🏙️ “Long-Distance Love, Close-Distance Pain” - Chapter 4

 

Chapter 4: Aditi 2.0

"She didn’t glow up to impress anyone. She healed, rebuilt, and rose — for herself."

One year later.
Mumbai, 10:15 AM.
Aditi walked into her office with her usual grace—heels clicking, sleek black blazer hugging her shoulders, a soft nude lipstick framing her determined smile.

She had just been promoted as Client Account Lead at Clarity Branding Solutions, one of the top firms in the city. Her strategies were smart, her pitches sharp, and her deadlines never missed.

No one who met her now could imagine the broken girl she once was.
Not even her reflection.

Her phone buzzed.
Rhea: "Big meeting today? New client?"

Aditi replied with a wink emoji and a photo of her coffee:
“Let’s see what the universe brings.”

10:45 AM. Conference Room 5B.

Her assistant handed her the client brief. “It’s an international luxury product brand. Big budget. Long-term collaboration.”

“Name?” she asked casually, scrolling through the slide deck.

“Ravelle Industries. CEO just moved back to India. Young, ambitious, emotionally detached. Like all of them,” her assistant said with a playful roll of eyes.

Aditi smirked. “Great. Another ego to manage.”

11:00 AM. Sharp.

The glass door slid open.

And time… stilled.

Aditi’s heart didn’t just skip a beat. It stopped altogether.

Because standing at the door—suit crisp, jaw firmer, eyes impossibly familiar—was Aditya.

Her Aditya.
The ghost she’d buried.
The chapter she’d sealed.

Now a client. Her client.

Their eyes met.

He froze, too.
The folder in his hand almost dropped.

“Aditi…” he whispered.

Her spine straightened. Her grip tightened around the marker in her hand. But her expression? Calm. Ice-cold. Professional.

“Mr. Verma,” she said smoothly, extending her hand like she didn’t know it once held his dreams. “Welcome to Clarity. Shall we begin?”

The meeting began.
But neither of them were really present.

Aditya watched her, stunned. This was not the girl he left behind. This was a woman who had learned how to turn pain into poise.

She presented the campaign plan with absolute confidence—no stutters, no emotion, no breaks. Her voice held zero familiarity. No nostalgia. Nothing.

And that, somehow, cut deeper than any insult.

Post-meeting.

He walked up as the team left.

“Aditi,” he said softly.

She didn’t look up from her laptop. “Let’s keep personal matters outside the office.”

“So we’re not even going to talk about—”

She shut the laptop and stood. Her eyes met his—stronger, braver.

“You left me on read for months, Aditya.
Now you want to talk because I’m no longer crying?
I’m not that girl anymore.
You were silence. I became strength.”

He opened his mouth, but words failed him.

She walked past him with her files, pausing only to say—

“Welcome back to India. Try not to disappear again. Some people don’t wait twice.”

And just like that, peace met the storm again.
Only this time, Aditi wasn’t the one trembling.

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