𝑨𝑵𝑰𝑫𝑰𝑻𝑨: 𝐓𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐇𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐥𝐞 - Yours With All My Heart

|58|•ᴅʜᴏᴋᴇʙᴀᴀᴢ ɪɴꜱᴀᴀɴ•

BONDITA

My Pati Babu kissing Mishti.

Her moans filled the air, echoing in my head like a cruel reminder I couldn’t escape. His hands were gripping her waist, his lips moving against hers with a hunger I’d never seen before. The scene was so vivid, so real, I felt like I was there again, standing in that doorway, frozen.

My heart twisted painfully as I saw his face in my mind—his eyes closed, completely lost in her. The way his hands caressed her, the way she gasped his name—it felt like someone was stabbing me over and over.

I couldn’t breathe. My chest tightened as the memory played on repeat. No! Stop it, stop thinking about it! I wanted to scream at myself, to push it all away, but it wouldn’t leave.

And then—knock, knock.

The sound jolted me, pulling me out of the whirlwind of my thoughts. I blinked rapidly, disoriented, my gaze darting around the room. Another knock came, softer this time but insistent.

I slowly sat up, my body feeling heavy as if all the energy had been drained out of me. My eyes landed on the mirror across the room, and I froze.

Red. My eyes were swollen and bloodshot from all the crying. The kajal I’d applied so carefully in the morning was now smudged and smeared all over my face, making me look like a ghost of myself. My cheeks were streaked with dried tears, and my lips were trembling.

Another knock.

And just like that, it all came rushing back—the pain, the betrayal, the heartbreak. He kissed her. He kissed Mishti. My chest ached as the memories resurfaced. Every promise he made, every smile he gave me—it all felt like a cruel lie now.

For a moment, I wanted to curl back under the blanket, to ignore whoever was at the door and just cry until I disappeared. But then I thought of Maa. What if it was her? What if she saw me like this—broken, shattered? I couldn’t let her know.

I forced myself to move, to wipe away the mess on my face. My hands trembled as I grabbed the edge of my dress and wiped at the smudged kajal around my eyes. My reflection stared back at me, hollow and empty.

I swallowed hard, whispering to myself, “You can’t let them see you like this, Bondita. Maa will worry. You have to...you have to smile. Pretend. Just for a little while.”

With a deep breath, I pushed back my hair and wiped my face again, trying to make myself look presentable. My lips curved into a small, fake smile, though it felt more like a grimace.

I stepped toward the door, each step feeling heavier than the last. My hand hesitated on the handle, my heart pounding. I plastered the smile back on my face, hoping it looked convincing, and slowly opened the door.

My body froze.

There he was, standing right in front of me—Anirudh. The man who once held my world together, now the one who shattered it into pieces.

His face was glowing with a smile, that same goddamn smile I used to live for. His voice was soft, warm, like nothing had happened. “Oh, meri butterfly… you have no idea how much I missed you my bacha,” he whispered, stepping closer with that grin plastered on his face.