For the next few days, Ishani couldn’t shake the fire incident from her mind. It replayed in fragments every time she closed her eyes: the sudden smell of smoke, the crackle of flames, the sting on her palm, and most of all—Vee’s face when he finally noticed. The way he had seemed so absorbed in her, so completely lost in the kiss, that he hadn’t registered the danger right away.

She told herself it was trauma. Shock. Nothing more.