She was raised to obey. To be a good daughter. A good bride. A good sacrifice. When her father’s business collapses beneath the weight of a disastrous deal and an unbearable debt, she is given only one way to save her family’s reputation—a marriage with one of Mumbai’s most powerful business dynasties. At the engagement, she meets the younger son. He is kind. Gentle. Warm. For the first time, she allows herself to believe that perhaps this marriage won’t be a punishment. Perhaps she could learn to love him. Then her wedding day arrives. And the man waiting for her at the mandap is not the man she agreed to marry. It is his elder brother. The heir. The ruthless businessman. The man the media calls the family’s blade. A man who took control of an empire at twenty-four, buried every weakness behind an unreadable face, and hasn't allowed himself to want anything in years. He doesn't want a wife. He wants an agreement fulfilled, a photograph for the shareholders, and a year of silence. “One year,” he tells her, his voice cold as the ring settling onto her finger. “No love. No questions. No divorce before the year is over. After that, you walk away—with enough money to forget this family ever existed.” She agrees. Because she has no choice. But also because something inside her refuses to be treated like a signature on a contract. She was supposed to survive the marriage. He was supposed to remain untouched by it. Neither of them expected a house filled with people who remember the boy he once was. Neither expected a secret buried beneath years of grief. Neither expected a woman from his past to return, determined to reclaim what she believes still belongs to her. And neither expected hatred to become understanding… Understanding to become trust… And trust to become something far more dangerous. Something neither of them is willing to name. Because their marriage was supposed to last one year. And when that year finally begins to end, there is only one question left— What if leaving is no longer what either of them wants?