Scarred Love - Chapter 33

Ishani glared at him with animosity and her hands clenched with fury as she saw him staring at her. But then suddenly she looked away and breathed hard.

Get a hold of yourself. Why do you care?

Rudra looked away and smiled inwardly as he had got that ‘something’, which would speed this up.

Even though he had ignored her demand, he still asked, “Should I stop the car?”

However, he almost smiled when she shook her head.

After almost 45 minutes later, the car stopped but he found her still looking outside the window. He opened his door and stepped out of the car.

Taking the cue from him, she unlocked her door and was about to open it when it jerked away from her. Surprised, she looked up and found him standing with his hand on the door handle.

She stepped out but avoided his eyes.

She recognised Mayank but did not return his smile as he came towards them. Jerking Rudra’s hand off that had landed on the curve of her back, she strode inside.

It was definitely a hotel but the lobby was deserted. And, frankly she couldn’t call this a lobby; it was more like a small entrance of some sort.

Rudra gestured her towards the lift, which was on the left. She saw him press the button indicating PH but ignored him the moment she saw him looking at her.

She couldn’t actually figure out why she was angry. Well okay, he had declared his love for her but had she actually believed him? Did she really think that someone like him would be with her?

Don’t belittle yourself, Ishani, you are an awesome woman, her heart told her.

Ya, I know but still.

That woman on the phone sounded quite close to him.

Ishani closed her eyes as a twinge of pain attacked her heart. What is she doing here? Why is he with her, if there was already a woman in his life?

“Ishani?”

His voice travelled to her and she opened her eyes. Masking everything she was feeling, she followed him as he gestured to step out of the lift.

As one of the room attendants opened a huge ornate double door, Rudra briskly strode inside but she stood outside trying to decide what to do.

She should leave. There's no point staying; There's no point complicating their lives most of all hers. But then if she left then it would look really insulting especially if this was his staff. Reluctantly she entered and heard the door clicking shut behind her.

However, she did not budge from her place. Standing on the inner threshold, she looked up at Rudra, who was staring at her as if nothing had happened. She saw him coming towards her but then he stopped when she held up her hand.

She turned away from him and placed her hand on the door. Her inner turmoil was so intense that she pressed her forehead on the door trying to appease the rising emotions. Suddenly her eyes fell on the blinking light of her phone and for a second it seemed a good enough distraction. She raised the phone and unlocked it.

Instantly the screen flashed with messages and missed call alerts; a couple of missed calls from Annie and a single message asking her to call back.

And, 16 missed calls and 10 messages from him.

He had given her a call almost every half an hour. And, as she started reading the WhatsApp and text messages, her heart almost jumped out of her chest.

One of the messages said, ‘Please call me, sweetheart, I am worried.’

Another, ‘If you are angry about what I said then I’ll never ever say it again but please baby, call me. I am worried.’

But the last one completely shattered her.

‘Ishani, if you are angry with me then shout on me, throw things at me, fight with me but please don’t stay shut. I can bear anything but your silence. Baby, please reply.’

“Ishani!”

His soft call landed on her ears like a shot and she grabbed the door handle for support.

She needed answers before she stepped into unfamiliar territories.

“Who is she?”

“My Ex.”

Ishani’s eyes flew open the moment she heard him. She turned and looked at him. Although his face and eyes were emotionless, his clenched fists conveyed what she wanted to know. But she still needed to hear it from his mouth. There and then she decided if he was still with that woman she would leave right away and it would be the end of all this.

However, there was no way she could look at him while he answered her.

Ishani turned and swallowed hard trying to get the voice to work.

“Do you……do you still……still love her?”

There she had asked him. Now she just has to wait for the bomb to fall. Closing her eyes, she rested her forehead again on the door and waited. The buzzing in her ears had increased in the last couple of seconds and any more of it, and she would go completely deaf.

“What do you think?”

She almost jumped the moment his warm breath fanned out with the words on the corner of her neck and felt him clutch her body in his arms.

“Tell me, what do you think?”

As his fingers splayed on her bare arms, she felt him turn her.

“Answer me,” he whispered.

“I don’t know,” she said failing to keep her voice steady.

She didn’t know what was happening to her. Okay, she liked him but this jealousy and sense of loss were something else.

No, it can’t be, her heart cried out as the answer dawned on her.

It can’t be love.

She cannot love anybody else. Veera was the only one she had ever loved. Nobody could take that place. No, she can’t love anyone.

“Look at me, Ishani,” he commanded and she couldn’t do anything but look up.

“She doesn’t mean anything to me. It’s you I love and that’s not going to change ever. Even if you don’t believe anything else, then just believe this that I love you and I always will.”

ISHI!

Suddenly that name reverberated in her brain and every bone in her body chilled. Even though she liked Rudra and wanted this to be true, she couldn’t love him.

“I love you, Ishani,” she heard him say again.

“I can’t.”

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