Chapter 13 Youre Too Late
Chapter 13
"You're Too Late."
The rain suddenly felt suffocating.
Nobody moved after Arjun's confession.
Not Savita.
Not Naina.
Not even the staff standing frozen near the entrance pretending not to listen.
Because Arjun Oberoi had just done the impossible.
He admitted love.
Publicly.
Openly.
For his wife.
Aadhira stared at him like she no longer recognized the man standing in front of her.
I'm in love with my wife.
The words echoed painfully inside her chest.
Three years.
She had waited three years to hear something-anything-even remotely close to that.
And now?
Now he chose to say it when she was already breaking apart from exhaustion.
Tears burned behind her eyes instantly.
Not because she was happy.
Because it hurt.
Too much.
Savita recovered first, her face pale with disbelief. "Arjun, enough of this nonsense."
But Arjun ignored her completely.
His eyes remained locked onto Aadhira like the rest of the world no longer existed.
"I mean it," he said quietly.
That only made things worse.
Because for the first time...
She believed him.
And God, she hated herself for still wanting those words.
Aadhira laughed softly through tears, shaking her head. "You don't get to do this."
Arjun frowned slightly. "Do what?"
"Say things like this now."
His jaw tightened. "Why?"
"Because you're too late."
Silence.
The sentence hit him visibly.
Hard enough that even Naina looked away uncomfortably.
Aadhira wiped her tears angrily before continuing, voice trembling despite her efforts.
"Do you know how many nights I cried wishing you would look at me the way you looked at work?" she whispered. "How many times I defended you while feeling completely unloved?"
Arjun looked shaken now.
Actually shaken.
"You don't suddenly get to realize you love me because another man reminded you I can leave."
The accusation landed brutally because a part of him feared it was true.
Arjun stepped toward her immediately. "That's not why-"
"Then where was this love before?"
He stopped.
No answer came.
Because honestly?
He didn't know how to explain it himself.
How do you explain slowly becoming emotionally blind to the person you loved most?
How do you explain realizing someone's worth only when losing them becomes real?
Aadhira's tears finally slipped down freely now.
"You loved me silently while destroying me loudly."
The sentence nearly broke him.
Savita looked uncomfortable for the first time all night.
Even she could no longer deny the pain in Aadhira's voice.
Arjun moved closer again carefully, like approaching someone already wounded.
"Aadhira-"
"No." She stepped back instantly. "Don't touch me right now."
The rejection hit harder than expected.
Because moments ago she kissed him back.
Now she looked terrified of trusting him again.
And maybe she should be.
Aadhira laughed bitterly, wrapping her arms around herself tightly. "You know what the cruelest part is?"
Arjun stayed silent.
"If you said this a year ago..." Her voice cracked painfully. "I would've forgiven everything."
God.
The regret that hit him then felt unbearable.
One year.
That was all he needed.
One year earlier and maybe none of this would've happened.
But he waited.
Ignored.
Assumed she would always stay.
And now the woman who once loved him unconditionally no longer knew if she could survive loving him at all.
Naina suddenly spoke quietly from behind them.
"She's right."
Savita looked at her sharply. "Naina."
But Naina ignored her.
Her gaze remained on Arjun instead.
"You don't get rewarded for realizing someone's value after neglecting them," she said softly.
Arjun looked furious hearing another person criticize him.
Yet he said nothing.
Because deep down-
He agreed.
Aadhira took a slow shaky breath before finally speaking again.
"I loved you so much that I forgot how to love myself."
Silence crushed the space between them instantly.
Arjun's expression changed completely.
Pain.
Pure devastating pain.
Because hearing her say that made him realize the true extent of the damage he caused.
She lost herself trying to earn love from her own husband.
Aadhira looked exhausted now.
Emotionally empty.
"I can't do that anymore," she whispered. "I can't keep choosing someone who only chooses me when he's afraid to lose me."
Arjun stepped toward her again instinctively.
This time his voice sounded rougher.
Almost desperate.
"Tell me how to fix it."
Everyone went still.
Because powerful men like Arjun Oberoi did not ask for help.
Ever.
But tonight he looked like a man drowning.
Aadhira's eyes filled again at the vulnerability in his voice.
And that somehow hurt even more.
Because she still loved him enough to want to comfort him despite everything.
Which was exactly why she needed distance.
"I don't know if you can," she admitted honestly.
Those words shattered the remaining control inside him quietly.
For the first time in years-
Arjun Oberoi looked afraid.
Truly afraid.
Not of business failure.
Not of losing money.
Not of public scandal.
But of losing her forever.