The car ride home was a graveyard of unsaid things.

Aadhya sat pressed against the window, her fingers curled tightly into her dupatta, knuckles pale, throat locked with fear. Reyansh didn't speak. He didn't even look at her. His jaw was stone, his eyes like a storm with no lightning, only thunder waiting to erupt.

Every red light glowed like a warning.
Every turn felt sharper than the last.

Aadhya's stomach twisted. She had seen him angry before — sharp, loud, impulsive. But this silence... this silence was different. This silence felt like a man holding his breath underwater, refusing to come up.

When they reached the apartment, he got out first. Didn't open her door. Didn't offer his hand. Didn't look back.

Aadhya followed with hesitant steps, heart pounding, every inch of her body alert, sensing danger — not of violence, but of heartbreak, of chaos, of everything breaking at once.

The door slammed behind them.

Not a loud slam.
A controlled one.
Which was worse.

He walked straight to the bedroom and stopped. His voice finally broke the silence.

Aadhya stepped in, her breath thin.

Reyansh shut the door behind her.

Then turned.

There was anger in his eyes — but beneath that, a deep, wounded panic. Like a man afraid someone would snatch away the last bit of life he had.

"What. Was. That. Jaan?" he asked, each word slow and trembling.

Aadhya froze. Her throat closed.

She didn't reply.

His patience snapped like a brittle thread.

"I asked you something, Aadhya. Why did you go with Krish?"
His voice rose, still not shouting — but raw.
"I asked you to wait, right?"

Her chest tightened. Tears stung her eyes.

"I... I don't want to wait, Ansh..." she whispered, voice breaking. "...it's suffocating for me. I never know whether you'll come back or not. Darr lagta hai... dhum gutha hai ki you will go back to her..."

The word her was a knife.

Reyansh's eyes widened.

"Really? You think of me like this, Aadhya?" His voice cracked.
"Don't you trust me? Haan??"
He stepped closer and pulled her elbow, turning her to face him.

Her tears came like fragile glass shattering.

"No." she whispered. "And clear your heart first... sort out with her whatever is left. Agar... agar tab bhi koi chance hai... any chance that you'll return ...Tab aajana. Tab tak... main tumhare saath nahi reh sakti."

Her breath shuddered.

A tear slipped down Reyansh's face — uninvited, desperate, burning.

He grabbed her shoulders suddenly and pulled her close.

"Tum jaake toh dikhao."
His voice broke into panic.
"I'm telling you—tum jaake toh dikhao."

Before she could react, he stepped out, closed the door and turned the lock.

A soft metallic click.

Aadhya gasped.
"Reyansh...? Reyansh open the door—"

But he had already walked away.

Reyansh dropped onto the sofa like a man who had been stabbed in the lungs.
His elbows on his knees, head buried in both hands, breath trembling.

Tears slipped through his fingers.

His world — his jaan — had said she would leave him.

And he believed it.

"Rey."

He lifted his head. Aryan stood there, face serious, eyes studying him with worry.

"Is everything alright? Krish told me everything."

Reyansh laughed — a broken, humorless sound.

"She said she will leave me," he whispered, voice cold from crying. "She said she will leave me, Aryan..."

Aryan stiffened. "What? Where is she? I'll talk to her—"

"I locked her in the room," Reyansh confessed, voice hollow.

"You what?" Aryan blinked. "Reyansh—are you mad?"

"She said she will leave me," he repeated, like a mantra that was killing him. "So I locked her. Now she can't go anywhere."

He sounded like a man whose soul had left and only desperation remained.

Aryan's face darkened.
"Rey, you can't force her."

Aryan took a step toward the room when Reyansh blocked him.

"Oh, wow," Reyansh mocked bitterly, eyes sharp. "Look who's talking. The one who forced my sister."

Aryan flinched hard.
"That was different. Don't drag it now. Move."

"No," Reyansh snapped, voice wild. "I won't let her go. I can't live without her."

"Rey—" Aryan warned. "For that, you cannot cage her."

"I can. If it's necessary... then I will."

Aryan lost his patience. His hand lifted and came down sharply.

SLAP.

The sound cracked through the apartment.

Reyansh staggered back, shocked.

"Get sense," Aryan growled. "She is scared. You're hurting her."

He pushed past Reyansh, unlocked the bedroom door, and stepped inside.

Aadhya was curled on the floor beside the bed, her knees to her chest, sobbing so quietly it hurt to hear.

The moment she saw Aryan, she broke.

She flung herself into his arms.

"Bhai..." she sobbed. "Bhai... mujhe bahut darr lag raha tha..."

"Shhh, baccha... main aa gaya," Aryan whispered, holding her tight, protective. "Sab theek hai. Main hoon na."

At the door, Reyansh stood frozen.

His heart shattered seeing Aadhya in someone else's arms—
scared
shaking
holding onto Aryan for safety
not him.

His throat closed painfully.

Aryan looked at her softly.
"Humare saath chalegi, bachha?" he asked gently.

Before she could answer, Reyansh stepped forward.

"Woh kahin nahi jayegi."

Aadhya looked up at him, fear flickering in her eyes.

Aryan ignored Reyansh completely.
"Don't look at him. Answer me. Will you come with us?"

Aadhya swallowed hard, eyes wet, lips trembling.
And she nodded.

Reyansh gasped like someone stabbed him.

"Butterf—" he whispered.

"Don't." Aryan snapped. "Not now."

Reyansh looked completely destroyed.
Betrayed.
Lost.
Like his whole world had just walked out the door.

He didn't stop her.
He didn't move.
He didn't speak.

He just stood there, breathing in sharp, broken movements as Aryan led her away.

Disha was already awake, worried. The moment she saw Aadhya's tear-stained face, she rushed over, wrapping her arms around her.

"Sit, bhabhi" Disha said gently. "You need to eat. You need to breathe."

They fed her small bites.
Helped her freshen up.
Made her sit on the couch with a warm blanket.

But Aadhya's eyes stayed distant.

Her mind replayed Reyansh's tears...
his voice breaking...
his panic...
his anger...
his silence.

"Did I do the right thing leaving him alone?" she whispered to herself.

"What if he gets more angry...?"

.

.

Reyansh had already finished the fourth bottle.

He opened the fifth with shaking hands.

Tears kept falling — unstoppable, wild, messy tears of a man who had finally lost the one person he lived for.

The house was a mess.
Broken glass.
A chair overturned.
His knuckles bleeding from punching the wall.

The maid tried entering once...
and ran away terrified.

His voice broke in the empty room, whispering Aadhya's name again and again.

"Jaan... please... please don't leave me..."

He drank
and cried
and drank
until he couldn't see straight.

In the guest room, Aadhya couldn't sleep.

She kept twisting and turning, clutching the pillow to her chest.

Every time she closed her eyes, she saw Reyansh drinking...
bleeding...
crying...
calling her name.

Every few minutes, a new fear hit her chest.

What if he hurts himself...?
What if he breaks something...?
What if he collapses and no one sees...?
What if... what if something happens to him?

Suddenly she sat up, trembling uncontrollably.

She rushed to Aryan's room.

"Bhai," she cried, shaking him awake. "Mujhe le chalo... please... mujhe Ansh ke paas le chalo..."

Aryan blinked. "Bachha... kal subha chalte hain..."

She shook her head violently, tears streaming.
"No... abhi... please... abhi jana hai. Please, bhai... mujhe darr lag raha hai... I want to see him... I want to go home..."

Aryan looked at her face, the terror, the love, the panic.

He couldn't deny her.

He nodded.

Aadhya didn't stop crying the whole way.

Her hands folded, praying, begging silently.

"Please God... please keep him safe..."
"Please don't let anything happen to him..."
"Please..."

Aryan drove fast, stealing glances at her worried face, his own heart heavy.

The moment they reached home, Aadhya flung the door open and ran inside.

"Reyan—"

She stopped.

Aryan froze behind her.

Both of them stared.

Both of them were shocked.

Because what they saw inside...

was nothing like they imagined.

so how is the chapter and sorry for alte update and i will try to complete this story soon and will not let you wait guys.. i will post regularly...