"I would have stood here all week. All month. However long it took."
"You're soaked. You're probably going to get sick."
"I don't care." His grip on her hand tightened. "I don't care about anything except you. Except us. Please, Advika. Please come home."
She should make him work for it more. Should make him grovel, should protect her heart, should be smart about this.
But she'd never been smart when it came to him.
"Get inside," she said finally. "Before you catch pneumonia and I have to explain to Rishabh why I let his brother die in the street."
Hope flared in his eyes. "Does that mean—"
"It means get inside before I change my mind."
He scrambled to his feet, following her into the bakery. She locked the door behind them, then just stood there, not knowing what to do next.
They were both dripping on her clean floors. He looked like a drowned rat. She probably didn't look much better.
And yet, when he reached for her, she didn't pull away.
"I love you," he said again, his hands cupping her face. "I should have said it months ago. Should have said it last night. Should have said it every day since I realized it. I love you, Advika. You're it for me. The only one."
"You hurt me," she whispered. "So many times."
"I know. And I'll spend the rest of my life making up for it." His forehead touched hers. "I'm not good at this. At being vulnerable. At being soft. But for you, I'll learn. I'll try every day to be the man you deserve."
"I don't want perfection," Advika said, her hands coming up to grip his wrists. "I just want honesty. I want you to talk to me instead of pushing me away. I want to be your partner, not your possession."
"Yes. Anything. Everything." He kissed her forehead, her cheeks, everywhere but her lips. "Just come home. Please."
Advika closed her eyes, feeling the last of her resistance crumble. "Okay."
"Okay?"
"Okay, I'll come home." She pulled back to look at him. "But things have to change, Sidharth. Really change. No more walls. No more shutting me out. We're a team, or we're nothing."
"A team," he agreed immediately. "Partners. I promise."
"And you have to deal with Nisha. Really deal with her. What she did—letting Mihika into your office, sabotaging us—that can't happen again."
"Already done. I banned Mihika from the estate permanently. And I told Nisha she needs to apologize to you. A real apology."
Advika raised her eyebrows. "Really?"
"Really. You're my wife. My priority. She needs to accept that." He pulled her closer. "Can I kiss you now? I've been standing in the rain for fourteen hours dreaming about kissing you."
Despite everything, Advika smiled. "You're dripping on my floor."
"I don't care about your floor. I care about you." His hands slid into her hair. "Please let me kiss you."
"You're going to make me sick—"
He kissed her, cutting off her protests. And God, she'd missed this. Missed him. Missed the way he held her like she was precious, kissed her like she was oxygen.
When they finally broke apart, they were both breathing hard.
"We should go home," Sidharth said. "Get out of these wet clothes. Talk properly."
