HIDDEN HEARTS

chapter 93. Consequences

Dev sat at his desk, the soft glow of the laptop screen reflecting in his tired eyes as his fingers moved steadily over the keyboard. The room was quiet, wrapped in the calm of late evening, when the door opened without a sound.
Aditi walked in, carrying two cups of coffee.

The aroma reached him before he noticed her. She placed one cup beside his laptop, her fingers brushing his knuckles for a fleeting second as she handed it to him. Dev looked up, his expression softening instantly.
“How was your day?” he asked, leaning back slightly in his chair.

“Fine,” she replied, settling on the edge of the desk. Her eyes wandered to the screen for a moment before she smiled faintly. “Did you see the photos? Adira and Adheer’s pictures. They look beautiful.”

Dev nodded. “Mom shared them in the family group.”

Adriti picked up her cup, warming her palms around it. “Adira is so lucky. Imagine being taken to so many countries just for a pre wedding shoot.”

Dev took a sip, unfazed. “We are lucky too. We travel abroad on almost every vacation.”

She smiled, but it did not quite reach her eyes. “Of course we are. Still, travelling only for a shoot feels different. We never had that. Forget a pre wedding shoot. Even our wedding pictures were never clicked properly.”
Her words hung in the air, light but edged with something unspoken.

Dev closed the laptop slowly. “The pre wedding or wedding shoot may not be possible now,” he said casually, then looked at her with a spark of mischief. “But we can still do one shoot. Anywhere you want.”

Her head snapped toward him. “Really? Which shot?” she asked, excitement lighting up her face.
He leaned forward slightly, his voice low and deliberate. “A maternity shoot.”

The smile on Adriti’s face froze. Realisation dawned, followed by disbelief. She hit his chest lightly, more startled than annoyed. “Shut up. That’s not possible anymore.”
Dev caught her wrist gently, pulling her closer. “Why not?” he murmured. “I think Rudransh and Gungun would love another sibling.”

Her cheeks warmed instantly. She looked away, flustered, but Dev had already closed the distance. He bent down, capturing her lips in a soft, lingering kiss that carried more promise than urgency.

A sudden loud noise broke the moment.
They pulled apart at once. The door burst open and little Bunny ran in, eyes wide with mischief, then vanished straight into the closet without a second thought.

Dev and Adriti exchanged a look. Silence followed.

Moments later, the nanny rushed in and stopped short on seeing them. “I’m sorry, sir,” she said quickly. “I didn’t know you were here, otherwise I would have knocked. I’m in a hurry.”

Dev composed himself instantly. “We understand. What happened?”

The nanny sighed. “Bunny baba has hidden Badi Dadi’s glasses somewhere. Now she is scolding all the staff. She is very angry and Bunny baba is refusing to say where he kept them.”

Adriti pointed calmly toward the closet. “He’s in there.”

Before the nanny could respond, voices from the corridor grew louder. Aditi straightened and said, “Wait, I’m coming.”

She turned to Dev and shot him a warning glare.
Dev raised his hands in surrender. “I understand. Very bad plan,” he said quietly. “Rudransh is more than enough for us.”
Adriti shook her head with a tired sigh and walked out of the room.

Dev leaned back in his chair, exhaling slowly as the room fell silent again. He closed his eyes for a moment, steadying himself, reminding his racing thoughts to slow down.
Some ideas, he decided, were better admired from a distance.