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It has been a week since the hell broke loose and that horrid incident took place, but what was unusual was that Xavier never followed his threats, he never advanced on me in this whole week, kept an ethical distance between us, didn't pass provocative comments, he even stopped ordering me around.

But what surprised me was that 'Mr confident dick' avoided any type of conversation with me, it was almost comical, he wouldn't talk to me but also didn't let me out of his sight during working hours, he didn't hold eye contact during instructing me, always keeping his gaze down while talking to me, if he wasn't Xavier then I would've thought that someone was threatening him but I knew better.

I wasn't anywhere near desperate to spark a hearty conversation with him, I was more than gratified that he was staying the f*ck away from me.

My body was back to normal and my panic attacks had stopped but I still had nightmares, it was pure torture to relive the incident again and again and no matter how many times I try to discover my Xavier back I always end up with the monster.

He didn't ask me the reason when I skipped days in between, he didn't show up at my home for seeking answers or for punishing me, he was behaving like we never dated. Like proper boss and assistant. I had my fair share of fun with Diya during my unexpected and own provided holidays.

I even caught him checking my lunchbox after lunch recess to check if there was any food left and if there was then he would order me to finish it, I had been eating home lunches since the incident and let's accept that Diya is not the best culinarian, but it was healthier than the canteen food.

Today was one of the days I had rewarded myself with my self privileged holiday, I don't even receive any message of deducted pay so I was taking advantage of it to the fullest, I was happy to spend my day away from Xavier, going on a movie marathon with Ruby and Diya by my side.

"Give me the remote! I'll choose the movie!" Diya screamed in a high pitched tone from my right side followed by another scream for my left side.

"We'll watch a horror movie and that's final!" Apparently Ruby was one of those who show their true personality after opening up to you, she may seem meek and gentle but in reality, she was a little firecracker.

I placed my hands on my ears to stop their eagle screeches from piercing my eardrums, I would like to continue hearing without any aids. Suddenly the room was filled with soft sobs, my eyes opened at once and I saw Diya sitting on the floor with her face in her hands.

Ruby awkwardly settled beside her and tried to give her the remote but she continued sobbing, her shoulders lightly shaking, I was confused that she would cry about such a silly issue.

I slowly took the remote from Ruby and composed her that Diya is alright, I lifted her head in my palms and wiped her tears, nothing made sense, why the heck would she cry over remote? When she has stopped crying I placed the remote in her lap, all three of us settling on the floor.

"What happened?" I asked worriedly.

Maybe I was myself too deep into the problems that I failed to see hers. It must have been hard on her to find me passed out cold in my bedroom, she must have been afraid.

"I d-don't want to watch an h-horror movie." She answered sniffling, I caressed her head before tucking away the strand that was resting on her face. I was a little stunned to be honest, considering she liked horror and thriller genres the most.

"We can watch whatever you want, Stop crying," I said expectantly looking at Ruby who was worriedly glancing at her, she was even looking guilty for making her cry. I squeezed her hand for a reaction and she nodded frantically.

"But I don't want you guys to be obliged to watch what I want," Diya whispered, she was acting different and I for the god's sake couldn't point out if it was a good or a bad difference.

"You pick up this one then Ruby will choose next, alright?" I tried to sort out the problem, Diya smiled and both of them settled back on the couch beside each other, discussing which movie to watch.

I was physically with them but mentally I wasn't, even when I knew what Xavier had done to me I can't stop but miss the old Xavier's warm hugs, his loving kisses, his adoring gazes, I wanted to cry for losing him but he wasn't worth it so I kept everything bottled up and I hate being a crybaby.

I missed the time we were happy in small gestures, it was hard to get used to his absence, it is hard to recall every night that there won't be any cheesy messages from him, there wasn't any giddiness of anticipation for his new nickname for me or there wasn't anyone who would try to cook for me even after failing again and again.

How many times I have reckoned my brain while thinking what led him to do something like that to me, I felt cold at nights even in my blankets, there weren't cliché moments in elevators, his eyes didn't twinkle upon seeing me every morning anymore, his ears didn't turn red whenever I caught him peeking glances of me.

I missed his lips moving on mine, our hot sessions in his car, him being afraid behind me on the bike, I missed his hearty chuckle whenever I cracked an awful joke, or how he used to plan our future together, there won't be any of them now.

I had lost him and he had lost me.

"Come up! It's going to start." Ruby squealed in excitement and I forced a smile before hopping beside them on the couch, ready to space out during the whole movie.

I am hollow without 'my' Xavier.

I chuckled whenever both of them did, smiled when one of them glanced at me, clutched them when one of them jumped in fear but none of it was real, it was all fake. I was fake.

We were halfway through our third movie when my phone started going off like crazy, both of them groaned at disturbance while shoving popcorn into their mouths, ignoring both of them I glanced at my phone to see Catherine's call incoming, it was 3 in the noon, getting up from the couch I went inside my bedroom to receive the call.

I was a little confused to receive her call now, when I was finally out of the range of the noise, I picked up only to hear her nervous voice answer the call.

"Do you have the solkovov contracts with you?" She asked sounding like she was panting, my eyes automatically diverted to the contracts resting on my bedside table.

"I do have them, what's up?" I asked casually checking the contracts, hurled on my bed boringly.

"Shana you have to bring them here. Now. Mr King is furious, there were cases of privacy infringement in their hotels and some of them even got secretly filmed. Everything's going blastic here." She was whispering and frequently profanities could be heard from her side.

"I don't understand how that concern our company?" I asked, getting alert from her warning, already getting ready in my black jeans and not even bothering to change my sports bra, I picked up the contracts and my leather jacket before placing the contracts into my bag.

"You don't understand. If words got out that we were in business with them then there's going to be a huge scandal and our company will lose money, billions of dollars. We need to end our partnership now." I slipped into Diya's black ankle boots before hurrying out of my room into the living room where both of them were focused on the movie.

"I'm on my way, twenty minutes at most," I said draping the leather jacket over my shoulders and hung up the call, Diya glanced at me and so did Ruby.

"Where are you going?" Diya asked confusedly.

"I'll be back soon, you both enjoy," I replied before making my way out of the front door, jogging into the elevator and then straight to the parking lot to my bike.

It was the only way I could save time, hopping on my bike, I ignited it and drove to the company, it was a lot easier than driving a car through New York City's traffic.

The moment I entered the company I knew the issue was big, everyone was rushing from here to there and Ann was guiding some of them in different directions, not wasting any more time I sprinted into the direction of private elevators, Ann didn't notice me neither did anyone else, I succeeded in getting into the elevators without any interception.

When the doors closed I removed my jacket because I was sweating due to rushing all the way here, tying my hair in a messy bun I arranged the contract in the right format, I shoved my jacket into the bag anyhow and got ready to get Xavier's signature the first thing.

When the elevators opened at his floor I expected Catherine to be waiting there for me, I wouldn't have been surprised if I saw people rushing here and there but to my dismay, the floor was empty as it could be, there was an eerie silence shadowed over here, ignoring the unsettling feeling in my stomach I hurried to my office and hurled my bag on my desk before sprinting to his office.

There was a tense sensation draping over me and the closest I got to his office the tense this feeling got, my instincts were telling me to get the f*ck out of here but I ignored them.

I was about to knock but my hand wouldn't move, it was in the air for good five seconds before I decided to open the door myself, clutching the handle I turned the doors open.

There was not a single word I could use to describe the dilemma in front of me, I felt waves after waves of emotions, I didn't know if it was me or anyone else but a scream could be heard.

"Xavier!"

There sat my so-called boyfriend with dishevelled hair, buttons of his shirts open, smudged kisses mark all over his neck with Angelina settled on his lap comfortably, her blouse was long gone and she was only in her lacy bra, her lips were smashed onto Xavier's while he had her shoulders tightly clutched into his grip.

Xavier separated from her at once on hearing my voice, his face paled upon seeing me whereas Angelina dares to direct a mocking smirk in my direction, not even minding to get off his lap. Xavier on the other hand was frozen, his gaze was stuck on me.

"Baby?" His voice snapped my last bit of patience and I marched in their direction with so much anger, everything that was bottled up in me trying to find a way out. Yanking Angelina out of his lap I pushed her on the floor, she landed on the floor with her hair hoisting in different directions, tucking the hair away she stood back up before snarling my way.

"You b*tch!"

I slapped her.

Her head jerked sideways due to the force, her hand resting on her cheek in disbelief, I was done having everyone treat me like shit, I yanked her hairs back making her look at me, she started cursing at me but I held her face in my fingers tightly.

"He's my boyfriend! You dare come anywhere near him and I'll break all 206 bones in your body, understood?!" Tears were flowing down her cheeks due to pain in her scalp, I couldn't explain how bad I wanted to beat the shit of her. I pulled her hairs again when she didn't answer.

"Sáli ( scoundrel) use your words!" I didn't even recognize my Hindi was slipping in between, her lips quivered in pain.

"I-I understand" she meeked out and I yanked her away in the direction of her blouse, she quickly dressed up and rushed out of his office, I had my back turned to Xavier, I couldn't bear to look at him.

"Baby it's not what it looks like." He said gently and that made me even more furious, is he think I'm blind, I saw him making out with her! I turned around, my eyes stinging due to overcoming tears, my anger was taking the best of me.

I clutched his collar tightly in my hand before pulling him closer till there were only a few centimetres left between our faces, he visibly gulped upon seeing my deadly expressions.

"You want to f*ck your whore?! Very well do it after breaking up with me! After you fire me! After you free me of your clutches!" I pushed him back into his chair, buttons of his shirts coming off.

I whirled to get out from here, but he was quick to clamp my arm before I could do so, stopping me from going anywhere.

"You have to believe me. She forced herself on me!" He stumbled upon his words to explain his misdeed, why did he even care what the hell I think about him, it was like he was mocking me with the same excuses as mine, but the difference is he did cheat on me and I didn't.

"Forcing me wasn't enough? You have to cheat on me too?!" I yelled at him in remorse, wasn't I broken enough for him that he has to make a joke out of this too. His eyes were showing so much pain that if I hadn't seen his awful side then I wouldn't have believe it. I yanked his hand away from my arm and continued by way to the door.

"You did too!" He yelled back making me whirl around in anger.

"Exactly. I did. So please just free both of us from this suffering. Let me go!" I yelled in frustration, his eyes dulled at my wail, he was looking defeated, his posture wasn't smililar to his confident one and he was looking exhausted, my eyes diverted to the lipstick stain on his neck and all of my other emotions faded leaving anger. Ignoring his pleas I rushed to get out of here.

But he was adamant about feeding me with more lies, more heartbreaks, more sufferings, he kept following me and at last, I had enough of his lies, I twirled around only to kick him where the sun doesn't shine, he clutched himself and started rolling on the floor.

"Please just let me go! I knew this was all a mistake! Our relationship is a curse for me and nothing else." I stated, leaving him there in pain.

I couldn't think straight, my emotions were overwhelming my senses and I knew breakdown was in the queue, tears were threatening to spill but I controlled them, hoping to find a place in this hell to cry for me, I was so frustrated of crying, all I do nowadays is cry and cry, I couldn't drive back, I didn't know if I could manage to safely reach home.

The contract was long lost somewhere, I don't care about the blasted contract! The only room I could find where no one will find me was the storeroom beside the common room, I turned the door to see total darkness, stacks upon stacks of paper bundles were stored inside, when my vision accustomed to the darkness I looked around to see racks with old contracts and broken furniture stored up in a corner, the room was messy and dusty but I didn't mind, I had survived filthy places, this was nothing compared to them.

Closing and locking the door I settled on the floor, curling into a ball with my knees close to my chest, my head leaned back onto the dusty wall, tears started flowing down my cheeks carelessly.

How much do I need to suffer more, I was tired of trusting and getting betrayed again and again.

Is this what he was doing behind my back all this week, f*cking her to get revenge upon me? Wasn't assaulting me enough? If he really wanted to end things then he should have let me go rather than cheating on me.

Was this all a plot to make me see him making out with that b*tch? How stupid could I get? Why did I ever give him a chance in the first place?!

The memories of that day were hitting me like spikes in my heart, all of his care, his kisses, his gentleness, it was all a lie, he succeeded in breaking me for good. I couldn't believe how I could be so dumb to never able to see through his motives, my hands were trembling and my heartbeat was pacing slowly.

My panic attacks stopped only to be back again and all because of him.

I don't want to suffer, I want everything to end, I want to go back home, in the arms of mom, inhaling her sweet fragrance, to find solace whenever she ran her fingers through my hair.

My breath was starting to stagger and I was starting to see black specks in my vision, I knew I would pass out anytime. I Struggled to get my phone out of my pocket, it was the only hope I had. I wasn't afraid of passing out I was afraid of fearing to be passing out.

I was able to get my phone out, gasping for air I hurriedly called whomever my finger tapped on, there were few dials before the call was received, I was striving to keep breathing, my vision was diminishing by the lasting time, the room seems to get smaller and smaller.

"Sweetie?" My mom's pure voice reached me, my heart stilled for a second at her call.

"M-Mom?" I gasped out, my condition was getting worse, I was breathing but no air was reaching my lungs.

"Honey are you okay?" She asked worriedly as tears of helplessness flowed down my cheek, I couldn't help but yearn to have her near.

"Mom I'm d-dying." I meeked out, choking on my sobs, my heartbeat was skyrocketing and my mind wasn't working at all.

"What happened? Where are you?" She asked worriedly, her voice was making me more week, more miserable.

"I-I do-don't know m-mom."

"Hey listen to me! I need you to breathe. Sweetie breathe!" She sternly ordered and I tried but failed miserably.

"I-I can't." I sobbed.

"Yes, you can! You're my strong baby girl! You can win anyone and anything! So Shana Drishtya Rajput I order you to breathe!" Her voice never broke in between, she was more determined than me.

I puffed out first before inhaling deeply, and sure enough, she praised me for taking a breath.

"You're my baby girl! I struggled 32 hours to bring you into this world and I defy you of giving up! Do you understand me?! Keep breathing!" She scolded and I continued following her lead to inhale and exhale, not once missing her beats.

"You were so small when they placed you in my arms, you weren't breathing and they said it was over but I knew my baby girl was a fighter, my Shana is a fighter. You can't give up because I never taught you to." She softly continued telling me stories and diverting my mind from panicking, it was working, I could feel little oxygen filling my lungs followed by more.

"and when you draw your first breath I rejoiced your victory, you had defeated death at such age, you can't lose now." She never told me about this incident, I was oblivious of this fact but she seemed so proud of me.

"Everyone was sad when there was a terrorist attack in Afghanistan and you didn't come back but I wasn't because in my heart I knew no one can defeat my baby girl, you were born to win." She reminded me of the time when I got separated from my battalion and had to find my way back home.

I continued breathing in and out, she continued praising me for it, only a mother can praise and be proud of you for breathing. Her voice soothed my senses and I felt courage slowly brimming inside me.