There are two kinds of people in this world.

Those who are protected.

And those who learn to survive on their own.

I belonged to the second category.

I didn’t grow up with rules or discipline.

I grew up with loss.

First, the absence of a father.

Then, the slow fading of my mother—

Cancer doesn’t take someone all at once.

It teaches you how to live without them… before they’re even gone.

After she died, everything changed.

People who once called me their own—

started reminding me I didn’t belong.

Every meal felt like a favor.

Every word felt like a reminder.

So I stopped reacting.

Because reacting takes energy—

and I had none left.

I learned early—

No one is coming to save you.

So I didn’t break.

I adapted.

My silence turned into strength.

My pain turned into sharp words.

And my attitude became my shield.

I don’t trust easily.

I don’t depend on anyone.

Because expectations only lead to disappointment.

When I was sent away to Jodhpur,

I didn’t go with hope.

I went because I had nowhere else to go.

I wasn’t looking for family.

Or comfort.

Or change.

At least…

That’s what I believed.

Until I walked into the Rathore mansion.

Into a world that wasn’t mine.

And met him.

Aarav Singh Rathore.

Calm. Controlled. Untouchable.

Everything I wasn’t.

I should’ve ignored him.

But I didn’t.

Because something about him made me push, argue, challenge—

like I wanted to see him lose control.

And maybe that was my mistake.

Or maybe…

That was the beginning of everything.

Because I wasn’t meant to fit into his world.

But storms don’t ask where they belong.

They arrive…

And change everything.