ASHVI'S POV :
I still couldn't process everything I had seen.
Was it real?
Had all of that happened because of me?
Did I do it?
Did I kill AJ?
My mind was filled with countless questions—questions I had no answers to. And the one person who did have those answers was missing.
I had already called Ruhaan thirty times, but he still wasn't answering. I had sent him so many messages, yet there was no reply to any of them.
I'll call Yash. He might know where Ruhaan is.
I dialed Yash's number.
"Hello?"
"Yash, where is Ruhaan?"
There was a brief pause before he answered.
"Ruhaan didn't come to class today."
"What? Why?"
"He had some personal work, so—"
He was still saying something, but I had already ended the call.
"Damn it."
Where was this guy? I had been calling him for so long—no answer to my calls, no reply to my messages. He hadn't even gone to class today, and apparently, no one knew where he was.
Where could Ruhaan possibly have gone?
RUHAAN'S POV:
I know, i know
I'm looking at Ashvi's missed calls and messages, but I can't answer her right now.
Because if I talk to her, I'm afraid I won't be able to stop myself.
She has this strange power over me—the kind that can completely pull me away from whatever I'm doing. And right now, I can't afford to get distracted.
So, for now, it's better if she stays away.
I'll contact you very soon, Ashvi.
Just wait for me a little longer.
---
ASHVI'S POV
Okay, this is getting ridiculous.
Where the hell is this man?
Now I'm actually starting to get worried.
What if something happened to him?
No.
Ashvi, what are you thinking?
Shut your mind down. Stop overthinking.
Nothing happened. Everything is fine.
But then why does nobody know where Ruhaan is?
How is that even possible?
Even Yash doesn't know where he is.
Wait...
What if Yash is lying too?
Oh God.
My own brain is my biggest enemy.
At this rate, it's actually going to drive me crazy.
_____________________
YASH'S POV
Ashvi looked really tense. It seemed like she was asking about Ruhaan.
But what could I do? Ruhaan had specifically told me not to tell her anything.
Huh.
I scoffed to myself.
It was strange how quickly these two had started getting to know each other. Ruhaan already knew that Ashvi would come looking for him. He had warned me beforehand.
Looks like love is entering Ruhaan's life again.
The last time his heart was broken, I honestly thought he would never fall in love again.
But look at destiny.
Still, this time, I didn't want Ashvi and Ruhaan to have a love story.
I was lost in my thoughts when Harry walked up to me.
"What?" I asked.
"Look."
He pointed towards Varun.
"He looks pretty upset."
"What happened to him?" I asked.
"Don't know. He's been like this since he came in."
I looked at Varun for a moment before walking towards him.
"Varun," I called.
He looked at me.
"What happened?"
He didn't say anything at first. Instead, he seemed to disappear back into his own thoughts.
So I asked again.
No reply.
I insisted once more.
That was when he finally spoke.
"You know Maya had refused to marry that guy, right?"
(Maya's parents had fixed her marriage with someone else, but Ashvi had somehow managed to stop it.)
"Yeah. So what happened?" I asked.
"Maya talked to her parents about us."
He paused.
"They clearly refused because of my family background. Now they're saying they won't accept us until I make something of myself."
His voice turned sad.
I understood what he meant.
"Honestly, her parents aren't completely wrong either. Obviously, they wouldn't just hand their daughter over to someone who doesn't have a stable career. If you don't have any work right now, what are you supposed to do?" I said.
"But what am I supposed to do?"
Varun looked frustrated.
"You guys know I'm not actually helpless. I had my own restaurant. But after Dad died, I had no choice but to shut it down."
He lowered his gaze.
"And now I don't even know where to start again."
***********************
*Scene shifted *—
ASHVI'S POV :
Nothing else was happening.
So I was just staring at my bedroom ceiling.
I hadn't found out anything about Ruhaan, so staring at the ceiling was the only option I had left.
But just then, my phone started ringing.
With lifeless eyes, I reached toward the phone stand beside my bed and grabbed my phone.
The moment I saw who was calling, I literally jumped on the bed.
This man.
I had almost lost my mind trying to contact him all day, and now this man had finally found the time to call me back.
I immediately picked up the call.
"Your mind is already messed up, but you're going to mess mine up too! Where the hell were you all this time? You ignored my messages, you ignored my calls—how dare you! Couldn't you at least think that if I'm calling you this many times, there must be some emergency? But no, apparently His Highness doesn't even have time to check! Do you know I've been trying to contact you since morning?"
I said everything in one go.
By the time I stopped, my breathing had become faster.
And then came his reply.
("Does your mouth even have a brake? How much did you just say?")
"What?"
("If someone calls you, you're supposed to say hello first. But you—damn.")
What a shameless man.
I had just said so much to him, and instead of answering my questions, he was scolding me.
("Enough, enough. You don't need to call me shameless in your head," he replied from the other side.)
I froze.
"How do you know what I'm saying in my head?"
"(I know.)"
I rolled my eyes.
"Are you okay?" I asked.
("Hmm.")
There was a pause.
("Sorry.")
I don't know why, but that one word made all my anger and frustration melt away.
Of course, I couldn't let him know that.
Instead, I said, "Wow, Ruhaan Raina is actually apologizing to me. I mean, the same person who used to think that apologizing would make him look inferior is actually saying sorry to me today."
("Hmm... now, you quietly tell me why you called so many times. What was so important? Were you missing me that much?")
He didn't answer my question, but I knew he was smiling.
I could literally imagine his stupid smile through the phone.
"You tell me first. Where were you?"
"(I was somewhere. Had some personal work. I can't tell you.")
"Then you tell me what happened."
"Ruhaan..." I started.
("Hmm?")
"Today I saw some news..."
I paused.
"...AJ died."
I started stammering.
"Ruhaan..."
There was silence on the other end.
I swallowed.
"Was... was I responsible for his death?"