106

"This is the final round, Drishti," Vihaan warned as he set up the game board again.

"You're just jealous that I've been winning all the games so far," Drishti crowed proudly.

"Yeah, by cheating," Vihaan said, and Drishti rolled her eyes as if it wasn't a big deal.

They had played three rounds of Snake and Ladder and two rounds of Ludo at Drishti's insistence. Drishti had won all the games, using her sneaky tricks to avoid the snakes and win at Ludo.

He looked tired. He had been rather quiet, almost distant, all evening, only responding to Drishti's demands.

Divya hoped he wasn't too tired to stay up with her after Drishti went to bed. It had been an active day filled with swimming, windsurfing, drawing rangolis, decorating the house, and setting up the pooja room. Besides, he couldn't have had much sleep last night as he had been up early with Drishti this morning. What would she do if he suggested they retire early?

"It's Diwali tomorrow, Vihaan Uncle. I'm too excited to go to bed,"