Chapter 6: Midnight Confessions and Missing Pieces
Narrated by Aanya Kapoor
You know that feeling when you're standing at the edge of something huge?
Not a cliff.
Not a skyscraper.
Something inside you.
Like your heart is standing on a balcony, toes curled over the edge, wondering if it should jump — or step back.
That was me.
All evening.
After the cafe confrontation, after seeing the truth in Rohan's eyes, after feeling something huge and terrifying stretch between us like an invisible thread...
I couldn't focus.
Not on work.
Not on dinner.
Not even on Simba aggressively dragging my sock under the couch.
I was too busy replaying everything he said.
"I wasn't chasing the app. I was chasing you."
God.
How was I supposed to protect myself from that?
---
It was past midnight when my phone rang.
Rohan.
I hesitated.
Normally, I'd let it go to voicemail.
Midnight calls usually meant drama, disaster, or deeply questionable decisions.
But this time… I picked up.
"Hey," I said, voice low.
"Hey," he echoed, a little breathless. "Sorry. I know it's late."
"You're lucky I'm a night owl."
He laughed softly. "And you're lucky I couldn't sleep without calling you."
I froze.
The words wrapped around me like a warm blanket... and a warning.
"What's up?" I asked, pretending my heart wasn't doing the waltz in my chest.
There was a long pause on the other end.
Then he said, "There's something I need to tell you. Before you hear it from someone else."
And just like that, my stomach dropped.
Because nothing good ever follows that sentence.
---
"I had a co-founder once," Rohan said. "When I built Clarity."
I sat up straighter. "Okay..."
"Her name was Isha. We were friends in college. Really close."
A pause.
"Some people thought we were more than that."
"Were you?" I asked before I could stop myself.
He sighed. "No. But… it got messy. When Clarity failed, she blamed me. Said I sabotaged it. Spread rumors."
My chest tightened.
"I lost everything in six months," he continued. "Investors. Friends. My reputation. She even filed a complaint, said I stole her algorithms."
"Did you?"
He didn't answer immediately.
The silence stretched so long, I thought maybe the call had dropped.
But finally, he said, voice hoarse, "No."
Not just no.
No — like it hurt to even have to say it.
"But it didn't matter," he said. "She knew how to twist things. And once the whispers started, no one wanted to work with me again."
I closed my eyes.
Because this — this was the missing piece.
The reason he had been so guarded.
So scared to start again.
So scared to trust… or to be trusted.
He wasn't just protecting his ideas.
He was protecting himself.
---
"Why are you telling me this now?" I whispered.
"Because," he said, "someone's digging into my past. And if I'm right… it's Isha."
I stiffened.
"You think she's the one sending the emails?"
"I don't know for sure," he said. "But it fits. The timing. The threats. The angle."
I swallowed. "Why would she care now?"
"Maybe because she thinks I'm building again. Maybe because she thinks... I found something worth stealing again."
Something.
Or someone.
Me.
---
I got up and started pacing the tiny living room.
Simba watched me from his perch on the windowsill, tail flicking like a metronome of judgment.
"You should cut ties with me," Rohan said suddenly. "Before it gets worse."
I stopped cold.
"What?"
"You have your app to protect. Your dream. If you stay close to me... you might lose everything."
My throat burned.
"You think you can make that decision for me?" I snapped.
"I think," he said, voice breaking a little, "that you deserve a clean shot. Without my ghosts haunting you."
Tears pricked my eyes, hot and angry.
"Don't you dare," I whispered. "Don't you dare push me away because you're scared."
He went quiet again.
When he spoke, it was so soft I almost missed it.
"I'm not scared for me, Aanya," he said. "I'm scared for you."
---
We didn't hang up right away.
We just... stayed on the line.
Breathing.
Listening.
Two stubborn, scared people — standing at the edge.
Waiting to see who would jump first.
---
When I finally crawled into bed, I wasn't sure what tomorrow would bring.
But I knew this:
Whatever happened next,
whatever secrets still waited in the shadows…
I wasn't running.
Not from Rohan.
Not from the truth.
Not from this crazy, messy, terrifying thing between us.
Maybe love wasn't safe.
But maybe it didn't have to be.
---
Teaser for Chapter 7:
An unexpected meeting.
A shocking revelation about Isha's next move.
And a decision that could either unite Aanya and Rohan…
or destroy everything they've built.