Aayna's POV
The baby's soft cries echoed through the large, cold room like ripples in still water. I sat curled on the edge of the bed, blanket draped over me, arms trembling as I held the child to my chest.
His hungry latching made me wince.
I bit down on my lip, hard. The pain was sharp, stinging.
It burned.
Tears welled up before I could stop them.
Not from the soreness.
Not even from the exhaustion.
But from the haunting feeling that nothing was ever going to feel mine again.
"Shhh," I whispered to the baby, voice cracking. "I know... I know it hurts. Me too."
I didn't hear the door open.
But I felt it.
That shift in the air.
That silent pressure, like a storm waiting just outside the window.
I looked up.
Rudra.
He stood frozen near the doorway, shirt half-buttoned, jaw clenched. His eyes weren't cold like usual.
They were... uncertain. Maybe even ashamed.
I quickly wiped my cheek, hiding the tears like a child hiding bruises.
"What do you want?" I whispered hoarsely.
He didn't answer. Just stared. At me. At the way I curled my shoulders protectively.
At the slight tremor in my arms.
At the child still feeding - and my eyes still wet.
Maybe it hit him then. The consequence of everything. The weight of what he'd done.
Maybe.
Without saying a word, he disappeared into the bathroom.
I didn't care. I didn't move.
But then - I felt something cold brush my shoulder.
Ice.
He wrapped a soft, thin cloth around a piece and offered it, gently, carefully, like he was afraid I'd break.
Or that I'd bite.
I stared at the cloth. Then at him.
> "Don't." My voice cracked, but not from weakness. "Don't act like you care."
His throat bobbed. He didn't say sorry. He didn't say anything.
Instead, he knelt beside me.
Slowly, he extended his hand - not to touch me, but to press the wrapped ice gently into my palm.
"For the pain," he said. Quiet. Hoarse. "Just... for that."
I wanted to throw it across the room.
But my body... it hurt.
So I took it.
He sat on the floor beside the bed, silent. Watching the child. Watching me - like he didn't know who I was anymore.
Like he wasn't sure who he was either.
The ice numbed the sting, but not the ache in my heart.
"He doesn't deserve this," I whispered. "Not him. Not me."
Rudra didn't respond.
Because there was no defense against truth.
Only silence.
---
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...
