CHAPTER48 [REGRET]
Another two weeks passed.
But neither Aarohi nor Vihaan found peace.
---
People often say time heals everything.
But sometimes-
time only teaches you how to live with pain.
---
Vihaan had started going back to office.
At least physically.
But mentally-
he was nowhere near normal.
---
The once feared Vihaan Singhania had become silent.
Too silent.
---
Meetings that he used to finish in ten minutes now took hours.
He forgot important files.
Missed business calls.
Ignored parties.
Ignored friends.
Ignored himself.
---
One evening Karan entered his office and found him sitting alone in darkness.
The laptop was open.
But Vihaan wasn't working.
He was simply staring at a photograph.
---
Aarohi's photograph.
---
Karan sighed.
"Bhai..."
(Bro...)
---
Vihaan didn't even look up.
---
"Kab tak khud ko saza doge?"
(How long will you keep punishing yourself?)
---
A bitter smile appeared on Vihaan's face.
---
"Saza?"
(Punishment?)
---
He looked at the picture again.
---
"Mujhe lagta hai jo ho raha hai wo bhi kam hai."
(I think even this is not enough.)
---
Karan's expression softened.
---
"Tu usse pyar karta hai."
(You love her.)
---
Vihaan laughed.
But there was no happiness in it.
---
"Isi liye to aaj ye haal hai."
(That's exactly why I'm like this today.)
---
For the first time-
he spoke what had been destroying him from inside.
---
"Jis din use meri zarurat thi..."
(The day she needed me...)
"Main uske saath nahi tha."
(I wasn't there.)
---
"Jis din poori duniya uske khilaaf thi..."
(The day the entire world was against her...)
"Main bhi unhi me khada tha."
(I was standing with them.)
---
His eyes filled with tears.
---
"Kya haq hai mujhe usse pyar karne ka?"
(What right do I have to love her?)
---
For the first time-
Karan had no answer.
---
Because Vihaan wasn't wrong.
---
Meanwhile...
London.
---
Aarohi was trying her best to move forward.
But life wasn't making it easy.
---
Her mother's case was everywhere in the news.
Court hearings.
Police investigations.
Media questions.
Legal procedures.
---
Every few days-
someone called regarding the case.
Every few days-
she had to relive her father's death again.
---
And despite everything-
she still couldn't understand one thing.
---
How could a mother do that?
---
How could someone destroy the person who loved them?
---
One night after returning from the hospital-
Aarohi sat alone on the floor of her apartment.
Her father's old photograph in her hands.
---
The apartment was silent.
Too silent.
---
And suddenly-
for the first time in weeks-
she broke down again.
---
Not because of Vihaan.
Not because of the divorce.
Not because of the past.
---
But because she missed her father.
---
"Papa..."
(Papa...)
---
Her voice cracked.
---
"Aap hote na..."
(If you were here...)
"To sab theek kar dete."
(You would have fixed everything.)
---
Tears rolled down her cheeks.
---
Because no matter how old she became-
she was still that little girl who wanted her father when life became difficult.
---
And somewhere else...
Thousands of miles away...
---
Vihaan was sitting alone on the balcony of Singhania Mansion.
Holding the same coffee mug Aarohi used to use.
---
Neither of them could sleep.
Neither of them could move on.
---
Both were hurting.
Both were missing each other.
---
But neither was ready to admit it.
Because sometimes love survives...
even when the relationship doesn't.
Three months passed.
---
Three long months.
---
The distance between London and India remained the same.
But the distance between two hearts?
That had become even more complicated.
---
Aarohi had completely immersed herself in work.
She had become one of the busiest doctors in the hospital.
Double shifts.
Emergency surgeries.
Research work.
Patient consultations.
---
Everyone praised her dedication.
Everyone thought she was moving on.
Healing.
Getting better.
---
But nobody knew the truth.
---
The truth was that she was running.
Running from memories.
Running from pain.
Running from a man she couldn't forget.
---
One evening, Aarohi was leaving the hospital after a fourteen-hour shift.
She looked exhausted.
Her face had become thinner.
Dark circles had appeared beneath her eyes.
---
"Dr. Aarohi, you should take some rest."
One of the nurses said worriedly.
---
Aarohi gave a small smile.
"I'm fine."
---
But she wasn't.
Not even close.
---
The moment she reached her apartment-
she collapsed onto the couch.
Too tired to even change her clothes.
---
Her eyes slowly drifted toward the coffee table.
---
And froze.
---
Because there was an old photograph lying there.
A photograph she had forgotten to put away.
---
It was from college.
The entire group was standing together.
Sana.
Karan.
Some friends.
And Vihaan.
---
Aarohi stared at the picture for several seconds.
---
Then slowly traced Vihaan's face with her finger.
---
"Why..." she whispered.
"Why couldn't things be different?"
---
A tear escaped her eye.
---
Meanwhile in India...
---
Vihaan was becoming a shadow of himself.
---
The fever had gone away.
But the emptiness remained.
---
One night, he entered his room after returning from work.
And for the first time in months-
he opened the drawer beside the bed.
---
Inside were dozens of things.
Small things.
Meaningless to everyone else.
Priceless to him.
---
A bracelet Aarohi forgot once.
Movie tickets.
A birthday note.
A dried flower she had placed inside a book.
---
Vihaan picked up the note carefully.
His fingers trembled.
---
The note simply read:
"Smile more, Mr. Angry Bird."
---
A weak smile appeared on his face.
Immediately followed by tears.
---
Because he couldn't even remember the last time he had genuinely smiled.
---
That night...
for the first time-
Vihaan wrote a message.
---
A message he never intended to send.
---
Aarohi...
I know you don't want to hear from me.
Maybe I deserve that.
But if there is one thing I wish I could change in my life, it would be that day.
The day I chose my anger over your trust.
The day I stopped listening.
The day I lost you.
---
His vision blurred.
---
He stared at the message for several minutes.
Then deleted everything.
---
Because what right did he have?
---
Thousands of miles away...
At almost the same moment...
---
Aarohi suddenly woke up from a nightmare.
Breathing heavily.
---
She had seen college again.
The accusations.
The humiliation.
The pain.
---
And then...
unexpectedly...
she saw Vihaan crying.
---
The same way he cried when she left.
---
Aarohi sat up immediately.
Her heart beating rapidly.
---
She pressed her palms against her eyes.
Trying to stop herself from thinking about him.
---
But it was impossible.
---
Because the truth was simple.
Pain had brought them apart.
But love had never completely left.
---
Neither of them knew it yet.
But fate wasn't done with them.
Not yet.
Six months had passed.
Half a year.
One hundred and eighty days.
And yet-
neither of them had truly lived a single day.
---
The entire Singhania family was worried about Vihaan.
At first they were angry.
Very angry.
Because after learning the entire truth, everyone realized how badly things had gone wrong.
How many lives had been destroyed because of one misunderstanding.
---
But slowly-
their anger turned into fear.
Because Vihaan was falling apart.
---
He barely slept.
Barely ate.
Barely spoke.
---
His eyes had permanently become red.
Not because of lack of sleep anymore.
But because every night he cried until his body simply couldn't produce any more tears.
---
The once feared Vihaan Singhania looked nothing like himself now.
---
There was a time when girls would lose their hearts just by seeing him.
His confidence.
His personality.
His presence.
---
But now?
---
Now even looking at him felt painful.
---
His beard had grown.
Dark circles surrounded his eyes.
His clothes hung loosely on his body because of the weight he had lost.
---
Sometimes he would sit in the same position for hours.
Staring at nothing.
Thinking about everything.
---
And every night-
without fail-
he opened their old chat.
---
He would type a message.
Read it.
Cry.
And then delete it.
---
Tonight was no different.
---
His fingers trembled as he typed.
---
Aarohi,
I don't know if you will ever read this.
Maybe you shouldn't.
Maybe I don't deserve to be heard.
---
I used to think I was the one who was betrayed.
I used to think I was the victim.
But now when I look back, I realize something.
The person who suffered the most was always you.
---
You kept trying to explain.
And I kept refusing to listen.
---
You stood alone in front of everyone.
And I was one of the people standing against you.
---
I don't know how many times I should say sorry.
A thousand times?
A million times?
---
Because no apology can return the years I stole from you.
---
I know you probably hate me.
Maybe you should.
---
But if there is even one thing I want you to know...
---
I never stopped loving you.
Not for a single day.
---
And I don't think I ever will.
---
A tear fell onto the screen.
---
Vihaan stared at the message for several minutes.
Then closed his eyes.
And deleted everything.
---
Just like every other night.
---
Because he didn't want her to feel pressured.
Didn't want her to think he was trying to manipulate her again.
---
Meanwhile...
London.
---
Aarohi had turned herself into a machine.
---
Work.
Hospital.
Patients.
Surgery.
Home.
Sleep.
Repeat.
---
Sometimes she worked eighteen hours straight.
Sometimes twenty.
---
Her colleagues constantly told her to rest.
But she never listened.
---
Because the moment she stopped-
her thoughts became dangerous.
---
And tonight was one of those nights.
---
She sat alone in her apartment.
The city lights visible through the large glass windows.
---
Yet she felt completely alone.
---
Her mind kept replaying that final day.
---
Vihaan kneeling in front of her.
Begging.
Crying.
Breaking.
---
"No..."
Aarohi immediately shook her head.
---
"Stop thinking about him."
---
She stood up.
Tried reading.
Couldn't focus.
---
Tried watching something.
Turned it off after five minutes.
---
Tried sleeping.
Failed.
---
Because no matter how hard she tried-
that image wouldn't leave her mind.
---
"Ya phir ye sab ek aur natak tha?"
(Or was all of that just another act?)
---
"Ya phir koi aur game?"
(Or another game?)
---
"Kya pata phir se uske jaal me phans jaun."
(What if I get trapped again?)
---
Her chest tightened.
---
"Nahi."
(No.)
---
"Main wapas nahi jaungi."
(I won't go back.)
---
"Kabhi nahi."
(Never.)
---
Tears suddenly gathered in her eyes.
---
She immediately wiped them away.
Almost angrily.
---
"Nahi rona."
(Don't cry.)
---
"Ab nahi."
(Not anymore.)
---
"Mujhe apni zindagi jeeni hai."
(I have to live my life.)
---
But the problem was-
she wasn't living.
She was surviving.
---
And there is a difference.
---
People say the heart wants one thing and the mind wants another.
---
And when those two start fighting-
the person standing in the middle gets destroyed.
---
That was exactly what was happening.
---
Her heart still wanted Vihaan.
Her mind still feared him.
---
And between those two battles-
Aarohi was slowly breaking.
---
Thousands of miles away-
Vihaan sat alone on the balcony.
Looking at the moon.
---
And for the hundredth time that night-
he wondered if Aarohi was looking at the same sky.
---
Because maybe...
just maybe...
they still belonged to each other.
---
But fate had not forgiven them yet.
Wait for next part ??