Ch 38 The Blueprint of a Broken Truth #3
Without wasting a single fraction of a second, he bolted up the stairs, the rest of the family rushing right behind him.
Reaching the bedroom door, he pounded heavily on the wood, his voice thick with a sudden, desperate fear.
"Rivanya? Rivanya, are you alright in there? Look, if this is some sort of a prank, it isn't funny. Open the door, Rivanya!"
When only a deafening silence answered his desperate calls, Rudraksh took two precise steps back.
Summoning his massive physical strength, he slammed his weight into the wood, shattering the lock in a single, desperate thrust.
The door burst open. As the family attempted to rush in after him, Rudraksh held up a commanding hand, ordering them to wait outside before stepping into the room alone.
Scanning the bedroom, his eyes found it completely deserted.
However, the distinct, steady sound of running water was echoing from the bathroom.
His heart hammered violently against his ribs.
He lunged toward the bathroom door and, finding it fortunately unlocked, paused at the threshold for a brief, frantic second.
"Rivanya? Rivanya, are you in there? Look, I'm coming inside, Rivanya..."
Receiving no response, he threw caution to the wind and pushed the door open. The sight that greeted him inside instantly drained the life right out of him. His eyes widened in sheer horror and disbelief, his voice tearing from his throat in a loud, agonizing cry as he screamed her name.
There, sitting completely senseless on the cold floor beneath the pouring shower, was Rivanya. She was slumped heavily against the tiled wall, her clothes entirely drenched. Her hands and feet had wrinkled and grown pale from hours under the water, and her eyes were a stark, bloodshot red.
Seeing her in this completely broken, unseeing state was a physical blow to Rudraksh's soul. An unprecedented, sharp ache flared deep within his heart a pain so intense it left him momentarily breathless.
Dropping instantly to his knees in the puddles of water, he grabbed her trembling shoulders, shaking her gently but urgently to pull her back from the abyss. "Rivanya! Look at me! Rivanya!"
His face paled with pure terror as she remained unresponsive.
Desperate, he yelled her name at the absolute top of his lungs.
The sheer force of his voice finally broke through the dense fog of her shock.
Rivanya's eyelids fluttered, and she slowly lifted her blank, hollow gaze to look into his eyes.
The exact millisecond her eyes registered his face, something inside her completely ruptured. Unable to hold the crushing weight of her agony for another moment, she threw her arms around his neck and dissolved into a fit of violent, heartbreaking sobs.
Rudraksh instinctively pulled her flush against his chest, wrapping his strong arms securely around her trembling frame to shield her from the world, completely ignoring the freezing water drenching his own suit.
Reaching out with a swift, frantic movement, he shut off the shower valve, silencing the downpour.
Trying to anchor her through the storm of her tears, his voice shook with a rare, shattering vulnerability.
"Rivanya... look at me, I'm right here. I'm right here, nothing has happened. Please, calm down. Please, Rivanya, don't do this to yourself. You can't let anything happen to you... please, do it for me, Rivanya. Please, come back to your senses..."
The absolute helplessness in his tone was staggering. A man before whom the entire world bowed in submission was currently on his knees under a cold bathroom shower, practically begging his wife to stay whole.
Rudraksh himself didn't even realize at what point Rivanya had woven herself so deeply into the fabric of his very existence.
He didn't know when his carefully guarded, hidden emotions had completely taken over his soul.
But as he held her shattering world together in the quiet bathroom, one truth was undeniable: Rivanya had become the most vital, indispensable part of his life and he was only just beginning to realize it.
Rivanya clung to Rudraksh as if he were her absolute last lifeline in a world that had completely collapsed around her, her body wracked with deep, agonizing sobs.
Every sharp, breathless weep tore through Rudraksh's chest, causing a physical ache in his heart.
In all the time he had known her, he had never seen her look this utterly helpless, broken, and defeated.
Through her continuous tears, she managed to choke out the words, "Everything is ruined, Rudra... everyone deceived me... everyone..."
Hearing her raw despair, Rudraksh tightened his embrace, pressing her closer against his chest to absorb her trembling.
"Nothing is over, Rivanya. Just breathe, please calm down. Look at me... no matter who is there or who isn't, I am right here with you. I'm not going anywhere, Rivanya. Please, calm down..."
However, after spending hours trapped under the freezing water, Rivanya's physical strength had reached its absolute breaking point.
The emotional dam had burst the moment she saw Rudraksh, and her exhausted body simply couldn't endure the strain any longer.
Her grip on his shirt loosened, her eyelids fluttered shut, and she went entirely limp, losing consciousness right in his arms.
Realizing she had fainted, a fresh wave of panic hit Rudraksh. Without wasting a single second, he scooped her up into his arms, lifting her from the wet bathroom floor. Rivanya's pale frame seemed to curl instinctively into his warmth as he carried her out.
Drenched from head to toe in his ruined business suit, Rudraksh walked into the bedroom and gently laid her down onto the bed.
He immediately sat on the mattress beside her, wrapping his warm palms around her freezing, pale hands, rubbing them desperately to bring back some heat.
"Rivanya? What happened to you? Open your eyes, Rivanya... please..."
By then, the anxious whispers outside could no longer be contained. Dadimaa and the rest of the family hurried into the room. Seeing Rivanya lying completely unconscious and pale, a dark cloud of tension gripped everyone. Vyom stepped into the room right behind them, his face pale with worry.
Catching Vyom's eyes, Rudraksh commanded, his voice tight and urgent, "Vyom, call the doctor right now. Tell him to get here as fast as humanly possible."
Vyom nodded quickly and bolted out of the room to make the call.
Meanwhile, Dadimaa walked over to the other side of the bed, sitting down close to Rivanya.
She placed a trembling, maternal hand on her forehead, her voice breaking with worry.
"Rivanya, beta... what happened to you? Open your eyes, my child..."
Rudraksh stood up, managing to keep his composure for the sake of her well-being. "Dadimaa, please change her out of these wet clothes first. The cold will settle into her chest if she stays like this. I will send the maids in right now to help you."
Dadimaa nodded understandingly. As the rest of the family began to clear the room to give them privacy, Rudraksh turned to walk out as well. However, Dadimaa stopped him, looking up with a confused frown. "Rudraksh? Where are you going? You can stay back... you are Rivanya's husband, after all."
Rudraksh froze at the threshold. Under normal circumstances, he would have done anything to prevent Dadimaa from questioning the true, distant nature of their arranged relationship.