I’m not yelling anymore. I’m screaming. My voice breaks and rises and cracks and still—still—I can’t stop.
“ILEFTyou! Ifuckingleft you! So why can’t you leave me?”
His eyes brim, his throat working.
“I can’t,” he whispers, breaking. “I could never. I never wanted you to leave me.”
“Why wouldn’t I have left you!?” I snap.
“You didn’t give me a chance to explai—”
“ExplainWHAT?” I roar. “A chance towhat? To escalate the emotional cheating to something physical?!”
His face crumples. But I’m not done.
“ILEFTat thefirstsign of you wavering! You think I should’ve waited? Waited for asecondtime? Athird? How many chances did you want, Advik?!”
“Baby—”
“Don’t!” I yell. “Don’tcall me that.”
I step closer, fists clenched.
“You never gave me a reason to be jealous of her.That woman.Her presence was so fuckingsubtle, I didn’t even know how to bring it up without imagining you scoffing at me.”
My breath catches.
“I tried,” I say, quieter now. “Early on. I tried to tell you. But you... you made me think it wasn’t a big deal. Because you werelovingme. Paying attention to me. I would gather all the signs and your love was sopresent. She would disappear in the background for the most part. LikeIwas theonly one.And then—that night—Iwasn’t.”
Tears sting the corners of my eyes.
“Youbrokeus that night,” I whisper. “I left because I couldn’t give you any chances. Not a single one. I left beforeyoucouldleave me.”
“I would’ve never—”
“Youdid!”I scream, my voice fraying. “When you said you wanted to kiss Aarohi! Well, youdid!Nowyou’ve kissed her. You’ve fucked her. So tell me—how was it?”
His tears fall freely now.
“I—”
“How was it?”I seethe. “When I wasdyingwith a stab wound through my fucking chest—how was it?HOW WAS IT, Advik?!When I crawled back into theunsafelife I left behind because I couldn’t stay in thesafeone you ruined?”
He trembles, wrecked, whispering, “I’m sorry. Fuck... I’m so sorry.”
His voice breaks. “You... you were in that nightmare because ofme, weren’t you?”
I blink. His words slam into me.
“What?”
He clutches his hair, eyes wild and tortured—unseeing.
“I...fuck—Imadeyou do it, didn’t I?” he says, spiraling. “You chose that assignment because I wasn’t your safe space anymore.”
My chest caves. My heart is pounding too loud.
“I didn’t choose it because of you,” I rasp, voice raw. “I chose it myself.”
