change was subtle at first—just a little less conversation, a few more late nights, a little more silence in between meals. But Poornima noticed. She always noticed.

Veeresh, the man who once teased her for every small thing and made her laugh without warning, was now different. His eyes carried a heaviness she couldn’t name. His touch had grown rare, and when it came, it felt distracted… absent.

He avoided her gaze, avoided her questions, avoided her.

And when he did speak, it was often sharp, his voice carrying an edge she had never heard before.

“Veeresh, breakfast—”

“I said I’ll eat later!” he snapped one morning, his tone far harsher than necessary.

Poornima didn’t reply. She simply set the plate down on the table and walked away quietly. She had learned over the past weeks that arguing would only push him further into that invisible shell he had built around himself.

But the changes didn’t stop there.

She began to smell cigarette smoke on his shirts more often, the faint scent of alcohol clinging to his breath some nights. The Veeresh she knew barely touched either—now it seemed like they were his companions.

And yet… she bore it all silently.

Not because it didn’t hurt—because it did. Every cold word, every moment he turned his back on her, every cloud of smoke he exhaled felt like another inch of distance between them.

But Poornima knew her husband.

She knew he was the kind of man who carried his storms alone, even if they broke him from the inside. He never liked burdening others—not even her—with his pain.

So she waited. She cooked his favorite meals. She left his coffee on the table without comment. She sat beside him when he smoked, not to scold, but to let him know she was there.

Still, she couldn’t stop wondering what it was—what shadow from his past had reached out and wrapped itself around him again.

That night, as she lay beside him, pretending to be asleep, she heard the faint sound of him breathing heavily, his hand pressed to his forehead. Her heart ached to reach out, but she held back.

If he won’t share, I’ll find a way to make him feel safe enough to.

She decided then—she would uncover the truth. Not to satisfy her own curiosity, but because she wanted to take that weight off his shoulders, to make his heart light again.

Because loving Veeresh meant standing beside him in the darkness until he was ready to walk back into the light.