Only His✔️

Chapter 22

RUDRA PRATAP RATHORE'S POV

In her room, after saving her

The doctors had left.
The nurses had done their part.
She was safe now. At least, that's what they said.

But nothing felt safe anymore.

Not the silence.

Not the ache in my chest.

Not the way her pale hand lay lifeless against the sheets.

I sat beside her bed, elbows on my knees, eyes locked on the slow rise and fall of her chest. That sound-the whisper of her breathing-was the only thing keeping me from falling apart completely.

She tried to leave this world.

And I... I almost let her.

I brushed a strand of hair away from her face. Her skin was cold, but softer than I remembered. And I remembered far too much.

"You know," I whispered, "you ruined me the day you walked into our courtyard."

I laughed bitterly.

"You weren't even trying. Just holding your dupatta like it was your only shield. No makeup. No drama. Just... real."

My voice cracked. I didn't care.

"And I told myself-bachchi hai. Someone Aarzoo dragged in. A sweet, wide-eyed girl who shouldn't even be on my radar."

I leaned back in the chair, fingers clenched tight around the armrest.

"But you were. Every damn day after that."

I remembered it all. The anklet. The way she tripped. The shy smile she gave Aarzoo. Her crush on Maan-that crushed me in ways I didn't understand back then.

"He's too old for me," she'd said. Like twenty-four was ancient.

I was thirty-five.

What would she have called me? Uncle?ji? Some twisted joke from fate?

I swallowed hard, voice rough. "I hated that you looked at him the way I looked at you. I hated that you smiled for him. That you watched him like he was everything. Because... he wasn't."

My voice dropped, low and broken.

"I was the one who noticed the tiny scar on your knuckle. The way you reread the same page when you were nervous. The way your nose scrunched when you couldn't reach the top shelf."

"I saw all of it. And it scared the hell out of me."

I leaned forward, hands folded near her.

"Because if I let myself feel it, even for a second... I knew I'd never stop."

I looked at her again-this girl who tried to take her own life. Because of pain. Because of betrayal. Because of people like me.

"I failed Aarzoo," I whispered. "And then I failed you."

Tears I didn't even feel escaped down my face.

"But I swear to you, Aayna... if you come back from this-if you open those eyes just once-I'll spend every breath I have making it right."

She didn't move. But something in the room shifted. Like the weight in my chest wasn't just mine anymore.

I took her hand gently in mine. Kissed her knuckles. The same way I wish I'd done before everything went to hell.

"This world doesn't deserve you," I murmured. "But if you stay in it, I promise I'll fight every single day to make sure you want to."

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