CHAPTER 59! HOME AGAIN #3
Gathering her strength, she stepped out onto the cool concrete driveway and walked toward the entrance, staying a half-step behind him as they walked up the front steps.
The moment she crossed the front threshold, she paused.
The familiar scent of the house hit her instantly-a subtle mix of cedarwood, fresh cut lilies, and the faint spices lingering from the kitchen.
The main entryway looked completely unchanged from the day she left. The polished white marble floors, the heavy crystal chandelier hanging overhead, the grand double staircase curving up to the second floor-it was all exactly as it had been.
She caught sight of the small indoor wall fountain in the corner of the foyer, suddenly remembering how she had stood right beside it at two in the morning months ago, waiting for Aryav to come downstairs with a bowl of ice cream.
She had spent the last ninety days focusing entirely on the painful memories of leaving this place.
Standing here now, she had almost forgotten how much actual warmth had once filled these halls.
Behind her, the heavy front door closed with a quiet, solid click.
Before she could process anything else, the sound of fast footsteps echoed down the hallway as the rest of the family came pouring into the foyer.
"Bhabhi!" Reyansh was the first to reach them, a genuine smile of pure relief breaking across his face. "You're really back."
Before she could even respond, Tara and Myra stepped in from the side, wrapping their arms around her in a sudden, tight group hug.
Aadhira stood stiffly for a brief second before the tight knot of tension in her shoulders finally melted away.
Nobody asked where she had been for the last three months. Nobody brought up why she had stopped answering their calls. They just held onto her.
"Three months," Tara whispered, pulling back just enough to look at her with bright, watery eyes. "Do you have any idea how much everyone missed having you here?"
"I missed you all too," Aadhira said softly, wiping a stray eyelash from her cheek.
"Alright, that's enough," Dadi's firm voice sounded from the living room doorway. "Let the poor girl breathe a little."
The group stepped back to give her space. Aadhira composed herself and turned toward the living room, where Dadi and Dadu were standing near the sofa.
As Aadhira stepped forward and bent down to touch Dadi's feet, the older woman reached out and caught her gently by her elbows, drawing her right up into a warm, quiet hug.
"It took you a long time to find your way back home, beta," Dadi murmured softly into her hair. "But you're finally here."
Dadu smiled warmly, placing a heavy, comforting hand on top of her head. "Welcome back home, beta."
"Go on up now," Dadi added, softly brushing a lock of hair away from Aadhira's forehead. "Go wash up and rest."
Aadhira nodded, feeling the sheer weight of the last ninety days finally catching up to her body. She turned away from the living room and headed toward the main staircase.
Aryav was still standing by the front entryway, his dark eyes quietly following her every move as she crossed the foyer.
As her hand rested on the wooden banister at the bottom step, she paused.
"Tara," Aryav's voice called out across the quiet hall.
Tara stopped on the step above her and looked down. "Yeah?"
"Go prepare Aadhira's room."
"Which one?" Tara asked.
Aryav kept his eyes fixed directly on Aadhira. "The room right beside mine."
Aadhira stopped dead on the first landing. She turned around, looking down at him from the stairs. "You said I could have a separate room."
"It is separate," he replied evenly.
"You know exactly what I meant, Aryav."
"You asked for your own room, and you have one," he said, his tone perfectly calm and completely unyielding. "I never agreed to putting you on the other side of the house."
Aadhira stared down at him, a warm flush rising to her cheeks, before she turned on her heel and followed Tara up the carpeted hallway.
Aryav stayed standing beneath the archway at the bottom of the stairs, listening quietly to the faint sound of her footsteps until her bedroom door closed in the distance.
Ninety days in an empty house without her had taught him one very clear lesson.
He could handle her being angry with him. But he was never going to risk losing her again.