Chapter 9 – What He Believed

Poornima was moving on.

The words reached Veeresh the way bad news always did—casually, through someone else’s mouth, when he least expected it.

“Her name’s being linked with someone,” his PA said one evening, flipping through a file. “Pavan. Works in infrastructure consulting. Decent background.”

Veeresh’s hand tightened around the glass in his grip.

The knuckles went white.

For a second, something dark and violent flashed across his face before he forced it down. The glass trembled, but he didn’t spill a drop.

So she really did it, he thought.

She really tried.

The PA watched him carefully. “She’s seeing him. People are talking.”

Veeresh let out a slow breath, then—unexpectedly—he smiled. A small, sharp curve of his lips. Not happiness. Not relief.

Certainty.

“I know her,” he said calmly.

The PA frowned. “Sir?”

“She’s angry,” Veeresh continued, as if explaining something obvious. “She’s hurt. That’s all this is.”

The PA closed the file with a soft thud. “Then why don’t you go to her?” he asked bluntly. “You broke her. And now you expect her to wait for you?”

Veeresh’s smile didn’t fade—but his eyes darkened.

“You don’t know her,” he said quietly. “Not like I do.”

Silence stretched between them.

“She doesn’t move on easily,” he added. “Not when she gives her heart—whether as a friend or anything else.”

The PA studied him for a long moment, then shook his head. “That’s not confidence, sir. That’s denial.”

Veeresh didn’t respond.

Inside, something twisted painfully.

He told himself it was just anger. Just pride. Just a phase she would outgrow. He told himself Pavan was temporary—a distraction, nothing more.

But later that night, alone in his office, the smile disappeared.

He stood by the window, city lights blurring below, his reflection staring back at him like a stranger. His chest felt tight again—that same ache he refused to name.

What if this time… she didn’t wait?

The thought unsettled him more than he cared to admit.

Still, he straightened his shoulders and turned away.

“She won’t move on,” he whispered to the empty room.

Because believing that was easier than facing the truth—that he might finally be losing the one person he was never supposed to let go of.