Ishaan didn't utter a single word when he saw her.
Only one sentence escaped his lips—low, restrained, almost hollow:

"Come with me."

Bella followed him silently.
Silent? No—silence was a lie.
Inside her chest, her heart was screaming, shaking, colliding violently against her ribs. Five months... five torturous months without seeing him. Five months of cages, darkness, and the ache of missing him until her bones hurt.

She wanted to run to him, to throw herself into his arms, kiss him until she could taste his breath, bury her face in his chest until her lungs were full of nothing but his scent.
In that suffocating dark room where she had been held captive, the only thing that had kept her breathing was the idea of him—

I have to leave... I have to go back... Ishaan must be waiting... Is he fine? Does he know I was kidnapped? Why didn't he come for me? I'll scold him. I'll yell at him. When we meet, he'll have to do a hundred ups-downs... He abandoned me for five months, idiot man...

Those thoughts had been her only light.

And now—now that her eyes were finally seeing him again—
she felt air in her lungs for the first time in months.
But something was wrong... terribly wrong.

He felt different.
Distant.
Cold, like he had wrapped himself in a shell she could not penetrate.

She followed him into his office.
The moment the door clicked shut behind them, Bella could no longer hold her emotions.
She threw herself at him, arms locking tightly around him, her body trembling as she broke into helpless tears.

Ishaan froze.
He didn't hug her back.
Not even a fraction.
His arms remained suspended in the air—stiff, unmoving, as if her touch burned him.

He didn't know what to feel.
Anger?
Betrayal?
Foolishness?
Why was this woman standing in front of him now—this woman who had walked away when he needed her the most... and now returned when he had finally learned how to breathe without her? when he finally move on from her.

Bella waited for his embrace... waited and waited.
But when she felt nothing—no warmth, no familiar hold—she went still. Her tears slipped silently down her cheeks.

"Ishaan... hug me back..." she whispered, her face buried desperately in his neck.

He gave her nothing.
No movement.
No reaction.
He was drowning in his own storm.

"Ishaan... please... hug me back. Why are you doing this? I'm right here. won't you hold your Bella?"
Her voice broke, catching painfully on her tears.

Still, he didn't move.

Bella stepped back, wiping her face with shaking hands.
Then she grabbed his collar, her eyes bloodshot, tears falling uncontrollably.

"WHY AREN'T YOU HUGGING ME BACK?" she screamed, shaking him violently.

Her scream shattered the fragile thread of control he had been holding.
He let out a hollow, bitter chuckle, prying her hands off his collar.
Bella stared at him—shocked, shattered.

And then he spoke, his voice colder than she had ever heard:

"Why would I?"

Her breath trembled.
"W–what?"

The word barely left her lips, thin and breathless.

She hadn't expected this—
not in her worst nightmares.
Bella had spent five months imagining the moment she would see him again.
She had replayed it in her head like a desperate prayer:

Ishaan would pull her into his arms.
He would bury his face in her hair, kissing her cheeks, her forehead, her nose—
complaining, like he always did,
"Why did you leave me for so long? Do you know how much I missed you?"

Just like he used to whenever she went overseas for surgeries—
how he would hold her as if every second without her had been torture.

She expected warmth.
She expected love.
She expected her Ishaan.

But this—
this coldness...
this distance...
this sharp, unfamiliar chill in his eyes—

This wasn't her Ishaan.

This wasn't the man she had left behind.
He felt like a stranger wearing Ishaan's face.

Her throat tightened painfully.

This can't be him.
This can't be my Ishaan.
No... no, this isn't him.

He looked into her eyes, jaw clenched, fury burning in him.

"Why should I hug a stranger? And what are you even doing here?"

Bella flinched.
Stranger her ishaan just called her stranger.
Ishaan had never spoken to her like this.
Never raised his voice.
Never let anger touch her.

Then why now?

"Ishaan... are you angry with me? For what? Why are you behaving like this? I came after five months... Why didn't you come for me? Why didn't you take me away from there?"
Her voice cracked helplessly.

Ishaan ignored her.
His anger swallowed every word she spoke.

"ANSWER ME—WHY ARE YOU HERE NOW?" he yelled.
"When you decided to walk out of my life five months ago—then why come back now?"

Bella stared at him, stunned.
"What... what are you saying—?"

"Oh shut up!"
His voice thundered in the room.

"You came back because I regained my position, didn't you?
When I had nothing—when I was losing everything—you left me.
You didn't want to stay with a man who had nothing left.
But now?
Now that I rebuilt everything, now that my world is stable again—you returned."

His bitter laugh cut her like a knife.

Bella couldn't understand a word he was saying.
She shook her head, confused, terrified.

"Ishaan, what are you talking about? I didn't leave you. I—"

He cut her off again, voice breaking even through his anger.

"When I needed you the most, you left. Was my love so weak?
You knew how much Nisha dii meant to me...
After her death, I shattered.
Then why, Bella—why did you leave me alone?"

Bella's eyes widened.
Death? Nisha?

Nothing made sense.
Why wouldn't he let her speak?

"What the hell are you talking about? And what death?
Who died, Ishaan?" she yelled, frustrated and confused.

Ishaan laughed—a hopeless, degraded sound.

"So you don't even know about Nisha di?
You just saw the news and decided to leave me?
'Ishaan Mehra has nothing left.'
Wow, Bella.
I didn't know I loved a woman with such a low mindset."

Bella didn't listen to anything else.
Her mind stopped at one name.

Nisha di.
Death.

Her blood turned cold.

"What about Nisha di? Tell me clearly!" she screamed.

Ishaan screamed back:

"NISHA DII IS DEAD!
She died the day you left!"

And the next second—

SLAP.

Bella's palm collided harshly against his cheek, turning his face sideways.
His eyes darkened as he slowly looked back at her.

"Shut up.
Just... shut up."
Bella grabbed his collar again, pulling him close.

"Are you out of your mind? She isn't dead!
She is ALIVE!" she screamed.

And Ishaan's entire world stopped.

His breath hitched.
His knees weakened.
His vision blurred.

The ground beneath him seemed to vanish.

"W–what?"
It was the only word he could push out.

___

The atmosphere inside the Levoius estate was suffocating—
thick with anger, fear, and the metallic scent of destruction.

Corvo stood at the center of the room,
his men surrounding him like trembling shadows.
Every guard's head was lowered, shoulders stiff, as if even breathing too loudly could cost them their lives.

The reason for their fear lay scattered on the floor.

A table—once solid mahogany—now reduced to shattered splinters.

Corvo had smashed it with a single violent sweep of his arm.

"You couldn't handle one girl? ONE?"
Corvo roared, his voice echoing through the walls like thunder.

The guards flinched.

"B-boss," one stammered, voice shaking,
"she injected one of us... made him unconscious.
Then she dodged two of us and injured them. We—we couldn't stop her."

Another guard, the one with a bandaged shoulder, stepped forward with trembling legs.

"Boss... I tried to follow her.
I chased her.
But she jumped into a truck.
Before I reached it... it drove away."
He swallowed hard. "I swear, sir... I tried."

Corvo didn't respond immediately.
He closed his eyes for a second—
not in calm... but in lethal restraint.

A long, simmering exhale.

Then he asked quietly,
"How is she?"

The men instantly knew who he meant—
the woman locked inside one of the mansion's rooms.
The woman who was waiting for Bella with fragile hope, believing she would return.
The woman Corvo refused to let go.

"She's... alright, boss," one of them replied hesitantly.

Corvo's jaw twitched.

"Did you give her the drug today?"

"No, boss," the man answered quickly.
"I followed your orders.
She cried a lot... kept begging for her medicine... over and over.
But I didn't give her anything.
She's calm now."

"Good," Corvo murmured.
"Let her stay that way.
She doesn't need the drug anymore.
Let her feel the pain.
Let her understand what it means...
to crave something so desperately
and not receive it."

His voice turned into a dark whisper.
"Let her suffer exactly the way I did."

The guards immediately began backing away.

"Leave," Corvo commanded softly.

The moment they were gone, the silence returned—heavy and hollow.
Corvo let out a slow breath, rubbing his face with both hands.

Then he turned toward the dim corridor leading to her room.

He pushed the door open quietly.

Inside, the room was cold.
Muted.
Almost lifeless.

And there she sat—
on the edge of the bed—
staring at the wall as if it were the only thing anchoring her sanity.

Her eyes were vacant.
Her skin pale.
Her body unnaturally still.

Corvo approached and sat beside her.

"How's my baby doing?" he asked softly, brushing her hair from her forehead.

She didn't flinch—
but she sharply jerked her head away from his touch.

Corvo sighed.
His voice softened, almost pleading:

"Baby... why won't you just accept me?
Do you plan to live like this forever?"
His tone dropped to a whisper.
"If you accept me, everything will be easier... for both of us."

She remained silent—
her gaze fixed on the wall,
as if she refused to acknowledge his existence.

Corvo looked at her face—pale, tired, drained.

"You know what i love your boldness."

"But Look at you now," he whispered.
"So fragile.
Why did you let Bella run?
You knew I brought her here to take care of you.
And look what she did—she ran away and left you alone."

His fingers reached for her cheek again.

This time she slapped his hand away sharply.

"Don't come near me," she said—
her voice cold, flat, and dead.

Corvo chuckled darkly.

"How long will you resist me?
One day... you'll have to accept me."

"I would rather die," she hissed through clenched teeth.
"I will never accept you. I hate you."
You disgust me."

He laughed—a mad, twisted sound.

"Oh really?
Then you should accept me now."
His eyes glinted with cruelty.
"Because as far as the world is concerned...
you are already dead."

Her breath hitched.

Her fingers trembled in her lap.

Finally—she looked at him.

"...what?"

Corvo smirked.

"Oh, you didn't know?"
His voice dripped with mockery.
"The day I brought you here...
your family believed you died.
Heartbroken.
Destroyed."
He leaned in closer, whispering against her ear:
"They even held your funeral."

He laughed again—louder, harsher.

Her world crashed.

Her chest tightened until she could barely breathe.
The room spun around her.
Her vision blurred.

He...the person she once trusted.
He went that far?

Her family mourned her?
Buried her?
Believed she was dead?

The horror washed over her like ice.

Her throat closed.
Her heartbeat stuttered painfully.

She couldn't speak.
She couldn't think.

All she could feel was the monstrous truth—

Corvo had erased her from the world.
And now, she belonged only to him.

__

Ishaan sat on the sofa, elbows on his knees, head bowed low.
His shoulders shook—not violently, but in a quiet, broken rhythm that told a story of a man whose world had just caved in.

Beside him sat Bella.

Her own tears slipped down her cheeks in an endless stream, mirroring his grief, his shock, his disbelief.

She had finally told him everything.

Every truth he should have known.
Every truth that had been stolen from him.
Every truth that had destroyed both of them silently for the past five months.

Bella's voice trembled as she spoke,
but she forced every memory out—
one painstaking piece at a time.

I didn't send any message to you ishaan
I didn't even have my phone with me they snatched it.

"The day... 18th August... everything shattered," she whispered, wiping her face with trembling fingers.
"I was in surgery all day. When I finally came out around 8 PM... I heard about the Mehra scandal."

Her breath hitched.

"I rushed to Mehra Mansion.
That's when I learned about Nisha di... 
"I ran toward the hospital next. To see her. But before I could reach... they kidnapped me."

Ishaan's body stiffened.
The pain in his chest sharpened like a knife.

Bella continued, voice breaking:

"The next morning when I woke up... I was in a dark room. I didn't understand anything. Nothing made sense."
Her fingers dug into her palms.
"I screamed... cried... begged... but no one came. Not for hours."

She swallowed hard, forcing herself to continue.

"Then two men came. They dragged me out and took me to another room.
I fought them, Ishaan. I really did. But they were stronger."

Her tears doubled, her body trembling.

"And when they opened the door of that room..."
She paused, breath trembling.
"...I saw her."

Ishaan lifted his head just a little—pain flooding his eyes.

Bella's voice became a whisper as fragile as glass:

"Nisha di... was lying on the bed. In a hospital gown.
Her wrists bandaged.
She was barely conscious."

Bella's face crumpled as she remembered.

"I ran to her.
'i asked di, are you okay? What happened? Why are you here?'

A broken sob escaped her.

"She opened her eyes slowly—she was so weak she could barely keep them open.
She whispered my name.
'Bella...'"

Bella wiped her tears again, her voice shaking harder now.

"And before she could say anything more... the guards pulled me away.
They told me I wasn't allowed to talk to her.
They said I was brought there to take care of her.
'No questions,' they warned.
And if I disobeyed... I wouldn't live to see the next sunrise."

Ishaan pressed his fist against his mouth, trying to hold himself together, but failing.

Bella continued:

"That's how I spent five months... taking care of her.
Every day.
Every hour.
Watching her heal... and then watching them drug her."

She shut her eyes, remembering the nightmare.

"Once she started getting better... she fought back.
So they gave her mild doses of drugs to keep her weak.
And they threatened me—
if I tried anything... if I tried to help her escape... the dose would increase."
Her voice dropped to a whisper.
"And she wouldn't survive it."

"I listened. I obeyed. Because I had to keep her alive."

A small, devastated sound escaped Ishaan.

Bella inhaled shakily.

"One day... I tried to run away with her.
I found a moment when no guard was inside.
I thought... if I could just reach the door..."

She shook her head, tears falling harder.

"But we were caught.
And they punished her, Ishaan.
They actually increased her dose.
She almost died."

Ishaan's eyes widened, filling with horror, guilt, rage—an entire storm.

"I saved her," Bella whispered, voice raw.
"I threw away the overdose.
Gave her the right medicine.
She survived. But after that... I didn't try to escape again.
I stayed.
Quiet.
Obedient.
Doing everything they asked... just to keep her alive."

She exhaled deeply, her voice trembling again.

"Two guards always followed me.
Everywhere.
But one day...  when they take me to dii room to check on her. they was behind me but got busy talking something about a shipment being burned.
They were distracted."

Her face tightened.

"I used that moment to ask her—
Who are these people?
Who's behind all this?"

Bella clutched her hands together.

"That's when di told me.
'Corvo.'
She said it with so much fear... 

Ishaan's breath caught painfully.

"Before I could ask who he was, the guards realized something was wrong and dragged me away."

Bella turned toward Ishaan fully now, her voice breaking:

"Ishaan...
Nisha di knew.
She knew who Corvo was.
She knew everything."

Ishaan's whole body went rigid.

The truth washed over him like icy waves.

The sister he believed was dead—
The sister he mourned—
The sister he buried—

She was alive.
Alive.
And suffering.

And Bella—
the woman he thought abandoned him—
had been kidnapped.
Tortured.
Forced to take care of Nisha.
Living in fear every second.

And he...
He had hated her for no reason.
Accused her.
Condemned her.

His entire world—toppled.

Everything he believed—
every revenge
every hatred
every wound
every decision—

built on lies.

He couldn't breathe.

He couldn't think.

He felt his soul cracking apart.

Bella placed a soft trembling hand on his arm.

"I'm sorry," she whispered.
"I'm so sorry... I tried... I really tried..."

Ishaan finally lifted his head—
and for the first time in months,
his eyes reflected nothing but pure devastation.

He whispered, voice broken,

"...the woman I buried...
the sister I mourned...
the love I accused...
the truth I believed..."

His voice shattered.

"...everything was wrong."

His chest collapsed as if someone had ripped the ground from beneath him. Bella instinctively reached forward and wrapped her arms around him. For a second, he froze... then he shattered in her embrace.

His fingers clutched the back of her shirt, knuckles turning white as he buried his face in her shoulder. A raw, broken sob tore out of him, and Bella—already trembling—held him tighter. The two of them cried silently at first, then helplessly, the room echoing with the sound of shared devastation.

After several moments, Ishaan's breath stilled, trembling but determined.

"We... we have to save her," he whispered, voice barely audible. "I have to bring Di back."

"Yes—yes, Ishaan," Bella breathed, wiping her face. "We will bring her out. But we must plan. We can't storm in blindly. It could be dangerous for her."

"I don't care," he muttered, panic rising again. "I just need her safe. I just—"

"Ishaan," she cupped his face gently. "Listen. If we make one reckless move... it could cost Di her life. We need a proper plan."

He swallowed hard and finally nodded. Slowly, he straightened, though the weight on his shoulders seemed too heavy for any human spine. His face remained pale, empty, stunned.

He opened his mouth, voice cracking.

"I... blamed Aransh for everything. I truly believed... he was the reason. That he... cheated on her." His voice fell to a whisper. "God... what have I done?"

"No, Ishaan," Bella said firmly. "He didn't. He is the victim. He suffered more than anyone. You know how deeply—how madly—in love he was with Di. He could never hurt her."

Ishaan looked at her, eyes hollow.

"Whenever she was conscious," Bella continued softly, "whenever I checked her vitals... she whispered only one thing."
She paused.
"One name."

His breath hitched.

"Aransh," Bella whispered. "Only that name ever left her lips."

And Ishaan felt his entire soul crack open.

How could he have believed a lie?
How could he have turned against Aransh—his friend, his brother in all but blood—without listening, without searching for truth?

Guilt flooded him like poison.

Then another thought struck him—sharp, brutal, merciless.

Aanya.

Aanya, whose life he had destroyed with his own hands.
Aanya, whom he forced , punished, wounded—because he believed a lie.
Aanya, who had tried to tell him he was wrong... and he crushed her for it.

His stomach twisted violently.

"I ruined her," he whispered internally, voice breaking inside him. I destroyed Aanya. I forced her to live in a hell she never deserved. All because of a lie. Because of my rage... my blindness.

How would he face Aransh now?
How would he face Aanya?

What would he tell her?
That she was right the entire time?
That Aransh was innocent, and Ishaan himself was the one who became a monster?

And then—another truth stabbed him deeper.

She would leave me.

If he confessed everything—every mistake, every cruelty, every wrong he committed—Aanya would walk away. She had every right to. Why would she stay with a man who destroyed her faith, her dignity, her peace?

"No... no," his thoughts spiraled. I can't lose her now. I can't afford her walking away. I won't survive it.

He lifted his eyes and found Bella watching him. And that made the ache sharper.

Because the woman sitting beside him—the woman he once loved—no longer had a place in his heart.
He had moved on. He had fallen deeply, fiercely in love with his wife.
How would I tell her that I am married now.
That i don't love her now. He feel like betrayer. Who betray everyone.

Aanya
Aransh
Bella

And the realization burned through him like fire:

Bella came here expecting her Ishaan—the boy who adored her, waited for her, pampered her.

But that Ishaan was dead.
Buried beneath months of pain, betrayal, and misunderstandings.

And now he had no idea how to tell her that the version of Ishaan she was waiting for... didn't exist anymore.

His mind throbbed painfully. His heartbeat felt like shards scraping inside his chest.

What do I do now?
How do I face the truth?
How do I save Di... protect Aanya... repair Aransh... and explain to Bella that I am no longer hers?

His thoughts were spiraling, collapsing into chaos.

It felt like his skull would burst under the pressure of everything crashing down at once.

He sat there—hands trembling, breath uneven—trapped in a storm of guilt, fear, love, and loss so violent that it almost suffocated him.

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