Chapter 4: Shattered Trust & Unspoken Wounds

The sky was turning a shade of tired orange when Poornima returned home, exhausted after a long day at work. Her eyes ached, her heart still bruised from the silence of the morning.

She opened the door, expecting emptiness.

But the smell of smoke hit her first.

She paused. Her eyes slowly shifted to the balcony.

There, leaning against the railing, was Veeresh — sleeves rolled up, hair tousled, and a cigarette between his fingers. The sunset painted a cold silhouette around him, but his face… it was pure fire.

She stormed toward him, her bag still hanging from her shoulder.

“Veeresh!” she snapped, her voice shaking. “You’re smoking? Again? You promised me you’d quit!”

He took a long drag, exhaled slowly, and didn’t even look at her.

And then he said coldly, “You really think I’ll change? For you?”

She froze.

“What’s wrong with you?” she asked, eyes narrowing.

Finally, he turned. His eyes were bloodshot — not from tears, but from bottled rage.

He stepped forward.

“How was the meeting with your lover, Poornima?” he asked, venom lacing every word. “Had a good time behind my back?”

She blinked, stunned. “What are you talking about?”

“Don’t act innocent!” he yelled. “Rishi, right? The man you still love? Are you still dreaming about him while sleeping in my house? Under my name?”

Tears brimmed in her eyes, but she refused to let them fall.

“You think I’d do that?” she whispered.

“I know what I saw,” he growled. “You smiled when he texted. You were glowing when you walked in today.”

“That was a client meeting!” she shouted, trying to defend herself.

But Veeresh wasn’t listening anymore.

He stormed to the table, pulled out a folded document, and threw it at her face.

It slapped against her cheek and fell to the floor.

She picked it up with trembling hands.

Divorce papers.

“Six months,” he said, breathing hard. “And we’re over. I don’t want to see your face after that.”

She looked up at him, voice cracking. “You don’t mean this…”

He stepped closer, anger in every vein of his face. “I thought… I thought at least you’d be loyal. If not as a wife, at least as a friend. But you? You’re the worst thing that’s happened to me.”

She felt like her heart was being ripped apart.

He turned away.

Without another word, Veeresh walked out, slamming the door behind him.

Poornima collapsed onto the couch, clutching the papers in her fists.

The tears finally came — loud, uncontrollable sobs that echoed through the emptiness of the room.

She had never felt more alone, more misunderstood, more broken.

Her best friend… the boy she grew up with… the man who kissed her like he loved her…

Had now become her biggest heartbreak.