The tiffin bell rang.
The school corridor burst into life. Girls rushed toward the canteen. But Anurag Sir had shut himself inside his cabin.
His eyes kept drifting toward the door…
Would Sneha come?
He longed to see her once, to open his heart and say everything… but he lacked the courage.
Meanwhile…
As soon as the tiffin bell sounded, Sneha hurried out of the classroom. Yet she couldn't bring herself to face Sir.
She didn't know why, but today her heart felt terribly restless. Her head spun lightly; an unknown fear pressed inside her chest.
On the other side, Anurag Sir stood by the window in his cabin, gazing outside. Sneha's face kept floating before his eyes—those silent eyes, that distracted posture… the memory seemed to wring his heart dry.
Just then, an unfamiliar face entered through the gate.
The girls turned to look—a stylishly dressed young woman had walked into the school. A few whispered,
"Who's her sister, I wonder?"
"Maybe a new teacher…"
But she went straight to the staff room and said,
"I've come to meet Anurag Sir. It's urgent."
Nivedita Ma'am asked suspiciously,
"Who are you to him?"
Priya hesitated slightly before replying,
"I'm his… fiancée."
Everyone froze in shock. Though hesitant, Nivedita Ma'am eventually gave her directions.
A knock came at the cabin door.
Anurag Sir started.
"Come in."
The door opened, and Priya stepped inside.
For a moment, everything stopped.
Seeing her, Anurag Sir turned to stone. His blood seemed to freeze; time itself appeared to halt.
He stood up abruptly.
"You?!!"
The word escaped as a hoarse whisper. His eyes widened in disbelief.
"Yes… it's me. How are you, Anurag? Are you well now?"
Priya's face wore that familiar pitiful expression.
"Why have you come here?"
His voice was hard.
Priya spoke in a tearful voice,
"Anurag… I still love you. I made a mistake. I was forced to go to Shubhankar…"
"Stop it, Priya!" Anurag Sir roared.
Priya flinched.
Anurag Sir:
"I'm not the same person anymore. I've understood many things now. I can no longer believe your words, your love full of acting. Once I was very weak for you, but now? Not anymore."
Priya began to cry in front of him.
Anurag Sir looked away, stepping back, and said—
"Leave, Priya. Right now. There's no place for you in my life anymore."
Still crying, Priya pleaded—
"Please, try to understand me! I was helpless. My mother was ill, I had no money… Shubhankar said if I entered a relationship with him… I did it…"
Anurag hardened his voice—
"I don't want to hear anything. Why are you still standing here?"
He knew that rejecting any woman was difficult—but rejecting Priya, after two years of love, was far harder. Yet he had steeled his heart: in his life, he would love only Sneha.
Suddenly, Priya began to unbutton her top.
Anurag panicked,
"Hey, what are you doing? Have you gone mad? Someone might come…"
As she pulled her top down to her waist, Sir saw countless scars and marks on her body.
"Look… the wounds he gave me… they're still here. He doesn't love me the way you did. You treated me like a princess, protected me with love—he doesn't. He sees me only as an object; he wants to dominate. He's an animal! Anurag, I've suffered so much. I truly regret everything. Please… give me one more chance."
At that exact moment… Sneha stood frozen at the door. Hearing a woman's voice, she peeked through the gap—
She saw a girl standing in front of Anurag Sir. Her top pulled down to her waist, revealing a fair back and the black strap of her bra from behind.
Sneha's eyes widened in horror. Her heart shattered into pieces. Tears streamed down her face.
Sir suddenly noticed Sneha in the doorway.
He panicked.
"Sneha, listen…"
Anurag Sir moved toward the door, but Sneha had already run away.
Priya stood stunned. She quickly pulled her top back into place.
In that instant, Anirban's words flashed through her mind.
Priya thought to herself—"Hmm… this girl… what was she doing coming to Sir during tiffin time!"
Anurag Sir's head was spinning.
He said loudly,
"Priya, leave now. And don't try to come back into my life. If Shubhankar has been violent toward you, you should go to the police. Coming to me won't help."
Priya opened her mouth to speak, but seeing Anurag Sir's firm resolve, she left.
It felt as though the sky had fallen on Anurag Sir's head. Breathing became difficult.
Already there were so many complications in his relationship with Sneha.
And now, after Sneha had seen Priya in his cabin like this—what must she be thinking? The thought terrified him!
Yet, hearing Priya's words, he felt pain for her—despite what he had said aloud. He was furious with Shubhankar.
But far greater was his worry for Sneha. If, in his drunken state that night, he had truly done something wrong with her… she could be pregnant! It would be a catastrophe!
Meanwhile…
Sneha ran back to the classroom. Before anyone could understand what was happening, she sat at her bench, head bowed. Her whole body trembled. She held her water bottle, but lacked the strength even to open it. Her chest heaved; breath caught in her throat.
Around her, the classroom buzzed with tiffin-time chatter—someone eating chips, someone lost in gossip—but none of it reached Sneha's ears. Only one image replayed in her mind: Sir and that woman… standing at the cabin door. The girl with her top pulled down, fair back exposed, black strap visible, and Sir's stunned expression.
She felt as though she couldn't breathe. A heavy stone pressed on her chest.
Then she overheard girls nearby gossiping: apparently Anurag Sir's fiancée had come to school. Someone had overheard it outside the staff room and spread the news across the entire school.
Some said the woman was very beautiful.
Some burned with jealousy.
Others remarked,
"Anurag Sir is so handsome—does she even suit him?"
Someone else said,
"Who knows how long Sir has been in a relationship with her!"
Another added,
"Maybe Sir will marry her very soon."
One girl whispered,
"Do you think Sir has had sex with her?"
Another giggled,
"Sir steals our hearts during the day and gives pleasure to that woman at night! Ugh, just thinking about it makes me feel bad!"
These words pierced Sneha's heart even deeper.
'Sir, how could you?' she thought silently.
'All that care for me, all that tenderness… was it nothing?'
'Why did you behave so sweetly with me?'
'Why did you take such good care of me?'
'And… and come so close…'
Her eyes filled with tears again. She turned her face toward the window so no one would see her crying.
'Perhaps it was only because of the intoxication…'
'But what he does when he's sober—that's worth far more than physical touch! Touching the heart!'
Sneha tried desperately to hold herself together. She bit her lip hard, trying to swallow the sobs. But the storm rising inside her chest—could it really be stopped so easily?
Her eyelids trembled… heavy with tears. Each drop felt like burning acid, searing pain.
Her heart pounded violently. Breathing became painful—the breeze from the window felt heavy, pressing down on her chest. It was as though someone had placed a stone right in the center of her ribcage. Every inhale threatened to split her apart.
Her hands shook; her fingers gripped the edge of the bench so tightly it hurt—as though letting go would mean losing herself completely.
She tried again and again to cry without making a sound. But the choked sobs rose from her throat anyway—unwanted, embarrassing even to her own ears.
When she realized the other girls were staring at her, seeing her cry, she fled the classroom and ran to an empty one nearby.
Her entire body shook uncontrollably. It was as though her body, too, understood that she had broken.
This was a kind of crying that wasn't just in the eyes—it spread through bones, blood, veins, nerves.
A crying that no one could remain silent in the face of.
A crying in which a person no longer recognized themselves—only a body of pain, a heart reduced to ashes.
Sneha was still crying. Continuously, silently, her body trembling. She clutched the edge of her school dress tightly, as though holding onto that small piece could keep her from falling apart. Inside her chest lay ruins—each breath came out like smoke from a dying fire.
Suddenly… her fingers began to go numb.
At first she didn't understand. Her head felt strangely light. The world slowly darkened around the edges; her vision blurred. Cold sweat trickled down her forehead.
Her stomach twisted—an odd hunger mixed with discomfort and weakness crashing over her all at once. Her heart raced; breathing grew labored. Her lips trembled—not from cold, but from the agony in her heart.
Then, abruptly, everything went black before her eyes. A roaring sound filled her ears… as though the world's every noise had stopped in an instant.
Her head spun violently.
Sneha reached for the wall, but her hand wouldn't rise properly.
She collapsed to the floor—her head hitting the ground with a dull thud.
Lips turning bluish, hands and feet ice-cold, breaths shallow.
Hypoglycemia.
Her blood sugar had dropped to a dangerously low level. Extreme emotional stress, not eating, and the explosion of deep feelings—her body could no longer bear it.
No one had yet realized what had happened.
To be continued...