Chapter 7 – Memories That Never Left

The first rays of the morning sun filtered through the curtains.

Poornima slowly opened her eyes.

For a moment, she didn't move.

She looked down and realized Veeresh was still asleep, one arm wrapped around her protectively, holding her just as he used to years ago.

His face looked peaceful.

She quietly looked at him.

The warmth of his embrace brought back memories she had tried so hard to forget.

The mornings when he would refuse to let her get out of bed.

The way he would call her "Poons" with a sleepy smile.

Their laughter...

Their little arguments...

The day Aradhya was born.

The day Rudra came into their lives.

For a brief moment, it felt as though nothing had changed.

A tear escaped the corner of her eye.

She quickly wiped it away before it could fall on his hand.

Her mind drifted to the previous night.

"Don't you miss me, Poons? It's been years... You didn't even ask me how I was."

"Sleep... It's been a long time since I slept like this."

Those words echoed in her heart.

She closed her eyes for a second.

She had wanted to ask him how he was.

She had wanted to tell him she had missed him too.

But after everything that had happened between them, the words had remained trapped inside.

Looking at his sleeping face, she whispered so softly that only she could hear,

Poornima: "I did miss you, Veer... more than you know."

She gently tried to move his arm away without waking him, knowing that once the house came alive, they would once again become two people pretending that nothing had changed.