His Unrequited Love

Chapter ~ 35

Aadrika walked with a smile, but her heart a battlefield of conflicting emotions. Excitement fluttered within her, the joy of the secret she carried, the tiny life growing inside her. But beneath the surface, a tremor of nervousness ran through her veins.

How would Vihaan react to the news? Yet, despite her apprehension, she held on to her faith in their love; after all, how could he not embrace this blessing? She knew they were young, the path ahead challenging, but her love for him was a beacon, a belief that together they could weather any storm.

She clutched her chest, trying to calm her racing heart, and reached for the door handle, the door was already opened, so she pushed the door slightly, when she overheard a conversation that shattered her world.

"Aren't you tired of her yet, Vihaan?"  The question, laced with a cruel amusement, pierced Aadrika's heart. 

"I mean, the bet's over a long ago, right? You brought her to your bed, you won. So why the charade?  Weren't you supposed to dump her the next day, tell her it was all a game?"

The words hit Aadrika like a physical blow. Her breath hitched, a sob caught in her throat. The world seemed to tilt on its axis. She felt a searing pain, as if a jagged knife had been plunged into her heart and twisted.

"I was going to, yaar," Vihaan's voice drawled, a chilling casualness in his tone. 

"But she's… amazing.  I can't just let her go yet. She makes me feel like I'm in heaven. Yeah, it started as a bet," Vihaan recounted, a smugness creeping into his voice.

"She was a tough nut to crack, man. It took me a whole damn year to get her into my bed, to make her actually believe I loved her. Every time I tried to get close, she'd pull away. I had to play it so carefully with her, be extra gentle, extra convincing." He paused,

"But I'm not ready to give that up, not yet. I can't even explain it, man. She's… heavenly, so fucking heavenly.  I never imagined she would turn out to be so fucking amazing that I’d want to keep her as my girlfriend for years."

Aadrika's world crumbled.  The joy, the hope, the love she carried, all turned to ash in her mouth. Tears, hot and stinging, began to stream down her face, blurring her vision. The casual cruelty in Vihaan's voice, the laughter that followed, echoed in her ears like a death knell.

"So, you're leaving the country soon," another voice chimed in. "What's the plan? Going to tell her the truth before you go? That she was just a bet?"

Aadrika clamped a hand over her mouth, desperately trying to stifle the sobs that threatened to erupt. She could barely breathe.

"Let me enjoy her a little longer before I break the news," Vihaan replied, his voice dripping with callousness. 

He laughed, a sound that grated on Aadrika's ears, each note a hammer blow to her already shattered heart.

Aadrika couldn't bear to hear another word. She turned and ran, tears streaming down her face, her vision distorted by the pain and the blur of her tears. She stumbled out of the building, desperate for escape, for air, for a place where she could just… break.

She found herself in a deserted alleyway, the silence a stark contrast to the cacophony of her emotions.  She sank to the ground, her body shaking with uncontrollable sobs.

The pain was unbearable, a raw, gaping wound in her soul. The man she loved, the man she trusted with her heart, had betrayed her in the most cruel and humiliating way. She was nothing to him, just a bet, a conquest. The question echoed in her mind: Why? Why would he do this to her?

Suddenly, her breath hitched. The sobs turned into gasps, her chest tightening. She couldn't breathe. The pain, the betrayal, the suffocating weight of her emotions, all conspired to steal her breath away. She gasped for air, but it wouldn't come.