Chapter 12

The phone buzzed on Veeresh’s desk just as he was reviewing confidential reports for his mission. Glancing at the screen, he saw the familiar number.

“Yes, Father.”

The voice on the other end carried authority, as always. “There’s a gathering at the mansion tonight. A few important families. I expect you to be there.”

Veeresh’s jaw tightened, but his tone remained respectful. “I’ll come.”

That evening, the Raj Mansion stood tall and glittering under a hundred lights. Cars lined the driveway, men in crisp suits and women in dazzling gowns walked through the carved gates, the air buzzing with wealth, power, and calculated smiles.

Veeresh arrived in a tailored black suit, his presence commanding attention the moment he stepped inside. People greeted him with admiration and cautious respect—the professor by day, the empire-builder by night, the heir of the Raj name.

And then, across the hall, his eyes found her.

Poornima Rai.

She stood apart from the noise and sparkle, a vision in a long black gown. The fabric was simple, elegant, flowing effortlessly around her, unadorned by the heavy jewels others flaunted. A glass of lemon juice rested in her hand. She neither sought attention nor entertained flattery. Her calm gaze drifted across the party, her smile polite but distant.

It was clear—she was here not for herself but for her parents, who mingled comfortably among the high and mighty. She, however, remained untouched by the extravagance, her quiet presence standing out more than all the diamonds in the room.

Veeresh’s eyes lingered, observing every small detail: the way she adjusted her dupatta-like stole with elegance, the way her fingers tapped lightly against her glass, the way her mind seemed elsewhere. She did not belong to this world of pretenses, and she made no attempt to.

For the first time that evening, Veeresh found himself ignoring the deals, the politics, the whispers around him. Instead, he watched the literature professor in the black gown, a woman who seemed to carry simplicity like royalty.

And somewhere deep inside him, a thought stirred—in a room full of masks, she was the only truth.

---