Chapter 18 Between Truth and Teasing

The night settled quietly around them.

The lights were dim, the room calm in a way that felt unfamiliar after everything they had gone through in a single day. Poornima lay on one side of the bed, her breathing slowly evening out, while Veeresh lay beside her, staring at the ceiling.

For a while, neither of them spoke.

Then, breaking the silence, Veeresh said softly, “I’m sorry.”

Poornima turned her head slightly, looking at him.

“For everything.”

There was no explanation attached.

No justification.

Just those two words.

She watched him for a second, then her expression softened just a little.

“That’s okay,” she said quietly. “Things happen for a reason.”

It was not forgiveness.

Not completely.

But it was not rejection either.

Veeresh’s lips curved into a faint smile, something easing inside him at her words.

A few seconds passed.

Then, as if the silence felt too heavy again, Poornima spoke suddenly.

“I proposed to a guy in my college.”

The words came out casually.

Almost too casually.

Veeresh turned his head toward her instantly.

His expression changed.

Not sharply.

But enough.

“He said he will tell his answer the next day,” she continued, her gaze fixed somewhere ahead. “And I got married.”

The irony in her voice was quiet.

But real.

“I thought I should tell him,” she added softly.

Veeresh did not respond immediately.

Something in his chest tightened.

He did not know why.

He had no right to react.

And yet…

He felt it.

A silence stretched between them again.

Poornima noticed.

She turned toward him fully now, studying his face.

“Stop sulking, Mr CM,” she said, her tone light but knowing.

He exhaled slowly, looking away for a moment before speaking.

“If he gives you any problem… tell me.”

His voice was calm.

But firm.

Protective in a way he did not question.

Poornima’s lips curved into a small smile.

“Of course I will,” she said. “Because you are my personal bodyguard, Mr Qureshi.”

There was mischief in her tone now.

A hint of playfulness that had not been there before.

“You took vows with me.”

Veeresh looked at her again, a faint smile returning.

“You also took vows,” he replied.

She turned slightly onto her side, facing him.

“I am fulfilling them,” she said with a straight face. “By torturing you.”

For a second, there was silence.

Then he almost laughed.

Almost.

Poornima’s smile widened just a little.

“Good night, Mr Qureshi,” she said, her voice softening as she turned away, pulling the blanket slightly.

Within moments, her breathing slowed.

Sleep came to her easily this time.

Without tears.

Without restlessness.

Veeresh remained awake for a little longer.

His gaze moved toward her.

The same girl who had cried on the floor…

Who had fought him…

Who had kissed him…

Who had thanked him…

Who had just told him about another man without hesitation.

He exhaled quietly.

“You are something else,” he murmured under his breath.

But there was no frustration in it.

Only a strange sense of… acceptance.

He turned off the last light and lay back.

And slowly…

Sleep found him too.

For the first time…

Without resistance.