"Shayad vo drink acchi nahi thi!" Rajveer suddenly remembered, his knuckles turning white as he gripped the steering wheel, maneuvering through the dark Jodhpur streets with increasing worry.
Devika's eyes suddenly sparked with a dangerous, professional clarity. "Are haan!! Shayad usme hi zeher hoga!!"
Rajveer snapped his head toward her, staring at his wife as if she had completely lost her mind. 'Who talks about being poisoned with that much excitement?'
"Humara itni aasani se sar nahi ghumta, aur ye nosebleed to bilkul bhi nahi," she said to him casually, her voice completely calm, as if she were discussing a minor change in the weather.
"Nose bleed?!" Rajveer questioned in absolute shock.
Before he could process the terrifying word, Devika's hand shot out. With surprising, residual strength, she steadied his grip on the steering wheel, casually steering the luxury sedan back into its lane and preventing a major collision.
She then reached into her small clutch and pulled out her white handkerchief, showing it to him with a helpless, weak smile. Rajveer's heart stopped. The white fabric looked almost entirely dipped in deep, crimson blood.
He looked at the blood-soaked cloth in pure horror, and then his gaze shifted to her in absolute anger. It was a dark, suffocating fury—the very first time since his return that he had ever gotten genuinely angry at her. 'How long had she been hiding this from him while smiling for the cameras?'
But Devika didn't let him rage. She immediately reached over, her fingers pushing his chin slightly to force his face straight ahead, where their car was about to plow directly into the rear of a slow-moving SUV. Rajveer violently wrenched the steering wheel to the right, tyres screeching against the asphalt as he thankfully missed the accident by mere inches.
Without a second of hesitation, Rajveer slammed his foot on the accelerator, changing his route away from the palace and tearing down the highway toward the city's top military hospital.
"Baate karte rahiye humse!" he commanded, his voice shaking with a dangerous, angry, and strict edge. He couldn't let her slip away.
Devika giggled softly, the sound weak and raspy as she leaned her heavy head back against the leather seat. "Kya baat karen?"
"Kuch bhi!" he roared.
"Okay, to aapko—eeee!!" She was beginning to frame a sentence, but it broke off into a sudden, high-pitched, excited squeal.
Rajveer's heart leaped into his throat. He again turned his head to her in sheer panic, expecting the worst. Instead, he found her excitedly tapping her fingers against her window glass like a toddler passing a toy store.
"Paani Puri!!" she squealed excitedly, pointing out a brightly lit night food stall on the corner of the street.
Rajveer almost chuckled despite the blinding anger and terror consuming him. He brought his left hand up and slapped his own forehead in utter disbelief at the magnificent, chaotic creature he called his wife.
"Aap sach-much ek hi piece hain duniya mein!" he replied, shaking his head as he focused his tired, strained eyes back on the road ahead.
Devika giggled weakly, a quiet wave of relief washing over her as she saw his jaw relax just a fraction. Her distracting tactics had worked. Truthfully, this was not her first time dealing with a poisoning attempt. But it was her absolute first time dealing with a terrifyingly angry husband—which, apparently, was causing her far more psychological stress than the actual lethal toxin running through her veins.
Realizing her game, Rajveer began firing random questions at her—anything and everything his panicked brain could formulate just to keep her conscious. He asked about the siblings, about her favorite foods, about her training, and she responded to each one attentively despite her fading energy, her voice growing quieter with every passing kilometer.
As the white, illuminated gates of the grand hospital finally became visible at the end of the boulevard, Rajveer let out a massive, ragged breath of relief.
"Dekhiye. Hospital aa hi gaya!" he said, his voice dropping into a softer, triumphant sigh.
He received no answer.
The heavy silence inside the cabin made the hair on his arms stand up. Rajveer turned his head sharply toward the passenger seat. Devika's eyes were completely shut. She was entirely unconscious, her head tilted limply against the window frame. Dark, thick blood was still slowly trickling from her nose, spilling over her lips and down her neck, but her small hands remained motionless in her lap, no longer capable of lifting the handkerchief to stop it.
"Devika! Devika! Humse baat kariye!!" Rajveer practically shouted, his voice cracking with pure, unadulterated terror. He reached across the console, his long fingers desperately gripping her shoulder, shaking her gently.
There was no response.
---
Rajveer gently placed a freshly wrung, cool white cloth onto Devika's forehead. The rhythmic tick of the antique clock was the only sound structural to the silence of their master bedroom.
The palace maidservants had already changed her out of the stifling silk top and heavy skirt into a breathable cotton nightsuit.
Thanks to her quick thinking, Devika had ingested a mild, broad-spectrum chemical antidote right after discarding the tainted glasses at the party. The medical team had confirmed a full hospital admission wasn't required.
However, the doctor's orders were absolute: forty-eight hours of strict, uninterrupted bedrest. No solids, only strained clear soups and nutrient-dense juices to flush her system.
Rajveer sat on the edge of the mattress, his large frame casting a long shadow over her calm, pale sleeping face. A thin intravenous line ran from her forearm, secured tightly with medical tape, delivering fluids to combat the residual toxins. He pressed his palm against her cheek; the fever was still burning, but the intense, frightening heat from the parking lot had finally begun to recede.
He was still wearing his tailored three-piece suit. He had only managed to rip open the first two buttons of his collar and wrench his silk tie loose, desperately needing air during the panicked drive back. He hadn't bothered to change.
His fingers moved down to her right leg, gently lifting the hem of her pajama to inspect the crisp white bandage wrapped around her ankle. The burn from two nights ago was healing, but it was a stark reminder of her sheer recklessness.
His mind raced as he smoothed down the edge of the medical tape. 'Who had the absolute audacity to poison the future Crown Princess at a high-security gala? Their primary threats were completely eradicated. Karan Hooda was dead, and his father, Vishal, was gone.'
Rajveer still didn't know exactly what psychological torment Devika had inflicted upon Karan's dead body from the hidden palace cellar after he expired. But whatever she had done, it had shattered the Hooda empire's leadership completely. It had worked absolute wonders. The torture had broken the older tycoon's mental composure so thoroughly that Vishal Hooda hadn't even bothered to secure a clean burner phone. He had direct-dialed the Rathore palace line from his personal device just to scream unhinged, desperate curses into the receiver.
They had seized the electronic vulnerability in an instant. Within four minutes, Rajveer had triangulated the active cellular signal to one of Hooda's heavily fortified suburban bungalows.
That very night, Rajveer, Devika, and Vikram had driven out to the coordinates. They didn't call the authorities; they simply watched the entire estate burn down into brilliant, roaring pillars of ash. Devika, completely intoxicated by the sight of her operational victory, had stepped right out of the luxury sedan to view the destruction up close. She had completely stressed Rajveer out by stepping mere inches from the raging heat, hopping on her tiptoes and dancing with pure, unadulterated happiness against the backdrop of the flames.
Rajveer and Vikram had practically been forced to grab her by both arms, bodily lifting her off the gravel to drag her back to the safety of the car, laughing despite their anxiety at her chaotic joy.
As Rajveer had shifted the sedan into drive to clear the blast radius, Vikram had leaned forward curiously from the backseat. "Kya baat hai, Bhabhi? Is baar aap gaaliyan nahi de rahi hain?"
Devika had grinned mischievously through the rearview mirror, instantly signaling toward her husband, whose dark eyebrows had immediately furrowed at the thought of what was coming. "Pehle Hukum Sa se permission to maang len!" she had cheered, turning her sparkling eyes toward him with an expectant, heavy pout.
"Nahi!" Rajveer had replied strictly, his voice carrying his absolute authority.
But he was instantly met with two identical sets of wide, pathetic puppy eyes from both his wife and his younger brother.
"Please, Bhai! Hum logon ka dimag thanda kaise hoga?!" Vikram had pleaded from the back, while Devika added a dramatic, trembling lower-lip pout.
Rajveer had looked at the ridiculous, lethal duo with utter irritation before letting out a deep, defeated sigh. He focused his eyes back on the dark road. "Sirf paanch!" he commanded sharply.
Their faces had brightened in a split second. Devika had rolled down her window, hanging halfway out into the night air as she screamed at the burning structure, "Mar jaa saale, kamine! Agle janam mein tu makkhi bane!!"
"Die, F*cking idiot!!" Vikram had roared right alongside her, matching her operational energy flawlessly.
"M##***d saala!" Devika screamed with absolute, bubbling happiness into the wind.
"Bloody a**h**e!" Vikram continued, throwing his fist into the air.
Rajveer had slammed his hand lightly on the steering wheel. "Bas! Ho gaya!!" he snapped. The two saboteurs had collapsed back into their leather seats, grinning shamelessly at the look of absolute, aristocratic disgust plastered across Rajveer's face.
Devika had then turned around in her seat, looking at Vikram with genuine curiosity. "Tu kabse English gaaliyan dene laga?"
Vikram had chuckled instantly, smoothing down his jacket. "Are! Bhaiya ko Hindi samajh nahi aayegi na. Unko bhi to dimag thanda karna hoga!!"
Devika had burst into a bright, happy giggle while Rajveer threw a sharp, narrow-eyed disciplinary glare at Vikram through the glass.
"To aapne paanch kaha tha, chaar hi hue hain!" Devika had suddenly recalled, tapping his arm teasingly before hanging back out the window to fire the final round at the collapsing roof. "F*ck off, you blood-sucking leech!!"
Rajveer had simply shaken his head in sheer, loving disbelief, executing a sharp turn onto the highway.
"Vaise aapko pura yakeen to tha na, ki vo andar hi tha? Agar kahin aur dikh gya to chodenge nahi hum dono ko!" Devika had asked, her tone shifting back into that cold, calculated frequency.
"Nahi, nahi. Vo andar hi tha. Humne uske security system aur CCTV ,dono hack kiya tha. Vo andar hi tha jab aag lagi," Rajveer had replied, his voice carrying the absolute certainty of a mastermind.
In response, Devika had let out a delighted gasp. She had reached across the console, firmly pinching his cheek with her tiny fingers. "Very good, mere sher! Dil khush kar diya aapne!!"
Vikram had giggled from the back, thoroughly adoring the chaotic romance of the royal couple. Devika had then aggressively slapped the dashboard to turn up the radio, a loud pop track filling the cabin. She and Vikram had danced in their seats, her arms flaring as she tried to force a stoic Rajveer to join the routine, while he simply kept his eyes on the road, a soft, helpless smile gracing his lips as he begged her to spare him from the choreography.
But the lighthearted memory darkened as Rajveer recalled what happened when they had finally unlocked their bedroom door that night. While he was busy unstrapping his luxury watch and clearing his pockets, his sharp eyes had caught Devika trying to covertly slide a heavy medical first-aid box under her chiffon saree drape into the bathroom. He had intercepted her at the door, questioning her with a tense, worried gaze.
She had given him a highly sheepish, guilty grin before lifting the edge of her hem to reveal a raw, painful burn stretching across her ankle—an injury she had entirely ignored while dancing in front of Hooda's burning empire.
Rajveer brought his hand back to the present, gently adjusting the cold cloth on her forehead as she slept under the heavy sedation. The burn was healing, but this new poison was an invisible enemy. He leaned down, his lips softly brushing her burning temple, his hand locking tightly around her uninjured wrist as he prepared to sit by her side all night, without any hesitation.
---
A soft, muted tap against the heavy bedroom door broke the silence of the room. Rajveer looked up, his protective stance dropping for a fraction of a second as the door pushed open. His Maa Sa stepped into the soft ambient light, carefully carrying a glass of warm turmeric milk.
"Doodh peena unke liye mana hai!" Rajveer blurted out in a hushed, protective panic, instinctively reaching out to block the glass, assuming it was meant for his wife.
"Hum ise tumhare liye laaye hain!" his mother countered with a gentle chuckle, bypassing his hand to place the steaming glass firmly onto the bedside table. She looked down at him, her maternal eyes scanning his rumpled suit and blood-shot eyes. "Isse zyada to tum bimar lag rahe ho, mere bacche!"
Rajveer's face instantly flushed with a deep, boyish embarrassment. He quickly ducked his head, scratching the back of his neck as he muttered softly, "Aisi koi baat nahi hai. Sab so gaye?"
A soft nod from his mother finally allowed the suffocating weight in his chest to ease.
He had been standing outside the hospital's private ICU wing when Vikram had called his phone to check in on them after the party. The moment Vikram heard the heavy, sterile echo of the hospital corridor, his younger brother had spiraled into an immediate panic. Reluctantly, Rajveer had been forced to brief him on the entire poisoning incident. He knew the volatile information had likely been passed like wildfire to every single family member within minutes, and he was deeply relieved that the palace wasn't currently under a loud, protective family siege.
His mother stepped up to the edge of the mattress, gently resting her palm against Devika's sleeping brow with deep, motherly concern. "Ab theek hai?"
"Ji. Doctor ne kaafi strong medicines di hain, isliye use neend bahut aayegi do din," he replied, wrapping his long fingers around the warm glass and taking a slow, comforting sip of the turmeric milk.
"Acchi baat hai!" his mother sighed softly, catching him completely off guard.
"Kyun?" he asked, tilting his head.
"Soti rahegi to kam se kam aaram karegi, varna to iske paun humesha chalte rehte hain!" his mother told him, a fragile, deeply fond smile playing on her lips.
Rajveer let out a low chuckle, his eyes drifting back to the IV line. "Doctor ne kaha hai weakness bhi rahegi kaafi."
His mother instantly dismissed the medical warning with a dramatic wave of her hands. "Kaafi nahi hai! Tumhari biwi ko tumse zyada hum jaante hain. Ek mahina aisa nahi guzarta hai jab ise koi chot nahi lagi ho! Kabhi goli laga ke aati hai, kabhi haddi tudva ke!
Itna to tum sab baccho ne hume nahi sataya jitna is ek ladki ne humara dimag kharab kiya hai. Thak gaye daat-daat ke!!"
Rajveer just sat back, a genuine smile gracing his face as he listened to the endless maternal complaints. His mother quietly navigated around the bed and sat down right beside him on the couch.
"Tumhe pata chala ki iska daaya paun tuta tha bas kuch mahino pehle?" she asked, already reading the stark, unadulterated shock flaring in his dark eyes.
"Pata tha!" his mother replied triumphantly, shaking her head. "Phir bhi dekha Harsh ki shadi mein kaise dance kar rahi thi uchal-uchal ke!! Uff!! Sachmuch tang aa gaye hain hum tumhari biwi se!!" she exclaimed, dramatically resting the back of her palm against her forehead while a brilliant smile betrayed her words. Rajveer knew his mother was pulling out all her theatrical skills just to lighten his heavy, suffocating mood.
"Aapne hi chuna tha inhe humare liye. Ab complain kar rahi hain?" he teased softly, his voice rich with deep adoration for his mother.
"Haan to galat kya kiya!" his mother fired back in a split second, her maternal claws immediately coming out to defend her favorite daughter-in-law. "Ye ladki best hai tumhare liye. Puri duniya mein tum agar durbin se bhi dhundoge to aisa chand ka tukra kahin nahi milega!!"
The absolute speed of her pivot made it nearly impossible for Rajveer to control the deep laugh bubbling in his chest.
His mother's expression softened into something profoundly tender. She reached up, her warm fingers rubbing his forehead and tracing his cheeks with immense, unyielding love. "Puri duniya mein isi ladki mein taakat hai, tumhe aise hi haste-muskurate rakhne ki, meri jaan. Haan, kabhi-kabhi tumhara BP bhi yahi badhayegi," she murmured softly.
Rajveer leaned into her touch, leaning down to gently kiss his mother's hands as she continued, "Iska dil kabhi nahi dukhana, beta. Isne bahut intezaar kiya hai tumhara. Shayad iski jagah koi aur hota to kabhi nahi karta."
The words hung heavy in the quiet room. Rajveer looked over at the sleeping princess, the visual anchors of her vintage style and fierce spirit now resting under the heavy sedation. His grip tightened around his mother's hand, his strict, unyielding jaw setting into a silent, absolute vow that he would spend the rest of his life ensuring she never had to wait for him ever again.
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