AMRITA POV

I wouldn’t exactly say I felt relieved, but something inside me still wouldn’t allow me to breathe freely. A strange heaviness clung to my chest, refusing to ease.

I couldn’t help but wonder—how is Rudraksh? Is he looking for me? Or is he still consumed by his misconceptions, believing in things that were never true?

My head throbbed with pain, a dull ache that pulsed with every thought.

“How did you get kidnapped? I always thought you were a bit useless, but still… You couldn’t even defend yourself?” she asked sharply. Her words pierced through me, and I felt my eyes sting with tears.

I shook my head slowly, signaling a silent ‘no.’

“My elbow was injured,” I began, my voice trembling. “I was on the floor, crying… and one of them covered my mouth with a cloth soaked in chloroform. They dragged me by my hair—”

“They did what?!” she nearly shouted, her voice loud and jarring, making me flinch in my seat.

“It’s nothing… it’s over now,” I murmured, trying to dismiss it.

“And why were you crying on the floor? What is this, some sort of TV serial?” she scoffed, clearly unimpressed, and I closed my eyes, trying to hold myself together.

“Rudraksh thinks I cheated on him,” I confessed, the words burning as they left my lips. “He didn’t even try to explain… he just threw accusations at me. None of it was true.”

She frowned deeply. “What? Wait—no, no, that’s not what happened.” She hit the steering wheel with a frustrated sigh, her expression clouded with disappointment.

“What do you mean?” I asked, my curiosity growing with each second.

“It’s nothing,” she said curtly, brushing it off.

“Anyway, we’re heading straight to Kolkata. It’s not safe here anymore.”

I opened my mouth to speak, but she interrupted me before I could form a word.

“And about your foolish husband, don’t worry—he’ll find you soon. So stop being so dramatic.”

I simply nodded, not wanting to argue. But deep inside, I felt something warm stir within me. After all these years, she was finally talking to me again—and that, in itself, meant more than she could ever know.

RUDRAKSH POV

I sat on the edge of the hotel bed, staring blankly at the wall. My heart had run out of rage; it was now just a hollow vessel of confusion and pain. Every lead had gone cold. Every call unanswered. Every road led nowhere.

“I think it’s time to accept it,” I muttered, my voice barely audible. “Maybe she doesn't want to be with me anymore...”

“Are you even listening to yourself right now?” Arun said sharply, stepping forward. “You think Amrita would just vanish on her own? That girl loves you—even if you were too blind to see it.”

I looked at him, my fists clenching. “Shh.. I don't want to hear anything from you. I literally trusted you with everything—”

Vivaan stepped in, concern etched across his face. “There’s something off about all this. I’ve been thinking... maybe we’re looking in the wrong place. Let’s go back to Kolkata. Something tells me the answer is there.”

Before I could respond, Arun’s phone buzzed. He looked at the screen, and his eyes widened.

“She just sent me a location,” he said, lifting the phone. “No message, just the pin.”

I jumped to my feet. “Who sent it?”

“That's not important,” Arun answered hesitantly.

My jaw tightened. I didn’t trust him. Not for a second. But I couldn’t ignore the chance to find Amrita.

“Let’s go,” I said, already storming toward the door. “We’ll deal with the rest later.”

It didn’t take long to reach the spot—a quiet, abandoned roadside in just outside the city. My heart pounded in my chest. I barely waited for the car to stop before I was out and running.

There she was.

Amrita.

Standing near the gates, looking lost, tired, and broken—but alive.

“Amrita!” I called out, my voice cracking.

Her eyes met mine, and in that moment, everything else disappeared. I ran to her, pulling her into a desperate, tight embrace.

“I thought I lost you,” I whispered into her hair. “I thought—”

But something snapped inside me. The moment she was safe in my arms, the fury came rushing back.

I turned to Arun and, without warning, punched him straight in the jaw. He staggered backward, caught off-guard.

“You kidnapped her, didn’t you?! You’ve been acting weird this whole time!”

Before anyone could stop me, I shoved him again, shouting, “Was she in on it too?! I know she’s the one behind everything—the threats, the shadows following me, the messages!”

Arun raised his hands, not in defense but in confusion. “What the hell are you talking about?”

Vivaan, who was on his computer the whole time, ran forward, grabbing my arm. “Rudraksh—stop! Listen to me.”

“What?!”

“She has a twin,” Vivaan said, breathing hard.

“The woman causing chaos in your life—she’s not Amrita. She’s her twin sister.”

I froze, the world tilting on its axis.

“A twin…?” I repeated, disbelief sinking in.

Vivaan nodded. “Maya. And it seems like this whole thing is way deeper than we thought.”

I turned back to Amrita slowly, still catching my breath. My mind spun with questions, fear, and disbelief. My grip on reality felt thin, like a thread ready to snap.

“Amrita…” I said, my voice low and heavy, “just tell me the truth now. No more secrets. Was it you? Were you behind all the lies? The silence? The twisted things happening around me?”

She looked away, swallowing hard, her eyes glossed with guilt.

“I lied,” she whispered, “but not to hurt you. I lied to protect her.”

My brows furrowed. “Protect your sister? The sister whose whole existence is unknown to me?”

“I didn’t want to talk about her. I never wanted you—or anyone—to know about her. I thought if I stayed quiet… if I kept it hidden, she’d stay safe.” She turned back to me, her voice cracking. “But I was wrong. I was so wrong.”

A wave of pain crashed over me. “Do you even realize what you put me through?”

“I know,” she nodded, trembling. “I know I messed up. But I was scared. You don’t know what she’s capable of…”

I backed away, running a hand through my hair, my heart thudding. I needed answers—real ones.

I turned sharply to Arun, standing nearby, watching everything unfold in silence.

“You knew, didn’t you?” I snapped. “You knew about the twin, about all of it. How long have you been hiding this?”

Arun remained still for a second, eyes dark and unreadable. Then, slowly, he exhaled and dropped the weight I wasn’t ready for.

“She is my wife,” he said flatly.

The silence that followed felt like a bomb had just gone off in the middle of the road.

“What?” I asked, stunned.

“Maya is my wife,” he repeated. “Amrita’s twin… the one you’re talking about. The one behind the threats, the mind games. She’s been mine since before any of you even knew she existed.”

I stared at him, every piece of the puzzle scattering in my brain.

And suddenly, it all made a terrifying kind of sense.

"So it wasn't Amrita with you?" I asked, my voice shaky. Arun shook his head as a no and I closed my eyes.

Fuck. How could I?

I looked at Amrita. Tear streaked face. I'm the one responsible for this.

"Let's go home." I said and she nodded.

I wanted to know everything but she is more important right now. More than this mystery.

The whole drive was silent. I didn't want to push it further.

After reaching home Raj went to his room and I went straight to the washroom to take a shower. I can't... I just can't face her after how I treated her.

I literally accused her of cheating. My Amrita? How could I think like that?

I turned the shower knob and let the cold water crash over my skin, hoping—praying—it would wash away the guilt, the shame, the words I couldn’t take back. Each drop echoed like her silence in the car, her stillness beside me, the hollow in her eyes where warmth used to live.

How did we get here?

How did I ever let my doubts drown out my faith in her?

Fifteen minutes passed. Maybe more. I didn’t keep track. Time was irrelevant when you’re trapped in a moment you wish you could erase.

When I stepped out, the house quiet. No kitchen noises, no TV, no music humming faintly from her phone. Just the sound of my own heartbeat thudding in my ears.

I wiped the steam off the mirror and stared at myself. I looked like a man I didn’t recognize. The man who had looked the love of his life in the eye... and questioned her loyalty.

I swallowed hard.

I have to make this right.

I walked slowly to the living room.

She was there. Sitting on the floor by the sofa. Her back straight, hands limp in her lap.

Still, I could tell she was crying—not from sobs, but from the damp glint on her cheeks. Her face was blank. Expressionless. Her silence louder than any scream.

My chest tightened. My throat burned.

I took a few hesitant steps forward, then lowered myself slowly to my knees in front of her.

"Amrita..."

My voice cracked.

She didn't look at me. Her gaze was fixed on the carpet. Like she wasn’t really here. Like she’d left already.

"I... I know saying 'sorry' won't be enough," I whispered. "But I need to say it anyway."

No reaction. Just a slight twitch of her jaw.

I reached out, gently taking her cold hand in mine. She flinched and pulled away. Not angrily. Just... instinctively. Like I was a flame and she’d been burned before.

I didn’t let go of the air between us.

"I was wrong," I continued, voice trembling. "So wrong that I hate myself for it. I looked into the eyes of the woman I’ve loved more than anything in this world and accused her of something she never even dreamed of doing."

Her shoulders tensed. Still no words.

"I let fear get louder than love, Amrita. And that fear... that poison... it made me blind. I didn’t see you. I didn’t see how much you were hurting. How much you needed me to trust you."

Her lips parted, but no sound came. A single tear fell from the corner of her eye. I reached up slowly, my fingertips brushing it away before it disappeared.

She finally looked at me. And what I saw crushed me.

Not anger. Not hatred.

Disappointment.

The kind that pierces deeper than any scream or slap ever could.

She shook her head slowly, the first movement she'd made since I knelt.

I reached for her hands again—gently, hesitantly. She didn’t pull away this time. But she didn’t hold them back either. They just lay there in mine. Motionless. Wounded

Then I noticed her elbow. It was injured. The blood dried.

She was still sitting on the floor when I walked out of the room and returned with the first-aid kit in my hand. The quiet between us had grown heavier, like the walls themselves were holding their breath.

I knelt in front of her again, opening the box.

"You’re hurt," I said softly, my eyes falling to the scrape on her elbow. The skin was broken, red, a tiny trickle of dried blood at the edge. “Let me clean it.”

She didn’t move. Didn’t answer.

I reached forward, gently taking her arm—but the moment my fingers touched her, she yanked it back sharply, like I’d tried to hurt her.

Her eyes flashed up to mine for the first time in what felt like forever. They were glassy, brimming, but cold. Detached.

"I’ll do it myself," she said flatly.

The rejection stung more than I expected. My hand hovered in the air for a moment before I slowly lowered it.

"Amrita..." I murmured. "Please. Let me help. Just this one thing."

She looked at me like I was a stranger. “Why now?”

I stared at her, lost. “What do you mean?”

“Why are you trying to care now?” Her voice didn’t rise, but each word landed like a punch.

“Where was this when I needed you? When I was falling apart and all I needed was for you to trust me? When I begged for you to stay?”

I couldn’t answer. My throat was tight. My hands shook.

“I didn’t even defend myself back then,” she whispered, looking away. “Because I thought maybe, just maybe, you’d remember who I am. But instead, you abandoned me just like everyone else did.”

I leaned forward slightly, my voice desperate. “That’s not true—”

“You called me a liar,” she said, tears running down her cheeks now. “You said it like it was easy.”

"I didn’t mean it," I said quickly. "I was scared. I was angry. I didn’t—"

“No,” she cut in, “you did mean it. In that moment, you believed I was capable of betraying you. And that means something, whether you admit it or not.”

I sat there in the silence that followed, the words echoing in my ears.

Then I said it—quiet, broken, real:

“I’m scared, Amrita.”

She looked at me, puzzled, guarded.

“I am scared to lose you. Every woman I loved ended up leaving me.”

I took a breath, struggling to find the words.

“You are the only person who ever saw all of me and chose to stay. And still... I pushed you away. I broke us.”

I looked down, ashamed.

“Because deep down, I don’t believe anyone loves me. Not really. Not unless I’m perfect, useful, easy to be around.”

Her expression cracked just slightly.

I raised my eyes to hers again. “But you... you loved me when I was a mess. When I was cold. When I didn’t have anything to offer. You stayed. And I didn’t know how to believe in that. So I ruined it. I ruined you.”

I reached for her hand again—not to take it, just to rest near it.

"You’re bleeding," I said again. “And it’s my fault.”

She didn’t move. But she didn’t pull away this time either.

“I know I don’t deserve it,” I whispered. “But if there’s even a piece of you that still believes in us… let me start here. Let me help with your pain. Even if it's just your elbow for now.”

Her eyes brimmed with tears again. And this time, when she finally offered her arm, it wasn’t a surrender.

"But it's not over... I need time."

"Fine. Take your time, I won't force you to live with me but... I need answers." I asked and she flatly nodded.

"Call everybody here tomorrow. Let's make everything clear. And for now, get the hell out of my sight."

And I knew, I fucked up.

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