Exploring Love...the shade of PINK

Innocent Bride Chapter 7

Now I have a doubt?

Am I really writing a short story?

Mera kuch nahi ho sakta jaise mere readers ka jo shanti se aate hain pdhate hain or shanti se chale jaate hain.

Okay so update is here. Sorry for late as some guests are here at my home and editing took lots of time.

Tell me how was it?

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 The room was dimly lit, the ancient fan whirring above making a grating sound that somehow added to the silence. Outside, moonlight spilled across the verandah tiles, cold and distant. But inside Raghav's room, a different storm brewed — quiet, aching, suffocating.

Vrinda stood in a corner, wrapped in her own silence, eyes vacant and hollow. She wasn't crying. Not anymore. She had outgrown tears the way desert outgrows hope.

Raghav stood across, fists clenched, jaw tight — but his voice, when it came, was tired, soft, and almost pleading.

"Baitho."
Vrinda, startled, instantly folded herself down on the floor.

He blinked in disbelief. "On the bed, Vrinda. Sit on the bed."

"Ji Sa... mein?" she asked, almost mechanically.

"Koi aur dikh raha hai jisse bolunga?" His sarcasm wasn't sharp. It was weary.

"Na Ji Sa..." She tried to stand, but her knees gave up. Instead, she dropped down and folded at his feet.

"Maaf kar dijiye Ji Sa... mujhe nahi pata tha sab gadbad ho jaayegi... main..."

"Shant!" he snapped, but not cruelly — just full of chaos.

"Vrinda, mujhe tumse kuch baat karni hai. Kaafi dino se soch raha tha. Par aaj... aaj me tumse baat karunga. Tumhe neend to nahi aa rahi, na?"
She couldn't speak — just shook her head faintly.

Raghav sat down, slowly, as if the burden on his chest was heavier than his body. Vrinda made a feeble attempt to stop him, but one hard glare from his dark, tired eyes froze her.

He sat by her feet.

Then... he laid his head gently in her lap.

Vrinda went numb.

She stared ahead blankly, hands hovering mid-air, confused, scared, and unsure. Her fingers trembled when he guided her hand to rest on his hair.

"Rub it... Vrinda." His voice broke like an autumn leaf — dry, fragile.

Her fingers, shaky as a dying flame, brushed his scalp. Something loosened in him. A knot, maybe. Or a decade of denial.

"Kya kabhi tumhe meri yaad nahi aayi?" he whispered.

"Huh?" She blinked, words too alien to understand.

"Mujhe aayi thi... par dushman ki tarah." He lifted his head and looked into her empty eyes. "Jisne meri zindagi me, mere ghar me zabardasti kadam rakha. Mujhe laga tum ne sab kuch cheen liya — pyaar, sapne, maa ka bharosa. Socha agar tum na aati... sab theek rehta."

Vrinda didn't flinch. She just listened like she'd been listening all these years — without reaction, without expectation.

"Kuch bolo Vrinda..." his voice cracked. "Main sochta raha tum khush ho maa ke paas. Tumhe har suvidha di. Par aaj pata chala... tum sirf suvidha nahi... mera poora ghar sambhal rahi thi. Ek patni ka, ek bahu ka, ek bhabhi ka farz nibha rahi thi. Aur main..." His throat clogged. "Main to insaan bhi nahi tha bas tumhe yaad karta to sirf apna dukh ka kaaran samajh kar.."