"Don't." She held up a hand. "Don't lie to me. I saw her touching you. Saw you touching her."
"I was removing her hand!" His voice rose, frustration evident. "She showed up uninvited, threw herself at me, and I was getting her off me when you apparently decided to spy through the door!"
"I wasn't spying—"
"Then what were you doing?"
"Walking past! Hearing voices! Being an idiot who thought maybe my husband was working late instead of entertaining the woman who's been trying to steal him for nine months!" The words burst out of her, months of insecurity finally exploding. "God, I'm so stupid. Nisha was right—"
"Nisha?" His eyes narrowed dangerously. "What does my sister have to do with this?"
"She let Mihika into your office. Gave her the code. And then very helpfully explained that I'm just temporary, that Mihika is permanent, that some connections can't be broken." Advika laughed bitterly. "And you know what? She's right. I've been here nine months, and I'm still the outsider. Still fighting for a place in your life while women who've known you longer just waltz in whenever they want."
"That's not true—"
"Isn't it?" She moved to grab her suitcase, but he blocked her. "Move, Sidharth."
"No."
"I'm done." Her voice cracked. "I'm done with the jealousy and the games and never knowing where I stand. I'm done fighting for scraps of affection from a man who can't even—"
"Can't even what?" He grabbed her shoulders, forcing her to look at him. "Say it. Finish that sentence."
"Can't even love me back!" The words tore from her throat, raw and honest and devastating. "I love you. I've loved you for months. And I know you care about me, I know you want me, butit's not enough anymore. I can't keep being the only one all in. I can't keep wondering if one day you'll wake up and realize you married the wrong woman."
"You think I don't—" He stopped, jaw clenching, the words clearly struggling to come out.
"You don't have to love me," Advika continued, her voice breaking. "This marriage was never about love. I know that. But I can't keep doing this—being married to someone I love while wondering if he'll ever feel the same. It's killing me."
"So you're just going to leave?" His grip tightened. "Give up?"
"I'm not giving up. I'm saving myself." She pulled free of his hold. "I'm going to my bakery. Don't follow me. Don't send guards. Just... let me go."
"Advika—"
"Give me one reason to stay." She looked at him, her eyes swimming with tears. "One real reason. Tell me you love me. Tell me I'm not just convenient. Tell me something that makes this worth fighting for."
He stared at her, his amber eyes stormy with emotion. His mouth opened, closed. The words were right there—she could see them in his eyes, in the way his hands reached for her then dropped.
But he couldn't say them.
"That's what I thought." She grabbed her purse, her phone. "Goodbye, Sidharth."
She walked past him, out of the bedroom, down the stairs. Every step felt like she was ripping her own heart out, but she didn't stop.
He didn't follow.
At the bottom of the stairs, she found Nisha, still wearing that satisfied smile.
"Leaving so soon?" Nisha asked. "What a shame. I was just getting used to having you around."
"Go to hell," Advika said flatly. "And take your bitch of a friend with you."
She walked out the front door, into the night, and didn't look back.
The bakery was dark and quiet when Advika let herself in. She locked the door behind her, set the security system, and only then did she let herself collapse.
Great, heaving sobs shook her body as she sank to the floor of her beautiful kitchen—the kitchen he'd given her, the space he'd created for her, the gesture that had made her think maybe he really did care.
