The launch was in full swing. The atmosphere was alive with the hum of conversations, camera flashes cutting through golden light as the screens displayed the new joint venture of Rathod Corporation and Kulkarni & Co. . Clusters of investors and board members lingered near tall cocktail tables, sipping champagne, dissecting numbers and possibilities. The room gleamed with soft golden light, but his eyes found her like gravity.

There she stood at the cocktail table. Draped in a saree—elegant yet simple—she wasn’t vying for attention, yet she became the attention. Not as his wife, not as someone under his wing, but as an independent presence. Perhaps brought along even if he doesn’t wanted..