Chapter 36 — Six Months Without Her

Veeresh walked into the dark room of the mansion and closed the door behind him.

The room was silent.

Too silent.

He stood there for a moment, replaying Poornima's words in his mind.

I need time for myself.

I just can't live like this.

I don't know what I'll decide after six months.

His jaw tightened.

He turned toward the wall and punched it.

Once.

Again.

And again.

His knuckles began to bleed, but he didn't stop immediately.

Veeresh: "I can't let her go."

His voice was low and broken.

He looked down at his injured hand.

Veeresh: "But she needs time."

He leaned against the wall and closed his eyes.

He didn't want to leave her.

He didn't want six months without her.

She was his askim.

His cennat.

The woman he had spent five years craving.

The woman who had somehow become the center of his life.

Veeresh: "How could I live without you for six months, Poons?"

He looked toward the empty doorway.

His mind immediately went to Noor.

Their Bubba.

The little baby who had completely stolen Poornima's heart.

Noor had become Poornima's world.

And somehow, Noor had also become Veeresh's world.

He remembered the way Poornima would call her.

Poornima: "Bubba, come to me."

He remembered Noor running toward her.

He remembered Poornima laughing while playing with her.

He remembered the evenings when he would find the two of them together.

And now he was supposed to live without both of them.

Veeresh lowered his head.

Then another memory returned.

The slap.

His expression changed.

He remembered the day he had found out that Poornima had gone through the breastfeeding process to help Noor.

He had been furious because she had done it without telling him.

He had worried about her health.

But his anger had gone too far.

He had crossed the line.

He had raised his hand against her.

And she had slapped him back.

Her words still lived inside his head.

My father never raised his hand on me.

And you did.

Add this to your list.

I will not forgive you.

Veeresh closed his eyes.

Veeresh: "I'm sorry, Poons."

He knew that apology didn't erase anything.

He couldn't take back that moment.

He couldn't undo the fear and hurt he had caused her.

And that was one of the reasons she had spent the entire year keeping her distance.

For one whole year, she had avoided him.

She spoke only when something was necessary.

She rarely started conversations.

She would walk past him without looking at him.

And the teasing had slowly disappeared too.

No more casual arguments.

No more playful insults.

No more—

"Asshole husband."

Veeresh almost smiled at the memory.

He had once been irritated every time she called him that.

Now he would give anything to hear it again.

He missed her voice.

He missed her arguments.

He missed the way she would complain about him.

He missed the way she would call him gadha when he annoyed her.

He missed seeing her roll her eyes at him.

He missed her sitting beside him at dinner.

He missed her asking him to help with her saree.

He missed her suddenly handing him her phone and saying,

"Photographer husband, take a good picture of me."

He missed everything he had once taken for granted.

Even her anger.

Especially her anger.

Because at least when Poornima was angry, she was still speaking to him.

Now she wanted silence.

She wanted distance.

She wanted six months to understand herself.

Veeresh slowly sat down.

His bleeding knuckles rested against his knee.

Veeresh: "How will I survive without you?"

He looked toward the ceiling.

Veeresh: "Six months without you..."

His voice became quieter.

Veeresh: "And without Bubba."

He took a deep breath.

He knew he couldn't force Poornima to stay.

Not anymore.

If he truly wanted her to choose him someday, that choice had to be hers.

So Veeresh wiped the blood from his hand and stood up.

He still didn't know what the next six months would bring.

But one thing remained certain.

He loved Poornima.

He loved their Bubba.

And even though every part of him wanted to stop her from leaving...

this time, he would let her choose.

Because perhaps that was the only way he could prove that she was more important to him than his obsession with keeping her.