Aarav had never been the kind of man who showed fear.
Men like him didn't break.
Men like him didn't tremble.
Men like him didn't look over their shoulders at shadows.
Or at least—
that's what the world saw.
But Aisha had begun to notice something else.
A crack in his armor.
A darkness under his skin.
A weight in his voice when he said her name.
He was hiding something.
And tonight…
that secret was starting to break.
---
Aisha couldn't stop shaking.
Her body still felt the cold of the locked room.
The voice whispering her name echoed in her bones.
Aarav sat beside her on the edge of his bed, hands clenched, jaw locked tight.
His breathing was not steady.
He was furious—but beneath the fury, she sensed something worse.
Fear.
Real fear.
"Aarav," she finally whispered, "that room… someone was inside."
"No one was inside," he snapped.
"But the door was open—"
"It was NOT open!"
Aisha flinched at the sharpness of his tone.
Aarav noticed.
He exhaled. "I'm not angry at you. I'm angry that the past keeps… returning."
She swallowed.
"You mean… Rhea?"
His whole body stiffened.
Aisha realized she had walked into dangerous territory.
The silence that followed wasn't empty—it was full.
Full of memories he refused to touch.
"Aarav," she whispered, "why do you keep that room the same? Why didn't you—"
He rose suddenly from the bed.
"I don't want to talk about it."
"Aarav, please—"
"I said no."
His voice cracked.
A small crack, but Aisha heard it.
And in that crack—was pain.
Deep, raw pain.
---
He walked to the window, the city lights reflecting in his eyes.
His voice, when it finally came, was low… almost broken.
"I didn't keep the room the same," he said. "Someone else did."
Aisha's heart lurched.
She stood slowly.
"Who?"
Silence.
Then—
"Aisha… there are things about my life that even I don't understand."
She stepped closer.
"What do you mean?"
Aarav looked over his shoulder, eyes shadowed.
"I lose time."
Aisha froze. "You… what?"
"Hours. Sometimes… days."
His breath trembled.
"It started after Rhea died."
A cold shiver slid down Aisha's spine.
"You mean… blackouts?"
He nodded once.
"And when I wake up…"
He looked toward the west wing.
"…things are moved. Changed. As if someone else was here. Someone who knows that room better than me."
Aisha's blood ran cold.
"Are you saying someone enters the penthouse at night?"
"No."
He shook his head.
Something in his eyes terrified her more than an intruder ever could.
"I'm saying…"
He swallowed.
"…maybe it's me."
---
Aisha's chest tightened.
"You think you go into that room?" she whispered.
"I don't know."
His hands shook for the first time since she'd met him.
"I just wake up and things are different. The flowers are fresh again. The diary is moved. The mirror is wiped clean."
Aisha remembered the faint smeared warning on the mirror.
DON'T TRUST HIM.
She shivered.
"Aarav… that writing… is that something you—"
"No," he said sharply, turning to her.
"I would never hurt you."
Aisha believed him.
But someone—or something—was trying to.
"And the voice I heard?" she asked.
"The whisper calling my name?"
Aarav's jaw clenched.
"That's not possible."
"Then what did I hear?"
"A dream."
"It wasn't a dream."
Aarav stared at her like she had touched a wound he kept buried.
There was a moment of silence.
Heavy.
Suffocating.
Then—Aarav rubbed his temples, pacing.
"Aisha, listen to me," he said.
"You cannot trust what you hear near that room. The mind plays tricks."
"Aarav—"
"You cannot trust that room!" he shouted.
The walls absorbed his voice, making the silence afterwards feel even sharper.
Aarav closed his eyes, shaky breath escaping him.
"I'm sorry. I'm… not myself."
Aisha stepped toward him carefully, like approaching a wounded animal.
"You can trust me," she whispered.
Aarav opened his eyes.
They were different now—broken in a way she had never seen.
The man who commanded companies, controlled boardrooms, terrified enemies—
stood in front of her, helpless.
"I want to," he whispered.
Her heart squeezed.
"But Aisha…"
His chest rose unevenly.
"There are nights I wake up with blood on my hands."
Aisha's breath vanished.
"What?"
"Sometimes it's mine."
He exhaled shakily.
"Sometimes… it's not."
Aisha felt her knees weaken.
"Aarav… what happened to Rhea?" she whispered.
He looked at her.
Really looked.
And for the first time, Aisha saw the truth.
He wasn't hiding his past.
He was afraid of it.
"I don't remember," he whispered.
"Half the world thinks I killed her."
He swallowed.
"The other half thinks she's still alive."
Aisha stepped back instinctively.
Aarav noticed.
Something inside him broke.
"Aisha…"
His voice cracked.
"I would never hurt you."
"I know," she whispered, though her voice trembled.
"You don't," he said softly.
"Because I don't even trust myself."
---
A sudden sound echoed from the west wing.
A soft creak.
A shift.
A breath.
Aisha and Aarav both turned toward the dark hallway.
The locked room.
Aarav's entire body went rigid.
"Aarav…" Aisha whispered.
But he didn't move.
He didn't breathe.
He stared into the darkness like he was seeing a ghost.
Then—
very faintly—
a woman's voice floated through the silence.
Not loud.
Not angry.
Soft.
Sad.
Calling his name.
"Aarav…"
Aisha's heart stopped.
Aarav's eyes widened in horror.
"No…" he whispered.
"Not again."
"Aarav—"
He grabbed her hand suddenly.
"Don't go near that voice."
His grip was tight. Desperate.
"Don't answer it. Don't follow it."
"Aarav, who is it? Is it—"
"No."
His voice cracked.
"It's not her. It can't be her."
The voice called again.
Closer.
Aarav squeezed his eyes shut, fighting something inside him.
Something deep.
Something dark.
Something breaking free.
"It's starting again," he whispered.
"What is?"
Aarav's eyes opened—filled with terror.
"My memories."
---
Aisha felt the ground shift beneath her.
"What happens when your memories return?" she whispered.
Aarav shook his head slowly.
"I don't know."
He swallowed.
"But something terrible. Something I buried for a reason."
"And now… it wants to come back."
Aisha took a shaky breath.
"Aarav… I'm here. You don't have to face it alone."
His eyes softened—just for a moment.
"I don't want to lose you," he whispered.
"You won't."
But she wasn't sure.
Not anymore.
Not when the voice behind the locked door sounded alive.
Not when Aarav's darkest secret was waking up.
Not when the man she married might not be the only one living in this penthouse.