CHAPTER 16! NEW COUPLE ?
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Morning arrived in slow, diluted strokes of gold. Soft sunlight filtered weakly through the pale linen curtains, replacing the violent monsoon darkness of the night before with a crisp, rain-washed clarity.
Somewhere distant, birds chirped faintly beyond the sprawling lawns of the Agrawal estate.
Aadhira blinked awake groggily, her eyelashes fluttering against the light.
For one deeply disoriented second, she stared at the high, familiar ceiling above her.
The carved teak wood.
The familiar chandelier.
Her bedroom.
She sat upright instantly. She was tucked securely beneath her own heavy duvet. Her lavender dupatta had been folded with neat, geometric precision over the armchair nearby.
Even her phone rested on the nightstand, plugged into its charger.
Her pulse stumbled.
Had he physically lifted her off that hotel sofa? Had he carried her through the lobby, into the car, and all the way up the grand staircase of her own house without her waking up once?
The thought that disturbed her most wasn't that he had carried her.
It was how safe she must have felt to sleep through it.
Aadhira buried her face into her pillow, groaning softly before forcing her chaotic thoughts into submission.
Twenty-five minutes later, freshly showered and wearing a loose, mint-green cotton kurta, she walked downstairs, using a towel to wring the excess water from her damp hair.
The mansion was unusually peaceful. Soft, classical instrumental music floated from the integrated speakers, while sunlight spilled warmly across the flawless marble floors.
Padmini looked up from her morning tea and tablet at the breakfast table, her maternal tracking software practically flashing red the second she spotted her daughter.
"Uth gayi tu?" Padmini took a slow sip of her tea, her tone deceptively conversational.
"Aryav tujhe subah chhod gaya. Bilkul courier delivery ki tarah. Bell bajayi, parcel rakha, aur chala gaya."
Aadhira frowned, pulling back a chair. "Maa, please."
"Are main majak nahi kar rahi , Subah paanch minute khada raha," Padmini continued, leaning forward with an interrogative squint. "Tujhe godh se utara. Mujhe toh laga receipt pe sign bhi karwayega."
The worst part? Aryav hadn't even tried anything inappropriate. And somehow, that restraint unsettled her more.
Aadhira paused briefly at the threshold before sliding into the chair across from her mother. "Bas karo Maa, chai chahiye, bohot tez dard hai sir mein."
Padmini narrowed her eyes instantly. The tone was too casual. Suspiciously casual. "Chai ban rahi hai , Pehle bata aankhein laal kyun hain?"
"Soyi nahi theek se," Aadhira muttered, avoiding eye contact.
"Ya sone nahi diya kisi ne?"
Before the interrogation protocols could fully execute, Shaurya sauntered into the dining area, aggressively scrolling through his corporate emails.
He stopped dead in his tracks the moment his eyes landed on her, a slow, obnoxious smirk spreading across his face.
"Achha. Uth gayi hamari rani saheba?" Shaurya sat across from her, casually snatching a piece of toast from the central platter.
"Mummy, dekho. Dekho zara. Yehi woh chehra hota hai jab heroine interval ke baad pyaar mein girti hai."
Aadhira glared at him with enough heat to melt lead. "Mujhe achhe se yaad hai ki aapne hi mujhe bali ka bakra banakar bheja tha, bhai."
"Aur Aryav ne tujhe bina kisi ransom ke zinda wapas bhej diya. Impressive. Mujhe laga tha shopping mall mein hi tera postmortem ho jayega," Shaurya teased, spreading butter with leisure.
"Bhag yahan se."
"Waise tu itni chup kyun hai?" He squinted, leaning across the table with terrifying sibling intuition.
"Toh? Kuch script ke bahar hua kya? Romance?
Mujhe lagta hai problem yeh nahi hai ki kuch hua. Problem yeh hai ki kuch hua hi nahi."
Aadhira nearly choked on her own breath. She pointed her butter knife at him aggressively. "Bhai, agar ab ek aur faltu word bola na, toh zeher mila dungi coffee mein. Aisa kuch bhi nahi hua.
Shaurya looked absolutely delighted. "Regret ho raha hai ki kuch nahi hua." (You're regretting that nothing happened.)
" BHAI!"
Padmini sighed dramatically into her teacup, shaking her head. "Subah-subah shuru ho gaye dono jungli jaanwar. Shaadi hone wali hai teri, Aadhira, aur tu Shaurya, itna bada ho gaya par akal do rupaye ki nahi."
(Right in the morning both you wild animals start. Your wedding is coming up, Aadhira, and you Shaurya, you've grown so big but don't have two rupees worth of brains.)
"Maa dekho na, yeh bina wajah boal raha hai," Aadhira whined.
"Mujhe mat ghaseeto tum dono," Padmini warned, returning to her tablet.
Aadhira turned back to her brother, narrowing her eyes. "Bhai, aapki shaadi nahi ho rahi na? Aur aisi harkate rahi to hogi bhi nahi."
Shaurya shrugged, entirely unbothered. "Chal re apna dekh.
Mera bohot scope hai market mein."
By noon, the mansion had settled into a quieter, post-rain rhythm.
Aadhira and Shaurya were sprawled across opposite ends of the massive living room couch, watching an old Bollywood rerun while bickering over every single cinematic flaw.
"This actor's tear ducts are clearly dehydrated. He cannot cry to save his life," Aadhira declared flatly, throwing a popcorn kernel at the screen.
"He's literally sobbing his heart out, you cold-hearted human," Shaurya countered.
"Ye actor nahi ro raha, bhai," Aadhira shot back, propping her chin on her hand.
"Ye bilkul papa jesa lag rahe hain jab mummy ke saamne galti pakdi jaati hai aur inko samajh nahi aata bachna kaise hai."
From the study corridor upstairs, Veer's voice echoed down calmly, "Main yahin baitha hoon."
Shaurya snorted, unable to argue with the logic, and snatched the popcorn bowl out of Aadhira's lap.
At that exact moment, the heavy teak front doors swung open.
Vivaan stepped inside, adjusting the cuffs of his formal charcoal coat-and directly behind him came unadulterated, pint-sized chaos.
"Didiiiii!"
Vaani launched herself forward like a small missile, her pink skirt flying.
Ayaan followed a millisecond later with equal velocity. Both children collided into Aadhira's lap at full speed, completely destroying the peaceful layout of the couch.
"Oof-" Aadhira laughed, her breath leaving her as she tumbled backward into the cushions, instantly wrapping her arms around their tiny frames. "Hey, meri jaan!"
"Didi! Aapne kal mera video call kyun nahi uthaya?!" Vaani demanded instantly, her little hands on her hips.
"Main thoda busy thi, bachaa," Aadhira said softly, kissing her cheek.
"Hum bhi busy hote hain, phir bhi hum call uthate hain na?" Vaani countered, crossing her arms.
Aadhira looked up at Vivaan, thoroughly destroyed by a six-year-old's logic.
Vivaan looked deeply, profoundly exhausted, his hand resting on his briefcase. "They practically held the car hostage. They demanded an immediate detour to see you."
"Mama, Vaani car game mein cheating kar rahi thi!" Ayaan complained instantly, his lower lip out, tugging at Aadhira's clothes.
"I WAS NOT!" Vaani shrieked, defending her honor.
"She absolutely was, mama. She changed the rules of Monopoly deals mid-highway."
"It's not cheating, it's intelligence," Vaani countered, her tiny chin lifted in a terrifying replication of her uncle Aryav.
Aadhira burst into a bright, genuine laugh, the lingering tension from the previous night melting away entirely.
Vivaan rubbed his temples tiredly. "Manage these two warlords for two hours. I have a meeting with the legal team nearby."
"Of course," she said immediately, pulling both children closer to her side. "Leave them with me."
Shaurya stood up from the couch at once, smoothing down his shirt. "Waise, Vivaan, mujhe bhi Shinghania HQ ke paas drop kar de yaar. Meri gaadi servicing mein hai."
Vivaan stared at him blankly, his expression entirely deadpan. "Maine tera theka le rakha hai kya?"
Shaurya grabbed his car keys and phone anyway, flashing a cheeky grin. "Haan."
Vivaan sighed-the deep, tragic sigh of a man thoroughly abandoned by destiny itself. "Aa ja Sale ."
The two men walked out, still arguing over logistics, while the children immediately occupied the entire living room territory like an invading army.
Thirty minutes later, the war zone had shifted upstairs. All three of them were sitting cross-legged on the thick, fluffy white carpet inside Aadhira's bedroom, completely surrounded by a chaotic explosion of neon crayons, sketchbooks, and discarded puzzle pieces.
Vaani was talking at a relentless pace, gesturing wildly with a purple crayon, while Ayaan listened with wide, solemn eyes beside her.
"And then the police uncle came to the school gates," Vaani explained dramatically, her tone dropping into a fierce whisper.
Ayaan blinked, his small hands gripping a drawing book. "Why?"
"Because one driver uncle touched one senior didi very badly. Everyone was shouting."
Aadhira's hands stilled instantly over the coloring book she was detailing. The lighthearted atmosphere in the room suddenly thinned.
She kept her expression carefully neutral, but her protective instincts sharpened to a razor edge.
The children continued their innocent dialogue, oblivious to the weight of their words.
"But what does that even mean?" Ayaan asked, tilting his head in confusion.
"Haan," Vaani nodded, her small face turning thoughtful. "Sab keh rahe the bad touch tha. Bad touch kya hota hai, preety didi?"
For one quiet, heavy moment, Aadhira simply looked at them. Small. Incredibly trusting. Soft souls who were completely unaware of how cruel and dark the world outside these mansion walls could become.
Something softened painfully, fiercely inside her chest.
She closed the coloring book gently, setting the crayons aside, and shifted closer to them on the carpet.