Chapter 35
Gauri moved into action the instant Meera stepped inside.
Her hands reached for Meera’s face, then her shoulders, then her arms, searching if her daughter was hurt.
“Are you cold? Hungry? Thirsty?” Each question came wrapped in care before Meera could answer even one of them.
A shawl settled around her shoulders. A glass of water was placed into her hands. Warm food appeared beside her immediately.
Meera let it happen.
She did not have the strength to refuse care or pretend she was fine. Her body ached from hours stretched too far. Her throat burned from tears. Even holding the glass felt heavier than it should have.
Naina sat close and took her hand carefully. For five full minutes, she asked nothing.
The effort showed everywhere.
In the restless movement of her fingers. In the glances she kept stealing toward Meera before forcing herself to look away again. In the visible battle happening behind her eyes.
Meera leaned back and closed her eyes.
The underground chamber rose before her again. Abhinav standing in front of her. Still. Hurt.
‘You didn’t trust me.’
The memory pressed deep into her chest.
He had held her. Told her it was over. Told her she was safe. Told her nothing else mattered.
But she had seen him. Nothing was fine. He had forgiven her because he loved her. That did not undo what she had done. Guilt settled deeper with each breath.
“You should eat a little, beta,” Gauri urged.
Meera opened her eyes and nodded without looking at the food.
Naina could not hold back any longer. “Bhabhi…” Her brows drew together. “There’s one thing I don’t understand.”
Meera looked up.
“Bhai left the Haveli in his car hours ago.” Confusion filled her voice now, genuine and unguarded. “We never saw him return through the gates.”
Meera’s fingers tightened around her dupatta.
“But when both of you came back…” Naina paused, trying to piece her thoughts together. “You came from inside the Haveli.”
The room fell silent.
Meera stared at her.
‘He had left Anand Mahal. Then how had he reached the chamber?’
Her heart pounded.
Naina looked between Meera and her parents, searching for an answer. “Is there another entrance somewhere?”
Devendra looked toward Meera for a moment, reading the shock across her face, the questions rising within her. Then he turned to Naina, his tone gentle. “Bai Sa, tonight has been too much. Especially for you.”
Naina fell silent.
“You stood with us through every hour,” he continued. “After the wedding, I will show you every hidden passage in Anand Mahal and tell you the stories attached to them.”
“You will?” The tension in her face eased.
Devendra nodded, adding warmly, “And tomorrow this Haveli will need you again. The wedding cannot move forward without you.”
That finally pulled the smile back on Naina’s face. “Well, that part is definitely true.”
A soft breath left Meera, close to laughter.
Devendra’s expression softened hearing it.
Naina turned back and wrapped her arms around Meera. “You scared us so much.”
Meera closed her eyes. “I know.”
Naina held her tighter. “You know what, Bhabhi?” Her voice wavered. “I have never seen Bhai like that before.”
The words drove straight through Meera’s heart.
Naina pulled back enough to see her face. Tears gathered again. “He loves you so much, Bhabhi.”
Meera’s breath caught. Because now she had seen it too. Seen the fear laid bare in a man who faced everything without breaking.
And somehow, that hurt even more than her own heartbreak had.
Naina pressed a quick kiss to her cheek and stood. “I am leaving now. I will come back tomorrow with more questions.”
Another soft breath escaped Meera, close to laughter again.
Naina looked absurdly relieved hearing it. She moved to the door reluctantly, looked back once, then stepped out.
The room settled into silence.
Devendra looked toward Meera again.
She looked lost.
Across the Haveli, Abhinav stood by the tall window of his room.
His eyes rested on the temple for a long time before he reached for his phone.
Rajveer answered on the first ring. “Abhinav.”
“She’s found,” Abhinav exhaled in gratitude. “She’s safe. She’s home.”
Silence crossed the line first. Then a breath of relief.
“Where…” Rajveer stopped himself.
He had already understood. The depth in Abhinav’s voice left no space for questions.
“Never mind,” he continued after a moment. “She is safe. That is enough.”
“Yes.”
“I’ll inform my people. The search teams can stand down.”
Abhinav’s hand tightened around the phone. “Rajveer.”
“Hm?”
“I do not know what to say.”
“You do not need to say anything.”
“You moved your entire network for a man you’ve met twice.”
Rajveer paused for a few seconds.
“We are business partners now. And our frequencies match. I do not say that often, but they do. I like you, Abhinav Kumar Anand. Genuinely. Whatever needed doing tonight needed doing. Finished.”
Abhinav looked out across the Haveli again.
“I am expecting you and your family at the wedding.” He shifted the conversation.
A soft laugh came through. “Won’t miss it.”
“Good.”
“Get some sleep now. Morning will feel different.”
“Goodnight, Rajveer.”
“Goodnight.”
The call ended.
Abhinav set the phone on the windowsill and let his eyes return to the temple. He closed them for a second, his palm resting against the wall beside him.
Meera was alive. That was enough.
A knock came at the door.
He turned.
Sarita stood there with the family doctor beside her. “Your hand.”
Only then did Abhinav look down. The dried blood had cracked across his skin.
The doctor stepped in, opening his case. He cleaned the cuts carefully. The antiseptic stung through the broken skin. Fresh blood surfaced before the bandages covered his knuckles and bruised flesh.
Abhinav remained silent through it.
When it was done, the doctor packed his things, bowed to Sarita, and left.
The room fell silent again.
Abhinav bathed and changed his clothes. His body moved from habit alone.
When he returned and sat on the edge of the bed, Sarita crossed the room and pulled him into her arms.
One hand rested at the back of his head. The other moved over his back in slow passes.
For the first time in longer than he could remember, he allowed himself to lean into it. To be held. To be a son, not the man who stood for everyone else.
Her fingers moved through his hair, untangling the strain he had buried hour after hour inside himself tonight.
“She is fine,” she murmured near his hair. “She is safe. Gauri has her. She is being looked after.”
Abhinav drew a slow breath against her shoulder.
“Kuldevi watched over her tonight. As she always does. As she always will.” Her forehead rested against his head. “You can let go now, beta.”
His arms came around her.
Hours earlier, he would have argued. His words would have come sharp and angry. He would have spoken unanswered prayers. Of his father’s death. Of the rage that had risen in him when he stood ready to tear the temple apart if anything happened to Meera.
Now the words refused to come.
Because he had followed a woman in a red saree through roads he didn’t remember. He had walked through a doorway that vanished behind him. He had reached Meera through impossible darkness.
Logic had failed hours ago.
Some things existed outside understanding. Some doors, once closed, remained closed.
After a long silence, Sarita spoke again. “How did you get inside?”
The question came softly this time.
Abhinav took a few seconds before answering. Each line came slow, measured. The old woman. The road. The frozen GPS. The vanishing door. The underground passage.
Sarita listened without interrupting. Her hand remained in his hair, calm and grounding.
When he finished, she cupped his face and looked at him. There was no disbelief in her eyes. Only love.
She pressed her lips to his forehead. She did not try to explain what had happened. Did not name it. Did not question it. She accepted it as it came.
“Lie down now,” she murmured at last. “You need sleep.”
He obeyed and stretched across the bed while she remained beside him, her hand moving through his hair.
Without thought, he turned and rested his head in her lap.
The motion surprised even him. He had not done this since boarding school.
Her hand paused for a second. Then her fingers resumed, finding the same place that had soothed him as a child.
His eyes closed. The pounding inside him began to ease. His breath deepened. For the first time in hours, his body stopped bracing for the worst.
Sleep came soon after, deep and without dreams.
Sarita remained beside him until his breathing evened out. She reached for the blanket at the foot of the bed and drew it over him.
She watched her son. The exhaustion in his face even in sleep. The bandages around his hand. The man who had crossed fear and the impossible to bring his woman home.
Then she rose and walked to the window. The temple stood in white marble.
Sarita joined her hands and bowed her head. No words came. None were needed.
Gratitude moved through her. For what had been protected. For what had been returned. For what had not been taken away.
She remained there for a long time before turning to leave. At the door, her eyes moved once more to her son. Then she stepped out and closed the door behind her, leaving him to the rest he had earned.