Prologue
A A R Y A
His jaw clenches, his hands fisting at his side. “How could you do this to me, Aarya?” he growls, his voice, anger and possessiveness.
He strides towards me, his footsteps echoing loudly as he approaches near me. He looks down at me with anger and disappointment, his eyes scanning my naked body. “Get up.” he says, his voice cold and commanding. “Now.”
I feel shame, embarrassment wash over me as I scramble to sit up. His voice trembles with anger and pain as he looks at me.
“You don’t know what you’ve done,” he says, his voice cracks as he speaks, the hurt apparent in every syllable.
He takes a step closer to the me, his eyes burning with emotion.
“I thought we were going to work things out...I thought you were still mine.. after what we…”
His intense emotions, usually masked behind a cold, guarded exterior, are now laid bare for me to see.
“But clearly, I was wrong,” he says, “While I was trying to navigate how to get you back, you were…you… Aarya, how could you!!”
The hurt and betrayal in his eyes is all too obvious. He had been holding out hope that we could possibly reconcile someday, but now what I just had done, has shattered that hope into pieces.
His voice falters as he speaks, the pain clear in every syllable. “I thought you were mine...I thought we were something special…but clearly, I was just a fool.”
He stares down at me for a moment, his knuckles turning white from how hard he’s clenching his fist. I can see the anger, the hurt, and the pain in his eyes, mixed with the remnants of the love he still feels for me.
He takes another step, but this time away from me, his gaze roaming my face. His voice is barely above a whisper as he speaks again.
“You have no idea,” he says, “how much your actions have hurt me this time. How deeply they have wounded the love I once felt for you. It’s a worse way to push me away from you.”
I walked towards him as he took back-step, leaning towards him, my hand reaching out to touch his face, but he instinctively flinched away from my touch as if he’d burn. I freeze, my hand hovering in mid-air.
“Don’t,” He says, his voice barely above a whisper. I feel a strange sense of dread in my chest. “Neil?” I said softly, my voice thick with uncertainty. “No…Because…because I don’t want you to touch me right now.”
I take a step back, feeling suddenly exposed and vulnerable in front of him. What have I done? His behavior is unlike anything I’ve seen in him before. Usually so composed and in control, he now looks on the verge of losing it.
I watch as he crosses the room, making his way towards the door. He has his back to me, but I can see the muscles in his shoulders tense, his anger and frustration radiating off him in waves.
The sound of the door slamming shut echoes in my ears, signaling that he has left the room.
I stand there, frozen, my mind replaying the last few minutes over and over again. I had never seen Neil so angry, so filled with hurt and pain.
I cause him. The pain.
The realization of what I had done suddenly hits me like a ton of bricks.
How could I do this?
I was always his. Always will be. Right?
I feel guilty, shame wash over me. I had betrayed Neil’s trust and his love for me.
I dropped back onto the bed. I try to hold in my tears, not wanting to cry, but they fall anyway, silent sobs wracking my body.
I had screwed up, big time. Not only had I hurt him, but I had also shattered any chance we had of fixing things between us.
The memory of his face, filled with anger and hurt, haunts me. His words echoed in my mind, replaying over and over again.
But I deserve this. Right?
I broke him.
I lost him.
I lost his trust.
He will hate me.
I lost my Neil.
