Hukum's Rani Sa

49. Healing

Happy Reading Lovelies ❤️ Hope you are doing well.. This is a very long chapter... If you like the chapter please like it.. and sorry for the late update...

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Shree didn't remember how she reached home.

The drive from college to the Rajawat mansion passed like a blurred montage - traffic lights changing, horns blaring, headlights cutting through dusk - but none of it truly registered. Her hands were steady on the steering wheel, yet her mind felt like it had been tossed into a storm without warning.

The rooftop.

His voice.

"If you say yes, it'll break me."
"I love you."

She parked the car mechanically, stepped out, and walked inside without looking at anyone. The house was alive with post-fest chatter - laughter drifting from the living room, someone calling for tea, Dadi's voice rising in affectionate complaint - but it all felt distant.

She climbed the stairs slowly.

Each step heavier than the last.

Inside her room, she shut the door gently - then locked it.

The soft click echoed louder than it should have.

She leaned against the door for a long moment, eyes closed, breathing shallow. Then she walked to her bed and sat down, staring at her hands as if they belonged to someone else.

"Did he really say that?" she whispered to herself.

Or had she imagined it?

Was it her heart, so desperate to hear those words, that had created them?

She pressed her palms to her temples, trying to replay everything exactly as it happened.

Ishan standing there - breath uneven.

Aarav frozen mid-sentence.

The way Ishan's voice had trembled ever so slightly when he said love.

No. It wasn't delusion.

He had said it.

But then why?

Her eyes filled again, not with the sharp pain from before - but with confusion.

Just days ago, at the dining table, in front of everyone, he had calmly said he liked someone else.

He had watched her reaction that day. She knew he had. She had felt his gaze linger, measuring the damage.

And now suddenly... love?

Was it jealousy?

Was it ego?

Was it because Aarav was about to propose?

The thought stung.

She stood abruptly and began pacing.

"No" she muttered.

"I'm not going to be someone's realization just because someone else almost chose me."

She stopped in front of her mirror.

Her reflection stared back - eyes swollen, makeup faintly smudged, but something new there too.

Clarity.

For months she had let her feelings grow quietly, without demand. She had accepted crumbs - stolen glances, subtle concern, unspoken tension. She had built castles out of silence.