"I'll take a shower and we can sleep on the bed. If you're okay with it, because I'm not sleeping on the couch."
"You don't have to. I'll sleep in-"
"The couch?" Kabir interrupted me, "Sure."
I scoffed. "In the bed," I clarified, brushing off the sh...
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R A S H IP O V
𐙚⋆˚✿˖°
"NO!" My scream tore through the silence, reverberating around the room. My heart pounded painfully, threatening to burst from my chest.
"Beta-"
"Please, Papa," I choked, shaking my head, tears blurring my vision. "I can't accept this."
Satya bhabhi stepped closer, her voice soft but firm. "Rashi, think about it-"
"There's nothing to think about!" I stammered between sobs, my breath hitching. "Please, tell them no." My voice cracked, dissolving into tears. I was trembling, my body covered in cold sweat.
Not again. Not this. This was the same nightmare that had shattered my life before, and I wouldn't survive it a second time.
"Rashi," my brother's voice broke through my haze. "Think about Payal, beta."
"She has me, bhai!" My voice wavered as I crumbled, collapsing to the floor. The weight of it all pressed down on me, unbearable. "I can't go through that pain again. I can't. I'm just starting to heal... and you want to tear me apart all over again."
The memories hit me like a flood, five years of agony surged through my veins, constricting my throat. I gasped for air, feeling suffocated by the past that refused to let me go. Thank God, the kids were out with their nanny.
I had to get out. I couldn't breathe, couldn't stay another second in that room filled with pity and expectation. Without looking back, I bolted to the door, snatching the car keys from the stand. My vision blurred with tears, and I didn't even notice I was barefoot as I stumbled to my car.
I just drove; fast, reckless.
Until my only safe place came into view.
The temple.
I stumbled inside, my legs shaking as I collapsed near the statue of God, my hands trembling as they folded in desperate prayer.
"Why?" I whispered to the heavens.
"Why are you testing me again? Haven't I had enough?" My tears fell freely, my heart breaking with each word. "When I was at my lowest, You gave me Payal. You gave me hope. But now... is this more suffering? Is that my fate?"
But God only looked down at me, serene, His smile unwavering.
And somehow, in the depths of my despair, I felt it. A shift. Like He was offering me something more, something that could change everything. Not just for me, but for Payal.
A strange calm washed over me, quieting the storm in my chest. Slowly, I replayed today's events in my mind, the terror and confusion easing into something else. Clarity, maybe.
