The truth beneath her smile ...

Chapter 4: The Truth Beneath Her Smile

The next morning felt unreal. Aarohi had barely slept, her mind replaying every word from last night.

Six-month contract marriage.

Reyansh Malhotra’s voice kept echoing in her head — calm, confident, certain — while her heart thudded like it wanted to escape her chest.

When she walked into his office that afternoon, he was already there, standing by the glass window, city lights reflecting off his watch. He turned the moment she entered.

“Miss Birla,” he greeted softly, “I wasn’t sure you’d come.”

“I almost didn’t,” she admitted, trying to sound steady. “But curiosity won.”

He motioned for her to sit. “I’ll get straight to the point.”

Aarohi nodded, crossing her arms. “Please do.”

Reyansh took a slow breath. “My family has been pressuring me to settle down. You’ve seen it — your father, my mother, they’re old friends. They think this is fate. But I’m not ready for marriage. I can’t give anyone that promise right now. Not when my company needs me this much.”

“So, your solution is a fake marriage?” she said, raising an eyebrow.

“Not fake,” he corrected, his tone firm but gentle. “A temporary one. Six months. Enough to convince our families we’re serious — and then, we part ways. Peacefully. No drama, no pain.”

Aarohi let out a soft, humorless laugh. “And what if people find out?”

“They won’t,” he said simply. “You’re smart, confident, and you can handle this. I’ll make sure you’re taken care of — financially, emotionally, publicly. You’ll have your freedom. And when the time comes, we’ll end it quietly.”

For a long moment, she said nothing. The ticking of the clock filled the silence between them.

Then Aarohi looked up, her eyes glistening — not with excitement, but with something deeper. Something broken.

“Reyansh,” she said quietly, “there’s something you don’t know about me.”

He frowned. “What do you mean?”

She inhaled sharply, as if gathering every ounce of courage left inside her. “I can’t do a six-month marriage.”

“Why not?”

“Because,” she whispered, her voice trembling, “I might not have six months.”

The world seemed to stop.

Reyansh’s expression froze. “Aarohi… what are you saying?”

Tears shimmered in her eyes, but her smile — that same, warm, heartbreaking smile — didn’t fade. “I was diagnosed with a heart disease a month ago. A rare condition. The doctors said I have… maybe four to five months left.”

His eyes widened, the color draining from his face. “What? No… there has to be—”

“There isn’t,” she cut him off softly. “I’ve tried every doctor, every report. It’s the truth.”

Reyansh leaned forward, disbelief flickering across his face. “And your family? They know?”

Aarohi shook her head. “No one knows. Not Maa, not Papa, not Atharva bhai. I couldn’t tell them. They’d break.”

Silence filled the room, heavy and suffocating.

Reyansh’s voice finally came out, low and strained. “Then why are you here? Why are you… smiling?”

She looked at him then — really looked — her eyes calm like a sunset after a storm.

“Because I don’t want to spend whatever time I have left crying about it,” she said softly. “I want to live. To laugh. To work. To fall in love with life again, even if it’s just for a few months.”

He stared at her, stunned. “You’re… unbelievable.”

“Maybe,” she said with a faint laugh, brushing away a tear. “But I don’t want pity, Reyansh. I’ve already made peace with it. I just want to create memories — good ones. So when I go, I can take them with me.”

Reyansh felt something twist painfully inside his chest. The woman sitting in front of him wasn’t fragile. She was fire disguised as light.

He walked closer, his voice softer now. “Aarohi… if I’d known, I’d never have—”

She cut him off again. “Don’t say that. Your idea might still work, you know.”

He frowned. “What do you mean?”

She smiled faintly. “A six-month marriage. It’s temporary. And I’m temporary too. Maybe it’s destiny, Mr. Malhotra.”

Her words hit him like lightning — beautiful and cruel all at once.

He didn’t know what to say. The man who always had the perfect plan suddenly had none.

For the first time, Reyansh Malhotra felt his heart ache for something he couldn’t control.

As Aarohi stood to leave, she looked back at him and said, “You asked me why I’m so happy even when I’m dying… It’s because I want to live every last second like it matters. Because it does.”

Then she smiled — that bright, unforgettable smile — and walked out, leaving Reyansh staring after her, his chest heavy, his mind spinning, and his heart whispering her name.

---

✨ To Be Continued… ✨

Next Chapter Preview:

Reyansh struggles with his emotions after learning Aarohi’s truth. Torn between logic and his growing feelings, he decides to go through with the contract marriage — but for a new reason: to make her final months the most beautiful of her life.