“Saurav, please, I need to…”
“I said stay here, Kavya.”
There was something dangerous in his tone, a lethal, sharp edge that made me freeze in my tracks. My heart sank as I watched him turn his back on me. I swallowed the bitterness in my throat and retreated to the waiting room, sinking into a chair.
I waited. Minutes felt like hours. Every time the door creaked, I jumped, but it was never him. Finally, after thirty agonizing minutes, Saurav walked out.
I sprang to my feet and rushed to him. “How is he? Is he awake?”
Saurav didn't even slow down. He walked past me as if I were invisible.
“Saurav!” I cried, grabbing his arm.
He paused, his body tensing under my touch. He didn't look at me, but his voice was like a gavel coming down in a courtroom.
“Meet me at home.”
Before I could say another word, he wrenched his arm away and walked toward the exit, leaving me alone in the cold, white hallway.
________
Chapter 36
KAVYA
I stepped into the villa, fear gnawing at my insides. A heavy weight sat in my chest; I hadn't told Saurav I was participating in the competition, let alone that my partner was his former best friend, Abhiraj. I hadn’t even told him I was going to Switzerland for a week for a dancing competition.
Now, his anger was a physical force in the room. He believed I had known about his father’s condition and intentionally kept it from him. Guilt washed over me, even though I truly hadn't known Mr. Chauhan was suffering from a brain tumor. He had looked unwell for months, but I’d assumed it was just the stress of dealing with his wife’s secret. I covered my mouth, a realization hitting me like a blow. The truth was, I had been so consumed by my sister’s health that I had neglected my father-in-law entirely.
I froze when I saw Saurav standing by the table, his fingers tracing my golden trophy. “It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” he asked, his voice dripping with mockery as he held it up. “Kavya and Abhiraj... wow.”
“Saurav...”
I took a step toward him, but he shook his head sharply. “I don’t want to hear another lie, Kavya! I’m so tired of your fucking lies. I should have known the moment you stepped into my life… the day you mistook my kindness for cruelty andfiled that complaint against me. I ignored it. I thought it was a misunderstanding, that you had your reasons, that eventually, you’d be honest with me. But damn it! You’re a liar. You lied to me every single moment. When I asked how my father was, you told me he was fine, knowing he was suffering from this disease!”
He stepped closer, his eyes wild. “You hide everything from me! You didn’t even mention the competition. I could have lived with that, but your partner was Abhiraj?” Saurav sneered, the name tasting like poison. “Is he your next target, Kavya Chauhan? Since you’ve destroyed my world, do you want to destroy his too? You’re a curse to us.”
Tears blurred my vision. “I’m not a curse, Saurav,” I said, my voice trembling as I approached him. “I had no idea about the tumor. I swear, I didn't know.”
“Shut up!” he hissed, his face inches from mine. His expression was shattered. His chest rose and fell rapidly, a desperate struggle for control. “You weren’t here when he needed you most. You were having fun in Switzerland with another man. How the fuck do you explain that?”
“I didn’t know… ” my lips wobbled.
He grabbed my shoulders, his grip tight and desperate. “He’s dying, Kavya. We don’t know when he’ll take his last breath. If you had been here, we could have done something! We could have bought him more time. Instead, he had to endure it all alone.”
At that moment, I saw fear in his eyes. It was paralyzing fear of losing his father.
“I... I didn’t get to see her one last time before she left. Now he’s leaving too...” His voice choked off. It was the first time he had ever mentioned his mother. “I can’t lose him, Kavya. I can’t...”
“I should have been with him,” his voice cracked. “I should have talked to him. I should have listened to him.”
“Saurav...” I reached out to touch his arm, wanting to offer even a shred of comfort, but the moment my fingers grazed his sleeve, he recoiled as if I had burned him.
He moved away, putting distance between us. The vulnerability I had seen seconds ago vanished, replaced by a cold, hard mask of indifference. He looked at me, his eyes devoid of the emotions that had just been there.
"Don't," he spat. “Don't pretend you care now. It’s too late for your sympathy, Kavya.”
"Saurav, please, I just want to help…"