𝐔𝐧𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐋𝐨𝐯𝐞: 𝐀 𝐩𝐚𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐨 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐲

Chapter 15

•Authors pov•

Aaravi woke up and slowly opened her eyes. She felt a hand on her waist and she panicked, froze in her spot. Her eyes widened as she looked to her left and saw Nikshant sleeping peacefully, holding her close as if she were fragile. Aaravi closed her eyes and recalled the events of last night-how she was having horrible nightmares, how Nikshant consoled her, and how she hugged him, asking him to stay with her. She felt tears cascade down. She felt too vulnerable again. She had shown him her most vulnerable side again.

Her eyes were red from crying continuously last night, and she was feeling a little dizzy. She closed her eyes and held her head. Then, she opened her eyes and grabbed Nikshant's hand, which was on her bare waist, trying to free herself, but Nikshant held her waist even more firmly.

Aaravi looked at Nikshant and then at his hand. She sighed deeply and again tried to remove his hand. While doing so, Nikshant woke up, and Aaravi closed her eyes in fear, wondering what Nikshant would say to her now.

Nikshant opened his eyes, and the first thing he saw was his wife. He noticed Aaravi holding his hand, and when Aaravi realized what Nikshant was looking at, she quickly let go of his hand.

"Uh... I... I...," Aaravi tried to say something, but couldn't because of fear.

When Nikshant looked into Aaravi's eyes, he saw fear in them, fear of him. He didn't understand why, but he didn't like seeing that fear in her eyes for him.

Nikshant removed his hand from Aaravi's waist.

"Hey, it's okay. Calm down first," Nikshant said calmly.

Then Nikshant looked at Aaravi and noticed her red eyes. He clenched his jaw and fists in anger and closed his eyes, not wanting to scare Aaravi further, as she was already afraid of him.

He calmed himself and asked, "How are you feeling now?"

Aaravi looked at Nikshant in disbelief at his sudden caring nature. She hadn't expected him to ask how she was feeling; she thought Nikshant would say something hurtful.

"I... am... fine," Aaravi stammered.

Nikshant wanted to tell her not to be afraid of him.

He knew that what he was doing was wrong, but his ego wasn't letting him admit it.

But as we all know, male ego often ruins everything, and Nikshant was doing the same-ruining his relationship with Aaravi.

Nikshant sighed deeply. "Are you sure you're fine?" His voice sounded concerned.

"Y-yes, I'm... totally fine," Aaravi stammered. With that, she stood up and moved toward the bathroom.

Nikshant watched Aaravi's figure disappearing.

He himself didn't understand why his heart ached in pain.

Nikshant also stood up, left the room, and went into another room to take a shower.

In the bathroom, Aaravi was standing in front of the mirror. Her saree was on the floor, and she was now in her blouse and petticoat. She slowly unhooked her blouse and threw it on the floor. She stared at her reflection as tears streamed down her cheeks, to her neck, and onto her chest.

She had somehow controlled herself from breaking down in front of Nikshant.

But now, she was free to scream and cry her heart out.

She collapsed on the floor, bringing her knees together and hiding her face in them.

No matter how much she tried to stay strong, no matter how much she said she had moved on from her terrible past, only she knew that she could never truly move on from those awful memories.