Chapter 16: Silent Trust, Loud Love

The morning sun filtered through the sheer curtains, casting a golden hue across the house.

Sahana stood in the kitchen, her movements slow, deliberate — as if trying to find her place in a home that had moved on without her. She made a cup of coffee for Veeresh and walked toward him with a soft smile.

> “Your favorite, Veeresh. With a little less sugar, just how you liked it,” she said, placing it gently on the table.

Veeresh accepted it out of courtesy. He gave her a faint nod, but his eyes shifted — drawn, almost instinctively — toward the hallway where Poornima stood, calmly folding the clothes, phone nestled between her shoulder and ear.

She glanced at him. No questions. No fear. Only quiet trust in her eyes.

That look pierced something deep within him.

Veeresh got up.

He left the untouched coffee behind.

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Inside the room, Poornima was discussing an upcoming project with her manager, her tone professional but relaxed. She didn’t notice him step in.

But she felt his arms wrap around her from behind.

> “Veeresh…” she whispered, still on call.

> “I’m sorry,” he whispered, nuzzling into her shoulder. “For every shadow I’ve brought into your light.”

She gently ended the call and turned her face slightly.

> “It’s alright,” she said softly. “I trust you. I’ve always known you’ll come to me.”

Her words hit him like a balm and a wound. He turned her to face him — eyes searching, lips trembling.

Then he kissed her — deeply, passionately — not out of guilt, not to erase the past, but to promise a future.

She kissed him back, her fingers lacing through his hair, grounding him.

After the kiss, she lifted the cup she had been drinking from earlier and offered it to him.

> “Want to taste my coffee?” she asked with a smirk.

He took it, sipped from the exact spot her lips had touched — and smiled.

> “Tastes like love,” he said with a wink.

She chuckled, leaning into his chest, and for a few minutes, the world outside the room — Sahana, past, pain, blame — didn’t exist.

Only them.

Only now.

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End of Chapter 16

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