Chapter 23

Poornima pulled his hand away again, irritation clear now.

“I have not accepted you,” she said firmly. “So stop pinching me.”

Before she could move—

He did it again.

A sharp pinch at her waist.

Her eyes widened in disbelief.

“I will hit you, gadha,” she warned, raising her hand slightly.

But Veeresh didn’t react to the threat.

His gaze stayed fixed on her.

“Poornima,” he said, his voice lower now, steadier, “I don’t want perfect.”

A pause.

“I want you.”

The words landed differently this time.

Not forceful.

Not teasing.

Certain.

“Whole,” he added. “Everything… with my name.”

She looked at him, her expression unreadable.

But he didn’t stop.

“I’m waiting,” he continued, his tone quieter now, almost like he was speaking more to himself than to her, “for the day you walk into my penthouse… not as a guest.”

His eyes held hers.

“As mine.”

A brief silence.

“We’ll build something there,” he said. “Not just a place… a life. Cook together. Sit without saying anything. Just… live.”

For a second—

The intensity shifted.

Softened.

But only slightly.

Then his next words came, unexpected.

“I don’t want kids, Poornima.”

She blinked.

That wasn’t what she expected.

“Gadha… why?” she asked, genuinely confused now.

For the first time—

Something changed in him.

Not his posture.

Not his voice.

But something deeper.

His eyes didn’t move away from hers, but the sharpness in them dimmed.

“I saw my sister die,” he said quietly.

The words were simple.

But heavy.

“After childbirth.”

Poornima’s expression stilled.

“My brother-in-law’s family didn’t accept it,” he continued. “Blamed her. Blamed everything.”

A pause.

“Her husband…”

His jaw tightened slightly.

“He died the same day. Heart couldn’t take it.”

Silence fell between them.

“We adopted the baby,” he added.

No emotion in his tone.

But it was there.

Underneath.

“I don’t want that to happen again,” he said, his voice lower now. “Not with us.”

A beat.

“It scares me.”

That was it.

No dramatics.

No elaboration.

Just truth.

Poornima looked at him differently now.

For the first time—

Not just as someone who challenged her.

But as someone who carried something of his own.

And for a moment—

Neither of them spoke.

Because beneath all the arguments, the control, the clash—

There it was.

Something real.

Unsaid.

But understood.