Midnight had only just passed.

The heavy thud of the entrance doors echoed through the hall before their voices reached you—low, controlled, and layered with the weight of the day’s deals. Yuvaan had returned with his father. You stepped into the living room.

They were seated on the leather couch, two generations of the same unrelenting steel. Yuvraj Singhania sat with a spine of iron, authority etched into every deep line of his face. Beside him, Yuvaan’s presence was equally suffocating. Though his jacket was unbuttoned and his tie loosened, there was no sloppiness in him only a cold, simmering intensity.

You moved, the silver tray balanced in your grip. You hadn't been summoned, but in this house, anticipation was a requirement of survival.

You placed the chilled crystal glass before the elder Singhania first. He gave a single, curt nod—not out of affection, but as one acknowledges a well-oiled part of a machine. When you moved to Yuvaan, he took the glass, his fingers didn't just brush yours; they locked around the rim, his knuckles grazing your skin with a deliberate, heavy pressure. He didn't look at the water. His eyes, sharp, frozen, and entirely unreadable, fastened onto yours. There was no warmth in the look, only a dark, quiet intensity that demanded total attention.

The silence in the room was absolute, governed by the two men who held the city in their grip. Two weeks of marriage had taught you that the Singhania name wasn't a family; it was an ice-cold empire, and you were its newest member.

When Yuvaan stood, the slight sway in his posture was the only sign of the hours he'd spent drinking. You moved instantly, your hand firm at his elbow to ground him. His reaction was immediate. His fingers snapped around your wrist, his grip tight enough to serve as a warning. He didn't lean on you; he took hold of you.

"Yuv, careful," you murmured, your voice barely a breath.

He didn't soften. He simply tightened his hold, his gaze boring into yours with a cold, terrifying clarity that signaled he was very much in control.