Se-Ri's POV
It was Ren's graduation, and Leo decided to host a casual celebration over the weekend at his father's farmhouse — the kind with a fire pit, grilled vegetables pretending to be rustic, and wine decanted like water.
He texted Rhea.
He texted Rajveer.
And, eventually, me.
"Barbecue. Saturday. 4 p.m. Don't make me send Ren to guilt-trip you."
I didn't reply right away.
But I showed up.
The farmhouse sat just outside the city — all glass walls and sharp lines trying to blend into pine trees. The air smelled like lemony smoke and expensive grass.
Leo was in a charcoal shirt, sleeves rolled. Calm. Efficient. The kind of host who made everything seem effortless.
Ren bounced around with leftover teenage energy. Rhea brought wine. Rajveer brought sarcasm. I brought a salad I didn't make and a smile I didn't quite trust.
At some point, Rhea pulled me aside while Leo argued with Ren over grill timing.
"You okay?" she asked, sipping from a copper mug.
"Fine," I said.
She gave me a look. "Fine doesn't mean anything."
I sighed. "We're still... doing this. Leo and I. The dates, the calls, the staying over. It feels real. But no one's said anything."
"Do you want more?"
"I don't know. I think I do."
She raised an eyebrow. "Are you going to tell him?"
I looked away. "Not yet. I'm waiting for the right time."
She laughed softly. "You always are."
By the time the stars came out and the last veggie skewer vanished, people began trickling out.
Rhea and Rajveer stayed behind to help with dishes.
Later
Leo, Ren, and I rode back together.
Ren claimed the backseat and immediately queued up Bollywood songs. I leaned against the window, letting the road hum beneath me.
As we neared the city limits, Leo spoke.
"My father's hosting a business party this Friday. Just industry people. Boring food. Better wine."
I was about to ask why he was telling me — but Ren beat me to it, loudly from the backseat.
"Se-Ri's coming too, right?"
There was a pause.
Leo's grip on the wheel tightened. "I was getting to that."
Ren added with a grin, "She'll be there too."
"She?" I asked. "Who?"
Ren shrugged. "His ex-fiancée."
I blinked.
Then burst out laughing. "A man like him had a fiancée? You're joking."
Leo didn't flinch. "It was arranged. My mother's idea. Business logic. It didn't work."
Ren muttered, "Good. I didn't like her anyway."
Leo gave a rare, dry chuckle.
Then — casually, almost offhand — he said, "I want you there."
I turned toward him. He wasn't smiling. He wasn't asking.
"I'll pick you up at seven?"
I didn't answer.
But the answer was already happening.
Epilogue: Men Who Don't Talk Much
Leo and Rajveer's POV
Later, after the plates were cleared and the fire burned down to soft amber coals, Rajveer joined Leo at the far edge of the deck. Two beers. No music. Just the hush of pine trees — and the kind of stillness that only settles when the night has nothing left to prove.
They stood side by side, saying nothing for a long while.
Then Rajveer said, casually but not lightly, "You two look good together."
Leo gave a faint smile. "We do."
Another pause.
Rajveer took a slow sip. "Does Se-Ri know who you actually are? I mean... your father, the boardrooms, the real net worth behind the minimalist charm?"
Leo didn't answer right away. He stared out into the trees — dark, still, and full of questions he hadn't decided how to ask.
"She doesn't," he said finally. "I'm planning to tell her this week."
Rajveer raised an eyebrow. "And?"
Leo's voice dropped. "And I'm also flying back to Shanghai. Soon. There's an expansion underway — non-negotiable."
"So, Rhea doesn't know. Which means Se-Ri definitely doesn't."
Leo shook his head once. "Not yet."
Rajveer exhaled. "So you're dropping two bombs in the same breath."
"I'm not dropping anything," Leo said, jaw tight. "I'm just... still figuring out how to hold her."
Rajveer studied him. "You're scared."
Leo didn't argue. Just took a sip of his beer, quieter this time.
"I've built my whole life on clean lines. Strategy. Control. Se-Ri isn't any of that. She's instinct. Interruption. Honest chaos."
Rajveer grinned, not unkindly. "That's the kind that ruins your plans — and makes you build better ones."
Leo looked up at the stars. They were sharper here — too sharp, almost. Like truths waiting to be read.
"I don't know if she'll still want me after this," he said, low.
Rajveer didn't blink. "Then the real question is... do you want her enough to find out?"
Leo didn't answer.
But he didn't walk away either.