Chapter 28

Kabir's POV

The whiskey burned as he swallowed, but his thoughts burned hotter.

The room was silent, the dim lighting casting long shadows across the polished floor. His laptop sat untouched on the table, open to an email he had no intention of answering tonight.

Because he was looking at something else.

His phone screen.

The photo.

He hadn't meant to take it. Hadn't even realized he had until he opened his gallery and saw it sitting there, unfiltered, too real.

Aria.

Bathed in golden sunrise, her hair loose, her face lit up in laughter, Trek curled against her like he belonged there.

She looked… happy.

Completely unaware that someone had been watching her.

That he had been watching her.

Kabir exhaled slowly, gripping the phone tighter.

What was he doing?

This wasn't him.

He didn't get distracted by people.

He didn't take accidental photos and then stare at them like some lovesick idiot.

He didn't—

A knock.

Sharp. Late.

Too late for anything but trouble.

His jaw clenched. He already knew who it was.

When he opened the door, Sanya stood there.

Barefoot. Her heels dangling from one hand, a half-empty glass of whiskey in the other. Her lipstick smudged just slightly.

She didn't smirk this time.

She didn't even try.

Instead, she just looked at him.

And the first words out of her mouth were, "I was with Aria."

Kabir stilled.

Sanya stepped inside, moving slowly, her expression unreadable.

"She knows," she said, watching him carefully. "Not everything. But enough."

A slow, aching pause.

Kabir felt something in his chest tighten. "Sanya—"

"She didn't say much," Sanya interrupted, setting her drink down with a quiet clink. "Didn't argue. Didn't try to deny anything."

She gave a small, worn-out laugh.

"She didn't need to. She knows something's happening, even if neither of you will admit it."

Kabir didn't respond.

Didn't move.

Because this conversation was happening too fast.

Because this was the last thing he wanted to hear.

Sanya studied him, and for the first time, her expression wasn't jealous.

It was tired.

"I spent years waiting," she murmured. "Telling myself that if I stayed long enough, if I was patient, if I did everything right… one day, you'd see me."

She took a step forward, tilting her head.

"But you never did."

His grip on the phone tightened.

"And now," she whispered, "I have to watch you look at someone else the way I always wanted you to look at me."

Silence stretched between them.

A slow, suffocating weight.

Then, finally, Sanya exhaled.

"I thought I hated her," she admitted. "I don't."

She lifted her gaze, something raw in her voice.

"I hate that you never even gave me a chance."

Kabir clenched his jaw. He couldn't give her what she wanted. He never could.

Sanya let out a quiet, humorless laugh.

"You know what's funny?" she murmured.

His silence was enough of an answer.

She nodded toward his phone.

"You were looking at her picture when I knocked, weren't you?"

Kabir's pulse stilled.

Because she was right.

Because he hadn't even locked the screen.

The image of Aria and Trek was still there.

Sanya sighed. Not angry. Just… resigned.

"For once, Kabir," she said, voice quieter now, "make a damn choice. Fight these feelings… or fight for her."

She turned toward the door, pausing just before stepping out.

"I hope you don't make the mistake of waiting too long."

And then, she was gone.

Leaving Kabir standing in the middle of the room, phone in hand, staring at a picture of the one person he wasn't supposed to want.