His Bleeding Rose

PSYCHO

The door creaked open, but I barely noticed. I paced the length of my office, the rhythm of my steps as erratic as my heartbeat. This day was a wreck. I should have woken her up before leaving. Tranika, my Rose. I'd left her sleeping peacefully, her face softened in dreams, and in that fragile moment, I let myself believe that maybe, just maybe, everything would be fine.

But now, standing here, fists clenched, rage simmering in my veins, I knew I'd been a fool.

My morning had begun with whispers I hadn't wanted to hear, whispers I couldn't ignore. And then that leech, Rahul Khurana, leaned across the table, a vile grin twisting his lips as he uttered words that shredded through my world, "The DC of Udaipur—your Tranika—she was seen with Anirudh Thakur. They're saying they're in love."

The ground seemed to vanish beneath my feet. Blood pounded in my ears, drowning out everything but that cursed name. Anirudh Thakur. The man she had once feared, the man who represented everything she'd left behind. And now, he was the one she was seen with?

Without a thought, I pulled my gun. The gunshot split the air like lightning, and Khurana dropped, his lifeless eyes wide with shock. The rest of the room sat frozen, barely breathing, too terrified to move. But I didn't care. Let them fear me. Let the whole damn world tremble.

Anirudh. I needed to see him. I needed answers—no, retribution. The fury burned hotter and hotter, consuming every trace of reason, until I was ready to tear him apart with my bare hands.

Hours crawled by, each second pulling me deeper into a dark spiral of rage and betrayal. And then, a message arrived on my phone—a video. My hand shook as I opened it. The footage was grainy, but the scene was unmistakable. Anirudh and Tranika. Leaving a hotel room. Together.

My phone slipped from my fingers and shattered on the floor. My heart felt the same, pieces of it crumbling, ground to dust under the weight of her betrayal.

When they finally dragged Anirudh in, my hands shook with the barely-contained rage that churned within me. His face was bruised and bloodied, but he still managed that damn smirk, the look of a man who had stolen something priceless from me.

"You dare touch what's mine?" I growled, stepping closer until my face was inches from his. "You think you can have her?"

Anirudh spat out blood, then grinned, "Touch her? Oh, Adhiraj, it's more than that. She's mine. She's always been mine. You just got to play with her for a while."

Something inside me shattered. I lunged at him, fist connecting with his jaw, again and again. The world around us blurred; all I could see was the hatred in his eyes, all I could feel was the desperate need to make him suffer for every second he'd spent with her.

"You bastard!" I roared, pinning him against the wall, fury pouring out of me. "You're lying! She'd never do that to me. She's mine!"

But then, her voice. "Adhiraj, stop!"

I froze, fist poised mid-air, and turned to see her standing in the doorway. My Rose. The woman who had once filled my life with light now stood there, her eyes empty, lips pressed into a cold line.

"Get out of here, Tranika," I snarled, the rage bubbling back up. "This doesn't concern you."

She stepped forward, her gaze unwavering. "It concerns me if you're going to kill him," she said, her voice steady. "Adhiraj, this madness needs to stop. Now."

A bitter laugh escaped me. "Madness? You think I'm mad? After what he's done, after what you've done?" My voice cracked, desperation clawing its way up my throat. "Just tell me it's not true, Tranika. Tell me you didn't... with him."

She looked away, her expression unreadable. "It's over, Adhiraj," she whispered, but the words were a knife to my chest.

"Why?!" I demanded, grabbing her by the shoulders. "Why him? Was I not enough? Was our love not enough?"

She looked at me then, her eyes devoid of warmth, and spoke words that felt like the final nail in the coffin of my soul. "You were never enough, Adhiraj. I only stayed because I needed protection, not love. And now, I don't need you anymore."

I staggered back, her words a hammer shattering every illusion I had left. "Don't... don't do this, Tranika. If this is about the life I've chosen, I'll change it. Just tell me what to do, and I'll do it. Just don't leave me like this. I can't lose you. I... I love you."

She laughed, a cold, empty sound that echoed in the room. "Love? You're delusional, Adhiraj. You call this love?" She glanced down at Anirudh, and in that moment, I saw a spark in her eyes—a spark I had once believed was reserved only for me. "You were a convenience, nothing more."

Her hand found his, her fingers entwining with his bloodied ones, and she looked back at me, her gaze as cold as winter. "I'm leaving, Adhiraj. For good. And if you try to stop me... you'll regret it."

Something snapped. I lunged forward, grabbing her wrist, holding her as if by gripping hard enough I could keep her from walking away. "You think you can just walk out of my life? After everything? After all we've been through?"

She yanked her hand back, her expression twisted in disgust. "Don't touch me, Adhiraj. You're a psycho. You always were. I just didn't see it until now."

Her words cut deeper than any blade. My voice broke as I whispered, "I would have given you the world, Tranika. I would have burned everything for you."

She sneered, "That's just it, Adhiraj. I don't want your world. I want mine. With Anirudh."

As Tranika turned to leave with Anirudh, something in me snapped. I couldn't let her walk away. Not after everything. I moved to grab her, one final desperate attempt to make her stay, to make her remember what we had.

But then, she spun around, her eyes as cold as steel, and before I even realized what was happening, I felt the searing pain of a bullet tearing into my chest. The gun in her hand smoked, her expression unreadable. She had pulled the trigger without hesitation.

The room spun, my vision darkening at the edges as I staggered back, collapsing to the floor. My breaths came in ragged gasps, and I tried to press my hand against the wound, but the blood was already seeping through my fingers. I felt the life draining out of me, slipping away with every heartbeat.

I looked up at her, my vision blurring, but her face was still clear. She stared down at me, expressionless, like I was nothing more than a broken piece of her past. The woman I had loved more than anything stood there, the gun still raised, unflinching as she watched me fade.

My body grew colder as I lay there, leaning against the wall, my hand weakly clutching at my chest. I wanted to reach out to her, to say something, anything, but no words came. All I could do was look at her, hoping for even a trace of the love we once shared, but there was only emptiness in her eyes.

And as the darkness swallowed me whole, the only thought that echoed in my mind was a shattered whisper: "You took my heart, Tranika... and left me with nothing but ashes."

"She's gone—my peace, my world, my love. She walked away, shattering everything I was, and I don't know how to live without her."

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