CHAPTER 38! SECOND DAY #3
After adjusting the last bangle, Vivaan let go. "Done."
He turned to leave. Kashvi caught his wrist. He stopped, his gaze dropping to their joined hands for a fraction of a second before meeting her eyes.
"What?"
"Logo ko chudiyan pahnane itna pasand hai apko to ek dukaan kyu nahi khol lete aap?" she asked, a small smile playing at the edge of her lips.
"Sabko pehnana nahi pasand." Vivaan cleared his throat quietly, a subtle pause breaking his cold composure. "Sirf vo jo mera hai."
He froze for half a heartbeat, realizing exactly what had just slipped out.
"... I mean The bangles."
Then he walked away.
Fast.
Kashvi looked down at the emerald glass circling her wrist. They chimed softly when she moved.
By the time she looked up, Vivaan was already several steps ahead, blending back into the crowded lane.
She smiled anyway.
Meanwhile, Tara had disappeared inside a small jewelry shop, staring at handcrafted silver earrings with the concentration of a military strategist planning an invasion.
"I need these."
"You need all of them," Kashvi corrected as she caught up.
"Also true."
Myra discovered a collection of mountain paintings and vanished into negotiations with a deeply confused artist, while Ruhi disappeared into a bookstore.
They found her twenty minutes later carrying enough novels to survive a natural disaster.
Then Aadhira stopped walking.
Ayaan nearly bumped into her leg.
"What happened mama?"
She pointed.
A small plant nursery sat tucked between two shops.
Rows of flowers, herbs, saplings, and decorative plants filled the space with vibrant color.
Aadhira immediately walked inside, and Ayaan followed.
Aryav watched from the entrance of the nursery as Aadhira compared two saplings for almost a full minute.
One had noticeably brighter flowers, but she chose the slightly weaker one.
She brushed a layer of dust from its leaves with her hand.
"Its roots are healthier," she murmured to herself.
Ten minutes later, they had somehow purchased far more plants than any reasonable person needed.
The nursery owner finished counting.
"Two thousand three hundred."
Aadhira reached into her handbag automatically.
Her fingers paused over her wallet. She looked sideways.
Aryav was already watching her.
Main kyun doon?
She looked directly at him.
"Pay."
No request.
No explanation.
Just one word.
Aryav didn't even blink.
He took out his wallet and handed it over.
The shopkeeper accepted it immediately.
"Sir, receipt?"
"No."
Nobody found it strange except Aadhira. Aryav walked slightly behind her, his wallet back in his pocket.
She hadn't asked; she'd assumed.
And for reasons he couldn't explain, he preferred it that way.
"Papa, where will we plant these?" Ayaan asked innocently, jogging to keep up.
Aryav answered without thinking.
"Outside our room window."
Aryav kept walking, but Aadhira's steps slowed for half a heartbeat.
Our room.
He hadn't corrected himself, and she wasn't entirely sure he had even registered the weight of what he'd just implied.
Reyansh stared at the growing green collection in the trunk of the trailing security SUV in absolute horror.
"We're not buying plants anymore," Reyansh said.
"We're starting agriculture."
Shaurya didn't even look surprised. "Last time she bought one plant, it became forty-three."
"Forty-seven bhai," Aadhira corrected.
Reyansh closed his eyes. "Wow."
Aryav's phone buzzed in his pocket. He stepped back toward the perimeter line, pulling it out and answering with a single, low word.
"Speak."
He listened to the rapid, tense report on the other end for three seconds.
The man standing in the nursery vanished; the one who built an empire returned.
His face remained entirely devoid of anger, entirely devoid of heat.
"Leave the shipment," Aryav commanded softly.
A pause.
"Burn the route."
Another pause.
"Keep the warehouse.
He'll understand."
He ended the call, slipping the phone back into his pocket.
"Bhai any Problem?" Arjun asked quietly, leaning against the side of the vehicle.
"Handled."
Arjun nodded.
Nobody asked another question.
Aryav looked back at Aadhira, who was still gently adjusting the small terracotta pots so they wouldn't tip over as the vehicle started up.
Aryav had spent his entire life teaching the world to come to him.
Somewhere between kidnappings, rainstorms, and quiet riverbanks... he had begun taking the extra step himself.
That realization unsettled him more than any enemy ever had.
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