Chapter 61 The Distance She Asked For

Poornima sat quietly for a moment after he finished speaking.

Her fingers tightened slightly over the bedsheet.

“Mr Qureshi…” she said softly.

Veeresh immediately looked at her.

“Yes, begum jaan?”

There was something different in her expression.

Not confusion.

Not fear.

Something heavier.

“I think…” she paused, choosing her words carefully, “I should go to my house.”

The words landed slowly.

But deeply.

Veeresh’s expression changed instantly.

“What happened?” he asked, his voice softer now, cautious.

“Begum jaan… tell me.”

Poornima looked at him, her eyes honest as always.

“I feel like a burden,” she said quietly.

He shook his head immediately.

“No.”

But she continued.

“It’s not the first time,” she said. “These memories… they come suddenly.”

Her hand moved to her head unconsciously.

“And it hurts… a lot.”

Her voice trembled slightly.

“Sometimes it feels like… I just want to take my brain out and stop it.”

Veeresh’s chest tightened hearing that.

He stepped closer, but she kept speaking.

“I saw yesterday,” she said softly. “You left everything and came.”

A pause.

“And I know… you will keep doing that.”

Her gaze dropped for a second.

“I don’t want that.”

He frowned slightly.

“Poornima…”

“I will stay at my house,” she said, finally looking at him again. “You can visit me when you are free.”

The sentence was simple.

But it created a distance he was not ready for.

Veeresh stood there, silent for a moment.

Processing.

Holding himself together.

Then he took a slow step closer.

“No,” he said quietly.

Not harsh.

But firm.

Poornima looked at him.

“I am not leaving you there and coming here like a visitor,” he continued.

His voice remained calm, but there was something deeper underneath.

“You are not a burden.”

Each word was clear.

“You are my responsibility… and more than that…”

He paused.

His eyes softening.

“You are my wife.”

Poornima didn’t interrupt.

But she listened.

“I left everything because you matter,” he said. “Not because you are a problem.”

His hand gently reached for hers.

“If this happens ten times, I will come ten times,” he added.

“If it happens a hundred times, I will still come.”

There was no frustration in his voice.

Only truth.

“You don’t get to decide that you are a burden to me,” he said softly.

Poornima’s eyes shifted slightly, something moving in them.

“You don’t remember,” he continued, “but you stood for me when the whole world questioned me.”

His voice lowered.

“You chose me.”

A pause.

“And now… it’s my turn.”

He held her hand a little tighter.

“You don’t go anywhere.”

His tone softened again.

“Not like this.”

Poornima looked at him quietly.

There was conflict.

Understanding.

And something else.

He stepped closer.

“If you need space, I will give you space,” he said. “If you need silence, I will stay quiet.”

A small pause.

“But not distance.”

His thumb brushed lightly over her hand.

“I am not visiting you,” he said gently.

“I am staying with you.”

Silence filled the room.

But it wasn’t heavy anymore.

It was filled with something else.

A choice.

And this time…

He wasn’t letting her walk away from it.