Chapter 32

At the Rai Residence, Poornima sat cross-legged on her bed, the lamp casting a warm glow over her desk. A novel lay open in her lap, but her eyes had drifted long past the page.

Her parents had again spoken of proposals at dinner, reminding her of her “duties” as a daughter of the Rai name. But their words faded when her mind replayed the afternoon—the closeness of Veeresh Raj, the weight in his voice when he said she was talking to Pavan.

Why did it matter to him? she wondered. He was polite, distant, and precise with everyone else. But with her… something shifted. His eyes lingered, his silences stretched, his words carried a weight beyond their surface.

Her heart whispered what her mind refused to accept: Because you matter to him.

She pressed the book shut, exhaling softly. And why does it matter to me what he thinks?

Her gaze drifted to the umbrella by her window again, the one she hadn’t returned properly—because a part of her didn’t want to.

Poornima touched its handle gently, her lips curving into a faint smile. In her eyes tonight was an emotion she rarely allowed—hope.

Yet beneath it, an unease. Because she knew men like him, men of power and command, rarely gave their hearts away simply. And if she let herself fall, it would not be into something ordinary. It would be into something dangerous.

Still, as the moonlight brushed across her face, her heart whispered what her mind tried to silence:

Even if it’s dangerous… I would still choose to love him.