Page 77 of Right Where I Belong
Sabrina’s hands continued to tremble even an hour after she’d reached home. The silence in the cab on the way back had been crushing. Ahaan had sulked in the seat beside her and had refused to speak to her. He was so disappointed, so angry about missing the match, and every explanation she’d given had sounded hollow even to her own ears.
He’d only softened once she’d dropped him at Aisha’s, murmuring a stiff goodbye before disappearing inside. She’d make it up to him. He would come around. But Aditya…
She paced in her living room, waiting for him. Her mother-in-law was still not talking to her properly and was in her room, which meant they’d have privacy for this conversation. Her heart thudded in pain. God, she loved Aditya so much. And whatever she was about to do next was for his own good.
The sound of the doorbell made her jump. When she opened it, Aditya was standing there, his expression taut with hurt and anger. Sadness pooled inside her to see him like this. She had done that. He stepped inside the house and shut the door behind him.
“Why Sabrina?” His voice was sharp, cutting, as he spoke. “Why did you run away like that? And don’t give me some bullshit excuse of being unwell. You look absolutely fine.”
She swallowed, her throat dry. “I… I had to. The media made me afraid.”
“Of what?” he queried, searching her face. “They don’t know you. They hadn’t even noticed you were with me.”
“I don’t like my photographs being clicked. Seeing them freaked me out.”
His jaw clenched. “Either this is the lamest excuse ever, or there is something you aren’t telling me. Which is it?”
Silence stretched between them. She couldn’t answer, because anything she told him would lead back to her past. Herpast. Her fucking past, and her mistakes that haunted her till date.
“You have to trust me, Sabrina…” He gentled his tone. “If you want this—if you wantus—then you have to tell me everything. All of it. This… this can work only if you trust me with your secrets.”
She shook her head. “Aditya?—”
“—I love you.”
Her heart screamed in pain. This ought to be the happiest moment in her life. The man she loved, loved her back. But she was so afraid. Fear terrorized her. Fear of Dorab and JD. Fear of her past. Fear of dragging him and Ahaan into the darkness she had tried so hard to escape.
Her lips trembled, but she forced the words out. “I think… I think this… you and me, we need a break. Everything’s happening too fast.”
“Too fast?” He stepped closer to her. “We’ve been takingusslow because you wanted it that way. I’ve done everything you wanted. I’ve been patient. I’ve showed you that Ahaan, you, and I belong together. And yet you don’t seem to see it.”
He stepped even closer, his eyes burning into hers. “I know you’re scared. But I can’t help you if you don’t tell me everything.”
Her heart twisted so painfully she almost cried out from the pain. God, she wanted to tell him about her past, about Mihir, Vedant, and Armaan. She wanted to fall into his arms and let him shoulder the weight she’d carried alone for so long. But the image of the camera flashes, of JD and Dorab’s shadow reaching for Ahaan, for him—those fears strangled her.
She shook her head, forcing steel into her voice even as everything cracked inside her. “No. I don’t want this.”
“Don’t do this. It’s the coward’s way out.” His words were raw, desperate. “Don’t let your fears and insecurities kill what we have.”
Every word shredded her. She loved him—God, she loved him more than she thought she could love anyone. And this, right now, was killing her. It felt like she was ripping her own heart out, severing the only joy she’d ever let herself taste. But she did it anyway. Because walking away meant he might be safe. Because choosing him meant endangering him and her son both.
Her nails bit into her palms as she forced herself to hold his gaze, to keep her mask in place. “I can’t do this.”
“Why? I don’t understand, Sabrina.”
“Aditya, this isn’t going to work,” she deliberately sharpened her voice. “You’re rich; you belong to a world completely different from mine. Look at me. I live in a modest apartment. You probably live in some fancy mansion in a posh locality. Come to think of it, I don’t even know where you live.”
His brows drew together. “You always knew I was rich. That never seemed to bother you before. So, what’s changed now?”
Her throat tightened, but she forced the words out. “What’s changed is me finally seeing things clearly. I don’t fit in your world. I never will.”
He stepped closer, his gaze steady on hers. “You’ve always been welcome in my world. You’re welcome in my house at any time. Where is all this suddenly coming from? If it’s because of the media, then tell me why you’re scared of your picture being taken, and I will fix it.”
She shook her head, her chest aching as she pushed the words past her lips. “No, Aditya. This—us—it’s not for me. I can’t do it.”
His gaze hardened. “If you really mean this, then look me in the eye and tell me you don’t love me. Tell me you don’t want me.”
Her stomach twisted, and bile rose in her throat. “I don’t love you.”
