Aradhya : His Devotion

Aradhya Aadriti x Rahul Adhisesh

"Are you ready to break this?" The question came out raw, stripped of everything but pain from him. "The engagement. Us. Whatever the hell this is-are you ready to end it?"

Silence. Just the rain and her thundering pulse.

"Say it, Aradhya. I'll walk away."

"Just like that?" Her voice broke completely. "Is it that easy for you?"

Something flickered in his eyes-something dangerous and devastating. He moved closer, so close she had to tilt her head back to meet his gaze. So close she could feel his breath on her lips.

"Easy?" The word was almost a growl. "There's nothing easy about letting you go, watching you run from this- from me. But if you want me gone, I'll go. If you want me to be nothing, I'll be nothing."

He leaned in, his lips a breath away from her ear, his voice dropping to a whisper that set her skin on fire."I've loved you in the shadows for years, Aradhya. I can disappear into them just as easily. The question is-" His fingers barely grazed her wrist, and she gasped at the contact. "-can you live with the ghost of what we could have been? Because I promise you sweetheart, you'll feel my absence in every corner of your life. In every coffee cup that stays empty. In every silence that no one else fills. In every night you lie awake wondering if walking away was freedom-"His thumb traced a circle on her pulse point, and her knees nearly gave out."-or the biggest mistake of your life."

He pulled back, and the absence of his warmth felt like death.

"So tell me. Is this what you want?"

The rain fell between them like a verdict waiting to be delivered. Would Aradhya choose the freedom she'd been chasing-or the love that had been chasing her all along?