Yahvi slipped into the bedroom, her fingers still curled tightly in the apron pocket around the faded photograph. She forced her face into calmness, though her heart hadn’t stopped racing since she’d opened the mysterious box. The shadows inside her pressed heavy, but she swallowed them down. Not today. Not on his day.

Vedansh stood by the mirror, straightening the collar of a charcoal turtleneck under a sleek trench coat, his hair falling neatly into place. Around his wrist gleamed the watch she had gifted him the night before. He adjusted it with care, almost reverence, as though it wasn’t just a watch but a piece of her he wanted close.