A room that once hated darkness now stood buried in it.

Shashi had always slept with warm lamps glowing in every corner. She liked fairy lights, scented candles, soft yellow lamps—anything that made a place feel alive.

Tonight, every light was off.

Only the pale moon slipping through the curtains watched her destruction.

A vase crashed against the wall.

Glass exploded across the marble floor.

Another followed.

Then a lamp.

Then the tray of perfumes on her dresser.

The silence of the mansion shattered with every object she broke.

Her breathing came fast.

Her hands trembled.

Her chest burned.

Still, she kept going.

Because if she stopped for even one second—

she would cry.

And Shashi Oberoi refused to cry over a man who had rejected her without ever seeing her face.

A framed photograph hit the ground.

The mirror beside it rattled.

Her palm bled where sharp glass had sliced into the skin, but she barely noticed.

Pain outside was easier than pain inside.

She stood before the full-length mirror, staring at herself through heaving breaths.

Hair ruined.

Eyes red.

Cheeks flushed.

Blood smeared across one hand.

Slowly, she lifted that stained palm and touched her own reflection.

“What did I do,” she whispered, voice cracking, “to deserve this?”

Her throat tightened.

“Don’t I deserve love too?”

The room gave no answer.

One tear escaped despite her efforts, sliding down her left cheek.

She wiped it away furiously.

“No.”

Another breath.

Then anger rose again, hot and vicious.

“So he loves someone else?”

Her lips curved into something dangerous.

“He dared to wound a woman made of knives.”

Her gaze hardened.

“Now let him bleed.”

With one violent strike, she threw the crystal candle stand into the mirror.

It shattered instantly.

Her reflection broke into a hundred pieces.

Just like her pride.

No one knew how long it lasted.

By the time she stopped, the room looked like a battlefield.

Broken glass glittered everywhere.

Furniture overturned.

Flowers crushed.

Blood drops scattered like tiny red confessions.

Shashi walked to the washroom, rinsed her hands beneath cold water, and watched pink swirl into the sink.

She bandaged the cuts herself.

Then calmly called the servants.

“Clean everything.”

They entered, eyes lowered, too wise to ask questions.

Once they were done, she went downstairs and cooked herself pasta.

Creamy.

Warm.

Comforting.

Food had never abandoned her.

She ate alone in silence.

Then footsteps echoed through the hall.

Sharp heels.

Measured steps.

Authority.

Laksha.

Shashi didn’t look up until her sister’s amused voice rang through the dining room.

“Jaan sakti hu doctor sahiba ko kya hua hai?”

[May I know what happened to Doctor Madam?]

Shashi raised her head.

Laksha stood there in an ivory suit, flawless as ever.

Beside her was a beautifully dressed woman wearing a bright smile.

Shashi forced herself to stand.

But before she could greet them, the woman rushed forward and hugged her tightly.

“Congratulations, soon-to-be sister-in-law!”

Shashi froze.

Her fork slipped from her fingers and clattered onto the plate.

What?

No.

No, no—

The letter.

The black rose.

The rejection.

Her mind reeled.

The woman pulled back happily.

“Finally, my idiot devar agreed!”

Shashi’s pulse stopped.

Agreed?

Laksha stepped closer, patted her cheek lightly, and smiled.

“Congrats, doctor.”

For one terrifying second, Shashi thought she might faint.

She sat down abruptly.

Her fingers moved to her hair.

Then her face.

Then the table.

Anything to appear normal.

Anything to hide panic.

She stood again too quickly.

“Thank you… Mrs. Rajput.”

The woman laughed warmly.

“You’ll be one soon too.”

A weak smile was all Shashi could manage.

Laksha turned smoothly.

“Mrs. Rajput, shall we discuss the deal in my study?”

“Of course.”

They walked away together, heels echoing through the corridor.

Security followed behind them.

All except one.

He remained.

Tall.

Silent.

Unreadable.

Le-Yoon.

Shashi dropped into the chair the second they disappeared.

A groan escaped her lips.

When she looked up, he was still standing there.

Watching quietly.

His eyes moved to her bandaged hands.

“Why are your hands red, Shashi?” he asked. “They should be yellow with haldi if you’re getting married.”

Even now, she almost laughed.

Almost.

“Le-Yoon,” she said softly, “can you help me with something?”

He nodded once.

“You know about the mess in my room?”

“Yes.”

“Please don’t tell her.”

For the first time, something human flickered across his usually blank face.

Pity.

Or understanding.

Maybe both.

He gave one short nod.

Then left without another word.

Shashi sat there alone.

The house around her glittered with wealth.

Her future glittered too, apparently.

Then why did everything feel ruined?

She closed the bedroom door softly behind her.

The mansion was silent again.

Too silent.

Shashi walked toward the study table near the window, where a lavender notebook rested beneath a stack of untouched books. Its edges were worn, pages swollen slightly from years of pressed flowers, tears, ink, and secrets.

Her journal.

The only thing in this house that knew her completely.

She sat down, switched on the small lamp, and opened to a fresh page.

For a few moments, she simply stared.

Then she uncapped her pen and began to write.

26th may

Today I learned something strange.

A heart can break before it ever begins.

I did not know a man I have never met could insult me without saying a single cruel word.

He was polite.

Respectful.

Honest.

And somehow that hurt more.

If he had called me ugly, I would have hated him easily.

If he had called me foolish, I would have laughed.

But he said another woman already lives in his heart.

How do I compete with a ghost?

How do I feel jealous of someone who does not even have a name?

Funny, no?

I agreed to marry a stranger yesterday.

Today that stranger rejected me.

And tonight everyone congratulated me for the same marriage.

Maybe God writes comedy using my life.

She paused, jaw tightening.

A small ink blot spread beneath the tip of her pen.

She turned the page and continued.

Do you know what hurt the most?

Not him.

Not the letter.

Not even the black rose like some dramatic villain from an old film.

It was this thought—

He chose someone else with certainty...

and no one has ever chosen me like that.

Not Ma and Papa, because they left too soon.

Not didu, because ambition took her oceans away.

Not life.

Maybe I am always the second option.

The convenient option.

The “good enough” option.

Never the first.

Never the madness.

Never the girl someone would ruin the world for

Her vision blurred.

She blinked quickly and wiped her cheek with the back of her hand.

No tears on paper.

Never tears on paper.

She inhaled and wrote harder now, the pen pressing deep into the page.

But let it be known—

I am wounded.

Not weak.

Humiliated.

Not finished.

If Dr. Aakash Singh Rajput thinks he can reject me before seeing my face, then I pray fate seats him before me one day.

I want him to look at me properly.

I want him to know exactly what he refused.

And then...

I want to refuse him back.

Beautifully.

She stopped.

Read it once.

Then smirked through the ache.

“Psycho,” she muttered to herself.

The anger softened.

Her handwriting gentled for the final lines.

Also, note for future me:

You still made good pasta today.

You are still a doctor.

You are still soft despite trying not to be.

You are still lovable, even if tonight does not feel like it.

And if nobody chooses you—

choose yourself first.

Goodnight.

— Shashi

__________________________________________________________

She closed the journal carefully and pressed her palm over the cover.

The room remained dark.

Her chest still hurt.

Nothing had changed.

And yet, somehow, writing it down made the pain sit quieter.

She switched off the lamp and went to bed.

Inside the drawer nearby, the letter waited.

Inside the journal, so did she.

____________________________________________________________
HOPE YOU ENJOYED READING PLEASE SHARE YOUR THOUGHT AND DO VOTE AND COMMENTS PLZ