IT WAS MEANT TO BE HIM

28- Ignoring me???

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Kabir woke up to an empty bed.
Erica wasn't there.

After getting ready, he headed downstairs for breakfast. The soft murmur of voices greeted him from the dining area. There she was — sitting with Smriti and his father, quietly eating, her face calm, her laughter faint but polite.

Kabir pulled out his chair and sat down. His gaze drifted to her instinctively. She didn't look up. Not once. Her eyes stayed glued to her plate as though he didn't exist.

A faint crease appeared between his brows.
Why isn't she looking at me?

When she suddenly stood up, Kabir's jaw clenched.
Is she ignoring me?

A few steps away, Erica began talking to Tai, her tone light, her smile easy — but still, not a single glance toward him.

Kabir pushed his chair back and stood. "Tai... I'm going," he said, his deep voice cutting through the calm of the morning. Somewhere inside, he thought maybe—just maybe—she'd finally look his way.

Tai blinked, startled. "You want something, baba?" she asked gently.

Erica turned away, pretending to fix her dupatta, and started to leave.

Kabir's expression flattened. "Nothing," he said shortly, his tone edged with quiet irritation, before striding out of the house.

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Erica had finally found a way to deal with him.
Out of sight, out of mind.

That was her new plan — to stay away, keep her heart intact, and never again give him the chance to hurt her.

By evening, Kabir returned home. The house felt the same — quiet, elegant, orderly — but something was off.

Her absence.

Or rather, her deliberate avoidance.

She moved around him like he was invisible — slipping into other rooms the moment he entered, keeping her eyes trained anywhere but on him. Every small act of indifference was like a spark against his already fraying temper.

He could feel irritation rising in his chest, slow and hot.

Because once upon a time, it was him who'd kept the distance — his silence, his withdrawal, his cold walls. And even then, no matter how furious he'd been, she had still around him. Quietly present. Always near.

But now... now she was treating him like he didn't even exist.

And that—
that stung in a way he hadn't expected.

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Kabir sat down for dinner, but after taking just one, two spoons, he pushed the plate away and left the table, disappearing into his room.

Once dinner was over, Erica entered the dining area. Sunita Tai was bent over a conversation with some of the other servants, discussing something important.

"What happened, Tai?" Erica asked, stepping closer.

"See, bahu... Kabir Baba didn't eat anything," Tai said, worry creasing her brow. "He left the entire plate. If he didn't like something, he would have said so! But why... why leave everything?"

Erica picked up the spoon he had used and tasted the food from his leftover plate.

"Umm... it's too spicy for him, Tai! He won't eat this. Who made the food?"