Conditions Of Shashank | 18+

Chapter 12: Betray

She closed her eyes, but as soon as she did, she saw the figure in black again. In fear, she clenched Ujjwal's T-shirt tightly.

In the middle of the night, when Ujjwal tried to turn over, he couldn't. When he opened his eyes, all he could see beside him was Ishika's blanket.

But when he looked down at himself, he noticed his blanket was puffed up.

When he lifted the blanket slightly, he saw Ishika curled up inside, clinging to him as she slept. Ujjwal gently pulled his blanket down.

Ishika's hair was scattered around her. Ujjwal softly caressed her head for a while.

Ujjwal slowly turned towards Ishika, now they were facing each other. Ishika's face was resting against Ujjwal's chest.

While sleeping, Ishika cuddled up to Ujjwal.

He pulled the blanket back up, thinking that she must have been feeling cold, which is why she had come under his blanket.

---

In the morning, when Ishika woke up, she found herself wrapped in Ujjwal's blanket, clinging to him.

She remembered having a scary dream last night and had gone under Ujjwal's blanket so she wouldn't be scared.

She looked up to see Ujjwal's face; he was still asleep. His peacefully sleeping face gave her a sense of calm. Her attention shifted to his cheek.

Ishika lightly kissed her fingertips and then placed them on Ujjwal's cheek.

Ujjwal's eyes twitched slightly, and Ishika thought he might have realized that she had just kissed him. Scared of being caught, Ishika bit her lips and pulled the blanket over herself, hugging Ujjwal tightly.

Ujjwal felt something on his face, so he opened his eyes, but there was nothing that could have disturbed his sleep.

Ujjwal kept his eyes open.

Ishika thought Ujjwal had fallen back asleep, so she slowly started to pull the blanket down.

Ujjwal was watching.

When only a bit of the blanket was left, she peeked out to check if Ujjwal was still asleep.

But as soon as she looked, Ujjwal was staring right at her. Embarrassed, Ishika quickly escaped from the blanket and headed straight to the bathroom, thinking Ujjwal had seen her kissing him.

Meanwhile, Ujjwal, confused, wondered why Ishika ran off like that after seeing him.

---

Ishika told Ujjwal that she had a nightmare last night, which is why she was sleeping so close to him.

Ujjwal said it was fine, and that it didn't bother him.

Without looking into Ujjwal's eyes, Ishika asked why he didn't try to comfort her yesterday when she was mad at him.

With a smile, Ujjwal replied that he knew she was only pretending to be mad and wasn't truly upset. He was curious to see how long Ishika could keep up the act.

Ishika was shocked at how he knew she wasn't really angry.

Ujjwal then asked why she had run to the bathroom when she saw him in the morning.

Ishika lied, saying she thought she was late to wake up.

---
(Night)

That night, Ujjwal was getting ready to leave the office, unaware of the life-changing event that was about to unfold for him and his family.

As he was about to leave, he received images from an unknown number on his phone.

The moment Ujjwal saw the pictures, his heartbeat stopped for two seconds.

Ujjwal sat down on the chair next to him, his legs no longer able to support him.

He couldn't get up from the chair.

Normally, Ujjwal could control his emotions. He couldn't even remember the last time he cried. He had always kept calm, but this time, he couldn't hold it in.

Ujjwal felt betrayed. It was as if someone had stabbed him in the chest with a knife.

The chair was carrying twice its usual weight today.

The photos showed Ishika with another man, engaged in lovemaking.

In the photos, Ishika was wearing the engagement ring that Ujjwal had given her, along with the night suit he had bought for her just a few days ago. This meant that it hadn't been long since Ishika had cheated him.

Ujjwal wondered why Ishika had betrayed him when he had trusted her so much.

He couldn't bring himself to look at the photos again.

Ujjwal had done everything he could for Ishika. Knowing she had OCD and anxiety, he had taken her to a psychologist. To help her sleep comfortably at night, he had bought her that night suit - only for her to wear it while betraying him.

Ujjwal had always thought Ishika was innocent.

Just then, a message came from Ishika, saying, "Don't come to pick me up from the office today. You go home, I'll be late. I'll come home alone."

Ujjwal assumed Ishika was going back to the same man.

Tears welled up in his eyes.

Ujjwal somehow managed to get up from the chair, got into his car, and drove towards home. The road to his house seemed unusually long today.

Whenever Ishika was near him, Ujjwal felt a unique sense of peace. Even that morning, when she cuddled him, Ujjwal's heart had melted with love.

Ujjwal asked himself if all the shy, romantic moments they had shared were lies. Ishika used to look down shyly whenever their moments became intimate-was that all fake?

As Ujjwal parked his car and went to unbuckle his seatbelt, it hit his hand. But today, that pain didn't hurt.

He put his bag down on the sofa and went to the kitchen to drink some water. Even swallowing the water took great effort.

He sat down at the dining table. The fruits, which he loved so much, didn't appeal to him now.

He closed his eyes, wondering if it was his love that had fallen short.

A cool breeze touched his wounds.

---

*the doorbell rang*

--------------------------------------------------------------

Why did Ishika betray Ujjwal?

Kindly vote and comment.