Chapter 33 What He Became To Me
Poornima’s Pov

I never thought my life would turn like this.

If someone had told me a few weeks ago that I would sit beside the same man I once hated… and feel this calm, I would have laughed at them.

Or maybe I would have cried.

Because nothing about this was my choice.

Not the marriage.

Not him.

Not this life.

And yet…

Here I am.

Lying beside him.

Watching him sleep.

Veeresh.

His face looks different when he sleeps. All the strength, the control, the power he carries outside… it fades. What remains is just a tired man who gave everything he had… and still lost.

Today, when he cried…

Something inside me broke.

Not because he lost.

But because he didn’t let anyone see that he was hurting.

Except me.

He held himself all day.

For everyone.

For his party.

For his people.

But when he saw me…

He just… let go.

And I don’t know why that affected me so much.

Maybe because I saw the real him.

Not the Chief Minister.

Not the strong man everyone talks about.

Just… Veeresh.

I gently move my fingers through his hair, careful not to wake him.

He shifts slightly, pulling me closer even in his sleep.

And my heart…

It does something strange every time he does that.

I smile faintly.

“I hated you,” I whisper in my mind.

And it’s true.

I hated him for what he did.

For taking away my choices.

For forcing me into something I didn’t understand.

But now…

I don’t know when that hate changed.

Maybe when he let me shout.

Maybe when he didn’t react to my anger.

Maybe when he ate that spicy food without saying a word.

Or when he got my books.

Or when he said sorry.

Or today…

When he cried in front of me.

I close my eyes for a second.

“I can’t live without you.”

The thought comes so easily now.

So naturally.

And that scares me.

Because I never wanted to depend on anyone like this.

But he is not just someone anymore.

He is…

My person.

The one I wait for.

The one I worry about.

The one I want to see win.

And the one I cannot imagine losing.

I tighten my hold around him slightly.

“I can’t share you,” I admit silently.

The idea of someone else in his place…

Or me not being here…

It feels wrong.

Completely wrong.

“And I can’t leave you.”

Because somewhere between pain and care…

Between anger and understanding…

I fell in love with him.

Completely.

Without planning.

Without permission.

And now…

There is no going back.

I look at him again.

His breathing is calm.

Peaceful.

Finally.

“You don’t even know what you have become to me,” I whisper softly, though he cannot hear me.

I lean down slightly and press a gentle kiss on his forehead.

My hand rests over his.

And I close my eyes.

Because for the first time in my life…

This feels like home.