Bade Sapne

◇ Part 1 ◇

Ishan’s POV

Sitting on the balcony of my hotel room, I scrolled through article after article, my fingers trembling. The sun was setting, casting a faint orange glow over the city skyline, but I barely noticed. The headlines were blaring—“Shubman Gill: Accused of Match-Fixing?”—and Vira’s name was dragged into it, like a piece of broken glass in the mud.

I couldn’t get the image of Shubman’s face out of my head, that moment we’d talked, his frustration, his anger. He hadn’t outright said it, but I knew what he was feeling—betrayal. By me. By Vira. And it wasn’t fair. None of it was.

"Vira?" I muttered, tapping on one of the links that mentioned her. I never imagined I’d see her name mixed with something like this. Sure, things between us had been tense, and yeah, she’d been around Shubman a lot, but I knew her. She wasn’t involved. She couldn’t be.

The article read:

"Sources allege that Vira Malhotra, close to both Ishan Kishan and Shubman Gill, may have had both knowledge, as well as been involved in the rumored match-fixing activities. Seen at various games and practice sessions, Malhotra's relationship with the players raises questions about her role in recent underperformance."

"Role? What the hell does that even mean?" I said out loud, my voice bouncing back at me from the empty room. Vira ke baare mein aise kaise likh sakte hai? She wasn’t some shady person behind the scenes pulling strings. She didn’t have anything to do with this—none of this was her fault.

Scrolling further, I saw a quote, supposedly from a source: “She feels guilty regarding Shubman and hasn’t told Ishan. It’s likely she knows more than she’s letting on. Netizens suggest that this may be because Ishan Kishan is known for having a short temper, and will likely lash out if he finds out the secret relationship between his girlfriend and best friend.”

What? When...? Kab hua ye sab? Kaise... Anger Issues? My eyes skimmed over the page, taking in each and every allegation, my belief in Vira and Shubman fading with each word. As I kept on reading, I started to piece together bits of information. How had I not seen this before?

That day Vira had looked at Shubman in guilt? After waking me up, he'd given her a look...

Guilty? The memory hit me like a brick.

Maybe they'd done something when I'd been asleep, and perhaps Shubman was telling her to keep the blush off her face, while she looked down in guilt! She'd cheated on me!

But we hadn't been together then, had we? OK, we kinda were together. VIRA CHEATED ON ME! With my best friend. How had I not seen this before?

But back then, it had nothing to do with match-fixing or anything illegal. I didn't realise she was involved in all of this nonsense... I'd always thought she was the sweet, innocent girl, cheering for me in the stadiums, celebrating when she'd caught the ball I'd hit for six. That memory seemed distant now...

But... why would Vira do that? Whenever we'd been together, she'd seemed so happy... but with Shubman, it was almost as if she was being scolded by someone...

Then, I forced the thoughts out of my head. Vira. My Vira. Maybe she would cheat on me, I don't know, but I know for sure she wasn't involved in match-fixing. She wasn't evil. She didn't hate us enough to destroy our careers. I know it.

“Yeh sab bakwaas hai,” I muttered under my breath. (This is all nonsense.)

I’d known her long enough to recognize when she was conflicted, when she was doubting herself, but never for something like this. The media had taken her guilt, her uncertainty, and twisted it into a ridiculous narrative. How could anyone think Vira—my Vira—was involved in match-fixing?

That’s when it clicked. All this time, the one link, the thing everyone was focusing on, was how much Shubman had been off his game recently, and how Vira had been close to us both. The rumors spread like wildfire from there. But maybe... I knew the truth. Her guilt wasn’t about anything shady—it was about emotions, complicated feelings that had gotten tangled up with our friendship.

I threw my phone onto the couch, leaning back against the chair. “Sab log galat samajh rahe hai,” I said, my voice shaky.

She wasn’t guilty of anything other than caring too much. She probably blamed herself for how things had gone downhill between Shubman and me, how our friendship had strained. The real problem was that none of us had talked—about the awkward tension, the unspoken feelings. We’d let everything build up, and now the world had taken that silence and turned it into something ugly.

I rubbed my hands over my face, thinking back to how the three of us used to be. All those moments, all those jokes, the easygoing laughter—it had been real. But now, it felt like the walls were caving in. And the worst part? Vira was being dragged through it, with people assuming the worst about her.

I had to talk to her. To clear the air. She didn’t deserve to be caught in the middle of this mess. And I needed to let her know that I saw through the bullshit—unlike everyone else.
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A/N:

So this was pretty much a shit chapter, I personally don't know wtf I wrote here, but I'd like you guys to know that my brain probably wasn't working when I wrote this, so, sorry about that...

If its really that bad, I can release another chapter as an apology, I'm sorry guysss :(

Also, I know I'm late this week, I kinda forgot 😅

Well actually, I didn't forget, I remembered but I wanted to edit this chapter, coz believe it or not, it was WORSE.

Anyways, give me your honest opinions on this chapter :D

Love ya

Stay tuned ;)