"Sometimes, I think I loved her more after I killed her."
---
NYRA VORA
It was raining. The sky sobbed like the past had finally broken open.
I stood alone on the garden balcony of the Vora estate, wrapped in a thin black slip dress, arms bare, hair soaked.
The storm had always felt like home.
Because it matched the chaos in me.
And then—I heard him.
Ravian.
Footsteps behind me.
He didn't speak at first.
Just stood there.
Watching me.
Like he'd done a thousand times in another life.
---
> "You'll catch a cold," he said finally.
> "You think I'm scared of pain?"
I didn't turn around.
> "I never thought you were," he replied.
Silence.
Just rain and breath and ghosts between us.
> "Why are you here?" I asked.
> "I don't know," he said. "Maybe… because you remind me of her."
Now I turned.
Slowly.
> "Remind you of who?"
He looked broken. Wet hair clinging to his forehead.
Shirt soaked, eyes wild.
> "Meher."
My heart stuttered.
> "She's dead," I whispered.
> "I know," he said. Then added—
"But lately… I see her in you. In your voice. In your fire. In your anger."
> "You sound haunted."
He stepped closer.
> "I am."
---
> "She used to cry when I left the room," he said. "Then she stopped crying."
"That's when I should've been scared."
I didn't move.
> "Why are you telling me this?" I asked softly.
> "Because I killed her," he choked. "Not with a knife. But with the games. The bet. The humiliation."
He sank to his knees.
Right there.
In the rain.
On his knees in front of me.
> "She begged me. To save her. To save our son. To stop. And I… I made her bleed instead."
I looked down at him.
> "And now?" I asked.
He looked up.
> "Now I can't sleep unless I'm watching your interviews on mute.
I can't breathe unless I know where you are."
"You feel like her. But you're not her. Are you?"
I leaned down slowly.
Touched his cheek.
> "You want her back?"
He nodded.
Tears mixing with rain.
> "Then maybe you should've loved her before you buried her."
And I walked away.
Leaving him kneeling in the rain.
Broken.
Just like he left me.
---
LATER – RAVIAN
He didn't move for an hour.
He sat in the rain, soaked, eyes wide.
And whispered her name.
> "Meher..."
Like if he said it enough, she might forgive him.
But Meher was dead.
And Nyra?
Nyra was the storm come to collect.
---
🩸 End of Chapter 12
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