I went downstairs slowly, trying to act normal even though my heart still felt tangled in everything that had happened between us.
The house was quiet except for the faint sound of cutlery touching plates.
Kartikey was already sitting at the dining table, having breakfast casually like nothing in the world could disturb him.
The moment he saw me, his eyes narrowed slightly.
Then he smirked.
"What is going on between you two?" he asked, leaning back in his chair.
"So many hickeys, bro."
Heat rushed to my cheeks instantly.
I quickly pulled my hair forward and sat across from him.
"I'm getting divorced," I muttered softly.
His expression changed immediately.
"What?"
Then he frowned. "But then why did both of you sleep together?"
I looked down at the table quietly before answering.
"When I told him I wanted a divorce… he lost control emotionally. And then everything happened."
Kartikey stayed silent for a moment.
"So he forced you?"
I shook my head immediately.
"Not forced," I whispered.
"He kissed me… and I couldn't control my feelings either."
"Oh," he said slowly.
"So now you're accusing my brother?"
"I'm not accusing him," I replied tiredly.
"You know how he was all these years. He never even touched me… not once."
My fingers tightened around the spoon.
"And I kept thinking… am I supposed to spend my whole life like that? While his heart is somewhere else?"
Kartikey looked at me carefully.
"With Anisha?"
I nodded once.
"She's back."
"What?" he almost choked.
"Anisha is back?"
"Yup."
For a moment he simply stared at me.
Then I asked softly, trying to escape the heaviness in my chest,
"What about you and Anamika?"
"What about us?"
"You look happy today."
A smile appeared on his face without permission.
"I'm not happy," he said dramatically.
"I only spend every night with her, and we've been in love since school."
Despite everything, I smiled faintly.
"You were the first person to know about her," he added.
"I know," I whispered.
"Someone's love story is going beautifully."
Kartikey's expression softened.
"Why are you talking like that?"
I stared at the juice glass quietly before speaking again.
"Do you know… I fell for your brother when I was in ninth?"
His eyes widened slightly.
"I didn't know it was him."
"I saw him first on my annual day," I whispered softly.
"He was in first year of college back then. When you both came to our house after that… I couldn't stop thinking about him."
A weak smile appeared through my tears.
"He looked mesmerizing."
My throat tightened painfully.
"I thought maybe if I stayed near him long enough… one day he would love me too."
Kartikey stayed completely silent.
"So I studied in the same university. I stayed close. Then Anisha and he started dating…"
I laughed weakly.
"And my heart broke completely."
The dining area suddenly felt too quiet.
"Then our marriage happened," I continued softly.
"And I thought maybe things would change after marriage. Maybe he would finally see me."
Tears blurred my vision.
"But nothing changed."
Kartikey frowned in confusion.
"Then why is bhai behaving like this now? The kissing… keeping you close…"
I smiled sadly.
"I think…" I whispered,
"…he just thinks I'm his wife. His responsibility. Maybe his property."
A cold voice suddenly came from behind me.
"So you think I see you as my property?"
My entire body froze.
"And you're saying all this in front of my little brother?"
I immediately stood up in panic.
"No.... bro, that's not true"
The moment the word left my mouth, silence fell.
Kartik's eyes slowly shifted toward me.
"Bro?" he repeated quietly.
My heartbeat stopped.
He took a step closer.
"So now I'm your brother too?"
"Kartik, I didn't mean.."
Before I could finish, he grabbed my hand firmly.
"Let's go."
I stumbled slightly.
"Where?"
His fingers tightened around mine.
"To tell you," he said slowly, eyes burning into mine,
"whether I'm your brother… or your husband."
Heat rushed to my face instantly.
"Kartik…"
Kartikey immediately stood up nervously.
"Bhai, relax, she just said it by mistake.."
"You stay out of this."
His voice remained calm, but I could hear the anger beneath it.
He pulled me upstairs without letting go once.
The moment we entered the room, he closed the door behind us softly.
Then he turned toward me.
Slowly.
"So," he said quietly, walking closer,
"you really think I touched you because I see you as property?"
I stepped back until the back of my knees hit the bed.
"I didn't mean it like that…"
"But you said it."
His voice wasn't loud.
That somehow made it worse.
"Yes," I cried suddenly, pushing his hand away from my face.
"You're angry because I stopped loving you."
My chest hurt so badly I could barely breathe.
"You just wanted a puppet… someone who would keep loving you while you gave your heart to someone else."
Pain flashed across his face.
"So last night was a joke to you?"
"Yes!" I whispered bitterly.
"You thought if you gave me what I wanted, I would continue loving you forever."
Something inside him snapped.
"And what about you?" he asked sharply.
"If you weren't selfish, Anisha and I would've been a happy married couple, Myra."
The words shattered something inside me instantly.
Tears rushed down my face.
"Yes," I laughed painfully.
"I am selfish."
My voice cracked completely.
"I loved you for around twelve years, Kartik."
Silence.
Absolute silence.
His face changed immediately.
"What?"
"I never loved anyone else," I cried.
"I rejected everyone because I thought one day maybe you would love me too."
My throat burned.
"But that never happened."
"I didn't know…"
"Because you never noticed!" I cried loudly.
"I was just your puppet wife. A safe option. Someone who stayed beside you while your heart belonged somewhere else."
"I spent…" my voice trembled violently,
"No… I wasted twelve years loving you."
Tears blurred everything around me.
"And what did I get back?"
I looked at him directly.
"Three forceful nights I never even wanted."
His eyes widened immediately.
"That's not.."
"I wanted love!" I cried.
"Slow love. Quiet love. The kind where someone chooses me every day."
My breathing became uneven.
"Not nights that happened because you suddenly couldn't control yourself."
"That's not true, Anisha—"
The moment her name left his mouth, everything inside me shattered completely.
He froze too.
"…sorry," he whispered immediately.
"Myra."
I smiled through tears.
"See?" I whispered painfully.
"Your heart still goes to her first."
He stepped toward me quickly.
"No—"
"I never wanted you to forget her!" I cried.
"She's your first love… and she's my best friend."
My legs finally gave up beneath me.
I slid down onto the floor beside the bed, crying uncontrollably.
"I just wanted…" I whispered between sobs,
"…for you to stop loving her enough to finally love me too."
Kartik looked destroyed.
Completely destroyed.
Slowly, he knelt in front of me and pulled me into his arms tightly.
"I'm sorry, Myra," he whispered against my hair.
I tried pushing him away weakly.
"Go away, Kartik…"
My voice sounded small. Broken.
"I thought after marriage… you would become mine."
Fresh tears escaped my eyes.
"But now I know… you were never mine."
His arms tightened around me immediately.
And for the first time—
I felt him shaking too.
"I'm sorry," he whispered again while I cried loudly against his chest like a child who had held pain for far too long.
After that, everything became blurry.
My chest hurt too much.
My head felt heavy.
And somewhere between crying and trying to breathe—
darkness slowly pulled me away.
The last thing I felt before losing consciousness was Kartik pulling me closer against his chest, like he was terrified I would disappear.
When I opened my eyes again, the room was dark.
Dim yellow light from the bedside lamp filled the silence softly.
For a few seconds, I couldn't understand where I was.
Then I felt it.
Warmth.
Arms around me.
Kartik.
My head was resting against his chest while he held me tightly on the bed.
And
he was crying too.
Not loudly.
Just quietly.
Painfully.
"I'm sorry," he whispered brokenly, not knowing I was awake.
"I'm so sorry."
My fingers twitched slightly against his shirt.
His arms tightened immediately.
Then slowly, very slowly, he spoke again.
"I loved you," he whispered softly.
"But I never told you because I thought you would never love me back."
My heartbeat stopped.
"I thought… you loved Kartikey."
My eyes widened slightly in shock.
"I saw how comfortable you both were together," he continued painfully.
"And I thought maybe I was the one standing between both of you."
A weak laugh escaped him.
"After a few months of marriage… I started forgetting Anisha."
Tears rolled silently from his eyes onto my hair.
"And slowly… I started loving you."
My chest tightened painfully.
"But every time I tried getting closer, I remembered that you probably loved someone else."
His fingers curled tighter around me.
"So I stayed silent."
The room felt unbearably still.
"I loved you quietly, Myra," he whispered.
"Just like you loved me."
Fresh tears slipped silently from my eyes.
"I knew one day this divorce conversation would happen."
His voice broke completely.
"And I kept preparing myself to let you go… to let you be happy with Kartikey."
I shut my eyes tightly.
Because he had been wrong all along.
So painfully wrong.
"But when you actually tried leaving…" he whispered against my forehead,
"I couldn't handle it anymore."
His hand moved slowly through my hair.
"So I kissed you."
A shaky breath left him.
"And then… everything happened."
Then softly, carefully, he pressed a kiss against my forehead.
"I'm sorry for hurting you," he whispered.
"And I'm sorry for loving you silently for so long."
His arms tightened around me one last time.
And slowly, with his face resting against my hair, Kartik fell asleep beside me,still holding me close, as if even in sleep, he was afraid of losing me again.
Morning came slowly.
Soft sunlight slipped through the curtains and rested quietly across the bed, across the tangled sheets, across Kartik's sleeping face.
And across me.
I woke up in his arms again.
My head was resting against his chest, his arm tightly wrapped around my waist even in sleep.
Like sometime during the night his body had decided I belonged there.
Slowly, carefully, I lifted his arm from my waist and sat up.
After washing my face and changing my clothes, I came out again tying my hair slowly.
Then I turned around.
He was awake.
Kartik was sitting against the headboard now, his sleepy eyes fixed only on me.
Silent.
Watching.
I looked away first.
And softly, helplessly, I whispered,
"Please divorce me, Kartik."
The room became still.
"I'm exhausted," I whispered.
"I can't handle this anymore… please."
His expression changed immediately.
"No."
I looked at him in disbelief.
"Why are you not letting me go?"
He stayed quiet.
Tears slowly filled my eyes again.
"I'll die like this, Kartik," I whispered painfully.
"Half loved… half held… half yours."
Something flickered across his face.
Then quietly, unexpectedly, he said,
"I want a baby."
I stared at him completely shocked.
"What?"
His eyes didn't leave mine.
"I want one year," he said softly.
"One year with you properly."
I shook my head immediately.
"No."
"I'll give you divorce after that."
"No, Kartik," I whispered, stepping back slightly.
"It'll become impossible to leave you after one year."
For the first time since waking up, something soft appeared in his expression.
"Then let it become impossible," he whispered quietly.
My chest tightened painfully.
I looked at him for a long moment.
One year.
Just one more year beside him.
Maybe my heart had already lost long ago.
So finally, I lowered my eyes and whispered,
"Okay."
Kartik didn't move.
"But after that…" my voice trembled slightly,
"…we'll divorce."
Then finally, he nodded once.
"As you wish, Myra."
Something about the way he said it hurt me.
Like he was agreeing with his words… but not with his heart.
Before I could think further, his hand suddenly caught my wrist.
And in one quick movement, he pulled me back onto the bed.
A small gasp escaped my lips as I fell against his chest.
"Kartik—"
"Sleep," he murmured softly.
His arms wrapped around me immediately.
Warm.
Possessive.
Safe.
I tried pushing his shoulder lightly.
"It's morning."
"And?"
"You just woke up."
"And now I'm sleeping again."
Despite everything, a tiny smile appeared on my lips.
His fingers slowly moved through my hair gently.
Then he buried his face near my neck and whispered sleepily,
"One year isn't enough."
My heartbeat stumbled.
And sometime after, still trapped safely inside Kartik's arms
I fell asleep beside him again.