[shailu4ever]

Vinay accused Sandeep.


Madhavi voted against Shruti.

Shruti accused Madhavi.

The air was full of laughter, little bursts of tension,

And the strange heat of overlapping energies.

Then came Abhi’s chance to speak again.

Sandeep pointed at him. “Alright silent man, time to defend yourself.”

Abhi smiled faintly. “I think… the real killers are the ones who smile too much.”

Shruti raised an eyebrow. “Meaning?”

He looked directly at her. “Exactly what you think it means.”

Laughter.

Madhavi’s eyes sparkled.

She reached for her cold coffee,

Srushing her fingers along Abhi’s cup as she passed it to him.

Their fingers met for a second.

He looked at her, and she looked away, deliberately.

But Shruti didn’t miss it.

Shruti had caught the way Madhavi's fingers brushed Abhi’s when she passed him the coffee.

She had noticed the glance they shared,

The kind that looked normal to anyone else,




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