Author's POV
Aarohi Sharma hated being touched.
Not because she was arrogant.
Not because she thought too highly of herself.
But because some wounds never truly healed.
Even after years.
“Don’t… please don’t touch me…”
A broken whisper escaped her lips as she jerked awake from sleep, breathing unevenly. Her chest rose and fell rapidly while panic clawed its way through her body. For a moment, she couldn’t understand where she was. The nightmare still clung to her skin like something alive.
The room was dark. Silent.
Only the faint moonlight slipping through the curtains reminded her that she was safe. At home. Alone.
Aarohi shut her eyes tightly and pressed trembling fingers against her forehead.
Again.
Another nightmare.
Another night ruined by memories she desperately wanted to forget.
Her gaze slowly shifted toward the small frame resting beside her bed. Nanu’s smiling face stared back at her, calm and comforting even through an old photograph.
A weak smile touched her lips.
“You promised me things would get better someday,” she whispered softly. “So why does it still hurt this much?”
Silence answered her once again.
After sitting there for a while, Aarohi finally forced herself to breathe normally. Tomorrow was important. She couldn’t afford another emotional breakdown. Not now.
With that thought, she somehow closed her eyes again.
But sleep never returned completely.
The Next Morning
“Aaru! You’re getting late again!”
Madhura Sharma’s voice echoed through the house while Aarohi hurried downstairs, struggling to wear her watch and carry her bag at the same time.
“I knowww!” Aarohi groaned dramatically. “Why does morning happen daily? It feels unnecessary.”
Vihaan almost choked on his coffee hearing that.
“Scientists around the world are crying after hearing your logic,” he deadpaned.
Aarohi narrowed her eyes at him before stealing toast directly from his plate.
“Thief,” he muttered.
“Survival,” she corrected proudly.
Despite the light teasing around her, the exhaustion beneath her eyes didn’t go unnoticed. Madhura frowned slightly.
“You didn’t sleep properly again, did you?”
For a second, Aarohi froze.
Only for a second.
Then she smiled.
“I’m fine, Maa.”
The same lie she had mastered years ago.
Before anyone could question her further, she grabbed her bag dramatically.
“Okay bye! Pray for me so I survive college today.”
“God save your professors,” Vihaan shouted from behind.
Aarohi laughed softly before rushing out of the house.
But the moment she sat inside the cab, her smile faded a little.
The nightmare from last night still lingered somewhere inside her chest.
And she hated how easily her past still reached her.
College
“Aarohi Sharma finally decided to bless us with her presence.”
Rhea Malhotra folded her arms dramatically the moment Aarohi entered campus.
Aarohi gasped.
“Wow. Such warmth. Such affection.”
“Shut up,” Rhea snorted before pulling her into a side hug. “You look exhausted.”
“I am exhausted.”
“You say that every day.”
“Because life attacks me every day.”
Rhea rolled her eyes while both of them walked toward class together.
With Rhea, things felt lighter. Easier.
For some time, Aarohi almost forgot about the heaviness inside her mind. Lectures passed between whispered jokes, irritated professors, unfinished notes, and Rhea’s nonstop commentary about random people on campus.
Everything felt normal.
Too normal.
Maybe that’s why fate decided to ruin it.
The moment classes ended, Aarohi’s phone buzzed.
Ryan.
A small smile unconsciously appeared on her lips before she opened the message.
“Can’t meet today. Busy.”
That was it.
No explanation. No apology.
Her shoulders dropped slightly in disappointment.
Today was supposed to be different. Ryan had promised they’d finally spend proper time together after weeks of cancelled plans.
Rhea peeked into her phone dramatically.
“Ohooo. Boyfriend cancelled again?”
Aarohi sighed.
“Apparently.”
“Well,” Rhea linked her arm with hers, “if men are disappointing, shopping never is.”
That finally earned a laugh from Aarohi.
“True.”
And maybe that one small decision changed everything.
City Mall
The mall buzzed with noise, bright lights, and endless chatter. Rhea disappeared toward some clothing section while Aarohi wandered absentmindedly through another corridor.
And then—
She froze.
Ryan.
Her heartbeat stumbled slightly.
But he wasn’t alone.
A girl stood beside him. Komal.
Their batchmate.
Aarohi frowned faintly. Maybe she was overthinking. Maybe it was nothing.
Yet something about the way Ryan smiled at her felt… different.
Too comfortable.
Too close.
Without realizing it, Aarohi quietly followed them.
They entered a café near the corner of the mall. Aarohi stopped near the entrance, hidden enough to stay unnoticed.
Then she heard it.
“Bas kuch aur din,” Ryan said casually while checking his phone, “phir breakup kar lunga.”
Aarohi’s breath stopped.
Komal leaned closer. “Honestly Ryan, everyone already knows this relationship won’t last.”
Ryan laughed softly.
“Relationship? Yaar, she never even acted like my girlfriend.”
Every word hit harder than the previous one.
“She doesn’t let me touch her. Not even properly hold her hand. Three months ho gaye relationship ko… and she still reacts like I’m some stranger.”
Komal shook her head.
“That’s honestly weird.”
Aarohi felt her fingers trembling.
The noise around her blurred slowly.
“She’s sweet and all,” Ryan continued carelessly, “but I can’t do this emotionally damaged girl thing forever.”
Emotionally damaged.
The words sliced through her chest so brutally that for a second she genuinely forgot how to breathe.
Suddenly the café felt suffocating.
Too loud.
Too small.
Her vision blurred.
Without waiting another second, Aarohi turned around and walked away quickly before her tears could betray her there.
But once she reached outside—
Her breathing broke completely.
Memories crashed into her mind violently.
Hands.
Voices.
Fear.
Pain.
“Aaru…”
Someone called her name nearby, but she couldn’t hear properly anymore.
Her chest tightened painfully as panic spread through her body.
No.
No no no.
Not here.
Not again.
She somehow managed to reach home before collapsing onto the floor of her room.
The moment the door shut behind her, the tears she’d been holding back finally escaped.
“Why…” she whispered brokenly. “Why does this always happen to me…?”
Her hands shook uncontrollably while she clutched Nanu’s photograph against her chest like it was the only thing keeping her together.
“I tried so hard to become normal…”
A sob escaped her lips.
“So why can’t I?”
Outside her room, worried footsteps echoed.
Rhea had arrived.
“Aaru?” she knocked softly first.
No response.
Her concern instantly deepened.
“Aaru, open the door.”
Silence.
Rhea’s heartbeat quickened.
“Aarohi, I’m serious. Open the damn door.”
Still nothing.
Fear slowly crawled into her chest.
“Listen to me carefully,” she warned loudly, “if you don’t open this door right now, I’ll call Vihaan bhai.”
The lock clicked immediately.
The moment the door opened, Rhea’s expression changed completely.
Aarohi looked shattered.
Her face was pale, mascara ruined, hands trembling uncontrollably. She looked less like someone crying over heartbreak and more like someone reliving something terrifying.
Rhea stepped forward carefully.
“Aaru…”
But the moment she tried touching her shoulder, Aarohi flinched violently.
“Don’t touch me!”
The scream echoed through the room.
Rhea froze.
Aarohi’s breathing turned uneven again. Panic flooded her face as tears kept falling uncontrollably.
“No… no… please…”
“Aaru look at me,” Rhea said softly, trying not to panic herself. “Breathe slowly. Please.”
But Aarohi couldn’t hear properly anymore.
Everything around her felt distant.
Blurred.
Her chest tightened painfully while old memories dragged her back into darkness she had spent years trying to escape.
“Rhea…” her voice cracked helplessly. “I can’t breathe…”
And before Rhea could react—
Aarohi collapsed unconscious.
Meanwhile — Rathore Industries
Nobody liked entering the thirty-second floor after 8 PM.
Not because it was haunted.
But because Atharv Singh Rathore was usually still there.
And silence became terrifying around him.
The entire office floor looked almost empty except for the faint city lights reflecting against the glass walls of Rathore Industries. Employees moved carefully, speaking in whispers as if even breathing too loudly could cost them their jobs.
Inside the boardroom, a presentation continued nervously.
Atharv sat at the head of the table, expression unreadable while one of the senior managers explained quarterly reports with visibly shaking hands.
“Sir… if we slightly compromise on the overseas shipment timeline, we can still save almost twelve crores.”
Atharv didn’t respond immediately.
He simply kept tapping his finger once against the table.
Slowly.
Rhythmically.
That somehow felt worse than shouting.
The manager continued carefully, “It’s only a temporary risk—”
“Temporary?”
Atharv finally looked up.
The single word was enough to make the room freeze.
His gaze shifted toward the presentation screen before returning to the manager again.
“You’re asking me to risk my company’s reputation for twelve crores?”
“N-no sir, I only meant—”
Atharv stood up calmly.
And somehow calm Atharv was always more dangerous than angry Atharv.
“You know what the biggest problem with incompetent people is?” he asked quietly while walking toward the screen.
Nobody answered.
“They think short-term survival is intelligence.”
The remote in his hand clicked once.
The screen suddenly changed.
A completely different report appeared.
Internal data.
Real numbers.
The manager’s face lost color instantly.
Atharv’s voice remained terrifyingly controlled.
“You manipulated projected loss percentages to make your idea look profitable.”
Silence.
Dead silence.
One employee almost stopped breathing.
The manager immediately panicked. “Sir I can explain—”
“You already did.”
Atharv removed the file from his hands and placed it on the table.
Neatly.
Precisely.
“Security will escort you out.”
The man’s eyes widened. “Sir please—”
“I built Rathore Industries from discipline,” Atharv interrupted coldly. “Not desperation.”
Nobody moved.
Nobody even looked up anymore.
Because this wasn’t rage.
This was worse.
It was disappointment.
And Atharv Singh Rathore never forgave disappointment.
After the manager was taken outside, the room remained painfully silent.
Atharv glanced at the remaining team once.
Sharp.
Unreadable.
“Fix the shipment issue before sunrise.”
One employee hesitated nervously. “Sir… the Singapore team won’t cooperate at this hour.”
Atharv picked up his coat.
“Then make them.”
And with that, he walked out.
No dramatic shouting.
No unnecessary threats.
Just pressure heavy enough to crush people silently.
Outside the boardroom, Kabir instantly straightened seeing him approach.
“Sir, your father called twice.”
Atharv nodded once while walking ahead.
“Reschedule tomorrow’s investor meeting.”
Kabir blinked. “Sir? That meeting took three months to—”
“I said reschedule it.”
Kabir immediately lowered his head.
“Yes sir.”
Before Atharv could enter his cabin—
“Move aside, corporate secretary.”
Kabir sighed tiredly.
Vivaan Mehra.
The only human being shameless enough to joke around in front of Atharv after witnessing corporate destruction firsthand.
“You cannot go inside right now,” Kabir warned immediately. “His mood is already horrible.”
Vivaan looked unimpressed.
“When is his mood NOT horrible?”
Kabir ignored that.
“I’m serious.”
“And I’m emotionally attached to irritating him.”
Before Kabir could stop him, Vivaan pushed the cabin door open casually.
The moment he entered—
He stopped.
Atharv stood near the massive glass window overlooking the city, one hand inside his pocket while the other held a small photograph silently.
The room felt strangely quiet.
Not tense.
Not angry.
Just… empty.
Vivaan’s teasing expression faded slightly.
Because he recognized that photograph.
Atharv quickly slid it back inside his wallet the moment he noticed him.
Walls up again.
Emotions hidden again.
Vivaan walked forward carefully before dropping into the chair opposite him.
“You know,” he spoke lightly, “normal people drink when they’re stressed.”
Atharv sat down silently.
“I am working.”
“No,” Vivaan corrected softly, watching him carefully. “You’re remembering.”
For a second—
Something flickered in Atharv’s eyes.
Gone just as quickly.
Vivaan leaned back slightly.
“It’s been years, Atharv.”
Silence.
Heavy silence.
Then finally—
Atharv gave a faint humorless smile.
“People say time heals everything.”
His gaze lowered briefly toward the wallet resting near his hand.
“They lie.”
Vivaan didn’t know what to say after that.
Because some griefs never really ended.
They simply became quieter.
After a long silence, Vivaan finally changed the topic deliberately.
“Anyways, Yash’s wedding preparations officially started today.”
Atharv looked uninterested already.
Vivaan smirked knowingly.
“And before you say no, yes, you ARE attending every function.”
“I’m busy.”
“You own the company. Stop pretending.”
Atharv ignored him.
Vivaan narrowed his eyes suspiciously.
“You know what your problem is?”
Atharv looked up blankly.
“You act like emotions are tax fraud.”
For the first time that night—
A very small smile appeared on Atharv’s face.
Barely there.
Almost invisible.
But real.
Vivaan noticed it instantly and pointed dramatically.
“There. HUMAN EMOTION. Miracles exist.”
Atharv’s expression immediately turned blank again.
“Get out.”
Vivaan grinned victoriously while standing up.
“Yes sir.”
But before leaving, he paused near the door.
Then quietly asked—
“Do you still miss her that much?”
Atharv stayed silent for a few seconds.
Then he carefully slid the photograph back inside his wallet.
“Dead people aren’t supposed to stay in your memories this long.”
Vivaan frowned slightly.
Atharv looked toward the city lights again.
“But she died years ago.”
So… who do you think Atharv was talking about?
And what really happened in Aarohi’s past…?
Tell me your theories
— your author Elara
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