𝓑𝓻𝓸𝓴𝓮𝓷.

Chapter - 21

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Shivanya ~

The rest of the party, I was looking for a thousand ways to avoid literally everyone, even Radhika.

I slipped away into a quiet corner, leaning against the railing of the terrace, letting the cool night air calm me. I closed my eyes for a moment, just needing a break from everything—especially from thinking about him. But, as if summoned by my very thoughts, I heard the sound of his footsteps approaching.

Mr. Birdbrain didn't say anything at first, just came to stand beside me, his presence impossible to ignore.

I kept staring at the city lights, not wanting to meet his gaze. I knew if I did, I'd be exposed—vulnerable and vulnerable because tonight, for the first time, I did not feel out of place with the idea of maybe accepting him into my life and letting myself be a part of him.

I bit my lip, unsure of what to say or even how to act. My mind was a mess of tangled emotions.

"Shivanya," he finally spoke, his voice low and steady, "you don't have to worry about this, about us. You don't have to think about marrying me if you don't want to. No one, including myself in going to ask you to do anything you don't feel like doing. " His words were gentle, but there was something deeper in his tone, something that made my chest tighten.

I turned my head slightly, still not meeting his eyes. "What's that supposed to mean?" I asked, my voice barely above a whisper.

"It means that I want you to choose what feels right for you," he said softly, "without any pressure. If you don't feel it, I will not hold you to it. I would never force you into anything, Shivanya." His words caught me off guard. This wasn't the usual Vihaan, the man who pushed and teased, who always had a sharp retort ready. No, this was something different, something real.

I glanced at him, catching the sincerity in his eyes. For a moment, the guarded wall I kept up around him began to crack. His words, his presence, they were all pulling me in.

"Seriously Sir? I thought this was your endgame, to get me to agree to marry you and now that I have maybe agreed to give this extremely weird situation a thought, you're telling me this? Why?" I did not hold myself back and let my intrusive thoughts win as I asked him.

"Because Sunshine, what I feel for you is my headache, not yours. What is feel towards you is not infatuation that I have to bind you with me for it to sustain, I am in love with you and that is why I know that no matter how far away you are from me or however long I do not see you, this feeling is still going to be just the same, or perhaps grow. I am going to win you over, not manipulate you into being with me because that is not me." Every single word of his was currently somehow filling the hollowness within me, but I did not know how to feel about it.

My hands gripped the railing harder, knuckles turning white as I tried to steady myself. His words, they were soft but they had hit me hard. Why? Why did they feel like something I had been waiting to hear, yet something I wasn't sure I deserved? My head was spinning.

I should be walking away from him right now, far away. But something inside me, something deep and inexplicable, was pulling me toward him instead.

I clutched the railing even tighter, turning my face away from him completely, hoping he wouldn't notice the turmoil boiling just beneath the surface. Why was I feeling this way? Why was my heart reacting to his words like they meant more than just a confession? Why, after all this time of avoiding him, did I feel like I wanted to believe every single word he said?