Morning sunlight slipped softly through the curtains of Radhika's room as the Raichand house slowly began waking up for another day.
Somewhere downstairs, utensils clinked lightly in the kitchen. Voices of the household staff echoed faintly through the corridor, while the distant sound of temple bells from outside blended into the calm morning atmosphere.
Radhika turned slightly in her sleep before finally opening her eyes.
For a few seconds, she simply stared at the ceiling lazily, trying to gather enough energy to leave the comfort of her bed.
Then reality returned.
Guests at home.
College.
Family expectations.
Responsibilities.
And somewhere between all of that—
her hidden project work.
A small sigh escaped her lips before she finally sat up.
After freshening up, helping briefly downstairs, and somehow escaping Kavita chachi's endless instructions about arrangements and guest preparations, Radhika finally returned to her room carrying a cup of coffee.
The moment she entered, her eyes instinctively moved toward her study table.
Toward her laptop.
And suddenly—
something clicked inside her mind.
"The project file…"
She almost placed the coffee down carelessly before rushing toward the table and opening the laptop quickly.
The screen lit up.
Her project presentation opened.
At first, everything looked normal.
Then she scrolled down.
And froze.
"…What is this?"
Right between two serious research slides sat a giant laughing emoji.
Radhika blinked once in disbelief.
Then she opened the next slide.
"Radhika Didi needs coffee before becoming successful 😎"
Her jaw slowly dropped.
"No… no, no, no…"
She scrolled further.
Another slide had animated stickers squeezed beside graphs.
One contained:
"This presentation is proudly sponsored by boredom."
And another had glitter emojis surrounding the conclusion paragraph.
For three full seconds, Radhika simply stared at the screen in absolute horror.
Then suddenly—
she remembered.
Aarav.
Yesterday evening, her younger brother had been sitting in her room unusually quietly while using her laptop.
At that time she had actually felt suspicious.
Now she understood why.
"Oh God…" she muttered, covering her face with one hand. "I'm going to kill him."
But despite her irritation, a laugh escaped her lips when she reached the final slide.
Because written in bold red font at the bottom was:
"Please give my sister extra marks. She works harder than everyone."
The anger disappeared instantly.
"That idiot…"
Shaking her head helplessly, Radhika quickly started correcting the file before someone from the collaboration team noticed the disaster and assumed she had completely lost her mind.
Her fingers moved rapidly across the keyboard as she deleted emojis, fixed formatting, corrected slide transitions, and carefully checked every section again.
Outside, the Raichand house had fully awakened by now.
Footsteps moved through the hallways. Someone called for breakfast downstairs. Her bua's children were laughing loudly somewhere near the balcony.
But inside her room, Radhika remained focused entirely on the glowing laptop screen before her.
Nearly half an hour later, she finally leaned back in relief.
Done.
She immediately resent the corrected presentation along with a short formal apology.
Apologies for the earlier draft submission. An unintended editing issue occurred in the file. Please find the corrected version attached below.
After sending it, she stared quietly at the screen for a moment before finally closing the laptop.
Life around her always felt chaotic.
But somehow—
she had learned how to quietly manage storms no one else even noticed.
While a fresh morning had already begun in Rajasthan, evening lights were slowly settling over New York.
The glass buildings reflected shades of gold and grey as the city remained alive with movement, ambition, and noise.
But inside the Malhotra estate, everything remained calm.
Structured.
Disciplined.
Krishnaveer entered his private wing after returning from work. A staff member greeted him respectfully before silently stepping aside.
He loosened the cuffs of his shirt while walking toward his room, his expression carrying the exhaustion of a long day hidden neatly beneath composure.
Unlike the warmth and noise of the Raichand house, silence followed him naturally here.
After changing into comfortable clothes, Krish walked toward his desk almost automatically.
Work had long become part of his routine.
Not pressure.
Not burden.
Simply routine.
He opened the laptop and accessed the revised files from the India collaboration project Rohan had mentioned earlier.
The room stayed completely silent except for the faint ticking of the clock near the bookshelf.
Krish adjusted his glasses slightly and began reviewing the reports carefully.
But within minutes, the screen suddenly glitched.
His brows furrowed faintly.
An error notification appeared before the file abruptly closed itself.
"That's strange."
He reopened it.
Another error.
Krish checked the system settings calmly before attempting the backup file.
Still nothing.
For a few moments, he simply stared at the screen thoughtfully.
Most people would continue struggling with it out of frustration.
But Krish had spent years building strict rules for himself.
And one of them was simple:
Work should never destroy discipline.
He picked up his phone and sent a message to Rohan.
There seems to be a technical issue in the revised collaboration files. Resolve it before tomorrow morning's review.
The reply came almost immediately.
Understood, sir.
Krish closed the laptop after that without another attempt.
No irritation.
No anger.
Just acceptance.
He walked toward the large glass window beside his room and looked outside at the glowing city lights stretching endlessly into the distance.
Beautiful.
Cold.
Restless.
For a few silent moments, he simply stood there with his hands resting in his pockets.
Completely unaware—
What plans future will bring....