Too Late to love

Chapter 1 Divorce Papers

Chapter 1

The Oberoi Mansion looked breathtaking under the golden lights of the chandeliers.

Expensive cars lined the entrance while the country's wealthiest families filled the ballroom with laughter, fake smiles, and the scent of luxury perfumes.

Crystal glasses clinked softly against each other as servers moved through the crowd carrying champagne on silver trays.

Everything about the night screamed perfection.

The perfect mansion.

The perfect anniversary party.

The perfect billionaire couple.

At least, that was what the world believed.

Standing near the marble staircase, Aadhira Oberoi watched the guests with an unreadable expression. Her emerald saree wrapped elegantly around her, the diamonds resting against her neck shining under the lights. Every eye that landed on her held admiration, envy, or curiosity.

She looked exactly like the wife of the country's youngest billionaire.

Beautiful. Graceful. Untouchable.

No one could see how empty she felt inside.

Her fingers tightened around the white envelope hidden in her hands.

The divorce papers felt heavier than they should.

Three years.

Three years of pretending. Three years of smiling for cameras while her marriage slowly died behind closed doors. In public, Arjun Oberoi always stood beside her like the perfect husband. But once the doors of the mansion shut, silence took his place.

Cold silence.

The kind that slowly destroys a person from the inside.

"Mrs. Oberoi, you're glowing tonight."

Aadhira turned slightly as one of the socialites approached her with a practiced smile. "You're so lucky honestly. Mr. Oberoi must be planning something huge for your anniversary."

Lucky.

The word almost made her laugh.

Instead, she simply smiled politely and looked away.

Across the ballroom, businessmen suddenly straightened in respect. Conversations paused. The atmosphere itself shifted.

Arjun Oberoi had arrived.

He entered the hall wearing a perfectly tailored black suit, his expression calm and unreadable as always. Tall, powerful, and impossibly handsome, he carried himself with the kind of authority that made people move aside without being asked.

Every woman looked at him.

Every man wanted to be him.

And Aadhira... once upon a time, she had loved him enough to destroy herself.

She watched him greet investors, shake hands, and speak in that deep composed voice everyone admired. He belonged to this world of wealth and power so naturally that sometimes she wondered if emotions had ever existed inside him at all.

Then his eyes briefly moved across the crowd.

For one foolish second, her heart still hoped he would look at her.

He didn't.

Not even on their anniversary.

A strange ache settled inside her chest.

She looked down at the ring on her finger. A symbol of a marriage that had never truly existed.

How ironic.

The world envied a woman who cried herself to sleep almost every night.

A server passed by, and without thinking much, Aadhira picked up a champagne glass and emptied it in one breath. The bitter taste burned her throat, but it felt better than the numbness.

She took another.

And another.

Maybe courage needed alcohol.

Across the room, Arjun finally noticed her.

His brows pulled together slightly as he watched her place the empty glass back onto the tray. She rarely drank. In fact, he couldn't remember the last time he had seen her touch alcohol.

Before he could walk toward her, a famous actress attached herself to his arm, laughing loudly at something he hadn't even said. Camera flashes exploded instantly around them.

Perfect.

Exactly the kind of headlines tomorrow's newspapers would love.

Aadhira stared at the scene quietly.

Something inside her finally broke.

Not loudly.

Not dramatically.

Just a small final crack after years of damage.

Enough.

She started walking toward him.

The soft music continued in the background, but her heartbeat drowned everything else out. One step after another, until she finally stood in front of him.

The actress awkwardly moved aside when she noticed Aadhira's expression.

Arjun looked down at his wife, his face calm but slightly colder than before. "You shouldn't drink this much."

His voice sounded indifferent.

Casual.

As if she were simply another responsibility he needed to manage.

Aadhira looked at him carefully. Maybe for the last time as his wife.

The sharp jawline. The unreadable grey eyes. The man she once waited for every night like a fool hoping he would someday love her back.

She felt tired suddenly.

So unbelievably tired.

Slowly, she pulled the white envelope from her hands and placed it against his chest.

For the first time that night, confusion appeared in his eyes.

Arjun took the envelope and opened it casually, but the moment his gaze landed on the words inside, his expression froze.

DIVORCE AGREEMENT.

The air around them seemed to disappear.

Nearby conversations faded into silence one by one as people noticed something was wrong.

Arjun looked up at her slowly.

"What is this?"

His voice was low.

Dangerously low.

Aadhira met his eyes without fear. "Divorce papers."

For a second, neither of them moved.

The billionaire who controlled companies worth billions stared at the papers in his hands as though they made no sense.

Then his jaw tightened.

"You're joking."

"I'm not."

The simplicity of her answer disturbed him more than anger would have.

Aadhira could feel people watching them now. Whispering. Shocked.

But strangely... she no longer cared.

"I can't do this anymore, Arjun," she said softly. "I'm tired."

Something cold flashed across his face. "So this is because I've been busy?"

A hollow laugh escaped her lips.

Busy.

Was that what he called neglect now?

"You were never my husband," she whispered. "Not really."

For the first time in years, his expression changed completely.

Not anger.

Not arrogance.

Something far more unfamiliar.

Fear.

It disappeared almost instantly, but she saw it.

Arjun stepped closer, lowering his voice. "Enough of this drama. We'll talk upstairs."

"No."

The single word stunned him.

Aadhira slowly removed the wedding ring from her finger. The diamond sparkled one last time under the chandelier before she placed it into his palm.

His fingers closed around it automatically.

The touch felt colder than metal.

"I'm leaving this marriage," she said quietly. "And this time... I won't come back."

Then she turned around and walked away.

The ballroom remained frozen in silence.

And for the first time in his perfectly controlled life, Arjun Oberoi stood completely still, watching the only woman who had ever truly belonged to him walk out of his reach.