Holy, we're in the top 600 of Romance. But seriously guys, I spoil you all so much. Yes, we have another update. I am trying to plan my time out properly so we don't have like zero updates for months. You get what I mean, right? Also, comment and leave me your opinions- I love reading them. also, what's with the intense hate for Rudra xD. Be careful what you wish for guys. 

CHAPTER THREE CONTINUED

(part III)

"You only saw my anger. Did you ever try seeing the hurt and love behind it?"

∞ ∞ ∞

ADHIRA COULDN'T really see where she was going. The highway was long, winding- deserted. The night was stormy, cloud. There was no sign of rain. The continuous roar of thunder and streaks of lighting were what signaled the storm that was approaching.

Lush green forests surrounding the narrow route. Route 55. It was always deserted in the night- no-one liked driving on this narrow winding road. It was too dangerous.

The speed limit was 65.

Her car was racing at 90 miles an hour. More than the anger, there were tears- there was a painful feeling in her chest. It was like she was sinking deeper and deeper into a despair she didn't deserve. She had given him her everything- her faith, her loyalty, her trust, and most importantly her love.

She clenched the steering wheel. The headlights barely lighted the dense forest- everything was blurring away so fast beside her. But she paid no heed to it.

Her already exhausted mind was taking her down memory lane.

"Rudra, you won't believe what happened today?" Adhira spoke nervously over the phone. She had been waiting all day to share this with him.

"What happened, Adhira?" He sounded tensed. Whenever Adhira said something like that, it always meant bad news.

"You know how in India people drive on the left side of the road-"

"Yah, I do."

"Well, you know how all summer I drove my parents around in India."

"So?"

"Well, now that I'm back in the states- we drive on the right side but I was missing India so much that without even realizing I ended up on the left side of the road."

"Are you serious?"

"Funny, isn't it?" Adhira cracked up.

He laughed a little- it was more of nervous laugh than anything. "You're okay, right?"

"Duh! I wouldn't be talking to you if I weren't."

"Well that's good."

Suddenly, Rudra became strangely silent. He didn't say anything for the next couple of minutes and Adhira just held the phone close to her ear, turning over in bed.

"Rudra? You there?"

"I'm here." Came his quite reply.

"I'm fine. I swear I am."

"I know." He paused for a second before speaking. "Every day, that's all I see. Just one small mistake and the damage is caused. I see the aftereffects of that split second of misjudgment-"

"Relax, Rudra. I promise to pay more attention."

"You don't understand, Kapoor." His voice sounded strained. "You don't understand at all."

"Rudra! God, you've gotten so worked up for something so small. I wonder what'll happen if one day, I do end up in the ER somehow."

"Let's not even talk about that."

Despite all, even in his fear- Adhira had seen the love. In her angry state, she found herself smiling- that was the man she had fallen for. It was hard for her not to.

Rudra wasn't like other guys- Adhira was sure that every girl thought that of their significant other. But it was true. He really wasn't. There was this shy, reversed quality about him. He didn't make extravagant displays of affection.

Whenever they would talk late into the night, Rudra would never tell her that he was tired or that he had to wake-up at three for his shift. He would keep listening to her ramble on. In between, he would ask if she was feeling tired and whether she needed to sleep.

It was so, so stupid actually.

Yet, these little things were what kept her holding onto him.

But Adhira was now realizing, it was all in vain. People change and sometimes, the good memories that she had been desperately holding onto were all now part of a distant dream.

There was a sharp turn ahead- the road was bending and disappearing into darkness. The headlights barely illuminated the path ahead. The road was slick-the pine forest was swaying dangerously from the stormy winds.

Adhira felt strangely drowsy. The speed was dropping- slowly-

90- 89-88-87

This wasn't good. It felt like there were spots of darkness settling in-front of her eyes. Maybe she should take it easy and stop the car for a while. She was feeling drained and tired.

She pressed the brakes- what happened next remains unclear. The car was skidding towards the forest and into the dry ground- the unpleasant sound was enough to jerk her awake momentarily.

Suddenly, a strong wave of nausea made her lose consciousness. Her hands fell away from the steering wheel. Just like that. The front portion of the car hit the rocks- the road disappeared from beneath the wheel.

If Adhira hadn't been traveling at that dangerous speed, she would have been alright. But the speed caused the car to jump into the air- it flipped over- almost as though it were a gymnast spinning in midair. The clouds roared and lighting flashed in the sky.

Adhira regained consciousness and felt her body weight shift. With a loud thud, the car landed on its roof. It was a miracle that Adhira was still awake.

She felt blood rush to her head. The front glass had been broken from the impact was now piercing her skin in places she didn't think possible. Despite this, it was her heart that hurt the most.

Her breaths were fading- quickly. She sobbed- tears drenched the gold blouse at the neckline. There was blood dripping down her arms, maroon blood- dark, stirring like her soul.

She opened her eyes- beautiful, riveting they were but they were slowly losing their spark. The smell of gasoline was strong. The car was upside down on its roof. All the blood was rushing to her head.

The night was burning brightly outside. Her breaths were becoming more forced. She could hear her phone ring somewhere. The hands which were strong and agile had lost their power and lay lifelessly against her chest.

No more fighting. The fight had left her long ago.

She could see her phone blinking in the dark, right beneath the glovebox. If she used her feet, she could reach it. The highway was deserted at this time. No-one would find her unless she reached out.

But what was the point?

It would be so easy to let go. To forget this pain. To forget this heartache. To forget everyone and everything.

∞ ∞ ∞

O N E   H O U R   A  G O 

"YOU JERK!"

All eyes were pinned on Adhira. She stood in the crowd- wearing her beautiful golden dress with peacock embroidery. Long, luscious locks of black curled around her heart-shaped face. It was her eyes that stole the show. The fire of hatred, betrayal made them outshine everything else.

They met Rudra's gaze fiercely. Rudra held her gaze- not looking away for a second.

She advanced towards the stage- her tired feet didn't not make her falter. The crowd parted in a daze for her. "You're mine. How can you even think becoming someone else's?"

Rudra almost smiled at her words- leave it to Adhira to react this way. She was possessive of Rudra like no-one else. If anyone dared to think of taking him away, she would rip them apart. She wasn't scared to scared to fight. No, Adhira was never the timid types.

Maybe that's why they had gelled so easily. She was bold and he was silent. She was a storm that wreaked havoc and he was the silent poison that never uttered a word.

The Rudra's parents shared a trouble word with each other. Adhira didn't care if they despised her for the rest of their lives but she wasn't going to lose Rudra for their sake.

"Engagement! How did this happen?"

Mrs. Shah- in her silver sari- like a sly fox came to stand beside Adhira and gently placed a hand on her shoulder. "Dear, we understand you're still in shock from the breakup."

"What breakup Mrs. Shah?" Adhira pushed away her hand. "Rudra, mind explaining when we brokeup."

Rudra gave her a dark stare- blank, emotionless. It was so painful to see her this way- on the verge of crying and combusting from fury. He didn't know what to say in the moment.

"Adhira..." He saw that all eyes were on them. Word spread like wildfire in the Indian community and he didn't want the world to label Adhira as the villain in this story.

For the first time, Adhira saw resolute calm on Rudra's face. He took her hand with command. It was the first contact they had in weeks. The familiar warmth of his hand was something that she had missed so much.

The Shahs looked like they were going to skin her alive as Rudra led Adhira away. Away from the world, from the prying eyes, from the people that wanted to tear them apart.

∞ ∞ ∞

This was the last moment that they were going to be together before everything fell apart. Adhira wrapped her arms tightly around Rudra and buried her head into his chest.

It was those moments- where she didn't want to face anyone or anything. She didn't care about her make-up staining his tunic or looking pretty or his parents that were probably plotting hundred ways to kill her at this very moment.

She just wanted to be with him and nothing else. Love was so simple but the ways of the world made it far more complicated than it needed to be. Why? Why was the world like this?

Rudra's arms were slack against hers. He wasn't responding to her at all. When Adhira realized this, she moved away.

"Rudra?" She whispered, a puzzled expression on her face.

"I'm so sorry, Kapoor." For the very first time, he averted his gaze. She noted that his fists were clenched at his sides. "I couldn't say no."

"But you love me?"

It was a scary moment. She didn't want to accept any of this. The signs had been long pointing towards this moment.

She could feel a sinking feeling enter the pit of her stomach.

"Rudra?" When she was met with his silence, the darkness in deserted hallway paled in-front of the darkness around him. He stood still as a ghost- rigid. This was her Rudra. The man who wouldn't dream of her hurting, the man who forgot to breathe whenever she got hurt. This couldn't be the same man.

She caressed his jaw-her hand trembling. "You do love me, right?"

He let out a shaky breath, closing his eyes- "I don't know anymore."

"What do you know then?" She laughed- it was a tearful laugh. The first tear slid down her cheek. How could he say something like that? After six years of waking up every morning and knowing that he loved her, this was nothing short of a shock.

"That I love my parents and I can't go against them."

"Right" She scoffed, letting her hand drop. "This isn't even about them. You've found your next target. What's her name? Sasha Patel.... That's right- your new target."

She pushed his chest and he stumbled backwards, startled.

"No, that's not it." He fell onto his knees- staring at his angry girlfriend. She was bubbling with rage. Her anger was so unjustified. He couldn't control his feelings. "Nothing is making sense anymore."

"I bet she ignored you a couple of times. That must have gotten your wheels working again. You bastard!"

"I can't believe you would think of me like that." Rudra looked up at her, not bothering to get up. The flickering lights shaded his figure- he looked so darn deadly even in the defeated position.

"I can't believe I trusted you!" She screamed. "Everyone, every single person in my life had been warning me against you. They said you were the wrong person for me, that I deserved so much better than. I always defended you! Even against my own parents. They don't even talk properly to me anymore. Just because I chose you and you. I choose you over and over .... And you couldn't even say no to your parents."

"Kapoor, I would have fought against the world for you!"

"Then why aren't you fighting for me? Why are you letting me go for a girl from your past?"

"I don't know what to tell you." He buried his head into the maze of his hands before meeting her gaze. "God, I don't know Adhira but being with Sasha felt so right."

"and being with me feels so wrong. After six years.... This is what you have to say."

Adhira didn't want to talk to him anymore. She was done. She was so done with fighting. Taking one last look at Rudra, the man she had loved for the last six years- Adhira took off.

She didn't have the strength to face him. Not like this. The weariness of the past few days had finally caught up to her. As she walked away with the little dignity she had left, she expected him to chase after her and tell her not to leave him alone.

But none of that was happening, the only thing that was following her was the empty echoes of her heels clicking against the tiled floors.

Why did we have to put our faith into people that don't deserve it? Why did we give away our love to people who have no intentions of returning it?

Why? Just why?

∞ ∞ ∞

It was all over now.

He wasn't going to change his mind. Nothing she did was going to change his mind. She should have known from the beginning- he was never going to go against his parents for her. They meant the universe, the stars, the moon, and the sun to him.

And what was she to him?

Nothing.

A girl for whom his feelings were fading. A girl who was constantly pestering him. A girl who was worried for his well-being more than her own. A girl who was constantly praying and praying for the celestial lights to grant him every ounce of happiness in the universe.

Maybe he didn't deserve her love.

But that didn't stop her from loving him.

If she were to die today, right now- in this car where flames were reaching the sky and beside the forest that was serenely whispering- she wanted to hear a comforting sound. Not the sound of the fire eating everything, not her ears still buzzing from the impact.

It was strange- how in the moment where all breaths were fading, leaving, escaping her- how she found the strength to hold on, to push forth just a little bit more- just a little bit longer.

She reached for her phone- her fingers fighting for every drop of strength, she dialed the one person that meant the world to her. Pressing the phone against her ear, her heart hammering painfully against the rib-cage- she waited. Consciousness was slowly slipping- trickling like an icicle in the brittle summer heat.

The pain disappeared when she heard his voice. Her call had gone straight to the automated voicemail. Nevertheless, it was him- his voice. Nothing else mattered.

"Hope you're having a pleasant day. This is Rudra Shah."

She smiled-even in the pain, even when blood was soaking her clothes, even when her skin was adorned with wounds, even when her lungs were failing her.

"Please leave your name & phone number and I will try to get back to you as soon as possible."

The monotonous beep echoed in the dead night.

Adhira finally willed herself to speak. "I just wanted to hear your voice one last time before I-I.... goodbye, Rudra."

The phone slipped from her hands- just as the front portion of the car combusted into flames.

Just like that- it had started with a crash, the beginning of something so wreaking yet beautiful. That night, the storm clouds poured and roared yet they couldn't stifle the flames of that crash. 

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