Page 190 of Lawfully Yours

Kushal stilled behind her, his chin brushing her hair, his breath steady against her ear.

“But now,” she went on, voice trembling ever so slightly, “now that we’re back together…When I see what marriagecanbe… what it means to stay, to fight for someone you love, I don’t think I could ever want to see another couple break up. Especially not for reasons that could be fixed.”

He smiled faintly against her hair, his breath warm on her ear. “So what you’re saying is, the top divorce lawyers in the city should consider a career change?”

She huffed a small laugh but didn’t smile for long. “I’m serious, Kushal,” she said, turning in his arms just enough to look up at him. “These days, divorce has become so common… and honestly, so absurd at times. I understand when people walk away from a marriage that’s truly broken, where there’s pain, abuse, neglect… We’ve seen those cases. In those situations, leaving isn’t a weakness. It’s survival.”

He nodded, agreeing and urging her to go on.

“But what about the ones who give up over ego? Over one argument? Or a handful of misunderstandings that could’ve been solved if they just… talked.” Her voice choked with emotion. “People are more eager to walk away now than to sit down and fix what’s wrong. They’d rather post about moving on than admit they made mistakes. Communication, patience, understanding…they’ve all become old-fashioned, I guess.”

He listened, his thumb tracing idle circles on her hipbone, the gesture so gentle yet so intimate.

“I wish,” she said after a pause, “people would at least try. Just once. Because half of these relationships don’t die because of lack of love… they die because of pride.”

“Like ours almost did,” he murmured.

She nodded slowly, meeting his eyes. “Yes. We let our egos, our tempers, our careers… everything come between us. Weboth thought love would survive anything, but it doesn’t, not unless you feed it, not unless youworkfor it. And we almost forgot that.”

He brushed his knuckles along her jaw. “But we found our way back.”

A small smile touched her lips. “Somehow, yes. We fell in love again… a little wiser, a little softer. We worked through our flaws instead of pretending we didn’t have any. Maybe that’s what love is —choosing to fightwitheach other, notagainst.”

Kushal exhaled as her words sank in. “So you want to save marriages now, Mrs. Nair?”

Her smile deepened. “I just wish more people could find what we found again. I wish more marriages were saved instead of written off as failures.”

He leaned in, his lips barely brushing her ear. “Maybe we should become marriage counsellors now.”

She finally laughed. Even Kushal chuckled low, that deep, husky laugh that always made her heart skip. “We’d be the most biased counsellors in town, Mrs. Nair.”

“Why?”

“Because every session would end with me telling the husband to do exactly what I did…never let her walk away.”

She tilted her head, smiling faintly through the shimmer of tears that hadn’t quite fallen. “You realise if we start doing that, half of our clients will disappear.”

Kushal grinned against her cheek. “Hmm. Let them. I can think of better ways to spend that free time.”

That earned him a mock glare and a faint blush, but she didn’t pull away. Her hand found his shirt collar, tugging him closer again. “Of course you can,” she whispered.

He tilted his head slightly, whispering against her lips, “And right now, all I can think about… is getting you out of this dress.”

Her cheeks warmed, but she didn’t look away. Instead, she slowly lifted her hands and began buttoning his shirt. The silk maroon one that clung perfectly to his frame was her weakness too. When only the top button remained undone, she paused and met his gaze again.

“And I don’t want anyone peeking at what’s mine either,” she murmured.

He grinned again, loving the possessive note in her tone. Arundhati slid her palm over his chest teasingly.

That did it. He caught her wrist, his thumb grazing her pulse before he pulled her closer until her body fit against his. “I love this side of you,” he whispered. “Jealous. Claiming. Mine.”

She smiled against his chest. “I’m still learning from the best.”

He tilted her chin up, his eyes burning into hers. “You should stop doing that,” he murmured.

“Doing what?”

“Looking at me like you’re already imagining how I would get you out of that dress.”