(Ayesha’s POV)

Three months.

Twelve weeks of hiding tears behind forced smiles. Twelve weeks of walking on glass around Rudra. Twelve weeks of carrying a life inside her, while the father of that life hovered between brutal protector and cold stranger.

Her body had started to change — the gentle curve of her stomach impossible to hide now. She caught Rudra staring sometimes, his dark eyes flickering with something she couldn’t name. Possessiveness? Guilt? Or that dangerous love he refused to admit existed between them?

He hadn’t touched her since that night he found out. No forced kisses, no punishing hands. Instead, he controlled her with silence, with sharp orders disguised as care — what to eat, when to sleep, how to breathe.

And in that silence, Ayesha was suffocating.

Today was worse. Rudra was home early, his mood unreadable, his jaw locked tight.

“Sit,” he ordered the moment she stepped into the living room.

She obeyed, fingers curling into the soft fabric of her dress. It was one of the only things that still fit her, the empire waist hiding her small bump. But Rudra’s eyes saw everything.

He poured himself a drink — neat whiskey — the amber liquid catching the evening light. But he didn’t drink. Instead, he turned to her, voice sharp enough to slice through bone.

“I found something.”

Her heart skipped. “What… what did you find?”

He walked closer, his presence a storm, looming and dangerous. He dropped a small envelope on the table in front of her — old photographs, some torn, some smeared with water stains.

Ayesha’s blood froze. Those photos.

They were from the past — the time right before their breakup. Pictures of her with another man, taken from angles that made it look… wrong. Like she was cheating. Like everything Rudra believed was true.

“Rudra, this isn’t—”

He cut her off with a raised hand. “Don’t lie. Not again.”

She swallowed hard, fingers trembling as she reached for the pictures. “Where did you get these?”

“Does it matter?” His voice was cold, but his eyes burned. “For three months, I’ve watched you hide secrets behind your stomach and your tears. But now I see it. You left me for him, didn’t you?”

“No!” Her voice broke, desperation slipping through. “It wasn’t like that.”

“Then tell me how it was, Ayesha.” He leaned closer, his hands bracing on either side of her chair, trapping her. “Tell me why you ran, why you lied, why you hid our baby from me for months.”

Her tears welled, but she bit her lip hard enough to bleed. “I can’t.”

He slammed his hand on the table, making her flinch. “Can’t, or won’t?”

“Both.”

For a moment, silence stretched between them — thick, suffocating, filled with everything they never said.

Rudra’s gaze dropped to her belly, his expression softening for a fraction of a second before hardening again. “You think hiding the truth will protect you? It won’t. Because I’ll find out. And when I do… there’ll be nowhere left to hide.”

Her breath shuddered. “Are you going to punish me again?”

Rudra tilted her chin up, forcing her to look at him. “Not today.” His thumb brushed over her bottom lip, smudging the trace of blood. “Because right now, you’re carrying my heir. And even if I hate you, that baby is mine too.”

His voice softened just enough to break her heart all over again. “But once you give me that child, Ayesha…”

His smile was cold. “Then you’ll have no more shield.”

She didn’t know if it was a threat or a promise.

Maybe both.

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End of Chapter 23