Book Summary – Owned by Destiny In the heart of the towering Dhariya empire, where wealth is inherited like a responsibility and love is often treated like a negotiation, Owned by Destiny unfolds as a dark, emotionally charged romance that blurs the line between power, obligation, and desire. At its core, the story follows Darika, a young woman from an ordinary background, and Dhruv Dhariya, the youngest heir of one of the most influential families in the country. What begins as a reluctant arrangement soon spirals into a storm of hidden emotions, tangled loyalties, and relationships that were never meant to collide. The Dhariya mansion is not just a home—it is a world of hierarchy, control, and silent expectations. Every member of the family carries weight: Surya Dhariya, Dhruv’s father, is a man of authority who believes in strengthening the family empire through strategic alliances. Grandma Dhariya, the matriarch, holds emotional and traditional control over the family’s decisions. Within this structured chaos, Dhruv exists as both a product of the system and someone constantly resisting it. Intelligent, cold, and intensely driven, he has built his identity on discipline and emotional detachment, especially when it comes to matters of the heart. Darika’s entry into this world is abrupt and unsettling. She does not belong to wealth or privilege, nor does she understand the rules that govern the Dhariya family. Her presence in the mansion is tied to an arrangement that binds her future to Dhruv’s for a limited period of nine months—a decision made not out of love, but necessity and circumstance. From the very beginning, she feels out of place, surrounded by luxury that feels more like a cage than comfort. Yet beneath her quiet demeanor lies resilience, confusion, and a growing awareness that nothing in this house is as simple as it seems. Dhruv and Darika’s relationship begins with distance and tension. He is cold, often dismissive, and unwilling to acknowledge any emotional connection between them. She, on the other hand, is cautious yet observant, slowly beginning to understand the cracks beneath his controlled exterior. Their interactions are marked by sharp conversations, misunderstandings, and moments of silence that feel heavier than words. Despite their resistance, circumstances continuously push them closer together—forcing them to share spaces, attend family gatherings, and exist under the same roof where every action is watched and judged. But the mansion is not just a battleground for Dhruv and Darika. It is also a place where other hidden emotions and rivalries exist. Rushan, Dhruv’s cousin, presents himself as the quintessential playboy—charming, reckless, and emotionally detached. He moves through life with an attitude of indulgence, often surrounded by attention and chaos. Yet beneath this facade lies a deeply buried truth: Rushan is secretly and intensely in love with Sasha, the family’s most adored and effortlessly magnetic presence. Sasha is admired by everyone in the mansion, making her both central and untouchable. Her connection with Dhruv adds another layer of complexity, forming a silent emotional triangle that none of them fully acknowledge. Sasha herself is observant, strategic in subtle ways, and emotionally aware of the dynamics within the household. While she appears playful and close to everyone, she is far more aware of the unspoken tensions than she lets on. Her relationship with Dhruv is complicated—built on familiarity, expectation, and emotional ambiguity. Meanwhile, her interactions with Rushan carry a hidden weight that neither of them openly confront. Love in this world is never straightforward; it is layered with pride, ego, silence, and unspoken longing. Aisha, a grounded and practical presence in the mansion, becomes one of Darika’s first real connections. Initially just an assistant within the household structure, Aisha slowly transforms into Darika’s confidant. Their friendship forms in quiet corners of the mansion, where conversations about life, freedom, and identity begin to unravel the emotional isolation both women feel in different ways. Through Aisha, Darika begins to see the mansion not just as a place of luxury, but as a system that controls everyone differently depending on their role. As days pass, Darika is pulled deeper into the Dhariya world. Family dinners become arenas of judgment disguised as tradition. Conversations about business, alliances, and reputation dominate the atmosphere. Dhruv’s professional life becomes a point of pride for Surya Dhariya, especially as he begins securing high-level foreign investment collaborations and expanding business ventures beyond national boundaries. His success is celebrated as the continuation of the Dhariya legacy, but it also increases pressure on him to make decisions that benefit the empire over personal desire. Within these gatherings, Darika often finds herself the center of silent scrutiny. Coming from a non-elite background, she is seen as an outsider, someone who does not fit the expected image of a future Dhariya daughter-in-law. Comments are made, comparisons are drawn, and subtle insults are delivered under the guise of sophistication. Yet despite this, Dhruv occasionally displays unexpected protectiveness—small but significant actions that confuse both Darika and those watching him. The emotional core of the story intensifies as Darika and Dhruv begin to experience moments of unintentional closeness. These are not declarations of love, but fragments of vulnerability that slip through their carefully built walls. Dhruv’s controlled personality starts to crack in moments where he finds himself reacting emotionally to Darika’s presence. Darika, in turn, begins questioning her own assumptions about him—wondering whether the man she sees is truly as cold as he appears or if there is something deeper he refuses to show. However, the foundation of their relationship remains unstable. The engagement itself is not rooted in romance but in obligation, making every emotional development feel uncertain. External pressures from Surya Dhariya, the expectations of the family, and the looming reality of the nine-month arrangement constantly remind them that nothing about their connection is permanent. At the same time, Rushan’s emotional struggle with Sasha adds another layer of instability to the household. His carefree image begins to clash with his internal conflict, especially as Sasha’s attention remains divided and unclear. The emotional entanglements between these characters create an invisible web where love, jealousy, ambition, and insecurity coexist without resolution. As Darika becomes more embedded in the household, she also begins to discover her own strength. What initially feels like helplessness slowly transforms into quiet resilience. She learns how to navigate conversations filled with power dynamics, how to hold her ground in rooms where she is underestimated, and how to exist in a world that constantly tries to define her worth. Meanwhile, Dhruv finds himself increasingly disturbed by emotions he cannot easily categorize. His attraction to Darika conflicts with his resentment toward the situation they are in. He struggles between logic and instinct, control and reaction, duty and emotion. Every interaction with her forces him to confront parts of himself he has long suppressed. The story builds on this tension—between what is expected and what is felt, between family legacy and personal freedom, between love that is denied and emotions that refuse to disappear. Every character is bound by something: duty, desire, expectation, or past wounds. Owned by Destiny is ultimately a story about entanglement—of lives, emotions, and choices that were never entirely personal. In a world where relationships are often decided before feelings are understood, Darika and Dhruv’s journey becomes a slow unraveling of control, identity, and emotional truth. The mansion stands as both a physical and symbolic space where every secret, attraction, rivalry, and suppressed emotion eventually finds its way to the surface. Without revealing the deeper turns of the story, what begins as an arranged connection gradually evolves into something far more complicated—where every character must confront not just who they love, but why they love, and what they are willing to sacrifice in order to claim it. In the end, Owned by Destiny is not just about romance. It is about power, perception, emotional survival, and the dangerous beauty of connections that were never meant to exist—but do anyway.