ISHQ IBAADAT 💗

34. MUMBAI AND BETRAYAL 💗

After 1.5 years.

Ridhanvi POV

I stood in front of the mirror, my reflection blurred by the tears that wouldn't stop rolling down my cheeks. My chest rose and fell unevenly, as if every breath was a burden. My hands clutched the edges of the table tightly, my knuckles turning white, trying to hold myself together when inside I was crumbling into pieces.

"So... everything ended between us..." the words slipped from my lips like poison, a bitter truth I never wanted to taste.

I shook my head slowly, my hair falling across my face, sticking to my wet cheeks. No, this wasn't supposed to end like this. We weren't supposed to end like this.

I pressed my trembling fingers over my heart, as if trying to silence the storm raging inside me. "I didn't want this... I never wanted this," I whispered, my voice breaking as I sank down on the chair near the window. My knees felt weak, as though they would no longer carry me.

Images of that night flashed before my eyes like sharp blades cutting through my soul - his smile... his hand resting on that girl's arm... the way he leaned close as if whispering something only for her. My body shivered at the memory. My throat tightened, and I bit my lower lip hard until it almost bled, just to stop myself from screaming.

"Was he really with some other girl...? Or were my eyes deceiving me?" I asked myself again and again, clutching the dupatta at my chest like a shield. My heart wanted to believe it was all a lie, a misunderstanding, a cruel trick of fate. But my mind-my mind replayed the scene on repeat until it felt like a knife twisting deeper every second.

I covered my face with both palms and sobbed, my shoulders shaking uncontrollably. No... no... I trusted him... I trusted Reyansh when the whole world warned me not to. When everyone said he's a flirt, a heartbreaker, a man who would never stay loyal... I still stood by him.

"But... was he never like that with me? Did he never truly love me?" My voice cracked in the empty room, and the silence that followed mocked me, like a cruel reminder that I was alone in this pain.

I got up abruptly, pacing the room, my footsteps echoing loudly as if they carried the weight of my broken heart. I slammed my fist against the wall once, anger boiling in my veins. "Why, Reyansh? Why did you do this to me?" I cried out, my voice raw and desperate.

I went to the window and looked out, my vision still blurred by tears. The night sky above looked dark, just like the void inside me. I pressed my forehead against the cold glass, whispering softly, "You cheated me... I never thought you would. I never thought you of all people could betray me."

My hands slid down the glass as I closed my eyes, memories of his laughter, his warmth, the way he once promised, 'Main kabhi tumhe akela nahi chhodunga' stabbing at my soul. "Liar..." I breathed, though even now my heart refused to believe fully.

Everyone said he was a flirt. Everyone said he couldn't be trusted. But still, I trusted him blindly. I gave him all of me. And yet... here I was, questioning if my love was nothing but a cruel joke.

"Reyansh..." I whispered, my voice trembling as another tear escaped, trailing down my chin. "Why doesn't my heart believe you're a liar? Why does it still ache for you... even after this?"

I hugged myself tightly, as though trying to hold my shattered pieces together, rocking back and forth like a child seeking comfort. But there was none. Only silence. Only pain. Only the echo of his name in my breaking soul.

Author POV

Ridhanvi's hands trembled as she stood before the mirror. Tears blurred her reflection, but her rage and grief refused to let her look away. The mirror showed a face she could barely recognize-red eyes, trembling lips, and a soul drowned in betrayal.