4

Chapter Four — The Wrong Seat

Dev’s POV

The dining room hadn’t changed.
Still smelled faintly of sandalwood polish and homecooked perfection. Still too neat. Too golden.

He followed his parents in silently, his leather bag already upstairs, his mind still half in the hallway where her voice had said those two words.

"Dev bhaiya."

He hadn’t expected that to feel like a slap.

Dev pulled out a chair without thinking — second one from the right. Comfortable, good view of the garden, enough distance from the head seat.

He didn’t realize it was her seat.

Not until she entered.

Avika walked in like she owned the light in the room — no hesitation, no stumbling. Mint green co-ord, a hint of confidence, and eyes that flicked straight to the chair he’d taken.

Hers.

She paused.

“Uhm,” she said, her voice even, but not casual. “Dev bhaiya… that’s my seat.”

He didn’t move.

Didn’t mean to challenge her.
But something inside him — something childish and sharp — wanted to see if she’d ask again.

She did.

This time with a thin smile, laced in discomfort. “Could you… sit somewhere else?”

He looked at her. Actually looked.

And something in him — some strange knot of irritation and confusion — snapped.

“No.”

Her smile faltered.

“I sit here every day,” she said quietly, like she was trying not to make a scene.

“Then sit somewhere else today,” he replied, not looking away.

Silence.

Trisha turned from the kitchen. Harsh paused mid-pour of water.

“Dev,” Avika said again, more softly, “please… Dev bhaiya… sit somewhere else.”

And that word.

That word again.

He didn’t even realize how loudly he said it.

“Get another place!”

Her eyes widened. Not in anger. In something worse — hurt. Real hurt.

And in that moment, Dev realized something brutal:
No one had ever shouted at her like that before.

Harsh stood instantly.

“Stand up,” his voice sharp, low, commanding.

Dev did. Slowly. Stiffly.

Avika looked down, blinking fast. She moved toward the seat without another word. Harsh gently rested a hand on her shoulder as she sat. Trisha looked between them all, speechless.

Dev remained standing, heat crawling under his skin.

“Sit there,” Harsh pointed to the far end, away from both women.

He obeyed.

Not because he wanted to. But because suddenly, he wasn’t the center of this house anymore.

Avika was.

And for the first time since arriving, Dev felt truly out of place.