Chapter 19
Mumbai
One week later
It felt strange to be back home. Everything felt different.
The weather was dull and dreary, much like her mood.
Ten in the morning felt like late evening, with no sun, dark clouds, and a threat of rain on the horizon.
Strange that it was going to rain in December.
Sabrina sat in her office, looking blankly at the screen in front of her.
But no matter how much she tried, she couldn’t focus on the presentation she was working on.
Her thoughts were focused on him. Aditya.
Their last night together, she’d left the room as soon as he’d fallen asleep.
She didn’t want to say goodbye; she didn’t want to hear him tell her that he needed to talk about them.
She lifted her phone and scrolled through his texts—there were so many from him.
She’d replied to none, answered none of his calls.
She’d decided to stop all communication with him the moment she’d left his hotel room that night.
And while initially he’d texted and called her relentlessly, he’d gotten the hint that they were over and eventually stopped.
It was better that way, she told herself.
A clean break. She had to be sensible and practical.
But that didn’t stop her from rereading his messages.
Aditya
You left without saying goodbye. I don’t like it.
I’m leaving now. I’ll call you when I land. Stay safe, and miss me ;)
You’re not answering my calls or texts. Is everything alright, beautiful?
Sabrina, where are you?
Can you please call me?
I found the ring, by the way.
I know what you’re trying to do.
I had to text Shauna to check on you. I don’t like this. If I weren’t bound by my word to Rajiv, I would have taken the next flight out.
There were so many more. She scrolled down to his last message.
Aditya
I miss you—your voice, your skin, your touch. I miss everything about you.
Her chest hurt. She’d thought that cutting off all contact with him would make leaving him easy.
But it hadn’t. It was too damn hard. She yearned for him.
Every inch of her wanted him fiercely. It reminded her of how much happier she’d been with him in her life.
God, she missed him so much. Aditya had become such a constant fixture in her life that now, without him, everything felt gloomy and colorless.
Like she was back to living that old life of hers, which had been devoid of happiness.
She sucked in a deep breath. She’d thought she was happy in life. Content even. Ahaan made her so, so happy. Seeing him grow, talking to him, and being with him was what gave her happiness. She’d lived for her son for so long that she’d forgotten what it felt like to be happy for herself.
She’d coordinated her return to Mumbai with Aisha’s, so she’d arrived a day earlier.
Ahaan had come back full of stories about his time away—especially London and his school there.
She was happy he’d got that opportunity.
Even her mother-in-law seemed a little better now that Ahaan and Sabrina were back home.
At least she was communicating with Sabrina again, which was a relief.
Six weeks of silence from her had been heart wrecking.
A few texts beeped on her screen. Her heart stumbled and then saddened. It wasn’t Aditya. It was Shauna. God, she had to stop expecting any more communication from him. They were over. Done with.
Sighing, she opened Shauna’s texts.
Shauna
Hi, Sabrina. I miss you. Singapore doesn’t seem the same without you.
I miss you too.
Shauna
So, I’ve been thinking about you and him.
Sabrina rolled her eyes. The younger girl had indeed become a good friend to her. She’d been firmly against Sabrina cutting contact with Aditya the way she had. On the surface, Shauna came across as practical and sensible, but beneath it all, she was a romantic at heart.
It was casual, Shauna.
Shauna
I think you’re delusional, Sabrina.
Sabrina exhaled a breath. Another message popped up.
Shauna
You miss him, don’t you?
That’s not the point.
Shauna
Then what is? He likes you, and you clearly like him. Why stop now?
We agreed it was temporary.
Shauna
Why does it have to be temporary? Why not see where it goes?
He’s even stopped messaging or calling me. He’s gotten the hint that it’s over. I know you mean well, but please stop it for my sake.
She was going to forget about Aditya Wahi.
She was going to forget him and his touch and his scent and everything he ever made her feel, if that was the last thing she did.
It was good that even he wasn’t pursuing her.
It was good that he’d backed off. And even though her heart hurt, it was better this way.
Her heart would heal from him. She would heal. She had to.
There was a knock on the door, and Dilnaz entered, placing a cup of coffee on her desk.
“It’s good to have you back,” her assistant said cheerfully.
“I’m happy to be back.” Sabrina pointed at the chair in front of her desk. “Shall we go through the events for the rest of this month? I want to make sure I haven’t missed out on anything.”
Dilnaz took a seat, flipping open her iPad. “Of course, let me run you through everything. We’ve got a couple of corporate lunches, two engagement parties, three house warmings, a few weddings and a big gala.”
Sabrina looked up from her laptop. “What gala? I don’t have it listed on my planner.”
“Oh, right,” Dilnaz tapped her screen. “A Mr. Dutta visited us last Friday. He’s organizing a gala in three weeks, but he hasn’t given us the venue yet. Said it’ll be shared a few days prior. He only mentioned it’s at some lawns, and we’ve to cater for three hundred people.”
Sabrina frowned. “This event is in four weeks. How are we supposed to plan without a venue? We shouldn’t have accepted this. I don’t like surprises.”
“I know,” Dilnaz grimaced. “I said the same thing. But he was absolutely adamant about using us and especially asked for you to be present that night to take care of everything. He’s even given us a free hand on the menu and the décor too.”
“I still don’t like it,” Sabrina said. “I can’t imagine anyone not having an opinion on the food and décor at their own party. It doesn’t make sense.”
“I thought so too,” Dilnaz’s eyes sparkled. “Which is why I charged him double our usual rates. He didn’t even blink, just transferred the entire amount up front. It should have hit our account. You can check.”
Sabrina opened her banking app and sure enough, a large sum had been deposited in her account by the same man.
She stared at the screen, a faint unease threading through her.
Something about this booking felt off, though she couldn’t quite say why…
But with money in the account and the date set, she didn’t have much choice except to go ahead.
Sabrina sighed and returned to the list on her screen. “Alright, let’s go through the rest of the events.”
Dilnaz walked her through each event—the location, the host, the menu, the décor.
Sabrina tweaked a dessert here, changed the flowers there, swapped an invite design somewhere else.
The month’s calendar was packed, and she loved being in the middle of it all, her mind buzzing with ideas and decisions.
Something sparked against Sabrina’s skin. It started as a slow prickle, a pull. She rubbed the back of her nape, inhaling sharply. It felt like the air itself had shifted.
She looked up, and her jaw fell open.
Aditya was standing in the doorway, leaning casually against the frame, watching her.
Their eyes locked, and her breath caught.
He was here, and suddenly, every single emotion she’d ever felt in his presence crashed through her in a dizzying wave—happiness, joy, heat, want, hunger, craving, and this undeniable urge to be consumed by him.
A shaky breath escaped her lungs. Why did this man hold so much power over her? Why did she feel so alive, so whole in his presence?
She studied him. Dressed in a dark gray suit, navy blue shirt, its top two buttons open, his hair swept back, and a slight stubble on his jaw, he looked… Perfect. He was perfect in every way.
But he wasn’t smiling. His jaw was taut, his expression unreadable, and that serious, unblinking gaze had her pulse tripping.
Sensing her attention had drifted, her assistant turned and froze.
“Oh,” Dilnaz murmured, glancing between them.
“We’ll continue this later,” Sabrina said quickly, forcing her voice to sound business-like.
Dilnaz nodded. Closing her iPad, she slipped out past him. Sabrina rounded her desk to stand in front of it. Aditya stepped inside, the door clicking shut behind him. The sound was too loud in the sudden quiet. He didn’t speak, just walked toward her, each step slow, deliberate, purposeful.
Her fingers curled into fists as the urge to go to him and touch him slammed through her.
But she couldn’t do it. She wouldn’t. His gaze never left hers.
Every nerve in her body sparked as his molten, unrelenting focus pinned her in place.
By the time he stopped in front of her, she was acutely aware of just how small the office felt, how tall he was, and how the room suddenly felt hot. Too hot.
He stopped in front of her desk, close enough that the faint spice of his cologne hit her nostrils, tugging at memories she’d tried hard but failed to bury, reminding her how miserable she’d been without him.
It all but told her that she wasn’t the same woman who’d left Mumbai for Singapore.
She had changed, and it was all thanks to him.
“You’ve been ignoring me, beautiful.” His low voice distracted her from her thoughts. “You haven’t answered my calls or texts.”
Sabrina forced herself to meet his gaze. “You know why.”
His jaw tightened. “You ran from my bed, Sabrina. Slipped out before I woke up because you didn’t want to have a difficult conversation with me. Such a coward.”