All Chapters of My Dark Obsession for My Best Friend's Dad : Chapter 51 - Chapter 55

Morning arrived with the scent of turmeric and rosewater.The haveli had barely slept.After the music and dancing of the Sangeet, the household had woken again before sunrise to begin preparations for the next ritual in the long chain of wedding ceremonies.The Haldi.It was meant to be a moment of purification.A moment of blessing.Turmeric paste bright yellow and fragrant would be applied to the bride and groom by family members. The paste was said to cleanse the body, ward off bad luck, and prepare the couple for the sacred vows ahead.At least, that was the tradition.Inside the haveli that morning, however, nothing felt entirely pure.The inner courtyard had been transformed overnight.White cloth draped the pillars, fluttering gently in the warm morning breeze. Brass bowls filled with turmeric paste, sandalwood oil, and rose petals sat on low tables. Marigold garlands hung from the balcony railings, their golden petals glowing in the early sunlight.Women of the family filled

The morning of the wedding arrived beneath a sky that felt too heavy.The air over Delhi carried an oppressive heat, thick and unmoving, as though the city itself was holding its breath. Even the early sunlight seemed dimmed behind a haze of dust and humidity.Inside the Sharma haveli, the quiet of the night had vanished.The house had become a whirlwind.Relatives rushed through corridors carrying trays of flowers and jewelry. Aunties shouted instructions from one end of the courtyard to the other. The sound of bangles clinking and footsteps echoing across marble floors created a constant rhythm of chaos.Priests had already arrived and were preparing the sacred fire in the courtyard. Marigold garlands were replaced and straightened. Musicians tested their instruments near the entrance gate.It was the kind of controlled madness that only a wedding could produce.But in the center of the storm, Elena sat in silence.Her room had been transformed overnight into something resembling a

By the time night fully settled over the Sharma haveli, the courtyard had transformed into something almost otherworldly.Hundreds of tiny lights had been strung along the balconies and pillars, glowing like captured stars. Oil lamps flickered along the stone pathways, their flames dancing softly in the warm evening air.At the center of the courtyard stood the mandap.Four carved wooden pillars held up a canopy draped in thousands of marigolds and white orchids. The flowers hung in thick garlands, their bright colors glowing beneath the golden lights.It looked beautiful.Sacred.And yet something about the atmosphere felt strangely tense, like the calm before a storm.At the heart of the mandap, the sacred fire burned.The flames rose steadily from the copper havan kund, fed by ghee and sandalwood offered by the priest. Smoke curled upward in pale ribbons, carrying the scent of incense through the courtyard.Guests filled every available space.Relatives sat cross-legged on white cu