She studied him. Said nothing more. Which said enough.
Mahesh folded his hands. “The meal is ready. But first, by tradition, the family should go to Kul Devi for her blessing.”
Abhinav adjusted the garlands around his neck. “Let’s go.”
The path to the temple ran through the center of the estate.
People moved aside as the family passed. Bells rang ahead. Sandalwood and jasmine thickened the air.
Abhinav walked with his mother’s hand resting in the bend of his arm. Tears kept slipping down her face, quiet, soundless. Her fingers clutched his sleeve, as if letting go might undo something she could not afford to feel all at once.
He glanced at her. At the grief etched deep. At the years that had carved their absence into her.
His grip tightened, drawing her closer. “Careful, Maa. The stones are uneven.”
She nodded, her voice refusing to come.
Naina stayed on Sarita’s other side. Her earlier spark had faded. She reached for her mother’s free hand and did not let go.
The three moved as one. Across the courtyard. Until the temple came into view.
It stood at the center of the Haveli.
Massive. Older. Simpler.
The silver threshold caught the light.
Inside, lamps flickered. Far within, barely visible, the black stone goddess sat surrounded by flame.
Abhinav stopped. His father had spoken of this place near the end. When everything else had begun to slip away. When names and dates blurred and only the oldest memories remained.
He had spoken the goddess’s name with a softness that had made Abhinav turn his face away. His father had died anyway. In pain. Stripped down piece by piece while they stood by and watched.
And this goddess had remained here. Unbothered.
The thought settled into him the way it always did. Cold. Familiar. His gaze on the temple went blank. He stood at the threshold and felt nothing that resembled devotion. He did not pretend otherwise. There was no reason for him to perform it.
Sarita’s grip tightened on his arm. She felt the change in him without looking.
“Hukum.” Devendra stood near the entrance, posture formal, expression warm. His gaze turned toward the inner chamber.
“Meera.”
The name struck.
Understanding came at once.
This was her. The woman who had blocked three buyers. Who had turned every move into a wall. Who had forced him out of Dubai and into this place.
A beat passed.
And Abhinav forgot how to breathe.
Chapter 7
The inner chamber glowed with rows of diyas, their light reflecting the ancient stone.
Meera stood within it.