know you're mine🍀

20| Strings of Fear

Tears blurred my vision.

I reached under the bed, pushing my arm deep into the shadowy space, ignoring the stinging cuts as I brushed over sharp edges. My skin scraped. Tiny pearls bit into my palms. But I didn't care.

My mind was spiraling.

My mangalsutra... broken.

Every woman in my life - elders, relatives, neighbors - had filled my ears with warnings since I was a child:

"Each section has nine black beads. They're the nine forms of Adi-Shakti. If the mangalsutra breaks... it's bad luck... it's a sign... a danger to your husband's health... or his life..."

I clutched the broken chain close to my chest and sat still for a second - my knees to my chest, forehead resting on the tangled mess of black beads and golden thread.

And then it broke.

My composure.

My tears.

One after another, they poured down.

"How... how could I be so careless?" I whispered to myself, "What if all those things are true?... What if this is a sign... what if..... something happens to Shubh...?"

I couldn't breathe.

I took a deep, desperate inhale and whispered to myself. "No... no, Shagun. Calm down. It's just a thread. Just a thread... not fate."

But the thoughts clawed at my chest. I could barely hear myself anymore over the rush of panic.

He hadn't come home in days. He barely spoke. And now... this?

I couldn't sit still.

I jumped to my feet, still cradling the mangalsutra in my hand, and rushed out of the room.

My heart pounded like a war drum in my chest.

He's fine. He has to be fine.

I didn't even think twice before I slid into the car, fingers trembling on the wheel.

The mangalsutra was still in my grip - tangled, broken... but held to my heart like it was the only thing tethering my soul to his.

And with that storm raging inside me, I pressed the accelerator.

I needed to see him.
To hear him.
To know, right in front of me, that he was okay.

Even if he got angry.

Even if I had to wait in silence.

Even if I had no words to explain why I had suddenly shown up.

Because right now, logic didn't matter.

Only he did.

⊹ ﹏ .☘︎ ݁˖ ﹏ .☘︎ ݁˖ ﹏⊹ ˖

| 20 Minutes Later - Suryavanshi Corporation HQ

After nearly twenty minutes of nonstop driving, I finally reached the gates of Suryavanshi Corporation.

And the moment I stepped out of the car, my eyes widened in disbelief.

The entire building stood like a piece of art - sharp lines carved into glass and steel, a structure so massive and regal that it almost didn't feel real. From the sky-high facade to the blooming royal garden at the entrance, everything screamed perfection.

It was like walking into a dream.
His world.

I'd heard whispers from relatives and articles in magazines - Suryavanshi Corporation, the largest empire in the world. Every branch of it, a masterpiece of architecture. But this was my first time seeing it in person.