Rajveer, are you okay?" Palki called out from the bedroom, her voice muffled by the heavy wooden door.
Her question hung in the air, echoing off the cold, marble floor of the hallway. The vibrant decorations that adorned the walls seemed to fade into the background, their once-celebratory colors now a stark reminder of the joy that was supposed to be filling the house today. Outside, the sun painted the sky with the warm hues of a thousand sunsets, but inside, the atmosphere was as frosty as winter.
He pushed the door open, the hinges protesting with a quiet creak. The room was dimly lit, the curtains drawn against the setting sun. The scent of jasmine and sandalwood from the candles on the dresser mingled with something else, something musky and intimate that made his stomach churn. Palki sat up in bed, her eyes wide with shock and guilt, the vibrant mendhi on her hands smeared onto the bed sheets. Shaurya, smirking , quickly pulled the covers up to his waist.
Rajveer took a deep, shaky breath, his hand hovering over the door handle. The music from the mendhi ceremony downstairs grew louder, a stark contrast to the heavy silence that had descended upon him. His heart hammered in his chest, each beat a painful reminder of the betrayal that had just unfolded before his very eyes. Palki, and Shaurya, , were tangled in a web of deceit that he had never seen coming.
The room spun around him, the reality of the situation a heavy weight that pressed down on his shoulders. Palki's eyes searched his face, desperation and fear in every line. She opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out. Instead, a sob escaped, hanging in the air like a shattered promise. Shaurya stared at him, his eyes taunting , but Rajveer felt nothing but a cold, numbing rage building inside of him. He clenched his fists, fighting the urge to lash out, to scream, to do anything that would shatter the unbearable silence that had enveloped them all.
Palki's green and gold lehenga was crumpled at the foot of the bed, the delicate embroidery a sad mockery of the love and joy it was supposed to symbolize. The mendhi on her hands that had his name was smeared, as if her very soul had been marred by the act she had just committed. The room was a battleground of unspoken words, of love turned to ash. Rajveer, please," she whispered, her voice barely audible above the deafening roar in his ears. But he had nothing to say, the words lost in the storm of emotions that surged through him.
Rajveer's mind raced back to all the little signs he had ignored, the whispers and glances exchanged when he wasn't looking, The realization was a knife twisting in his gut, a deep wound that bled bitterness and anger.
Shaurya's eyes snapped back to meet his, a flash of anger in their depths. "You never knew what it was like, Rajveer," he spat out, "always the golden boy, the one who could do no wrong. You had everything! The business, the respect, the love of our parents. And what did I get? nothing.”So I snatched the most closest person to you, your Palki so that you can see how much she wants me , see for yourself how much Palki loves me it’s me she’s always loved not you.”
Before he could say another word, the bedroom door swung open again, this time with a bang that reverberated through the room. Preeta , stepped inside, her eyes wide with shock. Behind her, a stream of guests and family members began to fill the hallway, their chatter and laughter from the mendhi ceremony downstairs cutting off abruptly as they took in the scene before them. Karan , followed closely, his face darkening like an approaching thunderstorm. The room grew tense, the air thick with the scent of scandal and shattered trust. The whispers started, a low murmur that grew into a cacophony of shock and disbelief as the reality of what they were witnessing sank in.
Without another word, Rajveer turned and stormed out of the room, his footsteps echoing through the hallway like the beat of a funeral drum. He could feel the eyes of the gathered guests and family members on his back, but he didn't care. The only thing that mattered was the cold, hard truth that had just been laid bare. He needed air, space, anything to clear the fog of betrayal that clouded his thoughts.
Palki called out after him, her voice a desperate cry that seemed to echo through the house. But he didn't look back, didn't give her the satisfaction of seeing his pain. The coldness of the marble floor matched the chill that had seeped into his soul. The music of the mendhi ceremony grew fainter with each step, until it was nothing more than a mournful lament, a backdrop to the chaos in his head. Rajveer flung the door , the cold wind slapping him in the face like a harsh reality check. The night sky above was a canvas of twinkling stars, indifferent to the turmoil playing out below.
His breath came out in ragged puffs of mist in the chilly air, mirroring the chaotic state of his mind. Despite his distress, his steps remained steady as he approached his car, a sleek black beacon of escape in the sea of betrayal. The engine roared to life, the vibration a comforting contrast to the tremor of his own body. He threw the bottle onto the passenger seat, his hands shaking as he put the car in gear and peeled out of the driveway.
The road was a blur as he drove, his thoughts racing faster than the cars on the road . He had never felt so lost, so betrayed. He had always prided himself on his strength, his ability to handle any situation with a cool head, but now he was unraveling at the seams. The whispers of his friends and family, the pitying glances, and the betrayal of his fiance it was all too much to bear.
The bottle clinked against the steering wheel as he was driving , the cold metal in his hand a grim reminder of his decision.
He hadn't had a drink in months , not since the night he found his father celebrating valentine day with Nidhi . But tonight, he didn't care about his principles or his health. All he wanted was to numb the pain, to forget the look on Palki's face when he had walked in on her with Shaurya, to erase the memory of his Palki betrayal. He unscrewed the cap and took a deep swig, the liquid burning a fiery path down his throat. He didn't know where he was going, didn't care. The only thing that mattered was getting away from the wreckage of his life.
The whiskey burned, but it didn't fill the void that had opened up inside him. The warmth spread through his veins, but it couldn't thaw the ice that had formed around his heart. He felt hollow, like he was driving an empty shell of a man on a road to nowhere. His phone buzzed in his pocket, a persistent reminder of the world that was now a million miles away. He ignored it, letting the calls and messages pile up, unheard and unseen
Rajveer studied the ring on his finger, the diamond glinting in the neon light from outside. Memories flooded him, a montage of moments that played out in his mind like scenes from a movie he had watched a hundred times. Palki's shy smile at their first meeting, the way she had nervously played with the end of her scarf. Their first date, the sound of her laughter as they shared stories, her eyes lighting up with every joke. And then the proposal, her tear-filled eyes and the way she had whispered "yes" into the quiet night.
But intertwined with those moments were others, less welcome, more painful. The way Shaurya had always been there, a constant in the background of their relationship. Palki's frequent mentions of his name, The countless times they had had to cover for Palki's "accidental" encounters with Shaurya, the lies that had tripped off her tongue so easily. He had been a fool to think it was just an accident each time , that her heart didn't hold a place for Shaurya.
With a roar of anger and despair, he yanked the ring from his finger and held up the lighter that was in his car .The flame danced around the ring , casting a macabre glow on his clenched fist. For a brief moment, he hesitated, the heat searing his skin, a reflection of the pain in his soul. But then, with a grim resolve, he flung the ring out of the window, watching it arc through the night air before it disappeared into the darkness, the flame extinguishing as it left his grasp. The cold metal band felt like a shackle that had been removed, leaving a painful imprint behind. The flaming ring had been a symbol of the fiery passion that had once burned between him and Palki, now reduced to ashes on the cold street. The act of burning it had been a catharsis, a declaration that he was free from the shackles of a love that had been built on lies. But even as he drove, the pain remained, a dull ache that pulsed with every beat of his heart. He couldn't escape the reality of what had happened, no matter how fast he went or how much he drank. The whiskey could numb the edges, but it couldn't erase the images that haunted him, the sounds of their betrayal that echoed in his ears.
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