Page 45 of Always? Forever.

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He didn’t respond.

I turned to look at him, ready to say something, anything. But then I saw his face.

And the thing is... he wasn’t mad.

He wasn’t jealous.

He wasn’t even smug about what just happened.

He just looked quietly furious. Not for himself. But for me.

“Why did you do that?” I asked, voice low.

“Do what?”

“Step in like that. You didn’t have to. I could’ve handled it.”

He tilted his head slightly.

“I know you could have. But you shouldn’t have to. Not alone.”

And just like that, something in me cracked.

I’d spent so long pretending I didn’t care. Convincing everyone, including myself, that I was fine. That Hriday hadn’t broken me in a way I never acknowledged out loud.

But Kartik… he saw through it.

And he didn’t ask for explanations. He didn’t expect anything in return.

He just showed up.

“He never defended me like that,” I murmured before I could stop myself.

There. It was out.

He didn’t gloat. Didn’t smile. He just stood there, eyes locked on mine. “That’s probably because he never really saw you,” Kartik said quietly.

The words hit me like a wave. I looked away, blinking furiously. But a tear slipped out anyway.

I turned, wiping it quickly.

He gently put his hand on my back, but didn’t pull me into a hug. He didn’t crowd me. He didn’t take over.

He just stood there.

Steady. And that moment right there? That was the beginning of the end. Not of me falling for him, that part had probably already started. But of my ability to pretend I wasn’t.

“Can you drop me home?” I needed to think. I needed space or else I would suffocate.

He nodded, called his driver, and the car pulled up moments later. We sat in silence, the kind that buzzed in your ears, as New York blurred past.

It was strange, how a place so alive could feel so empty.

So far from home.

He dropped me off. He seemed hesitant to ask something but decided against it. His car waited till I was inside my apartment, then it left.

Chapter 32

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