Arvind Khanna entered the ballroom in a charcoal bandhgala, rain still shining faintly on his shoulders.
He did not look at the host.
He did not look at the investors.
He did not look at the men already straightening their backs, preparing their best smiles, calculating how to turn one handshake into business.
He looked only at me.
For one second, the room did not understand.
Then he smiled.
Not the polite smile he gave newspapers.
Not the controlled smile from business magazine covers.
The real one.
The one I saw every morning when he found me reading in the balcony with cold tea beside me.
The one that still made me feel like I had been found after years of hiding in plain sight.
He walked toward me.
Slowly.
Deliberately.
Every step took something from Raghav’s face.
Confidence first.
Then amusement.
Then colour.
By the time Arvind stopped beside me, Raghav looked like a man watching his own reflection change into a stranger.
“Sorry I’m late,” Arvind said softly.
I looked up at him.
“You said five minutes.”
“Delhi traffic fears no billionaire.”
A laugh moved through the room, but it was nervous.
Because everyone was staring.
Arvind turned toward Raghav then.
Not rudely.
Not dramatically.
Just enough.
“Mr. Malhotra,” he said.
Raghav blinked.
“You know me?”
Arvind’s smile stayed calm.
“I know most people who send proposals to my office every week.”
Raghav’s throat moved.
“Of course. Sir, I have been trying to meet you regarding the logistics expansion—”
Arvind lifted one hand.
“Tonight is not for that.”
Then he reached for my hand.
Not to display me.
Not to prove a point.
Just because he always did when rooms became too sharp.
His fingers closed around mine.
Warm.
Steady.
Home.
The host, suddenly remembering his job, spoke into the microphone.
“Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Mr. Arvind Khanna and his wife, Mrs. Ananya Khanna.”
Wife.
The word moved through the hall like thunder under silk.
Priya’s smile died first.
Raghav stared at our joined hands.
Then at my face.
Then at Arvind.
His mouth opened slightly, but nothing came out.
Someone at the back whispered, “His wife?”
Another voice said, “Ananya married Arvind Khanna?”