“Kabir,” she hesitated.
“What?” he asked, dread sinking his heart. “What the fuck now?”
“You can’t fly out, not to New York.” Varsha glanced over to where Ved stood, watching her with a frown.
“Why not?” Kabir’s demanded.
“Your aunt died.”
The words didn’t make sense. Nothing made sense anymore. Tani was gone. His aunt was dead. And now…what?
“I thought the doctors said she had time,” Aayushi asked, coming to stand beside Kabir, an arm going around his waist bracing him, steadying him.
“She did but,” Varsha hesitated, her gaze on Kabir’s white face. “She overdosed earlier tonight. Her body couldn’t take whatever she’d pumped into it. I’m sorry.”
There was a dull roaring in Kabir’s ears, one that seemed to drown out everything else. Dimly, he heard Ved ask, “Where’s the child?”
“She left for boarding school this morning,” Varsha answered. “She doesn’t know yet. Someone has to tell her.”
“I will.” Kabir’s lips felt numb, the words emerging from them with difficulty. “I’ll tell her.”
“We’ll come with you,” Ved told him.
Kabir nodded, unable to comprehend how everything had changed in the space of a few hours. “Tani-“
“She’ll understand,” Aayushi told him.
Maybe she would. Maybe she wouldn’t. Kabir couldn’t tell. What he couldfeel, deep in the bruised, battered chambers of his heart, was the unbearable truth that somehow, impossibly, he was back in this same place again.
Once again, he wasn’t choosing the woman he loved. Once again, he was letting her slip through his fingers, walking away from her while pretending it was for her own good, pretending he could survive the cost of losing her.
Once again, he was watching her leave instead of fighting for her.
CHAPTER 42
TANISHA
Winter in New Yorkwas magical. Everywhere Tani looked, Christmas spirit had erupted in earnest, spilling out of store windows, wrapping around lampposts, clinging to fire escapes. The city glittered under strings of fairy lights, every corner draped in holly, ribbons, and enough tinsel to make even the dullest street shimmer. Some storefronts had gone overboard, dangling mistletoe in places that made unsuspecting pedestrians duck or laugh as they passed.
Snow dusted the sidewalks like scattered sugar, melting into slush in some places, sparkling like crushed diamonds in others. Carols drifted from speakers outside cafés, mixing with the hum of traffic and the laughter of bundled-up tourists trying to capture the perfect holiday photo.
It was chaotic, loud, crowded and magical. A city that somehow felt softer in winter, as though even New York knew the world needed a little extra magic this time of year. God knows, Tani did.
She kept her head down as she trudged through the scurrying pedestrians. Six weeks, she thought. Six weeks since she’d left Kabir and come back to the city where it had all begun. Theirlove story, their heartbreak, their bitter war, and their cycle of hurt. It had all begun here. And yet, this city had her heart. This was where she’d come to heal.
Six weeks of silence between them.
She’d stayed in touch with her family, getting constant updates on what was happening back home. So, she knew all about Kabir’s aunt’s passing and the shit storm that had hit his life the day she’d flown out of Mumbai.
She’d stayed off her phone but her heart wouldn’t let her completely abandon him at a time like that. She knew he had his family. Hell, he even had her family…But he hadn’t had her and that had been unacceptable to her.
So, she’d started emailing him. An email a day. Her ‘Dear Kabir’ emails as she thought of them had ranged from comforting, loving, friendly, to angry, bitter, and hurtful. Every thought, every feeling, every last strain of regret, she’d committed it to the ether of the internet sending it whooshing off to his inbox.
And she hadn’t heard back. Not one word. Nothing came whooshing back.
And yet, she knew he was fine. She knew Zara and he had taken a little break together, away from her school and his work, and flown to Australia to spend a little time together, to hopefully forge a relationship that could work for the two of them.
She had a picture of the two of them snorkelling near the Great Barrier Reef tacked up on her fridge. Her mother had sent her that one with a note that said, ‘He’s fine.”
