Chapter 32

The Man Who Never Allowed Himself to Feel

stood alone in his study, staring at the city through the glass walls of his penthouse.

He had built empires.
Merged industries.
Crushed rivals.

But he had never learned how to handle tenderness.

When he first saw in his house, holding his daughter like she belonged there, something inside him burned.

Not anger.

Fear.

Fear that the little girl who once ran only to him now ran to her.

Fear that he was being replaced.

Fear that he was no longer needed.

For two months he stayed away, convincing himself it was business, ego, pride.

Truth was — he didn’t know how to stand in front of the warmth she carried.

She healed his daughter without luxury.
She gave her park evenings instead of penthouse views.
She gave her pani puri instead of five-star desserts.
She gave her normalcy.

And that frightened him.

Because he realized something unbearable — he had given power, protection, money… but she had given love.

When Poornima held his collar that night and defended her bond with Inayat, he saw it clearly.

She wasn’t trying to take his daughter.

She was protecting her.

And somewhere in that fire, he felt proud.

Not threatened.

Proud.

But admitting that would mean admitting he was wrong.

And Veeresh never admitted weakness.

When he held her in his sleep, it wasn’t desire alone.

It was exhaustion.

Exhaustion from fighting feelings he didn’t know how to name.

He noticed how she hesitated to question his smoking.
How she stopped herself from asking if he would disappear again.
How she looked at him as if he was both danger and safety.

That look unsettled him.

Because he was beginning to feel the same.

He wanted her beside him in doctor appointments.
Wanted to hear the heartbeat not as responsibility but as father.
Wanted her resting next to him not out of command, but choice.

He asked for cheek kisses like a man testing waters.

Small demands.
Small claims.
Small confirmations.

He didn’t need the world.

He needed to know she was staying.

And what terrified him the most?

He was no longer guarding his heart from her.

He was guarding it for her.

One line:
Main kab usse apna samajhne laga… mujhe khud bhi pata nahi chala.