Chapter 9

When Veeresh Raj finally entered the staff room that afternoon, the room was nearly empty. He moved to his desk, set down a file, and then noticed it.

The umbrella.

Placed neatly in its corner, dry and carefully folded. For a moment, his usually unreadable face softened, a small smile tugging at his lips. It wasn’t just the act of returning it—it was the quiet thoughtfulness behind it. Poornima Rai had her own way of speaking, even without words.

Curiosity stirred in him. He checked his watch, glanced at the corridor, and instead of opening the files on his desk, he let his steps carry him down the hall.

From outside the literature classroom, he stopped. Through the wide glass pane, he could see her.

Poornima Rai stood at the front, her hands moving gracefully as she spoke, her voice warm with passion. Today she was explaining Shakespeare’s Antony and Cleopatra.

“Cleopatra was not just a queen,” Poornima was saying, her eyes alive with emotion, “she was a woman of complexity. To Mark Antony, she was both strength and weakness, love and destruction. Their story was not perfect—but it was powerful. And sometimes… it is power that makes love unforgettable.”

Her students listened in rapt attention, some leaning forward, others scribbling furiously. A hand shot up.

“Ma’am, do you think Antony was foolish for choosing Cleopatra over Rome?”

Poornima smiled gently, the kind of smile that made the question itself feel important. “Foolish, perhaps, in the eyes of politics. But in the eyes of love? He was true to his heart. And literature, dear students, teaches us that sometimes truth of the heart matters more than crowns or empires.”

The class erupted in thoughtful murmurs, a few even clapping softly at her words. Poornima’s eyes shone as she answered their next questions, moving effortlessly between history, drama, and emotion.

From the doorway, Veeresh watched silently. She carried herself with a brilliance that was entirely her own—simple, disciplined, yet capable of making an entire class feel the fire of a centuries-old love story.

And for the first time in years, Veeresh Raj felt something unfamiliar stir in him. Not the sharp calculation of numbers. Not the thrill of closing a deal. Not even the tension of a mission.

It was something far gentler, far more dangerous.

He found himself smiling again.