72. TRUTH
AAROHI'S POV
The road beneath my feet does not feel real anymore.
It feels like I am walking through someone else's life, someone else's nightmare.
My steps are uneven at first, slow and uncertain, but then they become faster, almost desperate, as if stopping for even one second will make everything inside me collapse completely.
Tears blur my vision so badly that the world around me dissolves into nothing but moving shadows and distorted lights.
People brush past me. Cars rush by. Someone hits my shoulder and mutters something annoyed under their breath, but I do not hear any of it.
The only thing echoing inside my head is one sentence. Twenty two months.
My fingers curl tightly into my palms until my nails dig painfully into my skin. Twenty two months. Was that all I was to him? Just time. Just a contract. Just something temporary he planned to throw away once the deadline ended. A broken laugh escapes my lips, weak and hollow.
"I trusted you," I whisper softly, but even those words fall apart the moment they leave my mouth.
My chest hurts so badly that breathing itself feels impossible.
Not ordinary pain. Not heartbreak. This feels deeper, like someone is slowly tearing my heart apart from the inside while I stand there helplessly watching it happen.
I continue walking without knowing where I am going.
I do not want to go anywhere. I do not want to think.
I do not want to exist inside this moment anymore.
Suddenly my footsteps stop in the middle of the road.
A loud horn blasts somewhere close, but it sounds distant, muffled, unreal.
For one terrifying second, a dangerous thought slips quietly into my mind.
Just stop walking. Just stand here. Let everything end. My breathing slows. My body freezes completely. Maybe it would be easier this way. No more pain. No more memories. No more him. My eyes begin to close slowly as exhaustion crushes me from every side.
Then suddenly my hand moves instinctively to my stomach.
Everything inside me shatters all over again.
A sharp breath leaves my lips as my trembling fingers press protectively against the tiny curve beneath my palm.
Two lives. Two tiny innocent lives growing quietly inside me.
They did not ask for this pain. They did not choose him.
They did not choose me. They did nothing wrong.
Tears begin falling harder now, uncontrollable and endless.
"How can I..." My voice breaks completely.
"How can I do this to you?" My knees nearly give out beneath me, but somehow I force myself backward.
One shaky step. Then another. Away from the road. Away from that horrible thought.
My breathing turns uneven and painful again as I wipe my tears roughly, though they refuse to stop.
"I won't," I whisper repeatedly like a promise to myself.
"I won't." But the question still remains.
Where do I go now? Not home. Never back to him.
Not even to Maa because I cannot bear to see the pain this will cause her.
My head spins violently, and suddenly a sharp pain shoots through my abdomen. A gasp escapes me immediately as I clutch my stomach tightly. The world tilts dangerously around me, darkness creeping slowly into the edges of my vision. "Not now," I whisper desperately. "Please not now."
I try holding onto a nearby wall for support, but another wave of pain crashes through me harder this time.
My breathing becomes shallow and strained.
Hospital. The thought flashes through my mind instantly.
Without wasting another second, I force myself to move again, stumbling forward with weak trembling legs.
By the time I reach the government hospital, my body feels completely drained.
The sharp smell of antiseptic hits me the moment I step inside.
Nurses rush past quickly. Voices overlap loudly around me.
Everything feels chaotic and distant at the same time.
I barely reach the reception desk before my strength gives out completely.
Someone catches me before I fall. Hands guide me toward a chair.
Questions are asked, but I cannot answer properly.
I do not even have enough energy to explain what happened.
The next thing I know, I am lying on a hospital bed staring blankly at a white ceiling while a slow fan spins overhead. My entire body feels heavy and numb.
A doctor stands beside me checking reports carefully.
"You are pregnant," she says firmly. A bitter laugh almost escapes me.
"I know," I whisper weakly. She studies my exhausted face carefully before speaking again.
"You are very weak, and there is too much stress on your body. We need to admit you immediately."
I do not argue. I do not ask questions. I simply nod because I no longer have the energy to make decisions. Time passes strangely after that. Maybe minutes. Maybe hours. I cannot tell anymore. A tray of food is placed beside my bed at some point, untouched.
I lie there staring blankly ahead. Sometimes tears slip silently down my face.
Sometimes I feel absolutely nothing at all.
Everything inside me feels numb and broken.
By evening the sunlight softens into pale orange shadows across the room.
A nurse walks in quietly and adjusts something beside my bed before looking toward me gently.
"Someone is here to see you," she says softly. My heart does not react at first because I am not expecting anyone anymore. "Who?" I ask quietly. The door opens slowly behind her, but I do not look immediately. I do not want to.
Then suddenly I feel it. That familiar presence.
Heavy. Intense. Unavoidable. My fingers tighten slightly around the bedsheet before I slowly turn my head.
Veeransh. For one second I barely recognize him.
His hair is messy, his shirt wrinkled, and his eyes are bloodshot red. Not from exhaustion alone. From crying.
My chest tightens painfully, but I force myself to look away immediately as if he means nothing to me now.
He walks toward me slowly, hesitantly, like he is terrified I might disappear if he moves too quickly.
Then unexpectedly, he kneels beside my bed.
The same man who never bends before anyone is kneeling in front of me now.
"Aarohi..." His voice cracks badly. I remain silent.
"This is not what I planned," he says quietly, struggling through every word.
Still I say nothing. "Those papers were from before.
But I fell in love with you. I do not want to leave you.
Not now. Not like this. Not when you are carrying our children. "
The word children echoes painfully inside me, but my face remains blank.
"I told them to cancel those divorce papers," he continues desperately.
"When we went to Shimla, I told them I did not want the divorce anymore.
I did not know they would still send the documents after twenty two months.
" My heart reacts slightly despite myself.
"Aarohi... please come home," he whispers softly. "I told you the truth. I did not choose this. Not after you. Not after us." Silence stretches painfully between us, but I refuse to break it. Not this time. Not when my heart is still bleeding from everything I saw.
"Please," he whispers again, voice shaking now. "I cannot leave without you. I cannot survive without you. I will die." Finally my lips part slightly. "You broke me, Veeransh," I whisper weakly. "Completely." The words hang heavily between us.
After a long silence, he slowly stands up from beside the bed.
Something about his expression feels frighteningly empty now.
Defeated. Hopeless. "I understand," he says quietly.
His voice sounds dangerously calm. "My children deserve a good life.
You will give them that." My heart stutters painfully.
Then he says softly, "I might not be there to see it. "
Fear rushes coldly through my chest. But I still cannot force myself to look at him. I hear his footsteps moving toward the door. The handle turns. The door opens. Then closes softly behind him. Silence fills the hospital room again, but this silence feels colder than before.
Heavier. Wrong. My breathing becomes uneven immediately as panic slowly rises inside me. That last sentence. The way he said it. Something feels terribly wrong. My eyes snap toward the closed door. "He would not..." I whisper shakily. But deep inside, my heart already knows.
"Please, Veeransh," I whisper weakly, suddenly terrified.
"Do not do something stupid." My chest tightens painfully because after hearing his explanation, part of me wants desperately to believe him.
But another part still hurts too much. Why did he never tell me sooner?
Why did those papers arrive exactly after twenty two months?
Why did fate choose now to destroy everything between us? Suddenly I push myself upright despite the dizziness crashing through my body again. "No," I whisper breathlessly while tears fill my eyes once more. "Please, Veeransh." Fear floods through me completely now. Not for myself. For him.