Shattered Hearts: A Journey Through Darkness and Redemption

[9] His Destruction

Ishitha's POV

The cab ride to the flower shop felt longer than usual, though maybe that was because my mind was swirling with thoughts of Aadarsh, his sudden tenderness, and the strange kiss he had placed on my forehead. 

I could still feel the ghost of his lips, warm yet unwelcome, like an invisible scar burning on my skin.

I should have felt comforted by the gesture, but instead, I was unsettled. 

He was the one, who had shattered my life, who had brought ruin to my family, who had made Adi and me suffer so deeply. 

This was the same man who had married me not out of love or compassion, but for power, and control reasons I still didn't fully understand. 

Every time he touched me, I felt like I was betraying myself, giving in to my tormentor. 

It was suffocating, like drowning in a sea where I had once believed love could thrive, but now there was nothing but turmoil and resentment.

As the cab sped through the streets, I couldn't shake the feeling that I was being watched. 

It started as a nagging sensation, a prickling at the back of my neck that I couldn't quite explain. 

Glancing out the window, I noticed a black SUV that seemed to be following us. 

It wasn't obvious at first, just a car in the background, moving through traffic like any other. 

But as the minutes passed, I became more certain. 

Every turn the cab made, the SUV followed.

My heart began to race. 

Was it him? 

Was Aadarsh keeping tabs on me, or was this something more sinister? 

My mind started racing through possibilities. 

Could it be a threat from his business world? 

Something tied to the dangerous power plays he was involved in?

I forced myself to breathe deeply, willing my pulse to calm. 

Maybe I was just being paranoid. 

After everything I had been through, it was no wonder my mind jumped to the worst conclusions. 

But that didn't make the feeling go away. 

I had learned the hard way that trusting people, especially someone like Aadarsh, only led to more pain.

I focused on the passing scenery, willing myself to relax as we approached the flower shop. 

My thoughts drifted back to the kiss-how unexpected it had been, how wrong it had felt. 

There was a part of me, a very small part, that longed for the kind of affection and love that kiss should have represented. 

I had always imagined that my marriage would be full of warmth, partnership, and mutual respect. 

But what I had with Aadarsh... it was a shadow of what I had once dreamed of.

The way he had forced his way into my life still made my blood boil. 

He had twisted my world upside down, using me as a pawn in his game. 

And for what? 

Power? 

Control? 

Money?

My mind often spiraled into fantasies of revenge, of making him suffer the way he had made me and Adi suffer.