Chapter 23
"Ruhi, can you please go to that blind date? My friend really like you when he saw your picture with me " The geography teacher Aka Priyanka request.
After yesterday night, i couldn't sleep or maybe I was thinking too hard about him, Lorenzo.
Without thinking i nodded and agree to her and now I have to meet her friend named Arjun.
After days, I sit in the café, the faint hum of conversation mixing with the clinking of cups and the faint tune of a piano playing in the background. My fingers tap nervously on the table as I wait, trying to convince myself this isn’t a mistake.
Arjun was polite when we spoke on the phone—calm voice, decent manners, nothing like the chaos I’ve lived through. Maybe that’s what I need now.
Peace. Normalcy.
But even as I tell myself that, my eyes keep drifting to the door half expecting, half hoping for someone else.
“Ruhi?”
I blink up, meeting a pair of warm brown eyes. Arjun smiles, friendly and confident in a simple shirt and jeans. “Hi, I’m Arjun. Priyanka told me a lot about you.”
I smile faintly and stand, shaking his hand. “Hi. Yeah, she kind of forced me into this.”
He chuckles. “Well, I’m glad she did. You look... nice.”
We talk. He’s funny, genuinely nice, and doesn’t look at me like I’m fragile. But every time he laughs, I can’t help but think of a darker, deeper laugh one that always came with a smirk and a possessive glance.
I shake the thought away and focus on Arjun’s words, but my heart feels heavy.
“Excuse me for a second,” I mumble, standing up to breathe. The air outside is crisp, the streetlights casting soft halos on the road. I close my eyes and take a deep breath
And freeze.
Because the moment I open them, he’s there.
Leaning against his black car, dark suit, darker eyes Lorenzo.
My pulse stutters. “What are you doing here?” I whisper, the air caught in my throat.
He pushes off the car, walking toward me with that slow, confident gait I’d recognize anywhere. “You shouldn’t ask that, amore. You already know the answer.”
“Lorenzo,” I hiss softly, glancing around. “You can’t just show up here! I’m on a—”
“Date?” he cuts in, voice low and rough, a dangerous smile tugging at his lips. “Yes, I noticed.”
Before I can respond, Arjun walks out, smiling politely. “Hey Ruhi, everything okay?”
Lorenzo turns to him, expression cooling in an instant. Then, with a casual dominance that makes my stomach twist, he steps closer and extends his hand.
“Lorenzo De Romano ,” he says smoothly. “Her husband.”
The world stills.
Arjun’s face shifts in confusion. “Husband?” He looks at me. “Ruhi?”
I can’t speak. I can only stare at Lorenzo, whose eyes never leave mine possessive, unapologetic, burning with something between guilt and claim.
Lorenzo’s lips curve into a smirk that doesn’t reach his eyes. “You didn’t tell him, cara mia?”
My breath catches. “We’re not—”
“Not married?” he finishes, stepping closer until his shadow swallows mine. “Maybe not on paper. But that doesn’t change what’s already ours.”
Arjun stammers, awkward now. “I—I think I should go.”
“Good idea,” Lorenzo says, tone final.
Once Arjun leaves, silence stretches between us, tense and electric.
“You had no right,” I whisper, voice trembling. “You had no right to do that.”
He exhales slowly, regret flickering behind his gaze. “Maybe not. But seeing you with someone else… it felt like I was watching someone breathe for me.”
His words hit deep.too deep.
“Go home, Lorenzo,” I whisper again.
He looks at me for a long moment, then turns as if to leave. But before he does, he glances back with that teasing smirk.
“By the way,” he says softly, “you still look prettier when you’re angry.”
And just like that, he walks away.leaving my heart in the same chaos he once called love.
I walk home fast, my heels clicking against the pavement as if the sound could drown out the storm inside me. Every breath feels heavy, like I’m inhaling pieces of the past I tried to bury.
I shouldn’t have gone. I shouldn’t have looked at him.
Lorenzo.
Just thinking his name makes my pulse trip over itself. The way he said her husband.with that confident, claiming tone makes my blood boil and ache all at once.
By the time I reach my building, I’m fuming. I unlock the door, shove it open, and step inside only to freeze.
He’s already there.
Lorenzo stands by the window, hands in his pockets, moonlight cutting through his sharp features. That lazy, dangerous smile curves his lips as he looks at me.
“Took you long enough,” he says.
My jaw tightens. “You followed me?”
He shrugs, as if it’s obvious. “Of course. Couldn’t let my wife walk home alone at night.”
I glare at him. “We’re not married, Lorenzo.”
He steps closer, voice softening but still laced with teasing amusement. “You keep saying that, amore mio, yet you still blush when I call you mine.”
“I’m not blushing,” I snap, crossing my arms.
“Sure,” he murmurs, grin deepening. “Your face just happens to turn red when I walk into the room. Coincidence, right?”
“Get out,” I say sharply, but my voice wavers.
He doesn’t move. Instead, he tilts his head, studying me like he used to like he’s memorizing every part of me all over again. Then his tone drops, quieter, heavier.
“You think I left you without a word.”
I blink, caught off guard. “What?”
He takes another step closer, his gaze unwavering. “Three years ago. You think I disappeared. That I didn’t care.” He pauses. “But I did leave something for you, Ruhi.”
My heart pounds. “What are you talking about?”
“A letter,” he says softly. “I left it with Kartik.”
My breath catches. “Kartik?”
Lorenzo nods. “He was the only one I trusted to make sure you got it. Guess he never told you.” His eyes flicker with a mix of regret and frustration. “It explained everything, Ruhi. Why I had to go. Why I couldn’t take you with me.”
I take a shaky step back, the world spinning just slightly. “You expect me to believe that after three years?”
He exhales slowly, voice low and raw. “I don’t expect you to believe anything. I just need you to know. I didn’t abandon you, bella mia.”
Silence stretches, thick and suffocating. The only sound is Leo padding softly from the bedroom, tail wagging as he looks between us.
Lorenzo crouches down, rubbing behind his ears, his tone lighter now. “Hey, buddy. You still remember me, huh?”
Leo barks once, tail wagging harder.
I cross my arms, fighting the emotion building in my chest. “He probably just likes everyone.”
Lorenzo looks up at me, smirking faintly. “No, he doesn’t. He only likes people who don’t lie.”
I roll my eyes. “So that rules you out.”
He chuckles softly, standing again, closing the distance between us until I can feel the warmth of his breath. “You’re still sharp with words.” He pauses, voice dipping low. “But you still let me in.”
My fingers tighten around my arms. “I didn’t. You broke in.”
He grins wider. “Semantics.”
I sigh, exasperated, turning away before he sees the way my lips almost twitch. “Go home, Lorenzo.”
He takes a step closer, his tone softer now, almost pleading. “I am home.”
I close my eyes, willing my heart not to betray me.
He lingers for a moment longer, then walks toward the door. “Ask Kartik,” he says quietly before leaving. “Then decide if you still hate me.”
The door clicks shut behind him, and I stand there in silence caught between the ghosts of the past and the man who refuses to let me go.
The clock read a little past eleven, but sleep was the last thing on my mind.
Lorenzo’s words wouldn’t stop echoing.Ask Kartik.
Each time I repeated them, a dull ache formed in my chest, sharp and restless.
I grabbed my hoodie and stepped out into the night. The air was cool, quiet, and heavy with something that felt too much like anticipation. Leo tried to follow me, but I shook my head gently. “Stay, baby. I’ll be right back.”
The walk to Kartik’s apartment wasn’t long. Just a few blocks away. My heartbeat grew louder with every step, matching the rhythm of my shoes against the pavement. By the time I reached his building, my palms were already damp.
I knocked once. Then twice.
It took him a few seconds to open the door, hair messy, T-shirt wrinkled. His surprise turned into a smile the moment he saw me.
“Ruhi? At this hour? Everything okay?”
I forced a polite smile that didn’t reach my eyes. “Can we talk?”
He hesitated, then stepped aside. “Yeah, sure. Come in.”
His apartment smelled faintly of coffee and cologne, and the TV played softly in the background. I didn’t sit. I couldn’t. My nerves were wired too tight.
“I just have one question,” I said, meeting his eyes. “And I need an honest answer.”
Kartik’s expression shifted something uneasy flickering in his gaze. “Okay…”
I took a deep breath. “Three years ago… when Lorenzo left, did he give you something for me?”
He froze.
For a second, the silence was deafening. His throat bobbed, and his fingers fidgeted with the edge of his shirt. “Ruhi, I—”
“Did he or did he not?” I pressed, voice trembling despite my attempt to stay calm.
He exhaled shakily, rubbing the back of his neck. “He did. A letter.”
My heart sank. “And where is it?”
He looked away. “I didn’t give it to you.”
The words hit harder than I expected. “Why?”
His shoulders stiffened. “Because I didn’t want to.”
I stared at him, disbelief flooding my veins. “You what?”
Kartik finally met my gaze, guilt and something darker glimmering behind his eyes. “You were broken, Ruhi. You cried for him for weeks. I couldn’t stand seeing you like that. So, yes I kept it. I thought it would make things easier if you believed he wasn’t coming back.”
For a moment, all I could do was stare. The anger, confusion, betrayal all of it twisted inside me like a knife.
“You had no right,” I whispered. “No right to decide that for me.”
He stepped forward, voice low. “I was trying to protect you.”
“By lying to me?” I snapped, my voice breaking. “You stole three years of my life, Kartik.”
He opened his mouth, maybe to apologize, maybe to justify—but I didn’t wait to hear it. I turned and walked out, my pulse roaring in my ears not before slapping him hard across his face that his cheeks turn red.
Outside, the night felt colder. The streets quieter. But inside, everything was burning.
As I reached the gate, my phone buzzed a single message.
Unknown : Did you ask him?
I stared at the screen, breath uneven, fingers trembling.
Ruhi: Yes.
A moment later, his reply came.
Unknown : Then you finally know the truth, bella mia.
I slipped the phone into my pocket, blinking back the sting in my eyes.
The truth yes. But it didn’t make the ache any less.
And as I walked home through the silent streets, one thought refused to leave me What else had I been wrong about all this time?