"Bhai! See? He’s troubling me again!"

I heard my sister’s voice ring out and sighed.

I swear, I am completely done with my siblings.

One moment they stick to each other like best buddies, and the next, they fight like wild animals.

I glanced up at my mother’s picture hanging on the wall.

'See what you left me with?' I complained silently before getting up.

I walked into the living room and found my brother, Advit, intentionally messing up my sister Advika’s hair.

"Advit, how many times do I have to tell you not to touch her hair?" I said sternly. "You know she hates it when anyone messes with it."

"Exactly why I love doing it," he replied cheekily.

I pinched the bridge of my nose.

"Stop bothering her, Advit. Otherwise, I will give her full permission to mess with you however she pleases."

He looked at me as if I had just kicked his puppy.

"That’s not fair, Bhai! You’re totally biased!" He pointed an accusing finger at me.

"If you have the right to trouble her, then she has the right to trouble you. I’m being completely fair," I shrugged.

"Dad, look at how biased your eldest son is!" he whined.

I turned around and saw Dad rolling toward us in his wheelchair.

"You could have just called one of us, Dad," I said, immediately walking over to help him transition onto the living room couch.

"Relax, beta. I can move around freely in our own home," he tried to assure me with a weak smile.

My dad’s legs have been paralyzed ever since that unfortunate night fifteen years ago—the same accident that cost us our mother.

Dad was in a coma for ten long years after that.

It was as if he simply didn't have the will to live without her.

Five years ago, he finally woke up. But he hasn't been the same.

He tries hard to show us he's fine, but I know he isn't.

He misses our mother terribly, yet he hides his pain for the sake of my siblings and me.

He carries an immense amount of guilt for being absent from our lives for those ten years.

Because of that tragedy, I had to assume the role of a parent and mentor to my younger siblings when I was just ten years old.

To me, they feel more like my own kids than my brother and sister.

Our grandparents were there to look after us, of course, but they couldn't replace our parents.

We lost our grandmother seven years ago, and our grandfather followed her three years ago.

"Why were you bothering my daughter, Advit?" Dad asked, putting on a face of mock anger.

Advit gave him a sheepish smile.

"Your daughter is my twin, Dad. I have a birthright to trouble her," he said, leaning over to pinch her cheeks.

Advika just glared at him.

"Did you take your medicines?" I asked Dad.

He pulled a bitter face, causing me to narrow my eyes at him.

"Dad, you are fifty-two years old. Act like it. You cannot afford to be careless with your health."

"Calm down, Aadi. I took them," he said softly, putting his hands up. "I’m your father, remember? Not the other way around."

"You can't joke about your health, Dad," I said, refusing to back down.

"He’s right, Dad," Advika chimed in, standing up to wrap her arms around his shoulders from behind.

"We don't want to lose you again," she added, her voice suddenly vulnerable.

"Advi, bacche, I’m not going anywhere. I am right here with you all," he comforted her gently.

"You better be. You have to stay with us and play with our future kids," she said with a grin.

"Kids?" Advit interjected, looking shocked. "Who said you were allowed to get married?"

Advika glared at him.

"Yes, Advi," Advit joked. "We aren't going to let you get married. We can't ruin some poor guy's mental peace."

"You’re only nineteen, Advi. Don't fantasize about marriage just yet," I lectured. "When you're actually of age, we’ll think about it."

"I don't want any boy near my daughter," Dad stated firmly. "But if she absolutely insists on getting married down the line, we will just look for a ghar jamai."

Advika beamed at that. "Best idea ever, Dad! That way I won't have to leave my family, and I can still enjoy married life."

"Advi," I called out sternly. "No more marriage talk. Focus on your studies and your dreams, bacche."

She nodded obediently.

I grabbed a glass of orange juice from the counter and took a sip.

"Bhai, do you have a girlfriend?" Advi asked out of nowhere.

I instantly choked on my juice, coughing into a napkin.

"Where on earth did that come from?" I wheezed.

"You seemed to be in a suspiciously good mood yesterday," she said with a knowing smirk. "It feels like I might be meeting my Bhabhi very soon."

I could feel Dad and Advit’s intense gazes drilling into me.

I cleared my throat, trying to regain my composure. "It's nothing like that."

"Do you like someone? Please be honest!" she pleaded, giving me her best puppy-dog eyes.

Knowing I couldn't completely lie to her, I gave a small nod.

"Who is she?" she asked excitedly, jumping a little.

"You’ll know if there’s ever a chance for us," I said, standing up to leave.

"Otherwise, let it stay a mystery for now. Now, excuse me. I have an important meeting today."

With that, I quickly made my escape before they could interrogate me further.

I was driving to my office when a very familiar figure on the side of the road caught my eye.

My heart skipped a beat.

I immediately pulled my car over and got out.

There she was.

The woman who had been occupying my thoughts so much lately that it was becoming genuinely difficult to focus on work.

She looked absolutely radiant in the morning light, wearing a simple light-blue anarkali suit.

I walked up to her. "Is something wrong?"

She turned around, startled, before letting out a relieved sigh.

"Actually, yes. My car just betrayed me. I was on my way to meet my family, but I completely forgot to check the fuel tank," she whined, gesturing to the dashboard.

"Where exactly are you heading?" I asked.

She hesitated for a split second before giving me the address.

"I can give you a lift. I’m headed that exact way anyway," I lied smoothly.

I was actually supposed to go in the exact opposite direction for my meeting, but she didn't need to know that.

She looked at me skeptically, crossing her arms.

"And how am I supposed to just get into a car with a stranger?"

"Well, we aren't exactly strangers," I reasoned, offering a charming smile.

"You have my business card, and you know my name. Besides, you've helped my family twice now. Consider this a small repayment."

She pondered it for a moment, then pulled out her phone and typed rapidly.

"I just sent my elder brother my live location. You better not try to kidnap me," she warned, raising an eyebrow.

A laugh bubbled up in my throat, and I had to bite my lip to keep from smiling too widely.

"Fair enough."

I walked over and opened the passenger door for her.

She slid in gracefully, and I walked around to the driver's seat and started the engine.

For the first few minutes, a comfortable silence filled the vehicle.

I honestly couldn't believe that the woman who had managed to steal my heart was sitting right next to me.

"So... you don't live with your family here?" I asked, breaking the silence.

"My family lives in Udaipur," she explained, looking out the window.

"The estate we own here is a bit too far from the LSE campus, so my father bought an apartment for me nearby. I live there with a roommate. My family is only in town for my graduation ceremony which is day after tomorrow."

"Congratulations on graduating," I said sincerely.

"Thank you," she smiled.

"What did you study?" I asked, though I already knew the answer.

Don't think of me as a stalker—let's just call it general knowledge.

"International Business at LSE," she replied.

"Wow. You must be incredibly intelligent to pull that off," I noted.

She just smiled modestly in return.

"You know, you really aren't like the typical heiresses or spoiled princesses we see at business events," I observed out loud.

She turned her head to look at me, amused. "How can you be so confident about that? You barely know me."

"I know enough," I said, keeping my eyes on the road.

"The way you helped my sister the other day spoke volumes. If it were some entitled, spoiled brat, she would have rolled her eyes and left a younger girl to deal with her panic alone."

"I just see things differently, I guess," she murmured.

"How so?"

"I always try to put myself in the other person's shoes," she said softly.

"I think about how I would feel if I were the one stranded or struggling, and how much I'd wish for a hand."

"That makes you empathetic," I said, genuinely impressed.

"Everyone should be," she replied with a gentle smile.

"But don't you ever feel just a little bit superior?" I pushed a bit further, curious to know her mind.

"You have royal blood. You're a wealthy heiress, the only daughter of a powerful family. People usually find plenty of reasons to be arrogant with a background like that."

She shook her head without a hint of hesitation.

"I didn't choose to be born into a royal family. I didn't earn any of that wealth myself, and I didn't do anything to earn my family's status. It was all handed to me by luck. So, I have absolutely no right to be arrogant about things I didn't work for."

She is truly one of a kind, I thought, a deep sense of admiration settling in my chest.

After about half an hour of driving,

I finally pulled up near the grand gates of the Rathore Villa.

"Thank you so much, Adhyant," she said, unbuckling her seatbelt.

"You were great company. You didn't let the drive get boring at all."

"The pleasure was entirely mine," I smiled.

"Zindagi rahi toh phir milenge," she joked lightly, stepping out of the car.

I parked by the curb and kept my eyes on her until her elegant silhouette disappeared past the security gates.

Once she was gone, I pulled out my phone, opened my notes app, and typed today's date in it.

Then, with a massive grin on my face, I turned the car around and drove toward my office.

How was the chapter?