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“Then look where you’ve always found your answers,” he said. “From that quiet space inside you that always knows what is right. The one that’s never let you down. You know what I mean. You’ve said it yourself—your best ideas don’t come from trend charts or market reports. They come from you. Your roots. Your memories.Your why.”

She stilled.

He saw her eyes shift, not just in thought, but into her soul, like something old and familiar had just been stirred awake.

“Go back to that,” he added softly. “That mindset. That spark. Learn to trust it again.”

Before she could ask him what he meant, his phone buzzed. He glanced at it, then back at her. “I need to take this. You’ll be okay?”

She nodded slowly. “Yeah…”

He stepped away to answer, and she stood there for a second, thinking.

Where she always finds her answers?

She turned, her eyes automatically drawn to the view outside Shaurya’s living room window. The Raichand Villa. And beside it,the mango tree.

The same tree her Daadi had planted.

The same tree under which her childhood had flourished.

And suddenly, like someone had flipped a switch in her head, ideas started flooding in.

Her eyes lit up with the kind of hope she hadn’t felt in months.

Before Shaurya could finish his call, she rushed up to him and kissed his cheek in excitement.

“Thanks!” she whispered only for his ears before she bolted towards the door, practically skipping down his porch steps.

He turned, confused, still holding his phone. And then, he smiled, watching her disappear into the sunlight like she’d just been handed the key to the universe.

And maybe she had.

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

Next Day – Hospital – Orthopaedic ward

Shaurya sat beside Keshav Raichand, waiting patiently as the nurse laid out the tools for the cast removal. The old man grumbled for the third time in ten minutes.

“Why are these hospital rooms always freezing? It’s like they want us to fall sick again just to keep their business running.”

Shaurya smiled, knowing the nurse heard it too. “Or maybe they know cranky old men like you won’t stop throwing tantrums during such procedures, unless distracted by something worse.”

Keshav shot him a look, but it lacked the venom of their previous encounters.

“You think you’re funny, but I know what you’re doing. You are trying to divert me before they bring out that wicked saw.”

“It’s not a saw,” Shaurya deadpanned. “It’s a cast cutter. Safe and efficient. You’re not about to lose a leg.”

“I better not. Or I’ll haunt this hospital, and you better keep your lawyers ready to sue them. One scratch on my skin, and you have my full permission to file a case against them.”

Shaurya chuckled just as the nurse gently began cutting through the plaster. Grandpa winced slightly but bore it like a soldier. Shaurya stayed close, watching every movement, ensuring Grandpa was comfortable. His protective instincts were oddly heightened around the man, despite the fact that they’d spent half their acquaintance insulting each other.

When the cast finally came off, Grandpa stretched his leg slowly, wincing but managing through the discomfort. Shaurya held his elbow, steadying him.

“See? You’re already halfway back to terrorising the neighbourhood.”

“Huh! I was never out of commission,” Grandpa muttered. But his eyes softened.