CHAPTER 55! WOULD HE?
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?Next morning, sunlight spilled across the floor-to-ceiling windows of Singhania Group Headquarters, casting long, razor-sharp shadows across the polished floor.
?Aryav sat behind his desk, reviewing a stack of contracts with his usual, unhurried precision.
The quiet scratch of his fountain pen was the only sound in the vast office. But today, something was different.
The faint shadows beneath his eyes betrayed the fatigue he refused to acknowledge.
?A knock sounded against the frosted glass.
?"Come in."
?Vivaan stepped inside. "Sir."
?Without looking up, Aryav continued reading. "Tell Shaurya to take over the Sharma Industries litigation. I want the hearing prepared before Monday."
?Vivaan didn't answer.
?Aryav's pen stopped moving. Slowly, he lifted his eyes.
?Vivaan stood opposite the desk, expression unreadable, posture rigid.
Then he placed a heavy, sealed white envelope on the mahogany surface.
?"He won't be handling it."
?Aryav's gaze dropped to the envelope. The corporate seal of the Singhania legal team stared back at him.
He picked it up, unsealed it, and read the brief, professional resignation letter inside.
?Once. Then again.
?Nothing in his face changed. He folded the letter precisely along its existing crease and slid it into the top drawer.
The heavy wood clicked shut.
?"Find me another lawyer."
?Vivaan hesitated. "I already did."
?Aryav raised his eyes. "Then tell him he won't be needed today. I'll handle Sharma Industries myself."
?Vivaan inclined his head and turned toward the door. His hand had just reached the brass handle when he stopped.
"One more thing, Boss. Shaurya joined Rajput Associates this morning."
?Silence stretched across the vast office. Aryav's gaze drifted toward the sprawling city beyond the glass.
?"He didn't even come himself," he said quietly. For the first time that morning, he didn't sound like a businessman. He sounded like a brother.
?Vivaan's expression softened by the smallest fraction. "No."
?Aryav's fingers tapped once against the leather armrest. "He sent a letter."
?"He probably thought it would be easier."
?A faint curve touched Aryav's mouth, devoid of amusement.
"For him. Everyone seems to be choosing the easier way out lately." The faint smile disappeared into terrifying calm.
"Arrange the board meeting. Evening. Five. The Rajput Group representatives will be attending-and Shaurya will be sitting on their side of the table."
?Vivaan bowed his head once and stepped out, the door closing with a soft click.
?Aryav remained still.
He looked at the contract in front of him. The words were there-numbers, clauses, figures-yet for several seconds, none of them registered.
He blinked once and turned the page.
Nothing.
?His hand went into his jacket pocket and pulled out his phone. He dialed Shaurya's personal number.
One ring. Two. Voicemail.
?Aryav lowered the device without leaving a message and set it face down on the desk. Thirty seconds passed. He turned it over. Nothing. He set it back down.
?Another ten seconds passed. His hand moved toward it again, and this time, he almost smiled at himself-a bitter, humorless curve.
?"Pathetic," he murmured into the empty room.
?He unlocked the screen. His thumb stopped over one particular conversation: Aadhira. The last message was still hers, sent months ago. He read it once. Then again.
?His thumb hovered over the keyboard.
?Where are you?
?He stared at the three words.
Deleted them. Typed them again. Deleted them again. Three simple words to his own wife were proving considerably more difficult than navigating a hostile takeover.
?He locked the phone, set it down, and turned his gaze toward the shelf. A framed candid photograph rested on the edge.
Ayaan was laughing in the center, his tiny hand raised toward the camera. Beside him stood Aadhira, her hair caught by the wind, one hand resting protectively on their son's shoulder while she looked down at Ayaan rather than the lens.
Behind them stood Aryav-not smiling, but looking directly at them.
?The photograph had been taken months ago, before everything fractured. Aryav's gaze lingered on Aadhira's face, then Ayaan's, his fingers tightening around the edge of the desk.
?Shaurya was gone. Aadhira was absent. Ayaan was out of reach. For a man who had spent his entire life making sure nothing escaped his control, the realization was cold and unfamiliar.
His world was slipping away.
?Exactly eleven seconds later, he unlocked his phone again.
He picked up his pen, held it suspended over the contract, and stared right through the paper.
?Across the city, the atmosphere was entirely different.
?Ayaan appeared beside Aadhira in the kitchen, a huge glass mixing bowl resting on the counter beside him.
His sleeves were pushed up to his elbows, his expression painfully serious.
?"Mumma."
?Aadhira glanced down. A strand of hair had fallen across her cheek, and she tucked it behind her ear.
"Yes, my little warrior?"
?"Cupcakes."
?"You want cupcakes?"
?Ayaan nodded firmly.
?"My cupcake wants a cupcake?" Aadhira laughed, leaning down to kiss his cheek. His entire face broke into a grin.
"Fine. But you help me. And no eating the batter."
?His expression became solemn.
"I promise."
?Thirty minutes later, the batter was ready. Aadhira turned toward the oven to set the temperature.
Behind her came a suspicious silence. She slowly turned around.
?Ayaan was standing beside the bowl, one finger disappearing very carefully into the chocolate batter.
?Aadhira crossed her arms.
"Ayaan."
?He froze.
?She walked toward him.
"Were you planning to eat that?"
?"No."
?"Your finger is literally inside the bowl."
?Ayaan looked at his hand, then at her.
"It fell."
?Aadhira stared at him. "Ayaan."
?He sighed. She caught his wrist before the finger reached his mouth.
"What did I say?"
?"No batter."
?"And?"
?"No stealing chocolate."
?"And?"
?Ayaan thought deeply, his brow furrowing with exaggerated
concentration.
"No getting caught?"
?Aadhira's mouth fell open. Ayaan grinned. She tried to stay serious, but a laugh escaped her as she pulled him into her arms. "You little criminal."
?For a few seconds, the world was uncomplicated. Warm kitchen. Chocolate batter.
Her son's laughter. Nothing else.
?Aadhira turned back toward the oven, set the tray inside, and closed the door.
The timer began counting down. When she turned back-silence. Too much silence.
?"Ayaan?"
?He was leaning over the counter, his upper lip and both cheeks covered in dark chocolate.
?Aadhira stared. Ayaan stared back, trying not to blink.
?"Did you eat the batter while I wasn't looking?"
?He shook his head with enormous innocence. "No."
?She pointed at his face.
"Then why is it on you?"
?Ayaan quickly wiped his nose with his sleeve. "Gone."
?Aadhira closed her eyes, took a slow breath, and opened them again.
"Where did it go?"
?"Maybe... it ran away."
?She pressed her lips together, fighting a smile. "Ayaan."
?"Papa doesn't let me eat batter either," he blurted.
?Aadhira froze. Only for a heartbeat. Then she crouched in front of him and gently wiped the chocolate from his cheek.
"Your papa is right." She kissed his forehead. Her smile remained, but something beneath it didn't.
?The phone vibrated against the marble counter: Kashvi calling...
?Aadhira picked it up.
"Hello?"
?"Aadhi..."
?Something in Kashvi's voice made her straighten. The exhaustion that had weighed on her friend for weeks was gone, replaced by something lighter, breathless, almost disbelieving.
?"Kya hua?" Aadhira asked. She glanced toward Ayaan. "Wait a second, Kashvi."
She stepped out onto the balcony and closed the door behind her. Inside, Ayaan pressed his nose against the glass, watching her.
?Aadhira smiled at him through the glass, then turned back. "Ayaan, don't you want to go home today? Reyansh chachu called me. Aren't you missing Reyansh chachu and Tara bua?"
?"No, Mumma." Ayaan folded his arms firmly. "Today I'm staying with you."
?Aadhira laughed softly. On the other end, Kashvi laughed too. "Park aa na, abhi. Maine usse promise kiya tha ki aaj ice cream treat meri taraf se."
?Aadhira shook her head. "Oh. So that's why he wants to stay. I'll come. Wait for me." Her smile softened. "But tell me what happened."
?"I'll tell you when you get here." The line went dead.
?Aadhira lowered the phone. She looked through the glass at Ayaan, who was licking chocolate from his thumb.
She mouthed, "Five minutes." He held up both hands and called through the glass, "Ten!" She laughed.
?Twenty minutes later, the three of them sat beneath the shade of a sprawling banyan tree in the neighborhood park. The afternoon was warm.
Children ran across the grass, someone was laughing near the swings, and a bicycle bell rang somewhere beyond the trees.
Near the entrance, twenty yards away, one of the Singhania family guards stood discreetly beside the gate, speaking quietly into his phone while keeping watch over the grounds.
?Kashvi was smiling before she even sat down. Aadhira noticed immediately.
?"What?"
?Kashvi adjusted her top. "Nothing."
?"You're glowing."
?"Shut up."
?"Kashvi," Aadhira smiled.
"You're actually happy."
?Kashvi looked down at her phone. "For the first time in a long time... I'm not waiting for something to go wrong anymore."
?Aadhira's expression softened. Kashvi reached for both her hands.
?"He came to my house."
?Aadhira's eyebrows shot up.
"WHAT?"
?"Vivaan."
?"Vivaan?"
?"YES!" Kashvi laughed. "He met Maa."
?Aadhira stared. "And survived?"
?"Barely." They both laughed, and Kashvi wiped the corner of her eye.
"Apparently, my mother already knew."
?"Of course she did."
?"She basically interrogated him."
?"And?"
?"He survived."
Aadhira laughed warmly and squeezed her friend's hands.