his name printed on a gold name plate. I assumed that it would be his home office and entered the other room.