AVNEIL.SHORT STORY - Chapter 6: Chapter 6
You are reading AVNEIL.SHORT STORY, Chapter 6: Chapter 6. Read more chapters of AVNEIL.SHORT STORY.
The party had ended hours ago.
The music had stopped, the guests had left, and even the fairy lights outside had gone dim. The mansion was asleep, cloaked in midnight stillness.
Avni sat in her guest room, carefully removing the last of her bangles and placing them in a velvet box. Her head ached from smiling too much. Her feet ached from standing too long. But what hurt the most was the moment at the party — when Neil had held her waist like it meant something.
And then… let her go like it didn’t.
She picked up her phone, glancing at the time: 1:12 AM.
A notification popped up.
Rohan Malhotra: “You looked beautiful tonight, Avni. Hope Neil knows how lucky he is. If not, he’s a fool 😉”
Her breath hitched.
She locked the phone immediately, heart pounding. Why would Rohan message her like that?
Before she could process it, her room door flew open.
Neil stood there, shirt slightly wrinkled, brows furrowed, jaw locked. He held his own phone in one hand, the screen still lit.
“You’ve started texting him back now?” he asked coldly.
Avni froze. “What?”
“Rohan,” he snapped. “You think I wouldn’t see it? He texted you. You didn’t even block him. Didn’t tell him to stop.”
“I didn’t even reply—”
“Oh, but you were going to, weren’t you?” He stepped closer. “You waited until I was out of the way so you could start your little flirting sessions with my cousin?”
Her eyes filled with tears, but she refused to cry this time.
“I didn’t even ask for his message,” she said quietly. “I didn’t respond. You barged in here and started accusing me like—”
“Like what? Like a husband?” he growled.
She stared at him. “No. Like a man who doesn’t love me but still wants to control me.”
Silence.
It sliced between them like a blade.
Neil’s breathing was heavy. Uncontrolled. He was angry — but not just at her. At himself. At Rohan. At this whole storm inside him that he couldn’t explain.
“I didn’t ask for this marriage,” she continued, voice shaking. “But I accepted it. I respected it. I respected you. Even when you humiliated me. Even when you ignored me.”
Her voice broke. “And now that I’ve stopped trying, you suddenly care who texts me?”
Neil stepped closer, his voice low. “You think this is about a message?”
“Isn’t it?” she whispered. “Or is it about the fact that someone else noticed me before you ever did?”
That was it.
The final crack.
Neil grabbed her phone from the bed and threw it across the room. It hit the wall and fell to the carpeted floor with a soft thud.
“Don’t ever talk to him again,” he said, voice dangerously quiet.
“Why?” she asked, barely breathing. “Because I’m your wife? Or because you just don’t want someone else to want me?”
He stared at her.
No answer.
No lie.
No truth.
Just silence.
And a storm building in his chest.
He turned and walked out, slamming the door behind him.
Avni sat on the bed, tears slipping down her cheek — not from fear, not from pain, but from confusion.
Because for the first time since their marriage… she had seen something in Neil’s eyes.
Possession.
Jealousy.
And something that looked a lot like fear.
Not of her.
But of feeling something for her.
The music had stopped, the guests had left, and even the fairy lights outside had gone dim. The mansion was asleep, cloaked in midnight stillness.
Avni sat in her guest room, carefully removing the last of her bangles and placing them in a velvet box. Her head ached from smiling too much. Her feet ached from standing too long. But what hurt the most was the moment at the party — when Neil had held her waist like it meant something.
And then… let her go like it didn’t.
She picked up her phone, glancing at the time: 1:12 AM.
A notification popped up.
Rohan Malhotra: “You looked beautiful tonight, Avni. Hope Neil knows how lucky he is. If not, he’s a fool 😉”
Her breath hitched.
She locked the phone immediately, heart pounding. Why would Rohan message her like that?
Before she could process it, her room door flew open.
Neil stood there, shirt slightly wrinkled, brows furrowed, jaw locked. He held his own phone in one hand, the screen still lit.
“You’ve started texting him back now?” he asked coldly.
Avni froze. “What?”
“Rohan,” he snapped. “You think I wouldn’t see it? He texted you. You didn’t even block him. Didn’t tell him to stop.”
“I didn’t even reply—”
“Oh, but you were going to, weren’t you?” He stepped closer. “You waited until I was out of the way so you could start your little flirting sessions with my cousin?”
Her eyes filled with tears, but she refused to cry this time.
“I didn’t even ask for his message,” she said quietly. “I didn’t respond. You barged in here and started accusing me like—”
“Like what? Like a husband?” he growled.
She stared at him. “No. Like a man who doesn’t love me but still wants to control me.”
Silence.
It sliced between them like a blade.
Neil’s breathing was heavy. Uncontrolled. He was angry — but not just at her. At himself. At Rohan. At this whole storm inside him that he couldn’t explain.
“I didn’t ask for this marriage,” she continued, voice shaking. “But I accepted it. I respected it. I respected you. Even when you humiliated me. Even when you ignored me.”
Her voice broke. “And now that I’ve stopped trying, you suddenly care who texts me?”
Neil stepped closer, his voice low. “You think this is about a message?”
“Isn’t it?” she whispered. “Or is it about the fact that someone else noticed me before you ever did?”
That was it.
The final crack.
Neil grabbed her phone from the bed and threw it across the room. It hit the wall and fell to the carpeted floor with a soft thud.
“Don’t ever talk to him again,” he said, voice dangerously quiet.
“Why?” she asked, barely breathing. “Because I’m your wife? Or because you just don’t want someone else to want me?”
He stared at her.
No answer.
No lie.
No truth.
Just silence.
And a storm building in his chest.
He turned and walked out, slamming the door behind him.
Avni sat on the bed, tears slipping down her cheek — not from fear, not from pain, but from confusion.
Because for the first time since their marriage… she had seen something in Neil’s eyes.
Possession.
Jealousy.
And something that looked a lot like fear.
Not of her.
But of feeling something for her.
End of AVNEIL.SHORT STORY Chapter 6. Continue reading Chapter 7 or return to AVNEIL.SHORT STORY book page.