Meant To Be

CHAPTER- 37

Arjuns pov -

I shouldn’t have snapped at her, but I did. I don’t even know why anymore. It feels like I'm becoming something I never wanted to be—a monster. When did I start acting like this? I can't pinpoint the moment it all changed.

I must have fallen asleep while leaning against the wall. I woke up disoriented, my body stiff from the uncomfortable position. My first instinct was to find Meera, but she was nowhere in sight. Panic gripped me, my chest tightening as I searched the room.

Then I saw it—the balcony door was slightly ajar. And I saw Meera, her silhouette framed against the dim light of the night. She was standing there, her gaze lost in the distance. I moved toward the door, pushing it open just enough to hear voices.

"Hey, Meera, tell me I look handsome, right?" Nikhil's voice was clear, ringing through the air.

A surge of anger pulsed through my veins, sharp and uncontrollable. So it was true. She was fasting for him. Not for me. I meant nothing to her. I had been a fool to think that maybe, just maybe, she was still holding on to something. I’d allowed myself to hope. But now, that hope felt like a distant memory, replaced with a bitter, suffocating truth.

I watched as her phone slipped from her hand, falling to the ground as a loud thunderclap echoed through the sky.

And in that moment, I felt something break inside me.

Meera -

I lifted my eyes, and there he was—standing in front of me with those red-hot eyes, burning with so much hatred. It felt like his gaze was searing through me, each second more suffocating than the last. There was so much disgust in those eyes, so much rage. And yet, there was something else. Something deeper. A pain that mirrored my own, though I couldn’t bear to admit it.

I had seen Arjun angry before, in ways that would chill anyone’s soul. Trust me, I knew the worst of his fury. But this? This was different. This was beyond anything I had ever experienced from him.

"When...did you..." I tried to speak, to make sense of the storm that was raging in his eyes. But before I could finish, he was already moving—long, angry strides that closed the distance between us in a heartbeat. I backed away instinctively, my heart pounding in my chest, but the wall stopped me. I was trapped.

A dark, dangerous laugh escaped him, low and menacing, and I felt it crawl under my skin like a thousand spiders. Goosebumps prickled on my arms.

"What happened?" I finally managed to speak, my voice shaky.

"What happened?" His words dripped with venom as he stepped closer, his presence overwhelming.

"You're in love with that Nikhil, huh?"

The words hit me like a slap, and my breath caught in my throat. My eyes widened. I knew he had heard the last part of my conversation, but I couldn’t stop the rush of relief that flooded through me. He didn’t know everything. He didn’t know how much I was still tangled up in my feelings for him.

"You're just misunderstanding, Arjun," I said quickly, taking a small step forward, hoping to ease the tension.

"Misunderstanding?" His voice was dangerously calm, but the fury beneath it was like a wild storm. His hand shot out and gripped my wrist with an unforgiving force, pinning me to the wall.

I froze, my body tensing in fear. I shut my eyes for a moment, willing myself not to break down, but I could feel the rain drenching me. Cold droplets ran down my skin, but the chill didn’t compare to the heat radiating from Arjun.

"I hate you, Meera. I hate you so much," he snarled, his voice low, raw with pain.

I wanted to speak, to explain, but the words felt stuck in my throat. Why did he always misunderstand me? Why did it have to be like this?