Chapter 8
695 Words
Ishaan sat in the dimly lit apartment, his head buried in his hands. He hadn’t shaved in days, his eyes sunken from lack of sleep. The moment replayed in his mind like a nightmare on repeat—Arohi’s terrified face, the way she flinched when he moved, the way her body had trembled beneath his grip.
He had almost *hurt* her.
He could never forgive himself for that.
Aman watched his best friend fall apart, his heart aching at the sight. Ishaan had refused to return home. He refused to even speak Arohi’s name.
“She’s not safe with me,” Ishaan muttered, voice hoarse. “I need to stay away.”
Aman exhaled sharply. He had given Ishaan time, but he couldn’t watch his friend suffer like this any longer.
Without saying a word, he left the apartment.
---
Arohi sat on the couch, holding Teddy close. The house felt empty. *Lonely.* It had only been a week, but the silence was unbearable. She missed the quiet comfort of Ishaan’s presence, the way they had started to understand each other without words.
She knew something had gone horribly wrong that night, but she didn’t know what. She was still *scared*—not of Ishaan, but of the way everything changed in an instant.
A knock at the door pulled her out of her thoughts.
It was Aman.
She immediately stepped aside to let him in.
“Is he okay?” she asked, hesitant but desperate for answers.
“He’s a mess,” Aman admitted. “He won’t talk to me. He won’t go home. He thinks he’s dangerous.”
Arohi swallowed the lump in her throat.
Aman took a deep breath before speaking again.
“There’s something you need to know.”
He pulled out his phone and played a video. It was grainy security footage from the bar—the moment Ishaan’s ex had slipped something into his drink. Aman knew something happened that day. That’s why he went to the bar and checked the security footage of the bar to confirm his suspicions. His suspicions were confirmed after reviewing the video. He got a copy from the bar before coming to visit Arohi.
Arohi’s breath hitched.
“She drugged him…” she whispered, horror settling deep in her chest.
“She wanted to hurt him,” Aman said. “And it worked. He didn’t even realize what happened until it was too late.”
Arohi’s fingers curled into fists. She had been terrified that night, but now… now she just felt heartbroken.
He wasn’t a monster.
He was a man who had been hurt, manipulated, and left to drown in his pain.
And despite everything, she missed him.
“Aman,” she said, voice steady. “Tell him to come home.”
——-
Aman went back home and showed the video of what happened that night.
She drugged me?” His voice was barely above a whisper.
“Yes,” Aman said. “And she wanted you to lose control.” He met Ishaan’s eyes. “She wanted to ruin you.”
Ishaan felt sick.
His fists clenched. The betrayal, the humiliation—it should have made him furious. But all he could think about was Arohi.
The woman he hurt because of this.
Arohi had been terrified. And she had every right to be.
His heart pounded. Did she hate him now?
Aman seemed to read his mind. “She asked about you.”
Ishaan’s head snapped up.
Aman smirked. “She was worried about you, man.”
Ishaan’s chest tightened. “She was?”
“Yes.” Aman leaned forward. “She knows what happened now. I told her everything.” He paused, then added, “She told me to ask you to come home.”
Ishaan inhaled sharply.
He had expected her to never want to see him again. To throw him out of her life completely.
But she wanted him to come back?
Did he even deserve that?
Aman clapped a hand on his shoulder. “Go home, Ishaan.”
Ishaan hesitated for a long moment.
Then, finally, he exhaled and stood up. “Okay.”
- Writer
