𝐓𝐀𝐋𝐄𝐒 𝐎𝐅 𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐑𝐓

𝟒𝟏. 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐀𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐥

Guys, grab a tissue before you start reading-this chapter will break your heart and then heal it.

DHRUV'S POV:

Tell me that you don't love me, and I'll leave.

I don't.

TELL ME THAT YOU DON'T LOVE ME AND I'LL LEAVE.

I DON'T.

I couldn't believe it. My chest tightened, making breathing hard as her words echoed in my mind. I searched her eyes desperately, hoping to find even a flicker of regret. But there was none.

Her eyes were cold, like the surface of a frozen lake-still and impenetrable. They held no warmth, no softness, only a steely resolve that sent a shiver down my spine. It was as if all the love I thought had once filled them had drained away, leaving behind a hollow, unyielding gaze.

The hope in my heart shattered like glass. I wanted to rush to her, to pull her into my arms and let her feel the depth of my love, the pain that tore through me when she misunderstood. But I knew it was useless.

The armor she wore around her heart was impenetrable, not a single crack to let my love seep through. Her eyes, once windows to her soul, were now a barrier, telling me everything I feared. She was done-done with me, with us, with the love we once shared.

My heart cracked under the weight of it all, and tears brimmed in my eyes, blurring my vision. I couldn't stand to look at her any longer, so I turned away, swallowing the pain that threatened to choke me. I climbed into my car, my hands trembling as I started the engine, and drove away, letting the road take me anywhere but here.

As I drove aimlessly, it all settled in my chest. This moment-it felt inevitable, like a storm that had been brewing for too long. Deep down, I always knew that my one mistake would find its way back to me, creeping into the cracks of our relationship until it consumed everything.

But still, I had held onto a sliver of hope, a belief that she would trust me enough to see beyond it, to understand that it was just that-a mistake, not a reflection of my love for her. Yet here I was, the road stretching endlessly ahead, with nothing but the hollow realization that her trust had never been strong enough to weather the storm.

I drove, lost in the maze of my thoughts until the world around me blurred into nothingness. I didn't know where I was going-only that I needed to keep moving, to outrun the pain clawing at my insides. But eventually, the road led me somewhere, anywhere, and my foot eased off the gas, bringing the car to a stop.

A blaring horn from the car behind snapped me out of my daze. I quickly pulled over to the side of the road, parking haphazardly as if the act of driving had suddenly become too much to bear.

The moment the car was parked, I flung the door open and stepped out, the cool night air hitting me like a wave. Without thinking, I started walking, my feet moving forward as if by instinct, away from the car, away from everything. The emptiness of the night swallowed me, each step taking me further into the unknown, and somehow, it felt right. It felt like the only thing I could do.

As I stumbled out of my daze, I found myself standing at the edge of the place where everything had once made sense-the place where I had found my peace. The lake stretched out before me, calm and quiet under the moonlight, just as it had been the day I truly got Alia.

Truly got to call her mine.

This was our place, where all the noise in the world faded away, leaving only the two of us and the gentle lapping of the water. It was here that I first realized what it felt like to truly have someone you love close in your arms, to be alive, to love, and to be loved.