Afternoon, 1 PM…At Anamika’s house…
Saniya had planned to sleep for just an hour. She’d even set an alarm before drifting off. But when her eyes finally fluttered open, four hours had passed — and the alarm had never gone off.
Her fever had broken, though her body still felt a little heavy. She blinked, trying to adjust to the dim room. The curtains were drawn shut, which was strange. She was certain she hadn’t closed them herself.
Swinging her legs over the bed, she spotted a bowl of water on the side table, with strips of cloth floating inside.
She checked the clock.
1 PM.
She sighed deeply and muttered, "Someone turned off my alarm!? That… I told him to stay away from my problems…!"
Thinking that, she walked outside. She assumed it must have been Aniket, since he was the only one who knew about her fever. But as soon as she saw Anamika in the kitchen, she stopped in her tracks.
She hesitantly walked over to her and said, "You… Anu… when did you get here?!"
Anamika was in the kitchen preparing food to serve — planning to take it directly to Saniya’s room.
Anamika, busy ladling steaming food into bowls, turned with a smile.
"How are you feeling now? Fever’s gone?"
Before Saniya could answer, Anamika crossed the room and placed her palm gently against her forehead.
"Mm, it’s gone. Come on — eat."
Saniya sank into a chair at the dining table, watching as Anamika began setting food in front of her.
"When did you get here? And… was it you who turned off my alarm?”
Anamika, making a childlike innocent face, replied, "Yes! How could I send you to the hospital for work when you had a fever? Don’t worry… Director Rudra is a really nice and kind man! He approved your leave for today without any issue."
"You called Mr. Malhotra, Anu?" Saniya asked while taking a bite of food.
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Anamika froze for a second and then, like a kid caught red-handed, replied, "Well… I took help."
"From whom?"
"From the person I came here with."
Saniya looked at her and said, "Aditya dropped you off? Early in the morning? And he has that much free time? That’s surprising."
Anamika quickly said, "He has absolutely no free time! He’s working on a project. Ruhi was telling me earlier — his schedule is packed till 1 AM tonight!"
"Even with so much work, he came to drop you off?"
Anamika hesitated.n"N-No… it wasn’t Aditya. It was Aniket. He’s the one who told me you had a fever." She pouted, voice softening. "You’re sick so I don’t want to scold you… but I’m still upset! Why didn’t you tell me? I left early, yes, but you could have at least messaged me. I’d have come running!"
The expression on her face was a mix of worry and indignation — as though the world’s biggest secret had been hidden from her.
Saniya’s lips curved into a small smile. She reached over, gently tapping Anamika’s forehead.
"I’m not a child anymore, Anu. And now that my Anu is a working woman, why would I disturb her in the middle of her job?”
Anamika grabbed her hand and said, "To hell with the office! For me, you come first. By the way… you should thank Aniket! He just left half an hour ago. You know… while I was putting cold clothes on your forehead, he cooked our lunch so that when you woke up, you could eat hot food!"
Looking at her plate, Saniya said, "Did he really cook this?"
"Yes! He made it himself!" Anamika smiled. "Is it good?"
Saniya hesitated slightly before saying, "Yes… it is good."
"Then we should thank him! He helped us so much today!"
At that, Saniya turned her face away and said, "No need. It’s not like we asked him to help us. If he chose to do it without asking, then there’s no need to thank him for it."
Hearing her stubborn tone, Anamika laughed.
And somewhere else, someone else was also laughing at her words.
It was Aniket!
Earlier, he had called Anamika to ask about Saniya. Anamika had been about to answer the call while taking food out, but when she saw Saniya coming from her room, she put the phone aside. By mistake, she had actually answered it.
Aniket realized she hadn’t meant to pick up, but he wanted to know what Saniya and Anamika talked about when alone — so he stayed silent and just listened.
When his name came up, his excitement grew even more.
Hearing Saniya refuse to thank him out of sheer stubbornness, he thought to himself, "She walks around with a devilish aura, but her stubbornness… is just like a child’s! Crazy girl…"
With that thought, he hung up the phone.
Meanwhile
"Bhai… come on! Please, Bhai… take a half day and come out with me!"
Aditya looked at her and said, "Why are you being stubborn like a child? I told you… today isn’t possible. Go somewhere by yourself… I’ll send the driver with you."
Eira pouted and sat on the chair opposite him, dramatically saying, "My brother doesn’t love me! Work, work, work… it’s all you do!"
Aditya sighed deeply and said, "Eira… kiddo… the thing is, this project I’m working on has to be completed in just one week. Please understand."
Eira pouted harder, looking away.
Aditya closed his laptop.
"Alright. It’s my lunch break. I can take you somewhere for that time. Deal?"
"Just lunch?!"
"Too much greed is dangerous. If you don’t take this, you might end up with nothing. And it’s just for one week — after that, I’ll take you somewhere nice."
"Promise?"
"Promise." He ruffled her hair. "Now hurry — I’ve got a meeting in two hours.”
Rolling her eyes, Eira said, "Yeah, yeah… fine!"
Saying that, she grabbed her brother’s hand and walked out.
Meanwhile
She had two phones — one from the office for work-related calls with clients, and the other her personal phone.
Her personal number wasn’t with any strangers — so who could this be?
After last night’s incident, she feared it might be the person who had her brother’s phone — calling from another number.
Feeling nervous but gathering courage, she answered the call.
A young man’s voice slid through the line — smooth, almost mocking.
"You really shouldn’t answer a stranger’s call like that, sweetheart."
