chapter 22
Something isn’t right. Ruhi truly believes I abandoned her… walked away without a word… left her to drown in questions and heartbreak.
But the truth is the exact opposite.
3 years ago ~
The moment I stepped out of our apartment, I halted. My grandfather’s right-hand man was seated inside a black SUV near the gate, his eyes avoiding mine. A bad sign already.
My brows pulled together as I stalked toward him.
“Didn’t I tell you to fuck off?” I growled, voice dropping back into that cold, violent register I hadn’t used in months not since Ruhi softened it.
He didn’t flinch. He simply bowed his head lower.
“Boss… we have bad news.”
Something in his tone broken, urgent sent unease crawling through my veins.
“What happened?” I snapped, fisting his collar before he could stall.
He swallowed. “Sir… your grandfather our Boss was attacked. The moment he returned to Italy, Mr. Mehta’s men raided the mansion. He’s in a coma.”
For a second, I went still. Completely numb.
My grandfather the only family I had left. The only man who ever stood by me. The only one who raised me, bled for me, shaped me into who I became. I could not would not lose him.
“Sir, you need to leave. Now,” he urged, desperation leaking into his voice.
I released his collar and took a slow step back, breath shaky, mind spinning. I went upstairs again. Ruhi was asleep on our bed, curled into my pillow. Peaceful. Unaware. My heart… my home… lying right in front of me, and I suddenly had to walk away.
I didn’t sleep that night. I just held her. Memorized her. Prayed silently that she’d forgive me.
By morning, after she left for work, I dressed in a black suit. My throat burned. My chest ached. But I didn’t have a choice not if I wanted Ruhi safe, not if I wanted to protect the world I wanted with her.
On my way out, fate handed me one last chance.
Kartik, her colleague, was standing near the stairs.
I walked up to him and handed him a letter my last resort. I’d written it during the night, pouring everything into it. My truth. My promise. My heart.
Tell her I had to go.
Tell her I will return.
Tell her she’s the only thing I love and the only place I belong.
He took it instantly. Too easily. Something about it made suspicion flash in my mind but time was already bleeding out of my hands. I turned and walked away, forcing myself not to look back.
Because if I had… I would never have been able to leave.
She hates me now. She truly believes I left her without a word.
Because that letter the only lifeline I left behind never reached her.
And she has no idea that while she cried for me, I was bleeding for her… fighting for my family… and crawling my way back to her.
Because I didn’t leave Ruhi.
I left for Ruhi.
The guilt sits in my chest like a slow-burning coal, constant and consuming. Every time I see her in those pastel suits, holding files close to her heart as if they could shield it, I’m reminded of one brutal truth
I broke something I never deserved to touch.
She doesn’t look at me the same. She looks through me now. Like I’m a memory she’s trying to erase.
And I hate it.
Not because she ignores me.
Not because she won’t speak.
But because I taught her that silence.
I did that.
Tonight, after pacing my living room like an idiot, I finally grab a box of cookies her favorite ones. The same kind she used to hide in the top cabinet, away from me, because “you’ll finish the whole box in one sitting, Lorenzo!”
I remember her laughing when she said it.
Now the memory only stings.
I step out of my apartment and stop at her door. Leo’s bark is the first thing I hear loud, excited, impatient. The traitor knows I’m here. I knock twice.
The door opens just a crack. Ruhi’s eyes meet mine for half a second… then immediately harden.
“What do you want?” she asks, voice clipped.
I lift the box between us. “A peace offering. For the woman who once claimed I had no taste in desserts.”
“That woman doesn’t exist anymore,” she replies, trying to close the door, but Leo slips out and launches himself at me, tail wagging like crazy.
I kneel down, scratching behind his ear. “At least someone in this house still loves me.”
Ruhi’s glare could burn down cities. “Don’t manipulate my dog.”
I smirk, because the anger on her face is better than the emptiness she gave me all week. “Not my fault he remembers who bought him his first chew toy.”
She looks away, jaw tight. “Take your cookies and go.”
Instead, I push the box into her hand. “Just try one. If you still want me gone afterward, I’ll leave you in peace for the rest of the night.”
Her eyes flicker. Just a flicker but I catch it. Doubt. Curiosity. Emotion she doesn’t want me to see.
She hates that I can still read her.
Ruhi rolls her eyes, turns, and walks toward the sofa. I follow uninvited, Leo trotting happily between us. She opens the box reluctantly and takes one cookie. A small bite. The smallest.
And then her eyes close just for a moment.
She still likes them.
The warmth that hits my chest is ridiculous.
“Told you they’re good,” I murmur, leaning against the wall, arms crossed.
“They’re… okay,” she lies.
I chuckle. “Your acting skills are still terrible.”
Her head snaps up. “You’re still insufferable.”
“And you,” I say, walking closer, “are still cute when you lie.”
She goes utterly still. I stop a few steps away, giving her space something I never used to do. Leo jumps onto her lap, settling there like a tiny mediator.
Ruhi’s voice is softer when she finally speaks. “Cookies won’t fix anything, Lorenzo.”
“I know,” I answer. “But it’s a start. And I’ll keep starting… every damn day, if that’s what it takes.”
For the first time, she doesn’t throw my words back like daggers. She just sits there, silent, staring at the cookie in her hand.
Leo nudges her palm, and she absently pets him. A small, fragile moment Leo between us, the past between us, and something unspoken hanging in the air.
Something that could break.
Or heal.
I take a breath.
Slow.
Careful.
“I’m not asking you to forgive me,” I say. “I just want a chance to exist in your world again… even if it’s from the balcony next door.”
Ruhi looks up, eyes guarded, but no longer empty.
“Go home, Lorenzo,” she whispers. “I’m tired.”
I nod. No resistance. No pushing. Not tonight.
I walk to the door, but before I step out, Leo barks once like he’s telling me not to give up.
I give him a small salute.
Then I meet Ruhi’s eyes one last time.
“Goodnight, Ruhi.”
She doesn’t respond. But she doesn’t look away either.
And for now… that is enough.
"Lorenzo " she calls out and i pause and turn to her.
"Why are you doing this now? You remember everything your real identity and that we were not married. Then why? " She asked.
Her question hangs in the air sharp, honest, and trembling at the edges. I turn fully this time, my hand still on the doorknob, and for a moment… we just stare at each other.
Ruhi’s eyes are glossy, her chin lifted, trying so damn hard to look unaffected. But I can see it. The hurt. The disbelief. The walls she built because of me.
I take a step toward her.
“I remember everything,” I say quietly. “My name. My world. The blood on my hands. The power I hold. The enemies waiting for me. I remember every ugly truth I tried to escape from.”
She swallows, breaking eye contact for a second. “Then you also remember we were never—”
“We were something,” I cut in, my voice low but unshaking. “Maybe not married. Maybe not bound by paper or rituals. But don’t you dare say we were nothing, Ruhi.”
Her breath hitches.
I continue, softer now. “Yes, I lied about who I am. Yes, I disappeared. But every moment I spent with you… was the only part of my life that ever felt real.”
She looks away, blinking rapidly. “Real things don’t vanish, Lorenzo.”
“I didn’t vanish,” I whisper. “I was dragged back into hell. And I fought to return… for you.”
Her jaw clenches. “And now? What do you want now, Lorenzo? Closure? Forgiveness? Or just the satisfaction that you can still affect me?”
A humorless smile touches my lips. “If I wanted closure, I would’ve stayed gone. I’m here because I want my life back. The life I only ever saw when I looked at you.”
Silence. Heavy. Loaded. Fragile.
Ruhi’s voice breaks first, a whisper barely audible. “I don’t trust you anymore.”
My chest tightens but I nod. “Then I’ll earn it. Slowly. Patiently. Even if you never love me again, I’ll take whatever place you give me. But I’m not walking away this time.”
She says nothing. Just stands there, holding Leo a little closer than before, as if he’s the only stable thing left in her shaking world.
I take a step back, giving her space.
“Goodnight, Ruhi,” I say again quieter, steadier and this time, I walk out without waiting for a response.
And she lets me go.
But she doesn’t close the door until I’m gone.
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