Tara's Pov
In a week my life has turn upside down. I never expected my family which I love the most will turn out to be like this. They used me as a commodity to repay their debt.

Right now standing in front of the royal court holding a hand of man where all the seniors of the royal families are present, I am feeling nothing more than ashamed.

They are looking at me like I have committed a huge crime to run from my wedding. I don't want to get marry at this young age and especially from that man. I have pleaded to my father a lot to not fix my wedding with that monster but he didn't listened.

He is a rapist, murderer, criminal who moving freely only because of the power of money. Numerous cases are filled against him. I am sure he himself has lost the count. He is so disgusting that not even his touch but even his molester gaze could make any woman feel uncomfortable. That's why I ran from my own wedding.

I had made the simple plan to move so far that these people would never reach. But everything destroyed when this man has forcefully kidnapped me in between and bring me here to insult me and my family.

"Now what will you say Devendra when your own son is culprit here", Harish Thakur growls angrily. "Firstly he has kidnapped our to be daughter in law just before the wedding and secondly spend the whole night with her. God! Knows what they have did?", his words coming like an arrow to pierce my heart. Tears were flowing continuously from her eyes.

"Mind your language Harish, you are talking about someone's daughter", Devendra Rathore warned him.

"Daughter.... She has lost the right to call daughter when she left our house", my father Balbeer Shekhawat, he spoke this so easily that I have never mattered to him.

" We love each other and wanted to marry", this man spoke calmly but I know these words are enough brust the volcano in the royal court.

"What rubbish, I can't believe", my to be husband Virendra Thakur said while gritting his teeth.

"Then ask her, she will tell you the truth..... right princess", he turned towards me and spoke sarcastically. My head lift up to his remark. He was looking deep in my eyes. I nodded my head slightly while shutting my eyes tightly.

Every person in court got startled to my response. Tears were slipping from eyes. My heart is crying on my agony.

"TARA", my father roared like a tiger and got up from his chair. It made me flinched so hard, that I shivered badly.
"Do you even know what are you saying or you have take the contract to ruin our family's reputation ", I had nothing to say to him, my gaze was still fixed on the floor and cheeks are soaked with my own tears.

"Chill sasurji you still have to perform kanyadaan, if you shout like this your health may got affected, then how will you able to do that", this man spoke while chuckling.

"Shut-up! Surya", Devendra Rathore spoke in warning tone. Listening his father's scold his hold tightened on my hand. A slightest inaudible sob escaped from my mouth.

"I knew, I knew this but want a confirmation from her , this girl is biggest bitch who lure men in her honeytrap", Virendra got up from his seat and start breaking things around in anger. The sound of things breaking echoed throughout the hall. He is shouting, cussing and behaving like an animal.

Meanwhile my father came towards me and stood infront of me. Before I could react anything, I felt a strong string of pain on my cheek. The slap was so hard that it felt like my jaw and cheek bone has broke. I was about to lost balance but just before I fell Surya hold me.

I know he hates me, he even ignored me in every way possible like I never existed for him but he never raised his hand on me but today he did this as well.

He again raised his hand to slap but before he could touch me Surya held his hand.

"Pehli bar Kiya iss liya shama kar rahe hai, lekin dubara in par hath uthane ka prayaas bhi kiya toh hum bhol jayenge ki aap inke pita hai", saying this Surya yanked his hand.

"You did it first time that's why I am forgiving you but if you again try to raise your hand on her, then I will forget that you are her father".

My father grabbed his collar tightly. "You have no right to poke between me and my daughter ". Leaving my hand Surya grabbed my father's hand, " I have all right on her, she will be my wife". Saying this Surya removed my father's hand with a jerk.

"Such a enchantress you are Tara, in a day you trapped him and even convinced him to get marry. Did warmed his bed so nicely", Virendra spoke very disrespectfully. Today he has broke every limit of dignity.

And with that everyone started humiliating me, they started raising questions on my character, degrading my self esteem. All this is getting too much for me to take. Every person was cussing me, no one has left any stone unturned. Virendra left no opportunity to verbally harres me. Now I am regretting my own decision, I must be good if I had married him. Atleast I would have humiliated by only one man that too behind the closed door unlike now.

"I am really regretting the day I choosen you to be my wife because women like you are not worthy to become anyone's wife", Virendra roared again."Instead of kept you at home your father must sell you in brothel, a whore like you only deserves to be there", Virender roared coming towards me. I got scared and hide behind Surya. But he moved away in front of me and went out of the room. I turned around towards the door from where his figure got invisible.

No he can't leave me, he is the one who brought me here. How will I face this animal without him? Does he believe them too. No God please, I need him, bring him back, otherwise these people will not leave me alive.

"Do you think he will protect you.....he will not. He is a biggest bastard, he is with you because he wanted to humiliate me. But not in your dreams he will marry you", with each step he is coming towards me and I am moving behind. I turned around and found no one who can help me. My father is also not here.

He grabbed my hand forcefully and start dragging. I tried to resist, "pl- please", a word came from my mouth like a whisper. He didn't react and pushed me, I fell hard. He unbuckle his belt and remove it.

He curled the leather belt around his palm and thrashed it on the floor. I flinched. He raised his hand to hit me but before I could feel the harsh touch, a loud voice echoed in the room.

"If a single scratch came on her body, I will rip your skin", Surya roared, standing on the threshold he was holding two wooden chairs.

He came inside and thrashed the chairs angrily on the floor. And in just a moment he set the broken pieces in fire. He come to me and make me stand. He held my hand and we both came and stand infront of the fire.

Surya start moving around but stopped when I didn't move. He turned and look into my eye, to ask for permission. He want to marry me right here. I want to deny but the moment when he looked into my eyes, I don't know what happened that I nodded. We start taking rounds around the fire.

I don't know why I accepted this, but he is the first person who has taken a stand for me, who saved me. I don't know him, but still I choose to give my life to him. At this moment my brain has stopped working and my life is dependent on what my heart is saying.

I come back in my senses, when I feel him filling his blood in my hairline. A tear slipped from my eyes. I am married now. I marry to a man whom I met a day ago.

Leaving me behind, he walked to Virendra and choked his throat. "Agar ab meri patani ke bare mei ek shabd bhi kaha toh Teri zabaan ke sath Teri gardan bhi katt dalenge".

"If you say even one word about my wife now, I will cut your neck along with your tongue."

Author's Pov

As the flames crackled behind Tara and Surya, casting a warm glow over their intertwined hands, a new chapter in their lives unfolded. The impromptu wedding ceremony amidst chaos and accusations marked the beginning of an unforeseen journey for the two strangers turned partners in adversity.

Tara's heart raced with a mix of emotions - relief at being saved from the impending horror, uncertainty about her future with Surya, and a flicker of gratitude for his unexpected intervention. She stole a glance at her newfound husband, his strong features softened by the flickering light of the fire. In that moment, she saw a glimmer of something she couldn't quite define - a promise of protection, perhaps, or a glint of understanding in his eyes.

Surya, on the other hand, felt a strange sense of duty and responsibility towards Tara. Despite his initial indifference towards her, the sight of her vulnerable form being dragged by that despicable man had awoken something primal within him. He knew he couldn't let her suffer any longer, even if it meant tying his fate to hers in a hasty union.

The royal court, once a scene of chaos and animosity, now fell into an eerie silence as the flames danced and the couple completed their rounds around the fire. The marriage vows spoken in desperation and defiance hung in the air, binding Tara and Surya in a bond forged by circumstance and sealed by fire.

As the last embers of the fire dwindled, Surya turned to face the accusing gazes of the royal families. His voice, steely yet tinged with an underlying promise, resonated through the hall. "She is my wife now, and I will protect her with my life. Any further insult towards her will be met with consequences."

The tension in the room was palpable, the unspoken challenge hanging heavy in the air. Tara felt a surge of gratitude towards Surya, a silent acknowledgment of the unexpected turn their lives had taken. She knew that their union was not conventional, nor was it born out of love, but in that moment, it was a lifeline she clung to amidst the storm.

The events of that fateful night would ripple through their lives, shaping their destinies in ways they couldn't foresee. As Tara and Surya stood united against the odds, a whisper of hope stirred in their hearts - a hope that amidst the chaos and uncertainty, they might find solace in each other's company.

The flames may have dimmed, but the fire within Tara and Surya burned brighter than ever, a beacon of resilience in the face of adversity. Their journey was far from over, their destinies intertwined by the threads of fate, bound by the unbreakable bond they had forged in the flames of uncertainty.