📖 **CHAPTER EIGHT — "The Wedding Date Is Set"**
---
### 💌 Author Note — From Aish L'Inarrestabile:
> *"Amore mio, if he sends guards to your door, delivers your dress with a loaded stare, and tells the world your name is already carved next to his — you're not a fiancée. You're a storm walking down the aisle. Get ready. The bride is about to make the ground shake."*
> — *Aish L'Inarrestabile*
---
### 🔄 **Recap from Chapter 7 — "The Bridal Ultimatum":**
Yuvraj found Aira hiding in a cathedral.
Gave her one last chance.
> *"Walk in heels, or I'll carry you barefoot."*
> He kissed her. She didn't stop him.
> Now, the wedding is no longer a proposal.
> It's a **fact**.
> Aira is no longer choosing — she's being *prepared.*
---
**AIRA**
I stared at the guards outside my bedroom door.
Black suits. Arms folded. No expression.
They weren't there to convince me.
They were there to **escort** me.
The lehenga lay across the bed — darker than night, blood-red roses hand-stitched into black velvet silk. The blouse? Barely-there, backless, and cruelly beautiful.
Beneath it was a single line on parchment.
> *"No more running, amore.*
> *The aisle is waiting."*
> — Y.M.
I should've burned it.
But instead?
I wore it.
Not for him.
For me.
Because if I had to walk into this like a sacrifice, I'd do it dressed like a goddess of fire.
---
**YUVRAJ**
The courtyard was marble and gold.
Guards at the gates. Snipers on the rooftops.
The entire city knew — tonight, Italy had one wedding.
And no one dared challenge it.
I adjusted my cufflinks.
My ring sat in my breast pocket.
It wasn't flashy.
It wasn't fragile.
It was custom-forged. Black band. Red diamond.
A symbol of everything we were: dangerous, rare, permanent.
I didn't care who objected.
Because in five minutes, she'd be walking toward me—
**Or I'd go to her.**
---
**AIRA**
The moment the gates opened, every eye turned.
I stepped out of the car with my spine straight, veil draped over my face like smoke.
The whispers started instantly.
*"That's her—"*
*"The Singh girl—"*
*"She's actually marrying him?"*
Yes. I was.
Even if it burned every last piece of me alive.
Because love didn't exist between mafia bloodlines.
Only war. Obsession. And something hotter than hate.
I walked up the steps, alone.
No bridesmaids.
No music.
Just the sound of my heels.
And his heartbeat.
---
**YUVRAJ**
She appeared at the end of the aisle and I forgot how to breathe.
Hair loose. Eyes unreadable. Veil like temptation incarnate.
Every man stood when she entered.
I stayed seated.
Because kings don't rise for anyone…
Except queens.
I stood the moment she reached me.
And when I lifted her veil—
She didn't look scared.
She looked like a woman about to stab me through the ribs and kiss me while I bled.
Perfect.
---
**AIRA**
The priest spoke.
I didn't listen.
My ears only caught one sentence.
> "Do you, Yuvraj Malhotra—"
> "Yes," he said.
Without hesitation.
Without blinking.
Like he was ordering a hit.
Like he was taking an oath.
The priest turned to me.
> "And do you—"
"I do," I whispered.
Loud enough for the world to hear.
Soft enough that only he felt it.
Because I didn't say yes to the vows.
I said yes to the **war** that came with him.
---
**As they turned to face the crowd as husband and wife,**
Aira's phone buzzed inside her lehenga pocket.
One word.
One threat.
> **"Run. Before it's too late."**
> — Unknown.
She looked up.
And across the marble courtyard—
**A sniper was already taking aim.**
---
### 💌 Author Note — From Aish L'Inarrestabile:
> *"They said 'I do' with loaded hearts and burning stares. But the honeymoon might come with bullets. Chapter 9: The Unwanted Ring is next — and trust me, she's about to throw more than the bouquet."*
> — *Aish L'Inarrestabile*
---
Comment down shadowhearts for chapter 9 and do mention about your favourite scene!! Till then wait for next chapter shadowhearts!!