Poisoned Silence. 

Poisoned Silence. 

His presence came with memories she never wanted to relive again. With a heavy heart, she could do nothing but endure them.

Avoiding him was impossible now, and perhaps that frightened her the most. Whether she liked it or not, reality had already returned to stand before her.

There was no escaping the truth anymore.

And his arrival had disturbed everything.

Since the ominous day he arrived, her peace had slowly begun slipping away from her. His unwelcome presence in her room, the cruel sneers twisting across his face, the taunts thrown at her and even Shaur alike—every bit of it chipped away at her ability to remain unaffected.

It became intolerable after a point. Frightening, even.

It was suffocating. Disturbing.

Some days, merely thinking about him was enough to leave her drained. His presence lingered over her thoughts like a shadow she could never fully outrun. Even the quietness of the room no longer comforted her the way it once had.

It was infuriating.

The days that followed after his arrival were far from the happiest days of her life. Regrettably, they never would be again.

Her eyes squeezed shut as the old wound inside her tore open once more. Before his arrival, she had been unflappable. But now?

Now she lived in constant anticipation of what he might do next. Now she barely recognized herself.

Lost in thought, she reflected bitterly on how desperately she had tried to avoid him. Yet somehow, he always found something new to torment her with. 

She truly tried. Yet somehow, he always appeared—lurking wherever she went, intruding whenever she least wanted to see him.

She avoided him whenever possible, though it never seemed to make a difference.

He always found another way to get under her skin. Another taunt. Another sneer. Another suffocating reminder that he was still there. Another unbearable reminder of his existence.

Always.

The word echoed sharply through her mind.

Just like this time.

Peace had become painfully temporary ever since he entered her life again. Even her quietest moments no longer felt untouched by him.

Hadn’t he ruined that too?

He had.

Her fingers curled tightly at her sides to stop herself from reacting. The sound of his voice alone was enough to exhaust her. Just like now. 

“Then tell me, chérie… how have your days gone by without me?” He asked with that infuriating smirk resting on his lips.

The sight of it instantly made her blood boil. She couldn’t explain why something so small irritated her so deeply. It simply did. A sharp irritation prickled beneath her skin. Her jaw tightened as she forced herself not to look at him.

He stood over her silently, observing her with a disturbing intensity she couldn’t make sense of. The weight of his gaze made it impossible for her to think clearly.

Every nerve in her body seemed to tense in his presence.

“Didn’t you miss me? Because I missed every second,” he pressed, clearly unwilling to give up.

The more casually he spoke, the more her patience wore thin.

“What is this now? Silent treatment?” A smirk tugged at his lips. “Did you miss me so much that you’re angry with me for leaving?”

Her irritation only deepened at the amusement in his voice.

“Come on, chérie, at least say something.”

She clenched her jaw, refusing to give him the reaction he clearly wanted.

He wore that smirk as though he enjoyed getting under her skin. He had a habit of invading even the smallest corners of her peace. 

It was the kind of smile that never carried warmth—only provocation.

She ignored him the way she always tried to, though today, unfortunately, no one appeared to interrupt him. Somehow, he always managed to leave her emotionally drained.

A quiet sigh slipped past her lips as exhaustion settled heavily onto her shoulders.

His continuous nagging finally made her snap.

Why couldn’t he just leave her alone?

“Just… leave me alone.”

She hated how intensely aware she became of him whenever he stood this close. Every glance, every word, every breath unsettled her far more than she wanted to admit.

And the worst part?

He looked entirely too entertained by it.

Yet instead of backing away, he only looked more amused by her discomfort.

In fact, the more irritated she became, the more entertained he seemed. As though provoking her had become his favorite game.

Hadn’t it?

He merely made a show of thinking about it.

Finally confronting him, she implored, “Can you please leave? I need to prepare.”

She gestured toward the scattered crafts and half-finished decorations spread across the bed, silently trying to show him that she was far too occupied to tolerate his jests today.

“I’m making new decorations for Neelam aunty’s garth. So will you please leave me alone to do that?” she asked, turning toward him once again.

She desperately needed space away from him.

But he didn’t move.

“So please… just leave me alone.”

Turning toward him fully, she looked at him with quiet desperation hidden behind hopeful eyes.

Reclining against the sofa by the window, he continued watching her silently, his unwavering gaze unsettling her more with every passing second.

What was it that he kept staring at so intently?

His eyes remained locked on her with a quiet intensity that made her increasingly uneasy.

As she stared back at him, she slowly began noticing the changes she had overlooked before.

He had changed—visibly.

His shoulders were broader now, his build far more muscular than she remembered. Even his charcoal eyes seemed darker somehow, deeper in a way she couldn’t quite explain. Even the air around him seemed different now—heavier somehow, more commanding.

There was something far more intimidating about him now. His methods. His unnerving composure. The impenetrable darkness in his eyes and that inscrutable expression

He looked taller too. Bigger. Stronger.

In simple words, he had become impossible to ignore.

Yet despite all those visible changes, some things about him remained exactly the same.

His unreadable expression.

Those impenetrable dark eyes that never revealed what truly lingered beneath them. No matter how much his appearance had changed over the years, his presence still carried the same unsettling intensity she remembered all too well.

And somehow, that realization unsettled her far more than she wanted to admit.

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