Ten times

She lasted until 3:17 AM.

Livestream. Signing. Mahito. The question. _Are you married?_

“No,” she’d said. Level 1 truth.

Then the drive home. Then Ria’s forehead kiss. Then the Singapore audit at 7 AM.

By 10 AM, Radha Kapoor had been awake 28 hours.

“Coffee,” Arjun said, sliding the third one onto her desk. “Tokyo’s on line two. Kenji Robotics is in the lobby.”

Radha blinked. The words took a second to load. “Kenji...”

“Mahito Kenji. Wants to discuss AI patents. You declined last quarter. He flew in anyway.”

The mask. The picture. _For my sister_, he’d said.

Radha’s stomach dropped to her shoes.

“Ms. Kapoor?” Her assistant knocked once. “Mr. Kenji is here. He said he doesn’t have an appointment, but...”

But Mahito Kenji didn’t need one. Not in her industry.

“Send him in,” Radha said. Her voice was CEO smooth. Her hands were shaking under the desk.

He walked in wearing a suit this time. The fan was gone. This was the man from Forbes. Sharp. Calculated. The one who’d flown from Osaka for a concert.

He stopped when he saw her.

“Ms. Kapoor. You look...” He didn’t finish.

Exhausted. Like she might fall over. Like she had been wearing a porcelain mask until 1 AM signing posters.

“Mr. Kenji,” Radha said, standing. Mistake.

*Fall 1.* Her knees buckled. She caught the desk.

“Ms. Kapoor!” Arjun was there instantly.

“I’m fine.” She waved him off. “Long night.”

Mahito frowned. “We can reschedule. You look unwell.”

“I’m not sick,” Radha said. The words came out too fast. Too much like Vera’s flu excuse from last night. She cleared her throat. “Please. Sit.”

The meeting started. AI integration. Patent licensing. Numbers on a screen. Radha’s vision blurred on the third slide.

*Fall 2.* Her pen clattered to the floor. She bent to get it. The room tilted.

Arjun picked it up. “Radha—”

“Keep going, Mr. Kenji,” she said.

Mahito was watching her now. Not the slides. Not the numbers. Her.

“You said you were up for this,” he said slowly. “Were you... working late?”

_Yes. I was Vera. I was singing. I was signing your picture._

“Quarterly close,” she said. Level 2 truth. Safe for boardrooms.

*Fall 3* happened at the water cooler. She stood to refill her cup. The world went sideways.

Mahito caught her elbow. His hand was warm. Solid. “Ms. Kapoor.”

“I’m fine.” She pulled away. “Low blood sugar.”

*Falls 4, 5, and 6* were small. A stumble to the conference table. A grip on the chair back. A missed step she played off as checking her heel.

By *Fall 7*, Arjun was done. “Meeting’s over,” he told Mahito.

“No,” Radha snapped. Then softer: “No. I’m okay. Mr. Kenji flew from Osaka.”

Mahito’s eyes narrowed. “Osaka?”

Heat flooded her face. She’d heard that from him last night. As Vera. “I mean— Japan. I assumed.”

*Fall 8* was in front of the elevator. She’d walked him out, because CEO manners. Because she couldn’t let him think she was weak.

Her legs gave out. Full stop.

Mahito caught her before she hit marble. Both arms. Close. He smelled like cologne and worry.

“Ms. Kapoor!”

“I’m—”

*Fall 9* was in his arms. She couldn’t stand. Twenty eight hours. No food. No sleep. One secret too many.

“Arjun!” Mahito barked. “Call a doctor.”

“No doctor,” Radha mumbled into his suit jacket. “Ria. I have to pick up Ria at 3.”

The name slipped out. Level 3 truth. The one no one got.

Mahito went still. “Ria?”

*Fall 10* was different. She didn’t hit the ground. She just... let go. In his arms. Eyes closed. Finally.

The last thing she heard was Mahito’s voice, not fan, not CEO. Just human.

“You have a daughter?”

Then nothing.

When she woke up, it was 2:47 PM. She was on the couch in her office. Arjun by the door. Ria drawing on the glass wall with dry erase markers. And Mahito Kenji sitting in her chair, holding her glittery notebook.

He looked up when she moved. His face was unreadable.

“Ms. Kapoor,” he said quietly. “You told me you weren’t married.”

True. Level 1.

“Is Ria...” he started. Then he held up the notebook. _MAMA’S OTHER LIFE_ in pink crayon. Stick figure with a microphone.

“You’re Vera,” he said.

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