Great — I'll choose the stronger storyline that keeps the tension rising.
My Choice for Chapter 6:
Chapter 6: The Morning After — Secrets in Sunlight
(Full Webnovel-style, long chapter, romance + mystery + emotional tension)
Here it comes:
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CHAPTER 6: The Morning After — Secrets in Sunlight
Aisha barely slept.
Every time she closed her eyes, she heard it—the faint, broken whisper of a woman calling Aarav's name from behind the locked door. A voice soaked in pain, begging for help.
She had never heard something so haunting…
or so intimate.
When sunlight finally spilled across the penthouse, she felt as if she had survived a nightmare. Except the nightmare wasn't over—because the man tied to that voice was sitting right outside her bedroom, silent and unreadable.
Aarav.
He had stayed up the entire night in the small armchair, watching over her like he didn't trust the dark. Or himself. Or the door.
She sat up slowly.
He noticed immediately.
"Good morning," he said softly.
His voice was gentle. Too gentle. Like someone trying not to break the fragile air between them.
"You didn't sleep," she whispered.
"I didn't need to."
She frowned. "Everyone needs sleep."
He gave a faint, practiced smile. "Maybe I'm not everyone."
Aisha studied him. His eyes were sharp, alert… but tired. So tired she wondered how long he had been living like this.
Living with a past he couldn't remember.
Living with voices behind doors he refused to open.
She forced herself to speak normally. "Do you want coffee?"
"I made some for you," he said, rising to his feet.
"For me? What about you?"
He hesitated. "I don't drink coffee."
She blinked. "Since when?"
He paused again—just one second too long.
"I don't know," he admitted quietly. "I just… know that I don't."
Her heart tightened.
Everything about him was like that—
automatic
instinctive
muscle memory without mind memory.
He could cook, but didn't know why he knew certain knives by feel.
He could fix a broken vase with steady hands, but didn't know why he flinched when she raised her voice.
He could wake from nightmares like a soldier trained for survival… but didn't know who he had been running from.
Or running to.
Aisha stood. "Let's have breakfast. Together."
Aarav almost looked surprised.
"As you wish," he said softly.
---
The dining table looked too big for just two people.
Aisha ate slowly, trying not to glance at him too much. Aarav ate mechanically, like someone following instructions coded into his bones.
When he spoke, his voice startled her.
"About last night…" he began.
Her fork paused mid-air. "Yes?"
He took a breath. "I checked the room again. There is no one inside."
"There was a voice," she said firmly.
"I believe that you heard something," he said calmly. "But it wasn't a person."
"What else could it be?"
He set his fork down carefully. "Memories can echo. Trauma can echo. This house… may carry pieces of what I lost."
She stared at him. "You're saying you have… a phantom voice in your penthouse? Calling your name?"
His jaw tightened. "I'm saying my past is not kind, Aisha. And it's not safe."
"Safe for me? Or safe for you?"
He didn't answer.
She leaned forward. "Aarav… I'm your wife now. Even if by contract. I deserve to know the truth."
"You deserve peace," he replied softly. "Not my darkness."
Aisha opened her mouth to argue, but before she could speak—
A sharp chime echoed through the penthouse.
The doorbell.
Aarav stiffened.
He stood instantly, tension sliding into his posture like a shadow. "Stay here."
"Aarav—?"
But he was already walking to the door, his steps silent and controlled.
She followed him anyway, heart hammering.
Aarav opened the door.
A man in a dark suit stood outside, tall and composed. His eyes were cold, sharp—too sharp for a delivery man, too calm for a stranger.
"Aarav," the man said, voice clipped. "It's time."
Aisha froze.
Aarav's expression dropped into something she had never seen before.
Not fear.
Recognition.
"How did you find me?" Aarav asked quietly.
"I always find you," the man replied.
Aisha stepped closer. "Who are you?"
The man's eyes slid to her.
Calculating. Assessing.
Not friendly.
"I'm someone who knows your husband very well," he said with a thin smile.
Aarav immediately moved in front of her, blocking the man's view. "Don't speak to her."
The voice behind the door.
His nightmares.
His lost memories.
This man was connected to something Aarav had been running from.
Aarav's tone dropped to ice. "State your purpose and leave."
The man extended a small sealed envelope.
"This was meant for you," he said. "Before you disappeared."
Disappeared.
The word stabbed the air.
Aarav didn't take the envelope.
"Who sent it?" he asked.
"You did," the man said.
Aisha's breath caught. "He sent a letter to himself?"
The man smirked. "He prepared it before the… incident."
Aisha felt her skin crawl.
Aarav slowly reached for the envelope.
The man whispered just before leaving—
"Be careful what you read, Aarav. You might not like the man you used to be."
Then the door shut.
Silence.
Aisha looked at Aarav. His hands were shaking slightly as he held the envelope, like it was a bomb ticking between his fingers.
"Aarav," she whispered, "what's in it?"
He swallowed.
"I don't know."
"You're scared."
"Yes."
"Do you want me to stay with you while you open it?"
He looked at her then—really looked at her.
Something vulnerable flickered in his gaze.
"Yes," he said softly. "I don't want to open it alone."
Aisha stepped closer.
He broke the seal.
A single folded letter slipped out.
Aarav opened it slowly.
Aisha watched his eyes move across the page—watched them darken, widen, then turn hollow with silent dread.
"Aarav…" she whispered. "What does it say?"
His voice came out barely audible.
"It says…"
He swallowed hard, breath shaking.
"It says I married you once before."
Aisha's blood ran cold.
Their contract marriage wasn't their first marriage.
They had been husband and wife…
in the life he couldn't remember.