Chapter 22 — His Purest Sin

Veeresh sat alone in his office at the Yuva Sena party headquarters.

The files on his desk remained untouched.

His mind was somewhere else.

His father's words returned to him.

Love is not politics.

Love is not a game.

Veeresh leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes.

He knew his father was right.

Politics was about strategy.

Politics was about calculating every move.

Politics was about knowing when to step forward and when to step back.

Love was supposed to be different.

But what he felt for Poornima had never been simple.

He was obsessed with her.

He had craved her for five years.

And now she was his wife.

His eyes opened slowly.

Veeresh: "Maybe love isn't politics. Maybe it isn't a game."

He paused.

Veeresh: "But I'm obsessed with her."

A faint smile appeared on his face.

He remembered Poornima sitting with Noor.

The way she had called her Bubba.

The way she had smiled at the baby despite everything she was going through.

His expression softened.

Veeresh: "She will be with me forever."

He knew there was a darkness inside him.

A ruthless side that had helped him survive the political world.

A side that didn't hesitate when it came to protecting what mattered to him.

But Poornima had become something different.

Something he could neither explain nor control.

Veeresh: "Even if I have to be ruthless, I'll protect what is mine."

He stopped for a moment.

Then his voice became quieter.

Veeresh: "But my only purest sin..."

He looked down at his hands.

Veeresh: "The only purest sin I ever committed was my wife."

He smiled faintly.

Veeresh: "Poornima Veeresh Qureshi."

Saying her full name made something inside him settle.

She was his wife.

Not because of politics.

Not because of power.

Not because of his father's expectations.

Because he had wanted her.

Because he had loved her long before she knew it.

Veeresh: "She is my purest sin."

He leaned back and stared toward the ceiling.

Veeresh: "I crave her like oxygen to my life."

He knew she didn't understand his feelings yet.

She probably couldn't even imagine loving him after everything that had happened.

But Veeresh believed time would change things.

Veeresh: "One day, you'll love me."

His voice carried complete certainty.

Veeresh: "One day, you'll understand me."

He imagined a future where Poornima no longer looked at him with anger.

A future where she laughed freely in their home.

Where she pursued her dream of becoming a chef.

Where Noor ran toward her calling her something only she could understand.

A future where the three of them were simply a family.

Veeresh smiled.

Veeresh: "And we'll live happily."

He knew that day wasn't today.

Maybe it wouldn't be tomorrow.

Maybe it would take years.

But he was willing to wait.

Until then, he would give her time.

He would give her space.

He would let her hate him if she needed to.

But inside his heart, one thought remained unchanged.

Veeresh: "Until that day..."

He looked toward the photograph on his desk.

Veeresh: "She is only mine."

He closed his eyes again.

For the first time, Veeresh understood that his greatest battle would not be against a political opponent.

It would be against the anger and hurt of the woman he loved.

And unlike politics...

this was one battle he couldn't win by force.