Aayna’s POV
The world was white.
Too white.
Too quiet.
The ceiling above me blurred, and my throat burned like I’d swallowed sand. Every breath felt heavy. Like my lungs weren’t sure if they wanted to keep trying.
Am I dead?
No. There were sounds now. Beeping. A machine. Slow, steady. Beep... beep... beep...
I blinked.
Once. Twice.
And then—pain.
In my arm. My chest. My heart.
I remembered everything all at once.
The blade.
The blood.
The letter.
The silence.
And then… him.
Rudra.
His voice had been the last thing I heard. Broken. Desperate. Whispering my name like it meant something.
My eyes moved slowly to the side.
And there he was.
Sitting beside my bed. Elbows on his knees. Face buried in his hands. The same man I had feared… now looking like the only thing broken in the room.
I flinched. Instinct. My body tensed.
The monitors beeped faster. Stupid machines—always giving me away.
His head snapped up.
Our eyes met.
And for the first time… he didn’t look like the predator in my nightmares.
He looked haunted.
“Aayna,” he whispered. His voice cracked. He reached forward, then pulled his hand back like touching me might burn him.
“I…” He exhaled shakily. “I thought I lost you.”
I turned my face away.
I didn’t want his pity.
I didn’t want his guilt.
I didn’t want him.
“Don’t,” I said. My voice was hoarse. Raw. Barely there.
He froze.
“You don’t get to cry over me now.”
“I’m not crying for me,” he said quietly. “I’m crying because I failed you. Because I didn’t see the signs. Because I let my hate—no, my fear—turn into something cruel.”
I clenched my jaw, willing the tears back.
“Why?” I choked. “Why did you hate me so much?”
He was silent.
And then—
“I didn’t.”
My breath hitched.
“I loved you,” he said simply, like it wasn’t the most devastating thing he’d ever admitted. “I loved you the first time I saw you. That party, remember? Sky-blue lehenga. Hair flying, dupatta a mess. You were so damn real.”
I turned back to look at him.
His eyes were bloodshot.
“I told myself it was wrong,” he whispered. “I was too old. You were too innocent. I thought… if I hated you enough, maybe I’d stop feeling it.”
“But you didn’t,” I said bitterly.
“No,” he said. “Instead, I made you hate yourself.”
Silence.
Painful, aching silence.
“I can’t undo what I did,” he said. “But if you let me… I’ll spend the rest of my life trying to be better. For you.”
I didn’t respond.
YOU ARE READING
Only His✔️
RomanceI thought monsters lived in nightmares. Then I met him. Rudra is powerful, feared, and impossible to defy. When he took me into his mansion, I thought it was to save me. I was wrong. His kindness hides chains. His touch burns like fire and freezes l...
