I hurled the nearest glass against the floor. It shattered like my insides had already done hours ago. And for a brief,breathless second… it felt good.
Kartik didn’t flinch. Instead, he stepped closer and placed a hand on my shoulder. “You need to tell Kiara.”
“She’s gone,” I growled, voice cracking. “I have a meeting in two minutes.”
“No, you don’t,” he said evenly. “I’ve got it covered. Go.”
“Kartik—”
“You’re Manav Oberoi. You could ground every flight in the country if you wanted to. You could damn well catch one before she landed.”
I stared at him, heart pounding, logic and longing in a war neither could win.
He stepped even closer, his voice quieter now, but unwavering. “You don’t want to spend the rest of your life wondering if she would’ve stayed. Go. Before this becomes another regret you can’t undo.”
And he was right.
Fear had controlled me for far too long—fear of loss, of being abandoned again, of what it meant to let someone trulyseeme. But Kiara wasn’t just someone.
She’d broken down my walls without even trying. She’d made me believe in things I never let myself hope for.
And the thought of never seeing her again was unbearable.
It wasn’t just losing her.
It was losing the version of myself she made me believe I could be.
19 ♥?Kiara
I don’t understand this feeling—this wave of nausea that just won’t quit. It’s like I want to vomit and never stop. I’ve barely slept in two nights, and now I’m stuck with this gnawing, relentless anxiety that refuses to let me breathe.
Maybe it’s guilt. Maybe it’s regret. Maybe it’s both.
I shouldn’t have left Beaufort like that. I shouldn’t have lefthimlike that.
I’d wanted to hug Manav goodbye. To tell him I’d miss him. And now, a few hours later, I already miss him more than I can bear.
I stared out the window of the plane, clouds blurring past as my thoughts circled the same moment. It wasn’t just a kiss. It wasthekiss. The kind that undoes you from the inside out. The kind that leaves a blueprint on your soul.
The way his lips moved against mine—slow, cautious, like he was giving me the chance to pull away. But I didn’t. I couldn’t. The second his hand cupped my cheek, thumb brushing the edge of my jaw, everything else faded. Time. Sound. Sense.
And then he breathed my name like a secret he’d been dying to say aloud. His chest pressed to mine, his heartbeatjust as erratic as mine. And when he pulled back, forehead resting against mine—something inside me trembled. It was terrifying. And exhilarating.
And I left.
Stop thinking about him, Kiara… You’re back in India.
God—what’s the point of a private jet if it still dumps you at a public airport? I asked the pilot, and he launched into a monologue about orders and clearances and blah blah blah.
But thank the universe for small mercies—Naira and Akash were waiting outside. And maybe I could do something about my face before I saw them. I didn’t want to look like I’d just crawled out of an emotional sinkhole.
As I stepped out of the terminal, the first thing I heard was Naira arguing with Akash about coffee flavors. The familiarity of it made me smile before I even saw them.
Then came two warm, bone-cracking hugs that felt like home.
They’ve always been my people—the closest I have to family. We don’t see each other often. Their mom, Aunt Sara, lives in California, and her visits to India are rare. But whenever they’re here, time just folds in on itself like we never left.
“Hi! You’reglowing, Kia,” Naira beamed. “Are you in love?”
