Ch36 The Scar Of Past #3
He paused for a brief second, a distant, beautiful memory flickering across his face. "And this mindset belongs entirely to my mother. She always used to say this. Today, even though she is no longer with me, her ideology remains very much alive within me."
The underlying sorrow hidden deep within Rudraksh's eyes did not escape Rivanya's notice.
Sensing the vulnerability he was trying to mask, she gently steered the conversation away to ease the tension.
"Alright, shouldn't we go to sleep now? I have a mountain of work to handle in the morning. Let's go."
Rudraksh's signature smirk returned, though his gaze remained soft.
"Fine. You managed to escape my questions tonight, but remember, it won't last forever. One of these days, you will have to give me my answers, Sugarplum."
Without offering another word, Rivanya quickly turned and sprinted inside the house to hide her blushing face. Rudraksh let out a low, genuine laugh, following her footsteps back into the mansion.
In the dead of the night, the master bedroom fell into absolute stillness, with Rudraksh asleep on the sofa and Rivanya resting on the grand bed.
*(Yes, if you thought this game of cat and mouse would share a bed so easily, you were entirely mistaken!
During the initial days of his injury, Rivanya had forcefully dragged Rudraksh to the bed and slept on the sofa herself to ensure his comfort.
But the moment his recovery progressed, the stubborn billionaire immediately reclaimed his territory on the couch.) *
Suddenly, the tranquil silence was broken. Strands of cold sweat began to bead across Rudraksh's forehead as he tossed and turned restlessly on the narrow sofa, entirely trapped in the clutches of a violent nightmare. He began to gasp and murmur frantically in his sleep:
"Maa... Maa... Maa, please don't leave me and go... please, Maa, I won't be able to survive without you... Where are you all taking my mother?! Maa...!"
Startled by his pained cries, Rivanya snapped awake instantly. She rushed to flick on the lamps, the warm light revealing Rudraksh thrashing in the middle of a severe panic episode.
Terrified to see him in such agony, she flew across the room and knelt beside the sofa, gently shaking his shoulders. "Rudra... Rudra... What's wrong? Rudra, wake up...!"
With one final, heartbreaking scream of *"Maa!"*, Rudraksh jolted awake, bolting upright into a sitting position.
His breathing was incredibly shallow and rapid, his hands and feet had turned completely ice-cold, yet his body was thoroughly drenched in a cold sweat.
Seeing him tremble, Rivanya didn't hesitate for a single second.
She instantly wrapped her arms tightly around him, pulling his head securely against her chest.
Holding him close, she smoothed down his hair, her voice dropping to a soothing, steady anchor.
"It's okay, Rudra... nothing happened. Just breathe. Calm down... it was just a nightmare, Rudra. Calm down, I'm right here."
Rivanya left no stone unturned to stabilize Rudraksh, but his mind was deeply trapped in the aftershocks of the horrific nightmare.
It took immense effort before he could finally break free from the hallucination.
His face was thoroughly drenched in sweat, and his eyes were stark red, filled with raw, unadulterated vulnerability.
Seeing him fully conscious, Rivanya immediately pulled him right back into her embrace.
She held him tightly, whispering soothingly, "Calm down, Rudraksh. It's okay... it was just a bad dream. I am right here with you."
For the first time, Rudraksh did not pull away. At that vulnerable threshold, even the unshakeable billionaire desperately needed an anchor to hold onto.
Clutching her slightly, he murmured in a raw, broken voice, "This isn't just a dream, Rivanya. It's my past... a past that refuses to leave me, no matter how hard I try to bury it."
Sensing that pushing for details right now would only distress him further, Rivanya gently loosened her grip. She reached for the silver jug on the side table, poured a glass of cool water, and held it to his lips. She patiently waited until his rapid breathing slowed down to a stable rhythm.
Once his composure returned, Rudraksh ran a hand through his damp hair and looked at her. "Rivanya... thank you for what you just did. But please... never do it again."
Hearing those words, the warmth in Rivanya's heart instantly froze. A sharp pang of rejection hit her; she automatically assumed that he loathed her proximity and was drawing a cold boundary between them again. Her face fell completely, and she quietly lowered her head, nodding in silent compliance.
Rudraksh caught the sudden dip in her expression and instantly read her thoughts.
He let out a weary sigh, correcting her gently.
"I am not telling you this to push you away. I am saying this because when these night terrors strike, I lose absolute control over my actions. My reflexes are violent, Rivanya. What if I accidentally strike you or hurt you in my panic? I cannot stomach the thought of being the reason you get hurt.
That is the only reason I am asking you to keep your distance."
The heavy weight in Rivanya's chest lifted slightly at his explanation. Looking at him with deep concern, she asked softly, "Does this happen to you often? Since when? Have you ever consulted a medical specialist about this?"
Rudraksh took a long, exhausted breath, staring blankly into the dark room. "Ever since the day my mother was torn away from me. I have consulted the most renowned doctors and specialists across the globe, but nothing works.
Now, it has simply become a brutal part of my daily reality. That is precisely why I avoid sleeping as much as possible."
Rivanya didn't say another word, her mind immediately slipping into deep, analytical thought as she tried to process the sheer depth of his trauma. Noting her silence, Rudraksh cleared his throat. "Everything is under control now. It won't happen again tonight. Go back to bed and get some rest."
"Are you absolutely sure?" she asked, her eyes searching his face.
"Yes, I am certain. Go on," he replied firmly.
Yielding to his reassurance, Rivanya quietly walked back to the grand bed and lay down.
But sleep remained miles away from that room.
Neither of them could close their eyes for the rest of the night.
While Rivanya tossed and turned, her heart aching with profound worry for his mental well-being, Rudraksh sat silently on the couch, his mind entirely consumed by a storm of thoughts that refused to quiet down.
Before they knew it, the dark sky slowly dissolved into the soft, golden hues of dawn.
Exhausted from the emotional upheaval of the previous day's fast and the sleepless night, Rivanya's eyes finally grew heavy, and she drifted into a deep sleep just as the sun began to rise.
Seeing her fast asleep, Rudraksh chose not to disturb her, wanting her to get all the rest she deserved.
He quietly stood up, walked into the bathroom to take a refreshing shower, and meticulously redid the dressing on his healing physical wounds.
Once ready, he skipped his usual morning routine and headed straight down the corridor to his private home office.
But the moment he sat at his desk, something unprecedented happened.
For the first time in his entire life, the razor-sharp, fiercely focused Rudraksh Vardhan could not concentrate on a single line of business data.
He stared at the glowing laptop screen, but his mind completely blanked out.
No matter how hard he tried to force his attention onto his empire, one single, haunting image kept crashing through his focus the sight of Rivanya holding him tightly against her chest, her sweet voice acting as the sole anchor that had pulled him out of his darkest hell.
The lingering warmth of her protective embrace was entirely overpowering his defenses, and it terrified him just how deeply she was anchoring herself into his existence.
Rudraksh was deeply lost in his thoughts when Vyom walked into the private home office, breaking the silence. "Good morning, Boss."
Rudraksh looked up, his brow furrowing slightly. "Vyom, how many times do I have to tell you? At least when we're at home, don't call me boss."
Vyom let out a light laugh, pulling up a chair across the desk. "Alright, brother, fine. Now tell me, why is your mood ruined so early in the morning? What are you overthinking? Is everything good?"
Rudraksh took a slow, heavy breath and leaned back. "The nightmare came back last night, Vyom..."
The playful smile instantly vanished from Vyom's face, replaced by a tense gravity. "Then... Rivanya must have been right there in the room. What happened, Rudraksh? Tell me clearly."
"I don't even understand what is happening anymore, Vyom," Rudraksh admitted, his voice tightly controlled but laced with confusion.
"You know exactly how severe my condition gets when these panic attacks strike. But last night... when the terror hit me, Rivanya held onto me. And the baffling part is, I calmed down almost instantly. I didn't lash out, I didn't destroy anything,
and I didn't do a single thing I normally do during those episodes."
Vyom remained entirely quiet, listening intently as Rudraksh paced through his thoughts.
"Something that the most renowned medical specialists couldn't fix over all these years... Rivanya did it just like that. How is that even possible?"
Rudraksh questioned, staring blankly at his desk.
"How is it that the moment she merely held me, the absolute chaos inside my head just went entirely silent?"
Vyom possessed the exact answer to that 'how,' but he deliberately chose to keep his mouth shut.
He knew that if he tried to name the emotion out loud, Rudraksh's fierce defense mechanism would immediately reject it.
This was a realization Rudraksh needed to discover entirely on his own.
He needed time to let the cold walls around his heart crumble naturally under Rivanya's warmth.