Chapter 380: Chapter 380

Aliya sat quietly at the back of the car that zipped along the last stretch of road to the Thornston estate; her mind was still on the last information that the doctor had given her.

’It’s been a whole month!’ She thought,

A month back in her hospital room, she watched as Ian exited the room in disappointment. Like her last words lingered in Ian’s mind, so did his, "I’ll let you have a moment to yourself..."

This was not the Ian that Aliya knew. How was he in the past, though? Aliya knew that he was vastly different because Ian was always doting on her and doing her bidding. One thing was for sure, the Ian of the past would have never done that. The Ian of the past would have never tolerated even a pinch on her skin, not to talk of a whole hospitalization.

He would have never come there with another woman. In fact, in all the time that Aliya had known Ian, which was decades, she had never seen another woman by Ian. That place had been forever reserved for her by some unspoken agreement. Ian had always been her safe haven, despite Tyler.

This was all a complicated process and linking relationships that would not be understood by an outsider. Ian’s family had never liked her much, and Aliya was well aware of this fact, but her decision to be with Tyler despite having Ian in her life was different. She loved Tyler, but Aliya had a special place reserved for Ian as well.

She had gotten a sort of reality check that she had not be expecting that day in the hospital. Ian was just not himself.

Aliya had convinced herself that Ian would be back for her. He had always come back for her, so why would this time be any different? Even with Tyler in the picture, Ian had never faltered in his affection for her, so Aliya was unsettled this time. As the door closed firmly behind Ian, so did something in her heart, and she felt cold all of a sudden.

Aliya waited for what felt like a long time, but Ian never returned, and neither did the woman that she did not want to think much about. She just did not have the capability to add that woman to her thoughts... or better yet, Aliya did not want to.

When her hospital room opened again later that night, Aliya’s hopeful gave fleeted to the door the moment it creaked open, her lips already curving into a smile.

’I knew it! Ian would never leave me!’ She thought, but as soon as she saw who had entered, her face fell. The light in her eyes dimmed, and the smile disappeared as if wiped away by an invisible hand.

She didn’t bother to mask her disappointment—why should she? Aliya only went to lengths of doing so for one person, and he was not there. Many people had wondered and asked her why she had agreed to be engaged to Tyler if she was that much into Ian, but only Aliya knew the answer to that. Ian was special to her, but so was Tyler.... Or even more so!

The doctor feigned ignorance, acting as if he didn’t notice the change in her behaviour. He offered a professional nod, stepping in with his clipboard in hand and a gentle smile that was reserved for his patients. "Hello again," he said, his tone measured and polite. He checked her vitals methodically, the beeping of the monitors, again filling the strained silence in the room as he re-hooked her to some of them.

Then, as if trying to make the moment lighter, he began some casual small talk, his words tumbling out with well-meaning ease.

"My apologies for making a mistake with your next-of-kin. I had thought that he was your spouse, but it turned out that he was already married. I had offered some advice to him to ...."

The doctor continued, but with every sentence, she felt as though a dagger twisted deeper into her chest. She barely heard the specifics of what he said—her mind clung only to the unspoken undertone that was impossible to ignore.

Each word was a reflection of what Ian told the doctor which still sounded unbelievable to her. After coming back from the dead and being told that Tyler was nowhere to be found and also assumed dead, she knew that this was her chance. From the moment Aliya had opened her eyes, only one name lingered in her mind, ’Ian!’

This was the man she had been hoping to see at that very moment, but reality proved otherwise.

The realization tightened her throat and blurred the edges of her vision. How could it be true? The words felt foreign, absurd as if they couldn’t possibly belong to the man she had trusted, the man she had wanted to believe in, the only man who deserved a space in her heart... after Tyler... and this was Ian.

’Why couldn’t he wait!’

Her fingers clenched the thin blanket covering her, her knuckles white against the fabric. The doctor, oblivious to her inner turmoil, prattled on, adjusting this and that, giving reassurances that she barely registered. He didn’t know that each word was like a whip cracking against her already fragile heart.

Aliya stared past him, her eyes fixed on the door, hoping it would open again and he would walk in, undoing this cruel misunderstanding. But it remained closed. And with every second that passed, the sinking weight in her chest only grew heavier.

Finally, the doctor finished his check and smiled faintly. "You’re doing well," he said, his voice kind but distant. "I’ll be back tomorrow."

Aliya nodded mechanically, her lips twitching in a forced smile that didn’t reach her eyes. She was tired, and all her strength had been drained. The doctor didn’t seem to notice—or perhaps, he chose not to.

"Oh, he said that he had hired the best help for you and they should be here by tomorrow." The doctor added and then added to himself,

"I didn’t think that he would do that."

He smiled at Aliya and then added,

"Do not overthink much. You passed the main hurdle and woke up. From now on, the road will be smooth. Thank you for waking up!"

He left as quietly as he had entered, leaving Aliya alone with the deafening echo of the words she couldn’t unhear and the suffocating realization that the man she had been waiting for... might never come.

"Why Ian? Did you really do all these for her? Did you really replace me in your heart? Why?"

Aliya whispered to herself in the hospital room. The room echoed the desolation she felt in her heart at that time. It was bleak, white, sterile and devoid of all emotion. She felt her heart break at this.

Never in her wildest dreams, did she feel that this day would come.

She had longed to ask the doctor if Ian had really said that. The doctor had overstepped his bounds by making that suggestion to Ian, but from Aliya’s point of view, the Ian of the past and the Ian that she thought she knew would never have turned that down. Ian would have been glued to her side and unwilling to leave.

"It’s all because of that wretched girl!"

Aliya whispered as her mind started getting fuzzy from the sedatives that had been pushed into her. However, she still could not let go of Ian. It was true that he had changed a lot. He was more muscular, and his beard gave him more maturity than he had previously.

Aliya’s mind drifted further back to a time when life had felt unburdened by the weight of expectations. It was before her children had come into her life, before Tyler came into her life and before she had been engaged to him. She had been with him then—the one who still haunted her thoughts to this day. Many years had passed, but of all the female encounters that Ian had seen, this one stood out to her.

It had been a crisp autumn afternoon, the kind where the golden sunlight danced through the falling leaves. They had been sitting on the steps of the university library, their laughter mingling with the distant hum of student chatter. She had been lost in the moment, in the way his eyes lit up when he spoke about the future, a future she secretly wished to be part of.

Then this person appeared. A girl with bright, eager eyes and a confidence that bordered on audacity. Her boldness was over the roof! She had walked straight up to Ian, when others would only throw blushes and stares his way. She brushed Aliya aside her with an air of dismissal.

"Hi," the girl had said, her tone overly sweet, her gaze fixed solely on him. "I was wondering if you’d like to grab a coffee sometime? Just the two of us."

Aliya’s heart tightened while she remained unnoticed in the girl’s world, anticipating his reply. Would he pause? Would he chuckle awkwardly and attempt to be courteous? But no—Ian didn’t even flinch.

"Thanks, but no," he’d said simply, his tone casual but firm, as if the idea had never even crossed his mind. Then, without so much as a second glance, he turned back to her, his expression unbothered. "So, where were we?" Ian had asked, picking up their conversation as though nothing had happened.

The girl, beautiful and rich by her looks, would have matched Ian in every way, but he had not even batted an eyelid. She had stood there for a moment, stunned by Ian’s indifference, before retreating in silence. And Aliya had smiled, relief flooding her chest. For that brief moment, it had felt as though she were the only one who mattered in Ian’s world. For years, it had been like that. Yes, Tyler had come into the picture, but....

But now, as she sat in the sterile silence of her hospital room, the memory twisted inside her. How ironic that he, who had once dismissed others with such ease, now occupied a space in her heart that she couldn’t seem to relinquish—even when she had no right to hold onto it anymore. Aliya did not think so, though.

"Ian will eventually...." Her eyes finally closed, succumbing to the drugs. The words were left unfinished as someone also watched in the shadows.

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