Bound By Promise – Taashu K

Not for me. Not after—” “He will.” I surprised myself with the certainty. “He’ll come.” “You think so?” “I know so.” I didn’t know why I was so sure. But I was. “He’s stubborn. And proud. And he made terrible choices. But he’s not heartless. If you need him, he’ll come.” Dadu searched my face. Looking for something. Maybe finding it. “Call him,” he said finally. “Please.” I nodded. Squeezed his hand once more.

“Rest now. Save your strength. I’ll call him.” I left the room, my legs feeling unsteady. In the hallway, I pulled out my phone again. The number that connected me to a stranger. To a husband who wasn’t a husband. To a man who’d walked away without looking back.

For a year, I’d told myself I never wanted to hear his voice again. Never wanted to acknowledge his existence. But Dadu needed him. And despite everything—despite the abandonment, the hurt, the year of silence—I couldn’t refuse Dadu anything. I pressed call before I could second-guess myself. 1kitap1.com/en Vihaan The flight had been endless. Sixteen hours of sitting in first class, staring at nothing, while my mind replayed every conversation I’d never had with my grandfather. Every phone call I’d ignored. Every moment of the past year where I’d chosen silence over connection.

He might die. The thought had circled like a vulture the entire flight. I’d landed in Delhi at dawn, gone straight through customs, ignored the jetlag pulling at my bones. A car was waiting. The morning traffic was the same chaos I remembered. Horns and heat and the particular aggression of Delhi drivers. But the car moved quickly enough, and within an hour I was standing in front of Apollo Hospital. The building loomed. Glass and concrete. Sterile. The kind of place where lives changed in moments. I walked through the entrance, found the cardiac unit on the fourth floor.

The elevator ride up felt like descending instead of ascending. Each floor a layer deeper into consequences I couldn’t avoid anymore. The cardiac unit was quiet. That particular hospital quiet that felt heavy. Families in waiting rooms, speaking in hushed tones. Nurses moving with efficient purpose. The smell of antiseptic and anxiety. I found them outside a room marked ICU-4. My mother sat in one of those uncomfortable plastic chairs, her hands folded in her lap.

My father stood beside her, one hand on her shoulder. They looked up when I approached, and I saw my mother’s face crumble. She stood, moving toward me, and for a moment I thought she might slap me again. Instead, she pulled me into a fierce hug. “You came,” she whispered against my shoulder.

“You actually came.” “I said I would.” She pulled back, studying my face. Her eyes were red-rimmed. Exhausted. “He’s awake. Asking for you. Has been all morning.” “How is he?” “Weak. The surgery is scheduled for tomorrow morning if he’s strong enough.”

The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author. No part of this book may be reproduced, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without express written permission of the publisher. Cover design by: Sneh.design 1kitap1.com/en For every heart that mistook destiny for coincidence — and found its way home anyway.

1kitap1.com/en CONTENTS Title Page Copyright Dedication Prologue Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Chapter 15 Chapter 16 Chapter 17 Chapter 18 Chapter 19 Chapter 20 Chapter 21 Chapter 22 Chapter 23 Epilogue Thank You Social Media Handle Books By This Author 1kitap1.com/en PROLOGUE Vihaan The Delhi heat hit me like a wall the second I stepped out of the airport.

Not the kind of heat you prepare for. The kind that wraps around your throat and reminds you that no matter how long you’ve been gone, this city still owns a piece of you. I tugged at my collar, eyes scanning the chaos outside. Horns blaring. People shouting. The air thick with dust and diesel. My phone buzzed. Driver: Sir, stuck in traffic. 20 minutes. I stared at the message. Twenty minutes. In this heat.

With jet lag clawing at my skull and three missed calls from my grandfather already lighting up my screen. No. I pocketed the phone and looked around. A line of yellow-and-black taxis idled near the pickup zone, drivers leaning against hoods, smoking. One of them caught my eye and straightened, sensing an opportunity. I walked over.

“Vasant Vihar,” I said. “How much?” He named a price. I countered. We settled somewhere in the middle, and I reached for the door handle. That’s when she appeared. Out of nowhere. A blur of movement, and suddenly the door I was about to open swung wide, and she slid into the backseat like she’d been aiming for it her entire life.

I stood there, hand still extended, staring. She didn’t even look at me. Just sat there, adjusting her bag, pulling out her phone like I didn’t exist. The driver blinked. “Madam—” “Connaught Place,” she said, her voice firm. Clear. “Fast.” I leaned down, one hand on the roof of the car.

“Excuse me.” She looked up. And for a second, I forgot what I was going to say. Her eyes were sharp. Dark. The kind that didn’t apologize for anything. There was a stray curl of hair escaping from behind her ear, and she tucked it back with an impatient flick of her hand. “Yes?” she said, like I was the one interrupting her day.

I felt my jaw tighten. “This is my cab.” She blinked. “Your cab?” “Yes. My cab.”

This is a short excerpt from the opening of “” by Unknown, quoted for review and introduction purposes. All rights belong to the copyright holders.

Book Information

• Unique ID: 0286d3de74f3e119
• File Extension: .pdf
• File Size: 2,738,737 bytes (2.612 MB)
• Title: –
• Author: Unknown
• Pages: 238
• Language: English (en)

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• Estimated Reading Time: 255.24 minutes
• Total Words: 51,047
• Total Characters: 292,524
• Average Words per Page: 214.48
• Average Characters per Page: 1229.09

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