And his face tells me everything.
His face says that he heard me.
And that he is not stopping me this time.
Reyansh Carter
There have been a lot of things that I have been indecisive about in my life.
But if there was one thing I was sure of, one person that I wanted for the rest of my life, one person that I would never, ever let go of, it was Aisha Kapoor.
But when I heard her talking toMaa, when I saw her shaking and breaking in front of my own eyes, I realized that maybe, for a while, I needed to let her go.
Even if it shattered me, even if it made me feel like I had no purpose—because without her Ihadno purpose—I knew that if I wanted to be in her life, I had to set her free. Even if momentarily.
Even if it broke me.
Last night was special because it made me and Aisha come closer in a way that we never had before, but I couldn’t remove the image of how Louis looked at her and how he tried to be mean to her.
So, this morning when I went to the gym, I decided to give him an answer in a way that he would never forget. By damaging his reputation and releasing stuff about him in the market that he would never want to be revealed.
That he was a cheating, disgusting prick, among other things that are looked down upon in this industry. Of course, I didn’t doit under my or my company’s name, but he would know who was behind it. He just won’t be able to prove it.
I was so happy to know that I could finally let her know this, but when I came back, I heard her sobbing, and that tore apart my heart.
So, even though it sent me into panic mode, I decided to let her free. In the hopes that maybe she would come back.
I reminded myself that God didn’t hate me enough to take the one thing I loved purely and selflessly in my life.
So now, as I sit beside my angry mother in the courtroom, I look at the blank wall ahead of us, waiting for Aisha to come here.
I left home after telling her that I will give her a divorce, and when I asked Aarav to plan everything, he gave me enoughgaalisto last me another decade.
No one understands why I am doing this, but I can’t keep holding her back this way.
I don’t want this relationship to turn into a prison for her.
I don’t want her to lose herself for me. I already hate myself enough to have made her do this before.
A shadow of a man comes in front of me, and I finally look up to see a pissed-off Aarav standing in front of me.
“I hate you for doing this,” he says, and I know. I hate me too. “But I am proud of you for being selfless one time in your life.”
I nod, and I hope that some miracle happens.
Something nice. Something that makes her change her mind.
Something that doesn’t break us both in a way where we can’t heal.
* * *
Aisha comes in five minutes before it is time to meet our attorney. I don’t know how Aarav pulled strings together tomake this work within a day but I didn’t want her to feel trapped with me even a minute more.
She doesn’t look at me or anyone.Maaholds her hand, and I know this is as tough for her as for me.
For once, I hope she looks at me. Even if it’s for one last time.
My heart breaks even further as I see her walk inside the room when we are called the same way a robot would walk, and it makes me want to kick myself because what have I done?
