34.
"No, Shaurya! You don't care anymore! You don't care about us!" Aarav yelled, his voice cracking with emotion.
"Do you even know I was sick? That I was dying to see you? And you—" his voice trembled, "you couldn't even pick up a single goddamn call!"
"Aarav—"
"No!" Aarav cut him off. "Just tell me what's wrong with you!"
Shaurya stepped forward, grabbing Aarav gently, cupping his face. Aarav didn't push him away. He just broke.
Tears rolled down his cheeks.
"We're not having a baby," he whispered through sobs. "Are you happy now?"
Shaurya blinked. "What do you mean?"
"Eve called me. She's not pregnant. She did a test." Aarav's voice was barely audible.
Shaurya instinctively reached out, rubbing Aarav's back in small circles squeezing his palm."We can try again. It's okay. Don't cry."
Aarav shook his head and stepped back. "No, I'm done. Seriously, Shaurya. If you didn't want to be part of this from the start, you should've just said it. I didn't want a baby for myself—I wanted a piece of you. Because you're always away. Always somewhere else."
There was a silence that almost suffocated them both.
"Were you scared?" Aarav asked quietly, voice trembling. "Scared the baby would be a burden to us?"
"I never thought that."
"Then what is it, Shaurya? Just tell me! I'm tired of pretending everything is okay."
Shaurya opened his mouth but said nothing. His head pounded. And still, Aarav stood in front of him.
"You know what?" Aarav said, wiping his tears roughly. "Now I get it. You never thought of me as your equal. You always saw me as weak."
"That's not true. I'm trying to protect you—"
"Protect me from what?" Aarav snapped. "I'm a man too, Shaurya! I have needs. I have feelings. Am I selfish for wanting my husband close to me?"
Shaurya reached out, helpless, but Aarav stepped back again, eyes filled with hurt.
"I don't need your silence anymore." His voice was cold now, exhausted. "You have to choose. Me... or the mafia."
Shaurya froze. But of course Aarav didn't literally mean it.
"I can't watch you destroy yourself, Shaurya." Aarav's voice cracked again. "You don't even look like yourself anymore. You're disappearing right in front of me, and I'm supposed to act like that's normal?"
Shaurya stood there, still and pale. Those final words—Me or the mafia—they shattered something deep inside him.
Because Aarav knew exactly what the mafia meant to him. What it had cost him. What he'd sacrificed for it.
But in that moment, hearing Aarav's ultimatum, Shaurya didn't feel power.
He felt loss.
Shaurya could feel the anger rising in his chest like a storm.
"You're doing the same thing again," Aarav snapped, eyes shining with pain. "You're a coward, Shaurya. You're just playing with me—controlling me like I'm some pawn in your life—"
And something inside Shaurya snapped.
Before he could even think, his hands moved on their own. He gripped Aarav by the neck and slammed him hard against the wall. The sound echoed like a gunshot through the room.
Aarav choked, gasping for air, clawing at Shaurya's wrists. Shaurya's grip only tightened.
"Shaurya!"
Vedansh's voice boomed from behind them. He rushed forward, eyes wide with horror, and shoved himself between them, yanking Shaurya's arms away from Aarav.
Shaurya didn't resist. His hands froze mid-air as if waking up from a nightmare.
Aarav dropped to his knees, coughing violently, hands to his throat.
Vedansh turned sharply and slapped Shaurya hard across the face.
"What the hell do you think you were doing?!" Vedansh barked, fury lacing every word.
Shaurya's eyes widened. They were red—wet. His breath hitched.
He had hurt Aarav.
His Aarav.
The one person in this world he worshipped like a god... and he'd just wrapped his hands around his throat.
His hands started trembling. His mind reeled. This was what he had feared for so long—his darkness rising, consuming everything he loved. His demon was showing up.
But what broke him further was what came next.
Aarav, still coughing, stumbled toward him and—despite everything—cupped Shaurya's face with shaky hands.
"Shaurya? Are you okay?" Aarav asked, voice hoarse, his throat bruised. "What happened to you?"
Shaurya's eyes flickered to the red marks forming around Aarav's neck. He had done that. And still, Aarav was worried about him? For Aarav, it was just another argument—a painful one, yes, but still just a fight. Fights happened in every marriage, didn't they?
Shaurya's chest collapsed under the weight of guilt. He couldn't speak. He couldn't breathe. His knees nearly buckled.
He didn't deserve this man.
He didn't deserve love.
"Leave me," Shaurya whispered, barely audible.
Aarav froze mid-breath. "What...?"
"I said—leave me alone!" Shaurya screamed, stepping back, eyes wild and broken.
Aarav flinched at the volume, at the raw pain in Shaurya's voice. The silence that followed felt deafening.
"Okay, Shaurya. I think you're just tired. We'll talk later," Aarav said softly, gently rubbing his back in comfort.
But Shaurya flinched at the touch, then shoved Aarav's hand away as if even contact with him would make Aarav's hands dirty.
Aarav's breath caught in his throat. That one gesture hit harder than any words ever could.
"Are you fucking dumb?" Shaurya snapped, voice sharp and venomous. "I told you to leave. And never show me your fucking face again!"
Aarav's body stiffened. "Shaurya—what are you saying?" His voice cracked, disbelief flooding his tone. "No, I won't leave. Did I do something wrong? Just tell me. I'll fix it. I'm sorry if I—if I pushed too hard—"
Silence.
Cold, devastating silence.
"Shaurya, please..." Aarav whispered, eyes glossy and chest heaving. "Please talk to me. I'm begging you. I love you."
Still, nothing.
Shaurya stood like a wall—breathing heavy, jaw clenched, eyes not even meeting his.
Something in Aarav finally snapped. The heartbreak twisted into heat. Into rage.
He wiped his tears aggressively with the back of his hand. "You know what?" His voice was shaking now—but not from sorrow. From fury. "You want me gone so bad? Fine. You won't have to ask twice."
Shaurya looked up then—but Aarav didn't give him the chance to speak.
Aarav wanted Shaurya to stop him. He didn't.
Shaurya didn't want to let Aarav go as well, but to protect him from himself he had to let him go. Because he didn't want to commit any bigger sin.
While Veer and Aarohi were tied to a life of forever, Shaurya and Aarav were falling apart. Where forever seemed a myth.