They reached the main courtyard.
Meera stopped and turned. “Day Four. Complete.” A slight tilt of her head. “Tomorrow. Eight o’clock. Wear something you don’t mind ruining.”
She left before he could respond.
He stood there, watching her disappear down the corridor.
“Beta.”
He turned.
Sarita and Naina sat at the table, chins resting in their hands, eyes fixed on him. Naina’s grin stretched wide. Sarita’s eyes shone with quiet delight.
He looked at them. Then toward the corridor where Meera had disappeared. Then back again.
“Not a word.”
Neither of them spoke. They simply continued watching him, deeply satisfied.
Abhinav turned and walked toward the family wing with as much dignity as he could manage.
Behind him, Naina made a small sound.
He did not turn back.
Chapter 22
Day Five
Meera walked toward the gate, phone in hand, her thoughts refusing to settle.
She had a plan for the day. A clear one. The farms, the cooperative, the full scope of what the Haveli stood for beyond its walls.
That part worked.
The rest of her mind did not.
It kept returning to Thakur Abhinav Kumar Anand.
His hand on the wall. The moment he found his father’s name. The tightening in his throat, held in place by force.
She had wanted to go to him. Close the distance. Hold his face. Rest her forehead against his and tell him, without words, that this place had known grief before. That it could carry his too.
Instead, she had placed her lamp beside his. It was most likely the right choice. It had made the pull worse.
This morning, she had sat before the Kul Devi and tried to meditate. Five full minutes. Eyes closed. Breath steady.
Her thoughts had gone straight to his breath near her temple.
She had tried again. Properly this time. Focused on the flame. On the goddess. On irrigation cycles. Crop rotation.
His hand in hers as she led him up the stairs.
Her eyes had opened.
“I am trying,” she had informed the goddess with full sincerity. “You saw that. A little help would be appreciated.”
The goddess had remained unhelpful.
