“I had the second ultrasound. Did you see the pictures?”
A reluctant smile tugs at my mouth. She’s excited. I should be too. They’re having a baby, for God’s sake. But everything lately feels like it’s moving in fast-forward—and I’m stuck in pause.
“I... yeah, I saw them. Twelve weeks now? Or is it eleven?”
“It’s thirteen,” she says quietly. “Are you... will you visit? I’ll make that stupidkoftayou like.”
Their kindness guts me. Because if I hadn’t ended up in the hospital two months ago, they wouldn’t be treading on eggshells like this.
If the pills had worked, they’d be mourning—butmoving on.
Now they’re stuck in this limbo with me.
“I’d like that, Ishi,” I murmur. “Maybe next week.”
I have zero intention of showing up. But if it keeps her smiling, fine.
We hang up after a few polite exchanges. I stare at my laptop, like it might suddenly offer answers. Something, anything.
It’s been seven hours since I opened the Greesha dossier.
And yeah, maybe if I look at it again, it’ll finally sink in. Never does, though.
That she’s gone. That I need to stop reliving a life that doesn’t exist anymore.
The overdose was supposed to be an end.
But now it’s being framed as a beginning.
My therapist—whom I was forced to see—says I’ve created an alternate reality in my mind. One where she’s still alive. One where I still get to love her.
And the dossier is how I drag myself into functioning. A coping mechanism, he calls it.
I call it survival.
“Mr. Advik?”
Gitika’s voice pulls me out of my head. She’s GenVault’s executive assistant. Somehow, she manages four senior partners on her own. I still don’t know how she does it.
“Yeah?” I say, shifting into my practiced professional tone. I don’t remember what my real one sounds like anymore.
“Mr. Dev’s in the Serenity Room. Prepping for the presentation. Mr. Mehul Bedi will be here in about an hour.”
“Got it. I’ll be there in a minute.”
She leaves, and I sag in my chair.
I skim the ten-slide deck. It’s solid. Not mind-blowing, but solid enough for a first meeting.
Mehul Bedi—big industrial name. Textile and furniture magnate. International trade. Recently developed a thing for smart tech and integrated home systems.
Which means:our territory.
I can do this. Security’s my lane. I can project-manage theshitout of this.
But this also happens to be my first major client pitch since...
Since that night.
