Song of the chapter is
War of Hearts by Ruelle

-31-
-Himanshu Arora-
-Present-

______________

Arora Residence
24 November, 2030
7:01 pm

When did life become so complicated?

I thought as I watched my fiancee, the girl I was engaged to marry, pace around my living room, with a hint of anger evident on her features. As I watched her take yet another depressing sigh, I asked myself why I couldn't feel anything other than annoyance towards her at the moment.

How did I come to this?

I was simply a boy, with golden dreams and a tainted heart that only ever beat for one person. How had I let myself get tangled in this predicament?

"Are you gonna explain yourself or not?" The girl in front of me asked as she paused in her tracks and glared at me. With her hands on her hips and the sternest look on her face, she truly looked like my English teacher from third grade.

"What more is there to explain, Dhrashti?" I asked as calmly as one could. "I already told you everything-"

"How could you let that girl talk to me like that?!" She bellowed. "I don't deserve this, Himanshu. I don't deserve this disrespect that your friend gave me."

"Please Dhrashti.... whatever Zoya said, just.... don't take it to your heart." I shook my head slowly. "That's who she is. She stands up for things, especially her friends. You insulted her friend, she retorted back. That's all that happened."

She gaped, scoffing slightly.

"So you expect me to just swallow my pride and let that go?"

"No one's asking you to swallow your pride, Dhrashti. You got what you gave." I said, my annoyance visible in my tone. "So just let it go, okay?"

"Whatever I said about that other shady of 'friend' of yours was absolutely fucking correct, alright! There was nothing wrong with what I said about her being a fucking opportunist-"

"Dhrashti," I gave her a stern look. "Don't."

She held my gaze, her nose flaring and chest heaving. Standing up, I navigated my way across the room to my book shelf and started rearranging it, to take my mind off things. At this point, I just hoped she'd simply leave the room without saying anything more.

But I wasn't so fortunate.

"You lied to me."

I paused and taking a deep breath, turned to face her. "What?"

"That day...." She began, a haughty look on her face. "When you told me that you were over her, you lied, didn't you?"

I bit the inside of my cheeks, to keep my composure.

"What are you talking about?"

"Can you please stop gaslighting me for five seconds, Himanshu?!" She bellowed. "You know exactly what I'm talking about."

I inhaled a shaky breath and decided, there was no point in arguing about this anymore. I was exhausted.

"I had my suspicions since the day I saw you staring at her during that fucking reunion party. But I still gave you the benefit of the doubt. That's why I asked you whether you still had feelings for her or not, and you lied to me and said you didn't." She continued.

I blinked twice, looking away.

"But I knew that there was something off with you. So I asked your mom and guess what she had to tell me." She said and I immediately glanced at her. "Your little ex-girlfriend has done some bad things in her life, hasn't she?"

I mentally cursed my mother for airing whatever I had told her about Veronica's past. I guess there was always no such thing as confidentiality for Indian mothers.

"Tell me then," she said, taking a step towards me. "Is that what she uses to keep you at her heels? Her victim complex? Does she make you feel like a hero, one who could save her from the hell she lives in? Is that why you are attracted to her? Because your superiority complex gets fuelled by her trauma?"

"Dhrashti!" I bellowed.

Her eyelids flickered while her features just as arrogant as before.

"You're way out of the line."

"Shouting at me isn't gonna change the truth, Himanshu." Dhrashti stated, crossing her arms in front of her chest.

"What truth are talking about?" I asked. "How much of the truth do you even know? What....just because you heard some stories about Veronica, you think you know everything?"

"I know what I need to know." She threw at me.

I inhaled a deep breath and looked away, before looking back at her. "You know what? You wanna hear the truth, don't you?"

She scoffed slightly.

"I'll tell you the truth. Yes, I still have feelings for Veronica. I have had them since I was thirteen. And I'll always have them."

The words rolled off my tongue so easily that for a second, I almost couldn't believe I said them. The truth that I had concealed in the deepest corners of my damned heart had come out. After eleven long years, I had finally carved my heart and let them out.

Her eyes reflected a sort of sadness mixed with anger. She took a step away from me.

" I have tried to erase her and that part of my life from my memory but I couldn't. It took me too long to realise that that was only because I still harboured feelings for her and always will in some sort of twisted way."

She chewed on her lips as she looked away from me.

"Then why on earth did you ask me to marry me?"

"Like I said," I breathed. "I just....realised things a little too late."

An uncomfortable moment passed before my phone kept on the study table buzzed. I looked at her before walking over to the table and picking up the call.

Detective Ravi was on the other end as he spoke first, "Himanshu,.."

"Yes, Detective." I answered, rubbing my forehead. "Is...uh... everything okay?"

"I'm afraid not."

I paused in my place. "What? Why?"

"You remember the clue that you guys gave me in the morning?"

"Yes."

"Well," he hesitated before speaking. "We found the place that they hinted at."

"Great...then..."

"But....we also...found a body." He continued. "Well, not exactly us...but your friends found the body of the waitress."

My chest constricted in it's place as I recalled Veronica's last words before she left the diner.

"Himanshu..... Himanshu...you there?"

"Yes,...yeah....sorry." I fumbled as I inhaled a shaky breath. "Uh...where are they right now?"

"At the station. If it's possible, could you pick them up? I could've asked my officers to drop them but mostly all of them are at the crime scene or running other errands." He explained.

"Yeah, yeah, no problem. I'll pick them up." I responded immediately.

"Thanks. I have to get back to work. Let me know if you receive any more threats, all right?"

"Sure." I said and disconnected the call. Picking up my car keys in a jiffy, I put on my overcoat and walked briskly towards the door when Dhrashti's voice echoed behind me, "Are you really gonna leave in the middle of our fight to go and save her again?"

I placed my hand on the doorknob to unlock it before looking back at her.

"There's nothing to fight about, Dhrashti." I said. "I can't fight with the truth anymore. I've been exhausted trying to do that for the past eleven years."

Her eyes glistened with a familiar tinge of sadness and anger.

"I'm sorry. For everything." I spelled out my apology.

And then turning the doorknob, I walked out the door.

___________

The station was bustling when I reached there. Officers strung out, phone calls everywhere, the news blaring from the small tv screen at the very centre of the station - all added to the chaos. My eyes scanned the place for the sight of the two when an officer bumped into me.

Immediately apologizing, he asked, "Sir, are you here to report a complaint?"

"Uh..no..no I'm here to pick up my friends. Officer Ravi asked me to." I answered.

A solemn realising expression graced his features. "Oh yes, Chief did call earlier about that. Are your friends the same ones who found the body?"

"Yes, can you please tell me where they are right now?" I asked in a hurry.

"Well I think they-"

His next words drowned in the midst of the other chaotic noises around me as my eyes spotted her, sitting on the small wooden bench placed near the interrogation room.

Thanking the officer hurriedly, I rushed to her. She looked up as she saw me approaching and stood up. Her eyes reflected a mix of relief and anxiousness.

Without giving it another thought or any ounce of hesitation, I hugged her as tight as one could, afraid she'd slip away if I didn't. Her body felt cold against mine. A sense of relief washed over me.

In that moment my arms squeezed a fraction tighter and Veronica breathed more slowly, her body melting into her mine as every muscle lost its tension.

A second later, her arms travelled up my back and just rested there.

And I finally felt alive for the first time in forever.

___________

my babies are so cute,
it makes my heart ache <3

for those of you who think himanshu's behaviour towards dhrashti was actually not justified and that he shouldn't have done that, i completely agree with you. as insufferable as dhrashti can be, no girl deserves to be the second option to someone. me and my friends had a long conversation about this and their takes at the situation made me realise that even if it was a wrong thing for Himanshu to do, i needed to include this in the story if i truly wanted to show the duality of humans as i had hinted since the first book. people are shades of grey and that's what himanshu is as well.

anywho, how did you guys like the chapter? I figured since i already traumatized you enough in the few chapters before the interval, I'd give you a normal chapter for fun!

but don't worry, the gore stuff will come back very soon ;)

Till then, make sure to vote, comment and share the book as much as possible!

love,
Bosedisha