"The macarons were good," he said quietly. "The lavender honey ones. They were my favorite."
Then he left, closing the door softly behind him.
Advika lay in the dark, her body still humming with pleasure, her heart aching with a pain that was becoming far too familiar.
He'd eaten her macarons. He'd noticed. He'd cared enough to tell her.
But he still wouldn't stay.
She was caught in a trap of her own making—hating him for his distance, craving him for the moments when the distance disappeared. Falling deeper and deeper into feelings she couldn't afford while he remained safely behind his walls.
This couldn't go on. Something had to change.
But as Advika drifted off to sleep in the empty bed, she had no idea how to make it stop.
Chapter Six
Month Four
The dinner party was Nisha's idea, of course.
"Just a small gathering," she'd announced at breakfast three days ago, her smile sharp enough to cut glass. "Some of my closest friends. Very intimate."
Which meant Mihika would be there. Because Mihika was always there lately, materializing at the estate like a persistent ghost, her eyes following Sidharth with barely concealed longing.
Advika should have been used to it by now. Four months of marriage, and Mihika's presence was as constant as the sunrise. Coffee meetings that ran long. Business dinners where she'd appear uninvited. Casual drop-bys where she'd be dressed like she was going to a nightclub, not visiting a friend.
And Sidharth... Sidharth never encouraged it, but he never shut it down either. He was polite, distant, treating Mihika the same way he treated everyone except Advika in their bed.
But it still made Advika's blood boil.
"Do I have to attend?" Advika asked, pushing her toast around her plate.
"You're family," Nisha said sweetly. "Of course you have to attend."
Rishabh caught Advika's eye across the table, his expression sympathetic. He knew what this dinner was really about—another opportunity for Nisha to make Advika uncomfortable in her own home.
"It'll be fun," Nisha continued. "I've invited the Malhotras—not Vikram, don't worry—and the Kapoors, and of course Mihika. She's been dying to catch up with Sidharth. They have so much history, you know."
History. The word was loaded, deliberately chosen to make Advika feel like the outsider she was.
"Fascinating," Advika said flatly. "I can't wait."
Sidharth, who'd been focused on his phone throughout this exchange, finally looked up. His gaze moved between his sister and his wife, some unreadable emotion flickering in his amber eyes.
"Play nice," he said to both of them. "I don't want drama at dinner."
"When do I ever cause drama?" Nisha asked innocently.
Advika bit her tongue to keep from laughing. Or screaming. She wasn't sure which.
The dinner was exactly as awful as Advika had anticipated.
Nisha had arranged the seating with surgical precision—Mihika to Sidharth's right, herself to his left. Advika was placed at the far end of the table, between Mr. Kapoor (who spent the entire meal talking about his stock portfolio) and Mrs. Malhotra (who kept asking invasive questions about when Advika and Sidharth planned to have children).
From her vantage point, Advika had a perfect view of Mihika's performance.
And it was a performance. The way she laughed at everything Sidharth said, her hand constantly finding reasons to touch his arm. The way she leaned in close when speaking to him,her body language screaming intimacy. The inside jokes she referenced, reminding everyone that she'd known him long before Advika entered the picture.
