•Authors pov•

Aaravi woke up and slowly opened her eyes. She felt a hand on her waist and she panicked, froze in her spot. Her eyes widened as she looked to her left and saw Nikshant sleeping peacefully, holding her close as if she were fragile. Aaravi closed her eyes and recalled the events of last night-how she was having horrible nightmares, how Nikshant consoled her, and how she hugged him, asking him to stay with her. She felt tears cascade down. She felt too vulnerable again. She had shown him her most vulnerable side again.

Her eyes were red from crying continuously last night, and she was feeling a little dizzy. She closed her eyes and held her head. Then, she opened her eyes and grabbed Nikshant's hand, which was on her bare waist, trying to free herself, but Nikshant held her waist even more firmly.

Aaravi looked at Nikshant and then at his hand. She sighed deeply and again tried to remove his hand. While doing so, Nikshant woke up, and Aaravi closed her eyes in fear, wondering what Nikshant would say to her now.

Nikshant opened his eyes, and the first thing he saw was his wife. He noticed Aaravi holding his hand, and when Aaravi realized what Nikshant was looking at, she quickly let go of his hand.

"Uh... I... I...," Aaravi tried to say something, but couldn't because of fear.

When Nikshant looked into Aaravi's eyes, he saw fear in them, fear of him. He didn't understand why, but he didn't like seeing that fear in her eyes for him.

Nikshant removed his hand from Aaravi's waist.

"Hey, it's okay. Calm down first," Nikshant said calmly.

Then Nikshant looked at Aaravi and noticed her red eyes. He clenched his jaw and fists in anger and closed his eyes, not wanting to scare Aaravi further, as she was already afraid of him.

He calmed himself and asked, "How are you feeling now?"

Aaravi looked at Nikshant in disbelief at his sudden caring nature. She hadn't expected him to ask how she was feeling; she thought Nikshant would say something hurtful.

"I... am... fine," Aaravi stammered.

Nikshant wanted to tell her not to be afraid of him.

He knew that what he was doing was wrong, but his ego wasn't letting him admit it.

But as we all know, male ego often ruins everything, and Nikshant was doing the same-ruining his relationship with Aaravi.

Nikshant sighed deeply. "Are you sure you're fine?" His voice sounded concerned.

"Y-yes, I'm... totally fine," Aaravi stammered. With that, she stood up and moved toward the bathroom.

Nikshant watched Aaravi's figure disappearing.

He himself didn't understand why his heart ached in pain.

Nikshant also stood up, left the room, and went into another room to take a shower.

In the bathroom, Aaravi was standing in front of the mirror. Her saree was on the floor, and she was now in her blouse and petticoat. She slowly unhooked her blouse and threw it on the floor. She stared at her reflection as tears streamed down her cheeks, to her neck, and onto her chest.

She had somehow controlled herself from breaking down in front of Nikshant.

But now, she was free to scream and cry her heart out.

She collapsed on the floor, bringing her knees together and hiding her face in them.

No matter how much she tried to stay strong, no matter how much she said she had moved on from her terrible past, only she knew that she could never truly move on from those awful memories.

"I...am...tired..Mom and Dad... your..Aaru is..not..strong...your daughter...is not..strong enough..to handle..all.these...demons..alone..."Aaravi cried out.

"Your Aaru is a failure. She failed to save herself, she failed to protect her dignity, she failed as a daughter, she failed as a daughter-in-law, she failed as a wife, and she failed to preserve your reputation.She failed as a woman,"Aaravi cried, her voice echoing throughout the bathroom.

"Maybe if I had died in your place, I wouldn't have had to endure so much pain, and Veer Bhaiya wouldn't have had to make so many sacrifices for me,"Aaravi said, bitterly.

"Maybe aunty is right; I am a curse to everyone. I ruin everyone's life, and now I've ruined his life too. He doesn't deserve a cursed girl like me who ruins everything,"Aaravi cursed herself.

"A bad omen who destroys everyone's life," Aaravi said, her voice filled with pain and vulnerability.

Aaravi remembered her aunt's words, cursing her at every moment, insulting her every second, and now those words had overpowered her.

She was drowning in her aunt's words again as memories from her past flashed before her like a movie trailer.

"Mom, Dad, why isn't your princess strong enough to handle her demons alone? Why can't she stand up for herself? Why does she always need someone to stand up for her? Why is she always dependent on someone to save her? Your princess is such a fragile glass doll—whoever touches her, she shatters into pieces,"Aaravi said, lifting her face from her knees and wiping her tears.

Aaravi's face was completely red, her soft, chubby cheeks flushed, and her eyes red and puffy from crying continuously. Her hair was messy, with some strands sticking to her face.

"What shatters can never be mended... no one can fix it, no on-e," Aaravi's voice cracked as she spoke the last line.

Aaravi was beyond broken, in a way that no one could mend or fix.

She roughly wiped her tears and said, "No one, not even God, can fix it."

"I only wished well for everyone, and what did I get in return? A brother, whom I used to call my brother, whom I respected, has broken me so much that I now feel disgusted with myself. Because of him, I’ve become afraid of men,"Aaravi whispers.

"When everyone says not all men are the same, then why is it always men? Why?" Aaravi questioned.

Unaware that Nikshant was carefully listening to all her words outside the bathroom.

Nikshant had come to tell Aaravi that he would cook breakfast, but when he entered the room and didn’t find her, he assumed she was in the bathroom since Aaravi wouldn’t go anywhere without him. She didn’t know her way around the streets of Greece. As he stood outside the bathroom, he heard Aaravi crying. He was about to knock on the door, but her words stopped him. He didn’t want to eavesdrop, but her words compelled him to listen.

He listened carefully, and guilt began to eat away at him.

But her next words caught his attention.

Brother.

Nikshant whispered to himself, "Brother... does she mean Karanveer or Vikram? Is they are the reason for her nightmares, her panic attacks?" Anger surged through his veins, his teeth gritted, and his jaw clenched tightly.

"I've known Karanveer for years; he wouldn't do anything to hurt his sister. I’ve heard him talk about her a lot," Nikshant mutter.

"Could it be Vikram behind all this?" Nikshant murmured to himself.

"If it’s Vikram, he will see the worst side of me. But first, I need to find out what really happened to Aaravi; otherwise, I can’t jump to any conclusions," Nikshant whispered, his voice low and steady.

"I'll try to be good to her... at the very least, I can try to be nice to her. Yeah, I’ll try," Nikshant whispered, his voice heavy with guilt.

The bathroom door opened, and Aaravi came out. Nikshant tried to move quickly from in front of the bathroom, but it was too late—Aaravi saw him standing there.

Nikshant saw her face; it looked pale, with puffy and swollen eyes. He wanted to burn whoever was responsible for making her look like this.

Aaravi stood in front of Nikshant and asked, "Why are you standing outside the bathroom?" Her voice was a little hoarse from crying.

Nikshant’s face turned red with embarrassment. "Oh... I... I came to call you, but you were already out of the bathroom, so... that’s why I was standing here, yeah," he stammered a little, embarrassed that Aaravi had caught him red-handed. Nikshant cursed himself for stammering.

"Fuck, why are you stammering, Nikshant? You didn't say anything wrong, you just told the truth," Nikshant whispered to himself in a low voice.

"Did you say something?" Aaravi asked.

"No, no, I didn’t say anything," Nikshant said, scratching his neck.

"Why did you come to call me?" Aaravi asked.

"I came to tell you that I’ll make breakfast today. You should rest," Nikshant said, his voice slightly guilty and soft.

"Thank you, Mr. Kapoor, for saying that, but I can make breakfast," Aaravi replied, her voice calm and blank.
Nikshant looked at her and raised his eyebrows, "What I said will happen, so stop arguing. I don't want any arguments right now," his voice authoritative. He was staring at her face, which showed no emotions at all, and it pinched his heart.

Nikshant wanted to see her smile, at least for now.

"But I can—" Nikshant cut her off.

"What I said will happen, so stop arguing, Mrs. Kapoor," Nikshant ordered.

"Yeah, you can do one thing: you can accompany me in the kitchen," Nikshant said. Aaravi nodded, knowing there was nothing else she could do. She had learned that arguing with Nikshant wouldn't change anything, because he would always do what he thought.

"Now quickly get ready, I'm going to the kitchen," Nikshant said softly and calmly before leaving the room.

Aaravi was confused by Nikshant's sudden change in behavior.

She walked towards the dressing table and stood in front of the mirror.

Looking at her pale, puffy face and swollen eyes, Aaravi felt pity for herself.

"What have you done to your face, Aaravi? And what will Nikshant ji think about you?" Aaravi whispered to her reflection in the mirror. She felt relieved that Nikshant hadn't said anything about her appearance or asked any questions, and she was thankful to him for that.

Aaravi took a pinch of vermillion and filled her hairline. She usually never wore makeup, but today, she applied it because of how her face looked.

She put some lip balm on and left the room, heading towards the kitchen where Nikshant was cooking.

When Nikshant saw her coming, he smiled and said, "Sit on that chair," pointing to a chair, and Aaravi sat down.

"What would you like to have, Mrs. Kapoor?" Nikshant asked, mimicking the tone of a waiter speaking to customers, hoping to see her smile. But Aaravi didn’t react.

"Make whatever you feel like," Aaravi said nonchalantly, which didn’t sit well with Nikshant.

"Nikshant, you’ll have to do something more to bring a smile to your wife’s face," he murmured to himself, glancing at Aaravi, who seemed lost in her own world.

An idea popped into Nikshant's head, and he smiled. He grabbed some flour and applied it all over his face without Aaravi noticing.

"What all you have to do, Nikshant," he murmured to himself.

Nikshant didn’t even know why he was doing all this—just to see her smile.

He then grabbed a bottle of red sauce and smeared it on his face. Taking his phone from his pocket, he opened the camera and looked at his reflection. His face was a mess, and he looked like a joker.

"Koi na, koi na, Nikshant it's okay, haan baas aaj ke liye joker bann sakta hai tu," he whispered to himself.

(It's fine, Nikshant. It's okay. Just for today, you can be a joker)

All he had to do was get Aaravi's attention.

"I need to come up with a plan, or I’m doomed," Nikshant muttered.

"Aaravi, can you pass me the water jug?" Nikshant asked, but Aaravi didn’t hear him as she was lost in her own world.

"Aaravi, can you give me the water jug?" Nikshant raised his voice, making it slightly louder.

Aaravi jolted out of her thoughts and said, "What did you say?" She looked at Nikshant, her mouth agape in shock as she took in her husband’s appearance, who looked like a complete joker.

"Oh my God! Haha, Nikshant ji, what is wrong with your face?" Aaravi laughed, and a smile crept onto Nikshant's face as well, but he quickly masked it.

"What do you mean? What’s on my face?" Nikshant asked, genuinely confused that he hadn’t done all this.

"You look—haha—you look like a complete joker!" Aaravi laughed, her laughter echoing throughout the kitchen.

"What do you mean by looking like a joker? Am I a joker to you, Mrs. Kapoor?" Nikshant raised his eyebrows, but he was actually enjoying this. Seeing Aaravi's smile made him want to do even more silly things just to keep her smiling.

"No, no, Nikshant ji, that's not what I meant," Aaravi quickly said, shaking her head.

"Then why are you laughing?" Nikshant questioned.

"Do you have your phone?" Aaravi asked.

"Yes, I do, but why?" Nikshant replied, although he already knew why Aaravi was asking for his phone.

"Please give it to me; I’ll show you something after," Aaravi said.

Aaravi completely forgot that she had been crying a while ago, and that's exactly what Nikshant had wanted to achieve with his little silly drama.

Nikshant took out his phone and handed it to Aaravi.

"Please unlock it for me," Aaravi said, handing the phone back to Nikshant, but he refused to take it because his plan would flop if he took the phone.

"The password is 97***," Nikshant said, and Aaravi unlocked the phone, opened the camera, and took a picture of Nikshant. She somehow managed to control her laughter and handed the phone back to him.

Nikshant took the phone and looked at the screen.

"WHAT THE—" Nikshant acted as if he was yelling.

"How did this happen?" Nikshant questioned Aaravi.

And our sweet Aaravi fell for his little act.

"How would I know how this happened?" Aaravi laughed, and Nikshant joined in, their laughter echoing through the kitchen.

So this is the update, guys.

Please let me know how the story is going. I mean, are you all enjoying it or not?

Feel free to tell me in the comment section or on Instagram as well.

Do you want some lovey-dovey scenes in the next chapter?

Instgram I'd - reeewrts

Bye, bye.

Good night.

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