Page 57 of One Hellish Wedlock
He hadn’t meant to go there, not tonight, but the words slipped out before he could stop them.
Aanya’s expression froze.
“Wow,” she said, her tone tight, brittle. “So we’re doing that now? You’re putting the entire failure of that night on me?”
Her eyes burned with frustration, but underneath it, there was too much hurt.
“Maybe you should’ve told your staff not to stock the room like a bar,” she snapped. “I didn’t even want the wedding, Reyansh. I was drunk out of my mind. I don’t even remember when I passed out.”
He crossed the space in seconds and grabbed her arm.
“You didn’t just pass out. You passed out n*ked when I walked in, Aanya. What kind of stunt was that? What were you trying to prove?” he demanded.
Aanya swallowed hard, her throat suddenly dry.
“It wasn’t some stunt,” she said, voice shaky. “I was going to take a shower. I was exhausted, so I undressed… but I must’ve passed out before I made it to the bathroom.”
Reyansh didn’t look away. He was studying her, trying to read the truth behind her words.
She scoffed suddenly, breaking the tension. “But really, what’s the point of digging this up now?”
He took a step back, jaw tightening.
“Yeah, great question. Why now, right? You did what you had to that night. And then you vanished. No message. No explanation. Nothing.”
“That’s becauseyouinsulted me, Reyansh Chopra,” she exploded. “Do you even remember what you said to me the next morning?”
He blinked.
“You said you weren’t like those so-called desperate guys from my past—the kind who’d take advantage of a drunk woman.”
Her voice trembled with rage and hurt as she stepped closer.
“You made me feel cheap. Like Imeantto trap you. You didn’t even flinch before passing judgment on your own wife. One night—that’s all it took for you to tear down my character like it meant nothing. Did you ever ask if I’d even had boyfriends? Did you try to know me, even once, before marrying me? No. You didn’t. But you still had the audacity to label me, to assume I was the kind of woman who’d sleep with just anyone. So tell me, Reyansh Chopra, what exactly did you expect me to do? Stay and swallow your filthy assumptions? I left because your arrogance left no space for my dignity.”
Reyansh stood frozen, silenced by the truth in her words. Sothatwas the wound she had carried all along. That was the moment their fragile relationship had shattered.
A knock interrupted the rising storm. Aanya turned and composed herself instantly, opening the door for the maid, who brought in their dinner.
“Leave it there,” Aanya instructed the maid, who wheeled in the dinner cart and silently exited.
Without another glance at him, she marched to the recliner where their shopping bags were and grabbed the nightdress she’d bought and turned toward the bathroom.
“I’m not hungry,” she said flatly. “You can have it all.”
And without another glance, she disappeared into the bathroom, locking the door behind her.
She splashed cold water on her face, as if it could wash away the bitter memories of the morning after her wedding. But they clung to her like scars. No matter how much she tried to bury them, they resurfaced—his words, his accusations, the way hemade her feel that day. She had kept her pain locked away for too long. Reyansh had never earned her explanations… nor would he ever believe them.
Flashback - 18 months back
The harsh morning light pierced through the hotel curtains, stinging her eyes. She groaned and turned to the side, hoping to steal a few more minutes of sleep, but the throbbing pain in her head forced her upright. Nothing about this felt normal. As her gaze swept across the unfamiliar space, realization struck that it was a hotel room. Her clothes lay scattered on the bed like discarded fragments of a forgotten night. An empty champagne bottle rested ominously near the bed.
Aanya clutched the duvet tighter around her bare body, her heart racing. What the hell had happened?
It had been her wedding night. Shouldn’t he have been here? Did he walk in, see her in that state, and walk right back out? Or had he never come at all?
Surely no man, least of all her husband would resist a woman like that on their first night together... would he?
