Yamini stopped.
Her body reacted before her mind did. A small ache, right beneath her ribs, sharp and unwelcome.
Pooja noticed, of course.
“Oh,” Pooja murmured. “You kept them.”
“They belong here,” Yamini said, her mouth pressed into a line.
“Do they?” Pooja asked gently.
Yamini's gaze stayed on the last image, the way the light caught the edge of his cheekbone, the hard line of his mouth.
She remembered that mouth.
The way it had kissed her at the frozen lake, like he was starving. The way it had never kissed her at all before that, not until she'd asked. The way he could be fire at midnight and ice by morning.
Her fingers twitched at her side to stop herself from touching his picture.
Taking a deep breath, she looked away.
Just as she was about to continue, the air in the gallery shifted.
People had begun murmuring. Security tightened near the entrance.
A woman near the centerpiece whispered, “Is that—”
“It is,” someone answered.
Pooja's eyes widened. “Yamini—”
Yamini's gaze remained at the entrance.
Rani Suchitra walked in wearing a deep wine-colored silk saree with a muted gold border. The jewelry was understated and elegant as always, with just a pearl necklace and ear studs.
She didn't scan the room the way a guest would. She simply entered, and the gallery grew quieter around her. Even people who had never met her straightened without realizing it.
Yamini's heart jolted.
She didn’t expect Rani Suchitra to be there, despite the invitation.
Yamini forced herself to move forward, her face composed into something that felt like a mask.
“Rani Ma,” she said.
Rani Suchitra's gaze settled on her, steady and unreadable.
“Yamini,” she replied.
Her voice was formal and controlled. It wasn’t warm, but not hostile either.
Rani Suchitra didn't say anything else. She simply began walking through the exhibit.
Yamini followed, her pulse loud in her own ears.
Rani Suchitra paused in front of the large portrait of the woman in the hard hat. Studied it for a long moment.
She moved to the photograph of the hands. The scars. The marks.
