Chapter 13: A Meeting With the Next Generation

The drive back to his penthouse was quiet. Veeresh sat in the backseat, still processing the information his PA had just given him.

“Sir,” she said, “Rudraksh is at Jain College, doing B.Com. Ramir is doing MBA in Finance, and Mannat is in her first year of Mechanical Engineering.”

Veeresh nodded slowly, absorbing it. Names, courses, colleges—they were more than just details. They were pieces of her life, pieces of Poornima, and he couldn’t help the subtle tightening in his chest.

By the time they arrived near the college, Veeresh was already standing by the entrance, his tall frame noticeable, calm but commanding.

Rudraksh and Ramir were walking out together, chatting casually. Their heads turned when they saw him.

“Hello, Uncle!” Rudraksh called out first, his voice confident and unapologetic.

“Hi, Uncle,” Ramir added, a small smile on his face.

Veeresh returned their greetings, voice steady, though there was an undercurrent of curiosity and something softer that he hadn’t felt in years.

“Hello,” he said. His tone was firm but gentle. “Get inside. I want to talk to you.”

Both boys paused for a moment, glancing at each other. Their childhood teasing, the honesty that had surprised him last night—it was still there in their eyes.

“Alright, Uncle,” Rudraksh said finally.

“Sure,” Ramir added.

They followed him, walking to the car. The ride was quiet at first, the air heavy with curiosity and unspoken questions. Veeresh watched them carefully in the rearview mirror. They were mature, polite, confident—yet unmistakably their mother’s children. Mannat, too, would be arriving later, and he wondered how she would compare—how much of Poornima he would see in her.

At his penthouse, the doors closed behind them.

Veeresh inhaled slowly, a mixture of anticipation and restraint tightening his chest.

It was a meeting he hadn’t planned for—but somehow, he had been waiting for it for years.

And in that moment, standing there with her sons in front of him, he realized: the past was no longer just memory. It was starting to take shape again—in real time.