Fated To Love You

Chapter 96

At that very moment, Siddharth jolted awake, his breath coming in ragged gasps. His heart pounded violently against his ribs, and a thin layer of sweat clung to his skin. His wide, panic-stricken eyes darted around the room, trying to shake off the horrifying images of his nightmare. His hands trembled slightly as he ran them over his face, trying to ground himself in reality.

Still feeling an unsettling heaviness in his chest, he quickly glanced over to Ruhi's side of the room, only to realize that she was already gone. A sudden wave of anxiety gripped him. Without wasting another second, he grabbed his bag and rushed out, his mind racing with worry.

His footsteps echoed in the corridors as he practically sprinted toward the staffroom, dread twisting in his stomach. As he reached, he let out a heavy sigh of relief when he spotted Ruhi standing safely near Sumedh's desk, waiting. His pulse began to steady when he saw that she was simply engaged in a conversation with Abhishek, who stood beside her, talking in his usual composed manner.

Still struggling to shake off the remnants of his nightmare, Siddharth approached them.

"Tujhe bhi bulaya hai kya?" Abhishek asked, noticing Siddharth's slightly pale face.

Siddharth quickly shook his head, forcing a casual smile to mask the lingering unease. "Main to aapse milnein aaya tha... lunch karlu aapke saath?" he asked, trying to keep his tone light.

Abhishek glanced at him, then shrugged, "Haan... chal."

Before they could take a step, Siddharth quickly added, "Nahi... yahi kar lete hai na... aap mangwa lo na... hostel jaane ka mann nahi hai." He wiped the sweat off his forehead, his hands still slightly shaky.

Abhishek narrowed his eyes slightly, sensing something off about Siddharth's demeanor. "Tu theek hai na?" he asked, his sharp gaze scanning Siddharth's face.

"Haan haan... bas thoda thakaan lag rahi thi," Siddharth said hurriedly, trying to brush it off with a chuckle.

Though still unconvinced, Abhishek didn't press further. "Theek hai, mangwa lete hai," he said simply.

Siddharth nodded, but his eyes flickered toward Ruhi once again, silently reassuring himself that she was perfectly fine—that the nightmare was nothing but a cruel trick of his mind.

As soon as Sumedh entered the room, Ruhi instinctively straightened herself, her hands clasping together in nervous anticipation. Siddharth, who was sitting in front of Abhishek, felt his heartbeat spike again. His fingers tightened around the edge of the table as his gaze flickered between Ruhi and Sumedh, trying to catch every word of their conversation while nodding on Abhishek's conversation.

"Pull a chair and sit down," Sumedh said, his voice unusually calm. "And take out your notebook."

Ruhi nodded hastily, pulling out a chair and sitting down opposite him. Her hands trembled slightly as she handed over the notebook, her eyes refusing to meet his. Sumedh took it and flipped through the pages once more, his expression unreadable.

"Now tell me... how are you now? Everything okay between Siddharth and you?" His tone remained neutral, but his eyes held a sharpness that made Ruhi sit up even straighter.

"Yes... yes, sir," she stammered, her voice barely above a whisper.

Sumedh nodded. "Understood the topic I explained today? You focused?"

Ruhi quickly nodded again, though her hands remained clenched in her lap.

"So, the topics for which you didn't complete the work—were they clear, and you just didn't do the work? Or were they unclear because you didn't focus?" His voice was calm, yet there was an underlying authority that made Ruhi's stomach twist.