Silent Cries

Chapter 19

As Navya, Abhinav, and Ayaan reached the house, the usual warmth and comfort of home felt strangely distant to her. The echoes of the unexpected encounter at the fair still haunted her, wrapping around her heart like a suffocating shroud. She could barely bring herself to look at Ayaan, who was blissfully unaware of the turmoil raging inside her. Abhinav noticed her distant demeanor, his brows furrowing with concern as he gently placed a hand on her shoulder.

“Don’t worry, Navya,” Abhinav said softly, trying to offer her some semblance of comfort. “I’ll take care of Ayaan tonight. You need to rest.”

Navya nodded slightly, her movements robotic as she offered him a faint, almost non-existent smile. She murmured a quiet “thank you” before turning away, her feet carrying her towards her bedroom as if on autopilot. She didn’t want Ayaan to see her like this, didn’t want him to sense the storm brewing inside her.

As soon as she stepped into her room, she closed the door behind her with a quiet click, the sound reverberating in the oppressive silence that followed. She stood there for a moment, her back pressed against the door as if it were the only thing holding her up. The air felt heavy, her chest tightening as she struggled to keep the tears at bay.

But the floodgates had already been opened.

Navya stumbled towards her bed, collapsing onto it as the first sob tore through her. She buried her face in the pillows, her body shaking with the force of her cries. She had been holding it together for so long, keeping her emotions in check for the sake of Ayaan, for the sake of moving forward. But seeing Dev, hearing his voice, feeling his touch—it had all come rushing back like a tidal wave, overwhelming her, dragging her back to the darkest moments of her life.

Memories flooded her mind, each one a sharp stab of pain that left her breathless. She remembered the coldness in Dev’s eyes, the way his words cut through her like a knife. *“I don’t love you, Navya,”* he had said, his voice devoid of any warmth or compassion. *“I only love Heena.”* The way he had looked at her then, with disdain, as if she were nothing but a burden, was something she could never forget.

She recalled the countless nights she had spent alone, waiting for him to come home, only to be met with his anger and irritation. She had tried so hard to make things work, to be the perfect wife, the perfect mother, but it had never been enough for him. His hatred towards her had been palpable, seeping into every corner of their life together, poisoning everything she had once held dear.

And then there was the betrayal—the ultimate blow that had shattered her world into a million pieces. She had discovered his affair with Heena in the cruelest way possible, walking in on them in a moment of intimacy that had left her numb with shock. The image of them together, of Dev holding another woman in the way he had once held her, had been seared into her mind, a permanent scar that would never fade.

Navya’s sobs grew louder, her body curling into itself as if she could protect herself from the pain that was tearing her apart. She could still hear his voice in her head, the cruel words he had thrown at her in the heat of his anger, the way he had blamed her for everything that had gone wrong in their lives.

*“You ruined everything, Navya! You and your stupid dreams!”* he had shouted at her one night, his face twisted with rage. *“I was never happy with you! Never!”*

The weight of those words, the finality of them, had crushed her. She had begged him to stay, to try and work things out, but he had walked away without a second thought, leaving her to pick up the pieces of her shattered life alone.

Navya clutched the pillow tighter, her fingers digging into the fabric as if it could somehow anchor her in the midst of her emotional storm. She felt like she was drowning, the pain pulling her under, suffocating her. She had thought she had moved on, that she had left all of this behind, but seeing him again had torn open the wounds she had thought had healed.