All Chapters of - Familiar Stranger: Chapter 11 - Chapter 18

Third-person Pov The evening mist rolled across Dal Lake, turning the water into a sheet of shifting silver. Sanjana sat cross-legged on the wooden porch of her house, her notebook balanced on her knees. The page was half-filled with scribbles. She was trying to concentrate on her studies, but his offer kept echoing inside her. The offer was tempting but she knew better than to trust a tourist. She has heard many incidents where these tourists took advantage of the naïve girls of the valley. A knock on the railing startled her. She looked up. Liam stood there, his height framed by the twilight, Kabir a few paces behind with his usual sceptical look. “You’re here again,” She said, rising quickly, brushing her palms against her shawl as if to erase the evidence of her thoughts. “Of course I am.” His voice carried a quiet conviction. “After last night, do you really think I could stay away?” Her heart betrayed her, beating too fast. “You shouldn’t be here,” she muttered, lo

Liam Pov For a moment, I stood frozen, the air thick with tension. Her whispered confession—*“I just want to breathe without fear”*—hung in the room, weightier than any silence I had ever encountered. She sat slumped in the chair by the window, her face hidden in her hands, her petite frame trembling as if even the warm sunlight filtering through the glass was a burden too great to bear. I sensed Kabir’s gaze from the corner of the room, yet his presence felt distant and inconsequential in that moment. With a hesitant step, I edged closer, then another. My hands hovered uncertainly before I crouched down before her. I reached for her quivering hands, and she flinched. A tight knot formed in my chest. But then, she relented, allowing me to take her icy, fragile fingers in mine. “Sanjana,” I breathed, the name slipping out before I could catch it. The word felt like a dare against the gravity of the moment—dangerous, forbidden, yet achingly right. Her tear-stained eyes met m

Liam’s POV**The next morning, the storm that had raged inside the house the previous day was replaced by the warm scent of fresh chai and the faint hum of the valley waking up. Sunlight seeped through the windows, casting delicate, shifting shadows on the wooden floor. Outside, the sweet humming of birds mingled with the rustle of pine trees, creating a melody so gentle it felt like the mountains themselves were singing. For the first time since yesterday, it didn’t feel like the world was about to drift apart.Sanjana stood by the table, basking in the morning sun, a chipped mug cradled between her palms. Every so often she took a careful sip, the steam curling around her face. Her hair was loosely braided over one shoulder, and though her eyes still held a faint puffiness from last night, a quiet strength had returned to the way she carried herself. She looked steadier now—better, calmer—like a fragile thread had been tied back together overnight.“You’re staring,” she said withou

Sanjana PovThe last note slipped from my lips and drifted in the room like mist over the valley, soft, trembling, and alive. For a heartbeat, no one moved. Even the birds outside seemed to be still. The silence that followed was heavier than applause, and my chest rose and fell like I’d run a marathon.Then Uncle Mohan’s shawl rustled as he sat back, his wrinkled face breaking into a slow, proud smile. Kabir’s eyes widened before he covered the emotion with an exaggerated gasp. “Well, if that’s you rusty, what would it look like to become polished—a version of you radiating confidence and skill?”“You’re exaggerating.” I let out a nervous laugh, the sound cracking slightly.“Exaggerating?” Kabir scoffed dramatically. “I’m underselling! That was mind-blowing.” He stopped, gesturing helplessly toward the sunlight spilling through the window. “—that was the valley singing back. I mean, I can’t find words to describe how it was.” His eyes were wide, his jaw slack, his mouth open, and his