The Charade

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KASHI

Life had a way of breaking people. It tested you, bent you, stripped you down to the very marrow of your soul. And yet, somehow, I was still here. Still standing.

There were days when I thought I'd run out of strength, days when my reflection in the mirror felt like a stranger's. But then I'd look at him—my husband—and everything would fall into place.

It was all for him. For us.

The warm afternoon breeze stirred the curtains, I stood by the window, gazing at the forest below. A week ago, everything felt out of place, and I thought it was our end. But now, standing back in this room with the faint echoes of Reyaan, it felt like home.

I traced the rim of the coffee cup in my hands, my thoughts drifting back to the storm we faced.

But it wasn't easy to get here. Not for me.

I'd been broken before—cracked open by a fractured family, betrayals that hit like blades, and the crushing weight of expectations I was never meant to bear. Lesser women might have crumbled. But I fought. For myself. For him. For the kind of love that doesn't just heal but consumes. Even when it felt like that love was tearing me apart.

Because I was, am, and always will be, madly, foolishly in love with Adhikrit.

But love like ours wasn't a fairytale. It was raw, sick, and often more stormy than calm. He didn't want me to love him that way—desperately, obsessively—but how could I stop? And yet, I had made a promise to myself: I wouldn't let my fire burn us to ash. Not anymore. I would love him the way I wanted to, but I wouldn't lose myself in the process.

That's okay, isn't it?

A voice in the back of my mind whispered, He won't let you go through anything alone anymore.

A small smile tugged at my lips. He wouldn't. I know that now. Even after he pushed me away for a month, I realized something undeniable—our love was flawed. Beautiful, but flawed.

Adhikrit wasn't an easy man to love. He had equal parts savior and storm, fire and steel. His love was suffocating one moment, intoxicating the next. But beneath all that intensity, there was a tenderness that made me feel like I could finally exhale.

However difficult he was, he was mine. Completely and irrevocably mine.

I sipped my coffee, the warmth seeping into my chest. Ours hadn't been an easy journey, but it was ours. And I wouldn't trade it for anything.

"Sweetheart."

I felt his arms slide around my waist, pulling me back into him. His warmth seeped through me, his chin resting lightly on my shoulder, and I let out a breath I hadn't realized I was holding.

I leaned into him, letting his steady breathing ground me. "What are you thinking?" He asked gently placing a kiss on my skin.

"I was just thinking," I murmured, setting the cup on the windowsill.