Six months later. The haveli was a pressure cooker of gossip and suppressed hostility. Priya's pregnancy was undeniable now; her belly was prominently rounded, a physical testament to the lie she was living. The whispers had grown louder, more pointed. Shashwat, completely focused on Rani and the new heir, Trishan, barely spared Priya a glance, reinforcing the public narrative that their marriage was a sham, that he had not touched her since their engagement.

The elders and even some of the servants spoke openly, their pity curdled into contempt. "How shameless," they muttered in the courtyards. "Carrying a child, yet the Thakur won't even go near her. It must be someone else’s. A disgrace to the Thakur name."