For a full week following the incident at the stove, Dev had strictly forbidden Piya from touching a single household chore. He had issued the order coldly, in front of Priya, stating that a wounded maid would only break more dishes. Priya, wrapped in her usual bubble of high-class charity, hadn't questioned it. She had genuinely believed her husband was simply being a benevolent, protective master.

But as the days dragged on, the atmosphere inside the mansion grew increasingly suffocating. Dev remained an unmovable block of ice toward his wife, completely avoiding her touch, while his intense, possessive eyes followed Piya's every movement from afar.