She had looked up to the old man as family. And even though she now knew he was family in a way she had never imagined, the trust she once placed in him no longer existed. She did not trust anyone anymore.
After returning from Karan’s suite, Mishti had not stepped out of her room even once. Both meals were ordered in. She ate alone, as she always did now. She did not want to disturb Avni either. This was her wedding. Her days were already overflowing with responsibilities, smiles, rituals and expectations.
Then again, Avni was Karan’s sister. That truth still sat unsettled inside Mishti, and she did not know how to look at Avni without feeling that fracture inside her chest.
Close to midnight, unable to sleep, she stepped out onto the balcony of her room. It overlooked the vast gardens of the resort. At this hour, everything was dark and quiet, almost deserted. The moon hung full in the sky, casting a pale glow over the grounds. The breeze was colder than it had been during the day, enough to make her fold her arms around herself instinctively.
She stood there for a long moment, recalling her earlier call with Komal this evening.
Komal had urgently called her after she had learned about Avni’s wedding through Abhimanyu, happening in Jaipur. The coincidence of both Mishti and Karan being in the same city had worried Komal immediately, and she had called Mishti to inform her. Even to ask her whether Mishti knew that Karan even had a sister, one who was marrying Rajat.
And then Komal had gone silent on the other end of the call when Mishti told her the truth. That Avni was the same woman whose wedding she had flown across continents to attend. Her boss was none other than Rajat’s father, and Avni was Karan’s sister, which she got to know only after coming here today.
Komal too was stunned at the coincidence and furious when Mishti told her how Karan, Rajat, and Abhimanyu had always known where she was, and how VK had kept that truth hidden all along, standing quietly with them, supporting their silence.
Komal empathised with her, calling it sick of these men to hide something so crucial from their partners. Not just Karan, even Abhimanyu never mentioned Avni to Komal.
Mishti knew there had to be a reason behind it, too. With Karan involved, secrecy like this was never for the sake of secrecy alone. She did not doubt that. And yet, she hated it all the same.
She told Komal everything. About meeting Karan again here in Jaipur. About the shock of discovering how much had been kept from her. About how deeply it had hurt her. How angry it had made her feel.
That was when Komal asked her something she had not expected.
She asked her what exactly had hurt her?
When she had already been longing to go to Mumbai once, even if only to see Karan from a distance… then why had seeing him here bothered her so deeply? Wasn’t it a good thing that despite knowing exactly where she was, he had never interferedin her life for eleven long months? That he had never moved on? Didn’t that mean something good for her now?
That thought had crossed Mishti’s mind, too.
It brought with it a faint sense of relief that Karan had never stopped looking out for her, never moved on with someone else. And yet, she could not ignore the other truth either. That he had still hidden Avni, about the bond they shared. Still controlled the narrative. And most importantly, what did he want now? How far was he willing to go to keep her with him again?
And the question that frightened her the most was the one she had not answered even to herself.
What did she want?Was she ready to go back to him… If he chose to chase her relentlessly from here?
She hugged herself, rubbing her palms over her upper arms as the night breeze turned colder.
And that was when she saw him.
Karan.
He stood at the darker edge of the garden, still dressed in the same shirt and trousers, no jacket. His sleeves were rolled up to his elbows, his broad shoulders still carrying that air of control he never truly lost. He held a bottle of whisky in his hand and drank straight from it, alone in the shadows, unbothered by who might see him.
It was one of his old habits—drinking late into the night when stressed, or when anger refused to settle. And though Mishti had always hated that habit of his, she had never once stopped him either.
The very next moment, almost as if he sensed her gaze on him, Karan lifted his head and looked up.
Mishti stiffened as even from that distance, his eyes found her. And that single look was enough to send an unexpected warmth rushing through her body.
He did not look away.
Neither did she.
Whatever she had built in London.
Whatever distance she had put between them.
Whatever past she had tried to bury.
