Chapter 5
The next day, I woke up at my usual time but something was different today, Him. He was Sleeping beside me... wrapping his arm around my waist.
His face was calm, almost peaceful like the chaos inside him had stilled for a while.
His chest rose and fell with every breath, the bandages on his side barely visible under the loose white T-shirt I gave him last night.
I didn’t move. I Couldn’t.
My body stiffened under his hold, but my heart… it fluttered.
I turned my face slightly, just enough to look at him. His lashes were long, brushing lightly against his cheekbones. His hair fell a little over his forehead, messy and soft.
How could someone so dangerous look this innocent? How could someone I barely knew make me feel… this?
I gently lifted his arm off me, trying not to wake him, and slipped out of bed.
But before my feet could even touch the floor, his hand shot out grabbing my wrist.
“Where are you going?” His voice was husky, laced with sleep and confusion.
I froze. Slowly turned back.
He blinked at me, brows furrowed slightly.
“You didn’t tell me your name,” he murmured.
I stared at him, heart thudding.
“It’s… Ruhi,” I said softly.
He repeated it under his breath, as if trying to memorize it. “Ruhi…”
And then, he smiled.Like that name meant something.
Like I meant something.
I smiled back. A lie sitting heavy on my chest.
Because I wasn’t just Ruhi now.
To him…
I was his wife.
"Uh...I have to go to school, I'm a teacher of high school so...I need to get ready" i said softly.
He didn’t let go of my wrist. Just stared at me like he was trying to read between my words trying to figure out if I was real or another trick of his broken memory.
“A teacher?” he asked, his voice still raspy from sleep.
I nodded.
He tilted his head a little. “You don’t look like one.”
I blinked. “Excuse me?”
He gave me a lazy smirk.the kind that didn’t match the pain he must’ve felt, the confusion he was drowning in.
“You look too soft to handle a classroom full of annoying teenagers,” he teased, eyes glinting playfully.
I rolled my eyes, trying to ignore the way my stomach flipped.
“Well, thank you for your input, Mr. Amnesia,” I muttered, pulling my hand away gently.
But his grip tightened again. Not harsh just hesitant. “Don’t leave me alone,” he whispered, so low I barely heard it.
Something cracked inside me.
It was the way he said it.
Not demanding. Not possessive.
Just broken.
“I won’t,” I whispered, brushing a strand of hair off his forehead. “I just have to go for a few hours. You’ll be safe here. Rest, okay?”
He didn’t respond. Just nodded slowly.
His eyes didn’t leave mine, like he was trying to etch my face into whatever fragments of memory he had left.
I stepped into the bathroom, shutting the door behind me with a soft click. The water was warm, cascading over my skin like a gentle reminder that reality had shifted—no longer just me, but us, somehow.
My mind replayed his voice… “Don’t leave me alone.”
That broken whisper had rooted itself in my chest.
After the shower, I stood in front of the mirror, wrapping the towel around myself. My reflection stared back, uncertain… but something about my eyes looked different now—softer, maybe. Or maybe it was just the weight of the secret I was carrying.
I slipped into a light pastel kurta and headed to the kitchen quietly, not wanting to disturb him if he’d gone back to sleep. But as I began to pull out the bread and eggs, I felt something a presence before I even heard or saw him.
Strong arms wrapped around me from behind.
My breath hitched.
“Lorenzo,” I whispered, heart racing.
His face nuzzled into the crook of my neck, his touch sending sparks down my spine.
“I woke up and you weren’t there,” he murmured, voice thick with sleep and something else… something deeper.
“I told you I had to get ready,” I said softly, continuing to butter the toast as if I wasn’t completely melting under his touch.
He didn’t loosen his hold. Instead, he tightened it, pulling me closer so my back pressed against his chest.
“I don’t like waking up without you,” he said, almost like a confession.
I paused, the butter knife trembling slightly in my hand.
“You barely even remember me,” I replied gently, trying to smile.
But inside… it wasn’t that simple anymore. Not for me. Not for him either.
“I don’t need to know everything,” he said, lips brushing lightly against the shell of my ear.
“I know how I feel when you’re near me. And I know I don’t want it to stop.”
My hands stilled. Because how do you answer something like that? When the man you're nursing back to health… is falling for you.
And you're already halfway broken by the lie you’re living.
I turned my face slightly toward him, our eyes meeting his gaze raw, mine wavering.
“Breakfast is almost ready,” I whispered, my voice trembling for reasons I couldn’t explain.
He didn’t say a word.
Just leaned forward and kissed my shoulder. A soft, fleeting touch.
And suddenly… the kitchen felt warmer. The silence, heavier. And my heart… not mine anymore.
After i reach the school, I saw Kartik leaning against the teachers office room's wall. When he met my gaze his eyes light up with concern. Maybe he was worried. After leaving resturant that day when I found Lorenzo and took him to the hospital, Kartik called me many times but I didn't answer.
"Ruhi" he said pushing off the wall and walking towards me . "I was worried, you didn't answer my calls or texts "
"Uh...i..I was busy kartik I'm sorry i didn't check my phone " I lied again...and again..
"But-" before kartik can finish his sentence the bell rang, reminding me that I have my English class first.
"I'm sorry, i have class " i quickly apologise and went to class.