Chapter 6

                                    

                                          
Pankhuri shoves him away, her voice trembling with anger and pain. “Why are you showing me this lie you call love? Do you think I’ve forgotten what you did four years ago? I was only 18, naïve enough to trust you, to love you. But you—” her voice breaks, her eyes burning with unshed tears, “—you crushed that love, twisted my efforts into something vile, something to exploit. If you didn’t have the strength to stand by me, why did you let me fall so deeply for you? You should’ve stayed away... far enough to never leave these scars on my soul.”"You got an 18-year-old girl pregnant and then left her—no, let me correct that—you abandoned her after forcing an abortion," Pankhuri's voice trembled with a mix of pain and fury.
Ayaan's gaze darkened as he replied, his tone heavy with conflicted emotions. "Pankhuri, you were just 18… how could you have carried a child? And I—I was only 23, unprepared to become a father. We made a mistake, yes, but what was I supposed to do? What choice did I have?""Fine, I agree—the mistake was ours. But then why was I the only one who bore the punishment? Tell me, Ayaan, answer me!" Pankhuri's voice cracked, her pain cutting through the silence.
"You have no idea," she continued, her eyes burning with suppressed tears, "Do you even know how agonizing the abortion process is? Lying there, alone on that cold, sterile table, as they pierce and scrape away at the very life growing inside you. Every second feels like an eternity of pain—physical, emotional, soul-crushing. And after it’s over, all you’re left with is emptiness... and blood-stained hands, both yours and mine. Yet, you walked away as if nothing had happened. Tell me, Ayaan, why was I left to endure it all alone?"Pankhuri's voice trembled with raw emotion as she continued, "And it wasn’t just the pain of guilt that I carried—the guilt of losing my unborn child. The weakness after the abortion, the isolation… Ayaan, I didn’t even have a family to lean on. I was alone. The doctor told me, after seeing my condition, that I might face complications in future pregnancies… that I might never become a mother. Do you know what that feels like?"
Her voice broke, but she pushed on. "Still, I accepted it. I told myself it was for the best. I was too young, you weren’t well-settled, and we both had our careers ahead of us. I told myself it was practical. I thought, at least I still had you, my Ayaan. I lost the baby, risked my health, but I believed I’d have your love. Yet when I needed your support the most, you pulled away from me."
Ayaan looked down, his face shadowed with guilt. "Pankhuri… because of me, you had to go through so much at such a young age. Your health, your career, your smile… everything was taken from you. Being with you, staying close to you, was all I ever wanted, but after everything, I was scared. I was terrified that if I lost control again, I’d make another mistake. Staying away from you was a punishment for me too."
He paused, his voice dropping to a whisper. "You don’t know this, but even when I stayed away, I was still close. I bought a house near yours. Every single day, I watched you from a distance. I couldn’t speak to you, couldn’t meet your eyes. Do you remember those birthday parcels you received at midnight every year?"
Pankhuri’s breath caught, her eyes widening. "Yes… I remember. And someone paid my college fees too…"
Ayaan’s lips trembled as he nodded. "It was me.""You… you were the one sending me gifts? Stalking me? Paying my fees? Following me everywhere? Sending a gift and cake every birthday at exactly midnight?" Pankhuri's voice quivered, caught between disbelief and something deeper.
Ayaan’s lips curled into a faint, bittersweet smile, his eyes shadowed with an intensity that sent a shiver down her spine. "Yes, it was me," he confessed, his voice low but steady. "I became a stalker, Pankhuri—not out of obsession, but because I couldn’t bear to truly let you go. Staying away from you felt like tearing my soul apart, so I found a way to stay close, even if only from a distance."
He stepped closer, his voice dropping to a whisper that hung heavy in the air. "This closeness… it was different. Watching you from afar, seeing you smile, even if it wasn’t for me—it gave me a twisted kind of happiness. Every gift, every midnight parcel, every glimpse of you walking by was a lifeline I clung to. I knew I didn’t have the right to step into your life again, but from the shadows, I could still feel connected to you. And in those moments, even from a distance, you were still mine.""Because I knew," Ayaan said, his voice laced with a haunting sincerity, "if I stayed with you, neither could you push me away, nor could I ever leave. And I couldn’t let something like that happen again. I couldn’t risk losing you to my mistakes once more."
He paused, his eyes locking onto hers with an intensity that sent a shiver down her spine. "So, I loved you from a distance—a love that consumed me quietly, silently. Every moment away from you was agony, but it was the only way I could protect you from me. How do I explain this love to you, Pankhuri? A love so desperate, so dark, that it devours me from within, and yet, all it knows is you. I don’t have the words. All I know is that even in my distance, even in my silence, I have always been yours."
Thanks 💕💕