The news reached Anvika that evening.

Her mother found her sitting in the courtyard, sorting through some clothes that had just arrived from the city.

"Anvika."

"Hmm?"

"Kapde baad mein dekhna. Tumse ek zaroori baat karni hai."

Anvika looked up.

Her mother's expression was unusually serious.

"Kya hua, Maa?"

Her mother sat beside her.

"Aaj Bade Sahab tumhare papa se milne aaye the."

Anvika waited.

"Unhone tumhare liye rishta maanga hai."

Anvika's fingers stopped moving.

"Kiska?"

Her mother smiled.

"Abhiraj Thakur ka."

For a second, Anvika couldn't believe what she had heard.

"Abhiraj... Thakur Sahab?"

"Haan."

Her face immediately brightened.

She tried to control her smile but failed.

"Matlab... woh mujhse shaadi karna chahte hain?"

Her mother gently shook her head.

"Baat unke parivaar ki taraf se aayi hai."

Anvika's heart began beating faster.

She remembered the pond.

The market.

The way Abhiraj had helped the poor farmer.

The way she had started finding excuses to spend time around him.

She had never admitted it to anyone, but she had begun liking him.

And now...

A marriage proposal.

She looked down shyly.

"Maa... mujhe koi aitraaz nahi hai."

Her mother smiled.

"Hum jaante the."

Anvika immediately looked away, embarrassed.

For the first time that evening, she allowed herself to imagine what life with Abhiraj might be like.

Meanwhile, inside the Thakur Haveli, Dushyant Thakur sat across from his son.

"Baat Anvika ke ghar tak pahunch chuki hai," Dushyant said.

Abhiraj remained silent.

"Unke parivaar ko rishta manzoor hai."

Abhiraj looked at his father.

"Main yeh shaadi nahi karunga."

Dushyant's expression became serious.

"Abhiraj."

"Main mana kar chuka hoon, Papa."

"Par kyun?"

Abhiraj stood near the window.

For a long moment, he said nothing.

Then he finally spoke.

"Kyuki Anvika ko meri zindagi ke baare mein sab kuch nahi pata."

Dushyant frowned.

"Kaunsi baat?"

Abhiraj's jaw tightened.

"Jo baat main usse kabhi nahi bata sakta."

Dushyant understood that this wasn't a simple refusal.

He lowered his voice.

"Ab bhi tum us purani baat ko lekar khud ko zimmedar samajhte ho?"

Abhiraj's expression hardened.

"Main zimmedar hoon."

"Usmein tumhari galti nahi thi."

"Farq nahi padta."

He turned toward his father.

"Jo kuch hua, uske baad main kisi ladki ki zindagi apne saath nahi baandh sakta."

Dushyant sighed.

"Anvika ko tum pasand karte ho."

Abhiraj immediately looked away.

"Pasand karna aur shaadi karna alag baatein hain."

Dushyant watched him carefully.

"Toh tum use khud se door kar doge?"

"Zaroori hai."

"Chahe woh tumse shaadi karna chahe?"

Abhiraj fell silent.

That question hurt more than he wanted to admit.

Because he already knew the answer.

Anvika had begun trusting him.

She smiled whenever she saw him.

She deliberately irritated him just to get a reaction.

And somehow, her presence had become a part of his daily life.

But Abhiraj believed that if Anvika entered his life permanently, she would eventually suffer because of the secret he carried.

"I won't ruin her life," he said quietly.

Dushyant looked at his son with concern.

"Ya tumhe darr hai ki agar tumne use apne kareeb aane diya, toh tum usse kho doge?"

Abhiraj didn't answer.

That night, Anvika stood on the terrace of her house, looking toward the distant lights of the Thakur Haveli.

A smile remained on her face.

She didn't know why she was so happy.

Perhaps because, for the first time, she had allowed herself to imagine Abhiraj as more than Thakur Sahab.

Perhaps because she had begun to believe that the distance between them could disappear.

But at the same time, inside the Thakur Haveli, Abhiraj stood alone in his room.

He looked toward Anvika's house.

His expression was filled with conflict.

He had refused the marriage.

Not because he disliked her.

But because there was a truth about his past that he believed could never become a part of her future.

And he had decided that protecting Anvika meant letting her go.

Even if she hated him for it.