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Shaurya didn’t know the whole story about the Raichand family, not really. He didn’t know that Nandini’s parents, her grandfather’s only son and daughter-in-law, had made their home in London, and had never looked back. That their visits were far and few between, their calls brief, their sense of duty little more than a checkmark on a holiday list.

Her grandfather never said it aloud, but she had always sensed it. That quiet ache beneath his stern exterior. The hurt that came not from being alone, but from being left behind and forgotten.

Shaurya had no right to throw that in his face. Not in front of the whole community.

But then again, neither did her grandfather have the right to say something so cruel to him.No woman could ever fall in love with a man like you.That sentence had landed like a slap, even to her ears.

She had no idea about Shaurya’s ex-wife or his past, but she had seen the pain etched across his face in that moment. And it haunted her.

For the first time, Nandini didn’t know whose side to take.

She was torn and conflicted in a way that left her mind spinning and her chest heavy.

But one thing she did know for sure was that, this couldn’t be left like this. Not after what just transpired. She couldn’t just watch him walk away after that harsh blow and pretend everything was okay.

The moment her grandfather took a breath, gave her a tight nod, and turned back to his group of old friends, who immediately began offering him support, Nandini slipped away quietly.

She didn’t even stop to think.

She walked out of the community hall to find Shaurya. She wasn’t going to let this go, not without a conversation, even if it meant marching to his villa and throwing her own chaos right into the heart of his carefully guarded walls.

*****************

Shaurya’s feet pounded on the pavement as if the rage inside him had settled into his very bones. He didn’t know where he was going. His legs moved on their own will, and his mindwas trapped, circling back, again and again, to the war of words exchanged in that community hall. Keshav Raichand had crossed every line of civility tonight.

There was one thing Shaurya had mastered in his life, and that was to maintain control. But that very control had cracked like brittle glass the moment Grandpa had spoken those words.

No woman could ever fall in love with a man like you.

He had heard his fair share of cruel things before. His divorce had been very public, messy in its silence, and heavy in its aftermath. But tonight’s jab… it had struck something deeper inside him. Not because it was the harshest insult he’d ever heard, but because it had echoed the darkest thoughts he still carried in the deepest part of his own mind.

He turned sharply into another lane, only to realize that this wasn’t the way to his villa. The night air was sharp against his skin, but it did nothing to cool the burn within him. Streetlamps flickered overhead, casting long shadows as he yanked his phone from his pocket. His thumb hovered over her name.Rhea.

One year, three months, twelve days.

It had been that long since he’d last spoken to her. Since those divorce papers had been signed, and she had walked out of his life as if it were nothing more than an expired lease.

His thumb moved on the keypad as he dialled her number.

One ring.

Two.

Three.

Still no answer.

His fury kept building as the calls went unanswered. Enough of her ugly games and drama. Tonight, he would talk to her and put an end to this once and for all.

Four.

Five.

And then…click.

“Hello?”

That voice. In the past, it used to calm the storms in his mind. Now, it just stirred them up.