Love Rivals: The Day I Saw Your Tears

112. Cold War

Caught between the two of them, I felt suffocated by the weight of everything. My voice wavered as I spoke, trying to mask the hurt I felt. "I’ll stay with Nitya. You and Vicky can take the other room," I said, trying to sound calm.

Ryan stopped in his tracks, exhaling deeply as though trying to let go of the storm brewing inside him. He glanced at me, then at Nitya, before reluctantly nodding. "Sounds good," he muttered, his voice quieter now. He grabbed his coat again, the earlier intensity gone, and turned to Nitya with a bow of apology. "I’m sorry," he added softly, knowing he had pushed her too far.

Vicky’s crude words from earlier had left a mark on me, a stain I couldn’t shake off.

Nitya had already freshened up and was now lying on the bed, her body visibly tense. I noticed her pressing on her thigh muscles, trying to ease the pain of what had clearly been an exhausting day. Without saying anything, I quietly slipped out of the room, descending the stairs.

As I stepped outside, I found Ryan standing alone, his back to me, lost in thought. My footsteps were soft as I approached him. He turned briefly to glance at me, then quickly looked away, his posture stiff.

"Why aren’t you resting?" I asked softly, hoping to break through the wall of tension between us.

His voice was sharp, cutting through the silence. "Why do you even care?" he snapped, clearly still angry.

I hesitated but pressed on. "It’s been a long day. You should take some rest," I suggested, trying to sound calm.

Ryan whipped around, his eyes blazing with frustration. "Don’t put on your act. No one’s watching us right now. You don’t have to pretend like you care about me."

He turned away as if to end the conversation, but I wasn’t done. My voice steadied, "I didn’t plan on sharing a room with him," I began, determined to clear the air. "I never would. My family doubted me once when they found us together in my room. And it hurt -- it wasn’t about me. It was about the fact that they couldn’t trust their upbringing. That they thought I’d crossed a line."

He still had his back to me, not turning, but I pressed on, needing him to hear me. "I don’t know what you all think of me. But I know who I am. I’d never do something like that—never. Even if it means I’d end up on the streets." My voice wavered slightly, but I stood firm.

I blinked back the tears threatening to fall, turning away quickly before he could see. With a deep breath, I walked back towards the village.

I picked up a small painkiller balm and some patches from the nearby shop and brought them back to the room. Without saying much, I tossed them onto the bed. Nitya noticed and, in her usual calm tone, said, "Thanks."

She didn’t waste any time. As she applied the painkiller patches to her waist and thigh muscles, she dialed Ryan’s number and put him on speaker.

"Hey, Ryan. Do you need some painkillers?" she asked casually.

His response came after a pause. "Hmm, yeah. But where did you get it?"

Nitya replied smoothly, "Sarah got them for me."

There was a brief silence on his end before he muttered, "I’m good. I don’t need it," and hung up abruptly.

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The next morning, things between us felt even colder. Ryan didn’t say a word to me, and I didn’t make an effort either.

Vicky approached me cautiously, his face filled with guilt. "I'm really sorry," he began, his voice laced with sincerity. "I didn’t mean what I said last night. I respect you, not just today, but ever since school. You know that, right?" He sounded almost desperate for me to believe him.

"Have you ever seen me disrespect you?" he asked, almost pleading. "I just wanted to say we could talk till morning, or stay up playing cards or something. I swear, I didn’t mean it the way it sounded."

I could see that he was genuinely remorseful, and though I accepted his apology, something inside me still couldn’t fully relax around him. A part of me kept replaying his words from the night before, and they felt like a shadow that wouldn't quite fade.

But despite that lingering discomfort, we talked to each other as if nothing had happened. We joked, discussed the day’s work, and kept things light. On the surface, it was easy to pretend, but deep down, I knew things had changed a little.

Still, in the end, this awkward tension between me and Ryan somehow played into my plan. The growing distance made it easier for Ryan and Nitya to spend more time together. Maybe, just maybe, this cold war was doing exactly what I had hoped for.