Chapter :

Anvaya's POV

My eyes fluttered open, heavy as though stitched shut, and the first sensation I registered was warmth. Not the impersonal warmth of a blanket or a room, but the living, breathing warmth of a body. Strong arms caged me, heavy yet protective, as if I was being kept from falling into some abyss only he could see.

When I shifted, my body rebelled, aching in ways I couldn’t even name. A broken groan escaped me.

The arms around me loosened instantly but didn’t retreat. As if their owner had vowed to never let me go, not even if I pushed him away.

I forced my lashes to rise, and the blurred outline sharpened into him.

Kaaryaksh.

My head had been pillowed against his chest, my fingers curled against him as though even unconscious, I had reached for him. His heart beat steady under my ear, anchoring me in a way that was both infuriating and necessary.

His gaze lowered, a shadow of relief flashing across those dark eyes. “Good evening, my sweet sin,” he murmured, voice vibrating through my bones. His lips brushed the crown of my head, and the familiar baritone was like silk threaded with steel. His breath warmed me, seeping into the cracks of my broken spirit.

It was evening already? I had fainted at the hospital, right after running away from the chaos. And now… now I was back in my apartment, the one I shared with my bestfriends, safe yet destroyed inside.

The memories struck hard and fast. The accusation. The patient’s death. The furious eyes of colleagues. The whispers. The committee’s cold words declaring my medical license revoked.

My chest tightened painfully.

I tried to breathe, but it came out as a shaky gasp.

His hand cupped my cheek gently, thumb stroking beneath my damp lashes as though he had been waiting for this moment—to catch my tears before the world could. He bent, lips grazing mine for a fleeting, tender kiss, before pressing another on my forehead, slower, grounding.

“How are you feeling?” he asked quietly, though the roughness in his voice betrayed how badly he needed the answer.

That one question unraveled me.

My throat ached. My lips trembled.

I sat up, as he followed suit before my teary eyes met his. All the emotions came flooding in my eyes, remembering everything that I wished was just a nightmare.

“How am I…?” The dam cracked. Hot tears slid down my face, unstoppable. “Kaaryaksh, my life is over. Everything I worked for—everything I sacrificed—ended in one afternoon. Just because of one misunderstanding. They took everything from me.”

"Everything's gone now, Kaaryaksh. Everything's gone. I—this was more than just a job to me. More than just a dream. It was everything to me. Everything I worked for now mixed with the ground." I cried, remembering how my medical licence had been snatched away from my hands. And how all I could do was stare at it being taken away.

It was my life.

My sole reason to stay alive had been taken away.

The words shattered as I spoke them.

My throat hurt from the sobs I tried to suppress, but the emotions coiling in me like a tight iron chain made it harder to hold back. I curled into him, sobbing against his chest, clutching at his shirt like it was the last thing holding me upright.

He said nothing, only held me tighter, his chest rising and falling beneath my cheek, each breath an anchor I clung to.

My chest tightened as each sob escaped, my tears wetting his shirt. My voice muffled against his chest yet nothing mattered to me more than the loss. Those cruel words thrown at me, that accusation, the death — everything felt worse than a nightmare.

I wish I hadn't woken up after collapsing at the hospital. At least the pain that had followed me back home wouldn't have been there.

My sobs echoed in the room, clashing the walls in a painful rhythm.

When my sobbing grew hoarse, he tilted my face up, eyes searching mine. “Tell me what you’re afraid of, Anvaya. Don’t hide it from me.”

I sniffed back my tears, hands trembling. I tried to steady myself, trying to speak but my throat felt locked.

Sensing that, he forwarded me a glass of water from the bedside stand which I gulped in painful gulps. I so much wanted to get rid of this pain in my throat. It felt as if someone had wrapped a metal wire with spikes around my neck.

I hesitated. My lips trembled. But the suspicion had been gnawing at me, unrelenting.

Finally, voice trembling, I whispered, “It’s Viola. I think she’s behind this. She told me to stay away from you—her husband. She warned me. And now… this. Kaaryaksh, I can’t ignore it anymore. I feel like she’s the one who ruined me.”

His arms tensed, his eyes burning with something I couldn’t decipher. But before he could speak, my fury broke through the grief.

I pushed at his chest, weakly but desperately. “No. She's not to be blamed. It's me. It's me who got attached to you. But before that, this is all because of you!” My voice cracked into something jagged, angry.

I sat a little far away from my him. My teary eyes now burned with all the pending anger, frustration, guilt, shame and… more — met his. My fingers curled around the bedsheet, chest heaving with fury.

“If you hadn’t dragged me into your mess, none of this would have happened! I would still be a doctor. I’d still have my career, my dignity. Everything! But now—” My breath broke into a sob. “Now everything’s destroyed, and it’s all because of you.” My voice was loud, laced with my anger.

My eyes were wide, chest heaving with fury bubbling beneath. I wanted to lash out on someone. I just wanted someone to blame because I had enough of bottling up everything. So he became the vessel.

I didn't think before accusing because somewhere, he was at fault too. He should've thought about the consequences I'd face when he was dragging me after being married.

His obsession brought this ruin upon me. It wasn't solely his fault. It was mine too. I gave in like a fool.

This was so… messed up.

I kept pushing at him, pounding my fists weakly against his chest, but he didn’t budge. His strength was immovable, infuriating.

He caught my wrists gently, not to stop me but to soften my fight, then let them drop. His arms enveloped me again, tighter, fiercer, until my anger collapsed into sobs.

“Cry, Anvaya,” he whispered into my hair, his lips brushing the crown of my head. “Scream, curse me, break me if you want. I’ll take it all. But I won’t let you go.”

And I did. Again. I cried until my chest burned and my throat ached raw. He let me fall apart in his embrace, one hand stroking my back, the other holding my waist steady as if to anchor me.

When my sobs became ragged gasps, his lips brushed over mine again, slow, hesitant, tasting my grief. He kissed me as if to remind me that even in ruins, I was wanted. He lingered a moment before pulling back.

Then—two soft knocks broke the silence.

I flinched, quickly trying to wipe my face.

The door opened. Nitya stepped in, followed by Mimi. Their expressions—etched with panic and fierce protectiveness—made my chest cave in further.

They rushed to me immediately, and Kaaryaksh only shifted slightly to get behind me, to allow them space. He didn’t release me, though; my back remained pressed to his chest, his arms still a cage.

Nitya took my trembling hand in both of hers. “Anu… when I found you on the garden floor—God, I thought you’d stopped breathing. I couldn’t leave you there. I had to bring you home. You don't know how worried you made me.”

Mimi’s eyes brimmed with tears. “You’re not at fault, Anu. We know you. You’d never let harm come to a patient. You’ve always been the one to put your soul into your work. They don’t deserve you.”

My voice cracked. “But they took everything. They stripped me of my license. I’m nothing now. Nothing.”

“You’re not nothing,” Nitya said firmly, squeezing my hand. “You’re Anvaya. You’re ours. You’re more than a piece of paper that says you’re a doctor.”

Mimi nodded, tears slipping down her cheeks. “And no matter what, you still have us. Always.”

Their words were balm and blade at once, soothing me while reminding me of everything I had lost.

They might've tried to soothe something broken in me but the constant reminder that everything was already in ruins and I could never get anything back — kept twisting in my chest like a sharp knife.

The thoughts weren't soon going to fade and I knew that.

Then Nitya's eyes went to him.

She just glanced at him, her eyes cold and unapproving. But as she looked back at me, her eyes softened.

"He was informed about everything, so when we brought you home, he also came here. Just because you said…" she trailed off and I knew what she meant. I nodded.

"That's why we let him stay."

I smiled at them. Despite their disliking toward him, they still let him be close to me after such a breakdown just for me.

“I’ll stay here tonight,” I whispered, my voice barely audible. “With you both. I... I can’t go back there. Not now.”

Nitya immediately cupped my face. “Then stay. This is your home as much as it is ours. We’ll keep you safe.”

I looked down at my hands.

“I just...” My throat tightened. “I don't know what I'm supposed to do now.”

Neither of them spoke.

“That place was never just a job for me.” A hollow laugh escaped me. “Everyone keeps saying I'll find another one, but... it wasn't about finding another one.”

My fingers curled into the bedsheet.

“I spent years getting there.” I swallowed hard. “Years imagining it, working for it, building my whole life around it and now...” My voice cracked. “Now it's just gone.”

Mimi slid closer and wrapped an arm around me.

For a moment, I couldn't continue.

“I keep thinking maybe if I had worked harder... maybe if I had done something differently...” I shook my head. “I know it wouldn't have changed anything, but I can't stop thinking about it.”

Silence settled over the room.

“I don't even know why it hurts this much,” I admitted quietly. “It feels stupid saying it out loud, but it feels like I lost something bigger than a job today.”

Kaaryaksh shifted then, rising with me in his arms. He murmured to them, “Give us a moment.” And then, before I could protest, he carried me to the balcony.

The night air was cool against my tear-stained face. The city stretched out below, lights blurred like distant stars.

My limbs felt weak, making it harder for me to even stand but just then, his tall figure pressed against my back, stilling my breaths. My fingers tightened their grip on the railing, finally feeling steady enough to stand.

His presence was calming the storm inside me in a way I hated at the moment. He was the reason behind my tears yet I couldn't push him away. I might yell at him that I didn't want him anymore but I knew, his presence was never ignorable.

His arms came around my waist before he turned me around, tucking his fingers around my chin to make me look up into his eyes.

I heaved a shaky breath, saying nothing for a moment.

But something in me cracked again, seeing his unreadable eyes. His silence was peeling away something from me that even my love for him stepped aside today.

It annoyed me. Frustrated me. Hurt me.

They felt both peaceful and unbearable in a way that made me want to recoil.

And I did.

I pulled away, turning my face from him. “I’m not a doctor anymore, Kaaryaksh. Do you understand what that means? I can’t even check up on you now. Viola will use this to throw me out of the mansion, and she’ll succeed. My life is already ruined, and I can’t stay with you like this. I need… peace. And I can’t find it with you for now. Staying with you will remind me of how everything started with you.”

I didn't want to blame, but my tone came harsh. I was deeply hurt, so I didn't know whom to blame. I didn't have enough sanity to even think straight.

He gripped my chin gently, forcing me to meet his gaze. His eyes burned with something unyielding. “Then stay here. Stay with your bestfriends as long as you need. But don’t think for a second that this is the end. I want you back, Anvaya. I can’t live without you.”

My breath shuddered. “You make it sound so easy.”

“It isn’t,” he said, voice low, raw. “It’s killing me to even let you say these words. But I’ll give you this time. One condition.” His lips brushed mine in a whisper of a kiss. “One week. I want you back in my arms after not more than one week.”

The ache in my chest deepened. “One week…” I repeated softly, almost to myself.

"Just wait till I make things right," he whispered between the kiss and with a final suck, he let go.

His kiss had silenced me again, desperate and lingering, before he finally released me and walked away.

The moment he was gone, the hollowness spread through me like frost. I stared at the space previously occupied by him, now all empty after a few lines shared. Something in me ached despite everything. I wanted to reach out for him. Let him hold me again.

But I couldn't. I didn't want to attend the same time. I needed some time to breathe. And think… think what?

I don't know.

When I returned, Nitya and Mimi pulled me into their arms immediately, their anger at the world vibrating in their voices.

“It’s disgusting what they did to you,” Mimi whispered fiercely. “Disgusting.”

“They won’t get away with it,” Nitya added, holding me as though she could absorb my pain. “You’re not alone in this, Anu.”

I broke again, sobbing into their embrace. They rocked me, murmured comfort, their love undeniable.

Their ever so strong support, love and care for me didn't shake even now. Even when the world blamed me, hated me, they still stood for me. They believed in me and that was more than anything I could ask for.

But even as they held me, my heart twisted painfully. Because no matter how much I blamed him, cursed him, pushed him away…

The comfort Kaaryaksh gave was something only he could give. His embrace. His voice. His kisses. His presence.

They had bound me to him in ways I hadn’t even realized until now.

And the truth burned through me, brutal and undeniable.

I could rage. I could push him away. I could pretend I wanted to live without him.

But I couldn’t.

I couldn’t live without Kaaryaksh.