The return to Mumbai was quieter than their departure. There was no excitement this time – only a quiet anticipation of returning to a place she had slowly begun to call home. Never in her life had she even dared to dream of living in a villa like this.…

Kolkata was the same – alive, chaotic, humming with a rhythm that never truly slowed – but for Sameer and Naina, something within them had shifted. Kamarpukur had left behind a softness in them, a quiet warmth that lingered even as they stepped back into the familiar colonial charm…

Naina had only ever read in books about people whose faces seemed to reflect their kindness; an enduring charm that did not fade with age, where wrinkles only added depth and character. That description came back to her the moment she saw the woman who had stepped forward to…

Anger… It was an emotion not new to Sameer Maheshwari. He had been angry several times before – at an young age when he had realized that his mother had left him alone in hostel; when he had known the real reason of his mother’s hatred for him; when…

Fairlawn hotel’s lobby was a 2-stage affair with the reception and waiting lounge in a sunken circle in the centre, with golden tiled flooring that refracted the lights from the warn crystal chandeliers above. The three steps leading up to the perimeter were glossy black with gold border, and…

The big white bungalow in Ahmedabad felt utterly tranquil from outside but contained chaos inside as Vishakha Somani raged and sulked alternately at her father’s silence. It had been like this ever since Jaiprakhash Maheshwari came back from Mumbai a day ago. Munshiji had picked him up from the…