Se connecterChapter Forty-Four: Advik’s POV The room remained silent after our argument had burned itself out. Aadhya was no longer speaking, and that silence from her was far more unsettling than anything she had said earlier. She had stepped away from me and moved toward the large window, standing there with her back to me while the morning light slowly filled the study. From where I stood, I could see the slight stiffness in her shoulders, the way her fingers had curled against the edge of the table beside her as if she was holding herself together. I knew that posture. She was fighting something inside her. And losing. For a long moment I didn’t move. My mind had already started counting time in a way that had nothing to do with clocks. The aircraft would be ready soon. The team would be waiting. Japan would not wait for me to settle my personal life. But my eyes remained on her. “Aadhya,” I said quietly. She didn’t turn immediately. Instead, she inhaled slowly, straightened her sh
Aadhya’s POV The message from Derek came when the morning had barely begun to settle. I had been standing near the wide glass window of the penthouse for several minutes, watching the early traffic slowly fill the streets below. The sky had turned pale gold and the city looked calm from this height, but inside me the night had not ended yet. Advik had left suddenly for the hospital after that emergency call. I knew nights like that were normal for him. He was a doctor, after all. Still, something about the way he left had stayed in my mind. My phone vibrated softly in my hand. A message from Derek appeared: Mrs. Singhal please come downstairs. The car is ready. Mr. Singhal asked you to come to the mansion. He wants to see you. I frowned at the screen. The mansion? That didn’t make sense. Advik had been awake the entire night performing surgery. The last thing I expected was for him to ask me to travel to the mansion early in the morning instead of coming back here to rest. I read
Advik’s POV The phone started ringing at the worst possible moment. For a few seconds I ignored it completely. Aadhya was still sitting across my lap, her body warm against mine, her fingers lightly gripping my shirt. The penthouse was quiet, the city lights outside the glass walls glowing like a distant ocean. It was one of those rare moments when the world seemed far away and nothing else demanded my attention. The phone rang again. I exhaled slowly, irritation rising in my chest. Whoever was calling clearly had no idea what they were interrupting tonight. Aadhya lifted her head slightly and looked at me, murmuring softly that my phone was ringing. I tightened my arm around her waist and replied quietly that I knew. The sound came again. She slipped off my lap before I could stop her and walked toward the table where the phone was vibrating. When she looked at the screen her expression changed slightly, and she turned back toward me. “It’s the hospital,” she said. That single
Aadhya’s POV The city outside the penthouse never slept, but inside the room everything had slowed down into a quiet that felt almost fragile. The lights were dim, the glass walls reflecting the glow of the buildings below, and for a moment the world outside felt far away from where we were sitting. Advik hadn’t moved since pulling me closer earlier. I was still sitting across his lap, my body turned slightly toward him, my head resting lightly against his chest. His arm was wrapped around my waist in a way that felt natural now, like it had always belonged there. For a while we didn’t speak. His silence wasn’t something new to me. I had already learned that he carried most of his thoughts quietly, revealing them only when he chose to. But tonight that silence felt different. His hand rested at the back of my neck, fingers occasionally brushing lightly through my hair as if he needed the contact to remind himself I was still there. I could feel his heartbeat beneath my cheek—slo
Author’s POV The penthouse was silent when they arrived. Not the calm silence of a peaceful night, but the heavy quiet that comes after something dangerous begins. The city lights stretched endlessly beyond the glass walls, glowing beneath them like a restless ocean of gold and white. Cars moved far below, their sounds too distant to reach the height where the penthouse stood. Inside, everything felt contained. Advik walked in first, his movements slower than usual but still carrying the same controlled authority that followed him everywhere. He removed his jacket without speaking and placed it on the back of a chair. Aadhya watched him quietly from near the entrance. Since Derek had spoken Nischel’s name, something in Advik had changed. It wasn’t visible to anyone else. But she had begun to recognize the smallest shifts in him. The tension in his shoulders. The way his eyes stayed darker for longer than usual. The silence that stretched before he spoke. He turned toward her af
Author’s POV The moment Aadhya stepped out of Advik’s cabin, the quiet inside the room hardened into something colder. The door closed behind her with a soft click, but the sound lingered longer than it should have. Advik didn’t move immediately. He remained standing beside his desk, one hand resting against the edge of the table, his eyes fixed on the door she had just walked through. Silence filled the room. He replayed every second of the conversation in his mind.The way her voice tightened. The way she avoided his eyes for a moment longer than usual. Aadhya had never been good at hiding things from him. And today she had tried. That alone told him enough. He picked up his phone and pressed a single number. “Derek.” The response came instantly. “Yes, sir.” “Come to my office. Bring the internal tech team.” There was no question asked on the other end. Within two minutes Derek entered the room, followed by two members of the cyber security division who worked directly under
Aadhya’s POV For the last two days, life had settled into a strange kind of normal. I went to work as usual. I reached office on time. I left late. Too late. Suraj handled everything else. He picked me up in the morning. Dropped Anika at college. Arranged groceries at home. Medicines for Maa
Advik’s POV I didn’t tell her the exact time of my flight. Not because I wanted to hide it. But because goodbyes have a way of loosening control — and right now, control was the only thing keeping everything in place. She sat beside me on the couch while I packed. Not helping. Not interfering
Days passed. Not in a dramatic way. Not in the way stories usually describe time after something life-changing happens. They passed quietly. Time didn’t stop after the hospital. It never does. It kept moving forward, indifferent to fear, relief, and the fragile peace that had settled between t
Aadhya’s POV I saw him standing near the wall before he saw me. He wasn’t doing anything. Not talking. Not checking his phone. Just standing there, one hand in his pocket, his shoulder resting against the cold surface as if it was the only thing keeping him upright. His face… It wasn’t tired.







