𝗠𝗶𝘀𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗱 𝗟𝗼𝘃𝗲

𝗌𝗂𝗑𝗍𝗒-𝗍𝗐𝗈

The world had seemed to freeze as these two souls stared at each other. The guilt was doubling inside them by the passing seconds. The truth which had been hidden had been disclosed in the worst way possible.

Armaan's red eyes bored into Nandini's glazed ones. She knew he knew. The whirlpool of emotions she saw in his eyes could only mean he had found out the truth. But what shocked her soul was the disgust and hurt in them. Nandini had never even thought she'd see these emotions in his eyes, especially for her.

"Is..is there a baby in there?" Nandini gulped back the lump forming in her throat, along with her tears. Armaan's blood-shot red eyes looked at her bump and back at her. "Is that my child Nandini?" Armaan asked again, this time his voice low and stern. Nandini was shaking, unable to form any sentence.

Finally, Nandini slowly nodded. Armaan's world slipped beneath his feet. Armaan stumbled back a bit but caught himself. A tear or two slipped out of her eyes, which Nandini didn't bother to wipe. Right now, all she could see was the hurt and pain in Armaan's eyes. The pain she had caused him.

"Armaan..." Nandini breathlessly said. Nandini wanted to know what was going on in his mind right now. She wanted to know if he was happy about this pregnancy. She wanted to know how over the moon he was because he was going to become a father. She just hoped he didn't tell her to abort this child.

Armaan's eyes met Nandini's again, this time full of hate. Nandini exhaled loudly, her body trembling. In a whiff of a second, Armaan was standing in front of her, clutching her arms. Nandini was startled by his sudden action but winced in pain at his strong hold. "Arm..Armaan. Please. Let me go." Nandini breathed out. Armaan's hold only tightened, causing an audible low shriek to leave her lips. "Armaan...please." Nandini whispered, looking into his eyes. Letting out a frustrated sigh, Armaan let go of her.

Nandini rubbed where he had held her. After blowing out a calming breath, he carefully looked at her. "Why?" he finally said. Nandini looked down, feeling guilty for hiding his own child from him. "Why did you hide this from me!?" his voice boomed through the office. Nandini flinched at his tone, her hands automatically wrapping around her bump to protect it.

Armaan noticed this and felt even worse. He couldn't believe she thought he would hurt their child. "Wh..what sin did I make that you had to hide my own child from me!? I know what I did with you was wrong, but this." Armaan looked at her bump and back at her. "This is not just your's but also mine. It's our child for fucks sake!" Armaan frustratedly ran a hand through his hair, disappointment for Nandini having no bounds.

Nandini stood there, listening to his words. She knew it was his turn to go off at her because what she did was wrong. But she had no choice. "You could've told me. Just once. And I would've tried to fix my mistake, not just for us, but for this baby. Our baby." An audible sob left Nandini's lips, tears rolling down her cheeks.

"I..I found out a month after...coming here." Nandini said, her voice quiet. "A month after? You've hid this from me for four damn months now!?" Nandini took a step back, unable to bear his yelling. She didn't meet his eyes and looked down, not wanting to see the hate in them for her again.

"You could've came back Nandini. Or at least called me. But you didn't. And if we hadn't ever bumped into each other again, you would've raised this child without me." The thought of that made Armaan shudder. "Just once Nandini. You should've told me. Everything would've gone back to normal." Armaan's voice was now soft. He was broken. More broken then before.

"Told you? Came back to you?" Nandini let out a humorless laugh. She looked up at him, straight into his now painful eyes. "What would have you done? Asked for forgiveness? You would've done nothing Armaan. And if you would've, it would only be for the sake of this child. What if you didn't even think it was your blood? Then what? You would've just left me all over again, breaking me even more." Nandini spat.