The Softest Collision 💥

Chapter 1 - The Contract

                   ✨ Sameeha's pov ✨
  I thought I had my life under control. My PhD research, my paints, badminton practice, and the small, quiet bubble I called my world — all carefully measured and protected. Until today.

A single message from my mother had turned my world upside down:

“Dinner at the Shah residence. Urgent family matter 🙂”

A smiley. Really? Like a smiley could make me excited to walk into the house of the most infuriating man I had ever known.

Aarav Shah.

Even thinking about him made my stomach twist. He was tall, impossibly sharp, and infuriatingly confident. Every memory I had of him—since childhood—made my chest tighten and my teeth grind simultaneously.

Stepping inside the Shah residence, I barely noticed the grandeur. Marble floors, crystal chandeliers, and the faint scent of jasmine barely registered in my mind. My eyes went straight to him.

Aarav Shah.

He leaned casually against the doorway, hazel eyes scanning me as if I were some puzzle he intended to solve. Calm, cold, untouchable, and incredibly infuriating. My first instinct was to look away. I refused to let him see the effect he had on me.

But I couldn’t ignore the subtle tension in the air, the way my heart betrayed me, racing at the sight of him.

Then came the words I had dreaded.

The lawyer cleared his throat, and suddenly everything seemed impossibly loud.

“As per Mr. Vinod Shah’s final instructions…”

My heart sank. I already knew what was coming.

“…the next heir of Shah Enterprises must be married. And that heir must marry the eldest daughter of the Mehta family.”

The world tilted. I froze, my chest tightening, my legs threatening to give way beneath me.

Marriage. With him.

My knees went weak, and I could barely manage, “W-what?”

“Yes,” my mother said, her voice calm, almost terrifyingly steady. “You have no choice. The contract ensures both your families’ futures.”

I wanted to scream. To cry. To run. Or maybe throw something—preferably at him.

I looked at Aarav. Calm. Cold. Smug. Untouchable. Like he already won. And somehow… infuriatingly, maddeningly, terrifyingly… there was a softness in his eyes I couldn’t ignore. Just a flicker, gone before I could register it.

I hated him. And yet, my heart betrayed me, racing faster the longer I looked at him.

I swallowed hard, trying to steady myself. “This… isn’t fair,” I whispered.

“You think life is fair?” he said quietly, his voice calm, teasing, almost unbearable. I could feel him watching me, sharp hazel eyes assessing every inch of me.

I wanted to hit him. Or run. Or both. “I… I can’t…” I tried, but the words failed me.

“You can,” my mother said, smooth and unwavering. “Your siblings’ futures depend on this. You have no choice.”

I turned back to him. And for a moment, I saw something I shouldn’t have—a flicker of vulnerability behind the calm, cold exterior. Almost human. Almost… soft.

I hated him. And yet, I couldn’t stop noticing him. The way his hand brushed against mine when he passed by. The subtle warmth in his gaze, meant for no one else. The quiet way he seemed to dominate every room without even trying.

This wasn’t just a contract. This wasn’t just a marriage.

It was a battlefield. A war between two stubborn hearts.

And terrifyingly, maddeningly, I knew… I wasn’t going anywhere.

Because no matter how much I hated him, no matter how impossible it seemed, I couldn’t stop noticing him.

And suddenly, this impossible contract didn’t feel impossible anymore.
                   

                      ✨Aarav's pov ✨

I knew she would be here. Sameeha Mehta. The Mehta heiress. Brilliant, stubborn, infuriatingly poised, and somehow completely untouchable.

I hated that she still had the power to make my chest tighten. I hated that my thoughts wandered to her when they shouldn’t. I hated that even after all these years, I wanted her.

The Shah residence was bustling with our families, lawyers, and advisors, but all I could see was her. She stood near the doorway, perfectly composed as always, a storm barely contained behind her calm expression. The same girl who had been the bane of my childhood, who had once called me a “walking disaster” with hair, now looked like she belonged in a magazine cover, not here negotiating a contract marriage.

I had prepared myself for the lawyer’s words, memorized them, even rehearsed my reactions. And yet, the moment he cleared his throat, my stomach twisted.

“As per Mr. Vinod Shah’s final instructions…”

I already knew what was coming.

“…the next heir of Shah Enterprises must be married. And that heir must marry the eldest daughter of the Mehta family.”

I felt the air leave the room. I saw her freeze across the way. Her eyes widened in disbelief, lips parted, and I knew she was silently screaming at me with her glare.

Marriage. With her.

I gritted my teeth and kept my expression calm. I refused to show anything, though the knot in my stomach said otherwise. Calm and collected — that’s what I had always been. That’s what I had to be. But inside, a storm raged.

I noticed the tremble in her hands, the flush rising to her cheeks, the way her chest seemed to tighten as if she couldn’t breathe. Good. She should feel it. She should know this wasn’t easy for me either.

But I couldn’t deny it. I had fallen first. Silently, stubbornly, hopelessly. And I would fall harder, no matter how much she fought.

I watched her struggle for words. “I… I can’t—”

“You can,” her mother cut in smoothly. “Your siblings’ futures depend on this. You have no choice.”

I felt her glare land on me, sharp as a blade. I almost laughed. Almost. I could see it in her eyes — the storm behind the poised exterior, the fiery resistance that had always drawn me in and driven me insane.

She hated me. And yet, I saw it. I could feel it. The way she kept stealing glances, the way her body stiffened in my presence, the way she seemed to notice even the smallest detail about me. I had trained myself to read people, to anticipate reactions, to control situations. But she… she was impossible.

I had to remind myself: this was a contract. A marriage neither of us wanted, forced by family and business. But deep down, I knew it didn’t matter. I wouldn’t let her go. Not now, not ever.

Every glance, every tiny gesture, every silent moment between us already tethered her to me. I had fallen first, and I would win her heart, stubborn as she was.

The contract would bind us together, yes. But it wouldn’t define us. Not fully. Because something had already begun, something neither of us could stop, no matter how hard we tried.

And I knew — in my stubborn, possessive heart — that she was already mine, whether she realized it or not.
 
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So here is the much awaited first chapter we all have been waiting for!!!
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Until then byeeeee !!!!!!!