The storm outside mirrored the one raging within Ananya. Her hands trembled slightly as she gripped the silk of her saree, her knuckles white. The grand suite Aarav had given her felt more like a gilded cage, beautiful yet stifling. Every corner reminded her of him—his silence, his glances, his touch—and she hated that it did.
She couldn't sleep.
Not after what had happened at the gala.
Not after that kiss.
It had been soft, desperate, laced with pain. Not passion. Not love.
"Why did you kiss me, Aarav?" she whispered into the quiet room, the question slipping into the shadows like a ghost. He had left her there—lips tingling, heart pounding—only to disappear into the crowd, like always.
She walked toward the balcony, the rain misting her skin. In the darkness of the night, her memories stirred. Not just of Aarav. But of Karan.
Karan, her childhood friend. Her first love. The boy who had made her laugh even when her world was falling apart.
The boy who'd broken her completely.
---
Eight years ago – Mumbai
The sun had bathed the college campus in golden hues as Karan handed her a rose. "Happy Friendship Day, Anu. You know, if I had to fall in love with anyone, I'd choose you a hundred times over."
Ananya had smiled, heart thudding, because she'd always hoped he'd say that. But behind that sweet moment was a truth that crushed her later that year.
Karan wasn't hers. He never had been.
She found out the hard way—through a wedding card.
His wedding card.
The boy who had held her through storms had decided she wasn't "wife material." She was too ambitious. Too unpredictable. He'd chosen tradition, security, and a docile bride over the wildfire that was Ananya Mehra.
That betrayal had changed her. Hardened her.
---
Back in the present, Aarav stood quietly in his study, a drink untouched in his hand. He had watched Ananya from afar after the gala, watched her run away from his kiss like it had burned her. Maybe it had.
He hadn't meant to kiss her. But when she looked up at him in that maroon saree, eyes glistening, pain veiled in strength—he'd lost control. It was as if something long buried had surfaced, roaring back to life.
His thoughts shifted to a girl he hadn't thought about in years.
Rhea.
The girl he had once loved.
The one who had broken him.
---
Ten years ago – London
Aarav had been a different man back then—carefree, idealistic, in love with life and Rhea. They had made plans to build a life together, away from their controlling families, away from expectations.
But when the truth came out—that Rhea was using him to escape her own engagement—everything collapsed.
She had disappeared, leaving behind a note and a shattered soul. That heartbreak taught Aarav that love was dangerous. Love was weakness. Love made fools out of the strongest men.
So he turned into steel.
Into the billionaire people feared.
Into the man who believed emotions were liabilities.
---
And now, Ananya had walked right into his carefully controlled life and shattered the silence.
She challenged him, provoked him, made him feel again.
And it scared him.
Just like it scared her.
They were two people shaped by pain, pretending to hate each other when, in truth, the fear of being hurt again was all-consuming.
---
The next morning, Ananya found a white envelope at her door. Her name was written in bold, confident strokes.
Inside was a note:
> "We need to talk. No lies this time. Rooftop. 9 p.m. – Aarav."
Her heart jumped. Part fear, part anticipation. She clutched the note like it was a grenade ready to explode.
But something inside her whispered: Maybe it's time.
Time to stop running from the past.
Time to face the truth.
Time to let the shadows finally dissolve into light.
---
Moral: Love, when wounded, hides behind pride and fear. But healing begins the moment we stop running from our pain—and choose to confront the truth, together.