Chapter 24

Between Love and Fear

Inayat’s small body trembled in ’s arms.

“Mumma… papa hates me,” she cried, words breaking between sobs. “I love both of you so much. I need him, mumma… I need papa.”

Poornima’s heart cracked at the innocence in that confession.

She tightened her embrace. “No, baby. Papa doesn’t hate you. He loves you more than anything.”

But as she said it, a painful thought slipped into her own mind.

Did I come between them?

Before she entered this house, Inayat’s entire world revolved around one man — . Even if he was busy, even if he was distant, she belonged to him completely.

And now?

Now she ran to Poornima first.
She slept beside Poornima.
She laughed louder with Poornima.

Was that why he reacted like that?

Poornima gently wiped Inayat’s tears. “Listen to me. Papa is upset, not because you forgot him… but because he misses you. He doesn’t know how to say it.”

Inayat sniffed. “Then why he says don’t call me papa?”

Because he is scared, Poornima thought.

But she didn’t say that aloud.

Instead, she kissed Inayat’s forehead. “Tomorrow you go and hug him first. Okay? Papa’s heart is soft. Just hidden.”

After putting Inayat to sleep, Poornima sat beside her for a long time, staring into the dark.

For the first time since coming here, she felt insecure.

If loving Inayat meant hurting Veeresh… what was she supposed to do?

She never wanted to replace him. She never wanted to take his place. She only wanted to fill emptiness, not create more of it.

Her hand rested on her growing belly.

“I don’t want to break this family,” she whispered to herself.

—

Upstairs in the penthouse, Veeresh stood near the glass wall, cigarette between his fingers, city lights reflecting in his eyes.

Why did he react like that?

He replayed the scene again and again.

Inayat running to Poornima.
Calling her mumma so naturally.
Laughing freely.

And something inside him had panicked.

His fear was simple, yet terrifying.

All his life, people left.

His mother’s absence.
Emotional distance in his home.
Trust broken in ways he never fully understood.

The only person who never left him was Inayat.

She was his constant.

His anchor.

And today, when she didn’t come upstairs… when she didn’t search for him… it felt like the beginning of abandonment.

“I don’t want her to need me less,” he muttered.

But beneath that was another fear — quieter, deeper.

If he allowed himself to accept Poornima fully… if he let this become real… and someday she left too?

He would not survive that loss.

So he pushed away first.

He chose control over vulnerability.

He chose distance over risk.

Yet the image of Inayat crying refused to leave his mind.

He crushed the cigarette in frustration.

He wasn’t angry at his daughter.

He was angry at himself — for feeling replaceable.

One line:
Both feared losing love, not realizing love was never something that could be taken away.