Vritika malhotra has lived in Delhi her entire life with her mother. Her mother never had time for her as was too busy running her business. Vritika had all the luxuries growing up except love. She never knew her father as her mother never told her...
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By the time we reached home, I was running on emotional fumes. Virat didn't say much — just unlocked the front door and gently nudged it open for me to enter first. The house was unusually quiet. No echoes of kids, no squeals, not even Leo's dramatic barking.
"Anushka's taken the kids and Leo for a walk," Virat explained softly, his tone careful like he didn't want to startle me. I didn't reply. I just gave him a short nod and walked toward the stairs.
"I'll be downstairs," he added. "If you need anything."
I nodded again but didn't look back. My feet felt heavy. My chest felt heavier.
As soon as I entered my room, I shut the door behind me and slumped against it. The weight of the betrayal hit all over again like a slow, familiar ache crawling up my spine. Aarya. Aryan. Both of them.
I peeled off my clothes like they had become too tight and walked into the bathroom. The lights buzzed softly overhead, and the sound of the water hitting the tile felt like static in my ears.
The second the hot water hit my skin, I broke.
Not in loud sobs this time. Just a quiet, trembling kind of crying. The kind that seeps into your bones. The kind that doesn't echo off the walls but fills the silence anyway.
I sat down in the corner of the shower, hugging my knees, letting the water disguise the tears that wouldn't stop. I stayed like that until my skin wrinkled and the water began to turn cold.
Eventually, I turned it off. Dried off with a towel that smelled like vanilla. Pulled on one of my oversized hoodies — the same ones that belonged to Anushka, they smelled like vanilla. My hair was wet, tangled, sticking to the back of my neck, but I didn't care.
I dropped onto my bed and curled into myself, the blankets pulled over my head. I didn't even remember when I fell asleep.
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Okay, listen.
I'm a good boy.
I go on walks. I don't bark at the neighbors (unless they look suspicious). I let Vamika use me as a pillow, and I haven't chewed Virat's fancy shoes in months. That one time? It doesn't count. They smelled weird, like disappointment and feet.
