Page 208 of One Hellish Love

Kashish lay on her bed, staring at her phone. It was 10:00 p.m., and she couldn’t stop wondering if Suman was still at Raheja Mansion. The thought made her nauseous, but she had agreed to this charade, hadn’t she? She couldn’t call Rudra andshare her discomfort; she didn’t want to add to his already overflowing burden. But the pain of imagining another woman looking at him with the same hope she had, with dreams of a future that only she wanted to share with him, was unbearable.

Tears welled up in her eyes, slipping silently onto her pillow. As she lay there, drowning in her emotions, she suddenly felt an arm wrap around her waist from behind, pulling her close. She gasped, but the familiar warmth of his breath on her neck and the gentle whisper in her ear calmed her racing heart.

“Why are you still awake?” Rudra’s voice was a soothing balm to her troubled soul.

She quickly turned to face him, her eyes wide with surprise.

“What are you doing here? How did you get in? And… Suman? Did she leave?” she asked breathlessly, her emotions tumbling out in a rush.

“You were crying?” Rudra’s eyes darkened with concern when he noticed the traces of tears on her face.

Kashish quickly shook her head, trying to hide the truth.

“No, something just got in my eye. That’s all.”

He pressed his lips into a thin line.

“For every lie you tell me, I’ll stop coming here for that many days. How does that sound?”

Her resolve crumbled, and she reluctantly admitted the truth.

“I was scared… scared for us. I hate this whole Suman drama, Rudra.”

“So do I.”

“We’re playing with someone else’s emotions. What if Suman actually falls for you? We don’t have the right to hurt her like this.”

Rudra nodded. “You’re right. We don’t.”

“Then what do we do?”

Seeing her distress, Rudra cupped her face gently.

“Ssh… don’t stress yourself like this. Breathe.”

She closed her eyes, following his soothing voice, and taking deep breaths to calm down. Rudra watched her intently, noticing the way her chest rose and fell, her lips parting slightly, her eyelashes trembling. Unable to resist, he pressed a tender kiss to her lips.

“Feeling better?”

“A little.” She opened her eyes and smiled.

“Good.”

He tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.

“But you still didn’t tell me how you got in,” she added curious to know.

“I have a set of keys, remember?” he reminded her with a teasing smile.

“And Suman?”

“I dropped her home. We had a bit of an argument at Raheja Mansion… about you.”

“An argument? Did she find out about us?”

Rudra smirked. “Don’t overthink it. Trust me, I’ll handle it.”

She frowned, unsatisfied with his vague response.

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