Episode 32 : " The Thread between Us"
1067 Words
(Neha’s POV)
I turned the key softly, careful not to wake Disha if she was sleeping. But as I stepped inside, the sound of quiet laughter greeted me.
I paused near the doorframe, just out of sight.
There he was — Rohit, sitting cross-legged beside Disha’s bed. He leaned forward, gently placing his palm on her swollen belly. His voice was low, almost musical, weaving a whimsical fairytale.
“…and the little bunny followed the stars until he found the moon sleeping behind a cloud.”
Disha chuckled, covering her mouth.
“He moved,” she whispered.
Rohit’s eyes widened with delight. “Really?”
She nodded. “Your silly story made him kick.”
I watched the scene unfold, heart swelling with emotions I didn’t know how to name. There was a gentleness to Rohit I hadn’t seen before — the kind that only surfaced when no one’s watching. Except I was.
He looked so natural, so comfortable. Like he belonged here. With us.
After a while, I stepped forward. “Am I interrupting the bedtime fairytale?”
They both turned. Disha grinned. “You missed the most adorable storyteller in the world.”
Rohit stood up, rubbing the back of his neck, slightly embarrassed. “I should get going anyway. Late shift tomorrow.”
I smiled. “Thanks for taking care of her.”
He gave me a soft look — something in it lingered before he turned and left.
Later that night, after Disha drifted into sleep, I stood by the kitchen window, tracing circles on the glass with my fingertip.
My thoughts wandered back… to that drive.
To Veer’s eyes watching me in the mirror, to the silence humming between us like a second heartbeat. The way he reached out and brushed the strand of hair from my face… how his fingers felt — warm, steady, and dangerously familiar.
And then his voice — those words I never expected.
"Neha, I like you."
He said it with such raw simplicity, as if it had been waiting on his lips for too long.
And I… I froze.
Because how do you react when the man who feels like a mystery and danger and comfort all at once says something that threatens to change everything?
I should’ve said something. Anything. But before I could, the headlights pierced through the fog of emotion. And the moment ended.
Yet here I was, hours later, heart pounding the same way it had in that car.
---
( Veer’s POV)
“I don't even know her... but I want to destroy her. So why does it hurt to look at her?”
It’s been months since the night my best friend bled on the side of the road, broken and barely alive.
I still remember how I’d found him — crumpled, unconscious, holding onto life with his last breath.
He never told me what happened. Not even when I sat next to him for days in the hospital. Not even when I begged him .
But he left behind one thing.
Silence.
A whisper the detective picked up while tracing his phone records, bank slips, digital trails.
Neha.
The only consistent link in the last three weeks of Sanchit’s life before the crash.
And from the moment I heard it, that name… became a target.
I started digging. Who she was. What she did. Where she lived.
The story looked innocent: a dance instructor, living a modest life, raising no red flags. But I knew better.
The quiet ones always carry the loudest secrets.
So I did what I do best — I got close.
I bribed her dance academy manager hired her. Pretended I found her through a coincidence. Played the perfect employer. Brother. Friend.
And Neha? She walked right into it.
She showed up smiling. Grateful. Too grateful.
Was it guilt?
Or just an act?
She’s good — I’ll give her that. Soft-spoken, grounded, never too much. Like she wants to disappear into the background. But people like that… they're always hiding something.
I’ve watched her teach Ruhani for months now. Seen how she laughs when Ruhani nails a move. How she sits quietly during breaks, staring at her phone like it holds more than just messages. Like it holds memories she can’t escape.
Tonight was just another step in the plan.
Ruhani wanted to shop. I knew the driver would "accidentally" leave. I offered to drop her home.
Neha hesitated. Her eyes searched mine for a moment. But she nodded.
She still doesn’t know I’m watching her — every movement, every breath.
We sat in the car. The silence was expected. She rarely talks unless asked.
So I asked.
"Who do you live with?"
She said a name: Disha. A friend. Her only family.
I noted it. Disha. Could be another player. Could be no one.
I ignored it.
Then came the twist.
The car broke down — conveniently, yes — in the middle of nowhere. The night air whipped around us, and for a second, she looked like someone out of place in my world.
Too delicate.
Too real.
I should have kept my distance. I should’ve reminded myself why I’m doing this.
But instead… I stepped closer.
A strand of hair blew into her face. Without thinking — or maybe thinking too much — I brushed it aside.
She froze.
That’s when I saw it.
Not guilt.
Not fear.
Innocence.
And that made me furious.
How dare she look innocent?
How dare she make me doubt what I know?
I leaned in anyway. Testing her. Testing myself.
"Neha… I like you," I said, as smoothly as I could manage.
A lie?
Maybe.
Maybe not.
Her lips parted in surprise, but she said nothing. Her silence spoke louder.
That’s when the headlights cut through the night — the driver had arrived. The moment snapped.
I straightened. Said nothing more. Just dropped her home.
At her doorstep, she looked at me for a heartbeat longer than necessary.
“Good night,” I said. Calm. Controlled.
She nodded. Closed the door behind her.
And I left… with a thousand questions.
What if she’s not who I think she is?
What if I’m wrong?
What if she’s not the reason Sanchit collapsed?
No.
She has to be.
Because if she’s not…
Then I’ve started caring for a woman I was supposed to ruin.
And that…
might destroy me.
- Writer
