A Smile That Stabbed Softly

The day was winding down at Suryavanshi Enterprises.

Employees moved like shadows under warm yellow lights, lost in spreadsheets and strategy decks.

Poornima had just stepped out of a late call when she heard a sudden giggle echo down the corridor.

She looked up.

A little girl—curly-haired, big-eyed, wearing a tiny pink frock—ran straight into her.

> “Aah!” the child yelped, colliding into Poornima’s legs.

Poornima’s body tensed—Thoshini.

---

🌼 The Child of Another Life

Before she could step back, Thoshini looked up at her… and smiled.

Pure. Untouched. Innocent.

The same dimpled smile Veeresh once fell in love with.

Poornima knelt down, her heart pounding.

> “I’m sorry, baby. Did I hurt you?”

“Nooo,” Thoshini giggled. “You’re pretty! Are you a princess?”

Poornima’s lips trembled into a smile.

> “Only if you’re the fairy.”

She brushed Thoshini’s hair aside gently. For a moment, it felt like the universe paused.

Like someone had handed her a piece of the life she lost.

---

💔 Then Came Veeresh

> “Thoshini!”

His voice snapped through the corridor like a whip.

Veeresh walked over, fast. Eyes narrowed.

Thoshini looked up.

> “Papa! I met a princess!”

“Baby…” Veeresh said, picking her up, glaring at Poornima, “we don’t talk to strangers. Especially the ones who pretend to be nice.”

Poornima stood up, silently, her eyes meeting his.

> “They’re not always good for you,” he added. “Let’s go.”

But Thoshini waved at her over his shoulder.

> “Bye-bye, pretty princess!”

And just like that, she was gone.

Carried away in the arms of the man who once carried Poornima’s whole world.

---

🌙 That Night: Shattered

The apartment was dark.

Poornima walked in, threw her bag on the couch, and just stood there.

Silent.

Until the silence broke her.

She collapsed to the floor, face buried in her knees.

And sobbed.

> “She’s so beautiful…”

“She looks like you, Veeresh…”

“She could’ve been ours…”

The pain was relentless.

Because for the first time, she didn’t just mourn the man she lost.

She mourned the daughter she never got to hold.

---

🌌 Final Scene

She picked up their old photo again, now worn at the edges.

And whispered:

> “I never stopped loving you.

But maybe you stopped needing me.”

She clutched her chest.

And cried herself to sleep.