Ananya had never feared two pink lines before.
But now, as she stood in the bathroom with the plastic stick trembling in her hands, fear settled into her bones like winter.
Pregnant.
The word echoed like a sentence.
She stared at herself in the mirror. Her reflection didn't look shocked. Or sad. Or even surprised.
It looked tired.
---
Rael was in the library when she approached him.
He looked up, immediately sensing something had shifted. She wasn't trembling. She wasn't cold.
She was quiet.
"I need to talk to you," she said.
He closed the book.
"I'm pregnant."
The silence after her words was the loudest thing in the room.
Rael didn't blink. Didn't move.
Then—
"Are you sure?"
She nodded.
"And?"
"I want an abortion."
The pause that followed felt eternal.
Rael rose slowly, his jaw clenched so tight a nerve ticked at his temple.
"No."
"I wasn't asking," she said.
"Yes, you were."
She took a step back. "I don't want this. I'm not ready. And I won't bring a child into this world of control and cages."
"You don't get to decide that alone."
"It's my body."
"It's my child."
She exhaled sharply. "There is no child yet. There's a choice. And I've made mine."
Rael crossed the distance between them so fast she didn't flinch — not because she wasn't afraid, but because she expected it.
He didn't touch her. He just stared.
"You think this is a game? A strategy to hurt me?"
"No," she said. "That would've been easier."
His voice dropped to a whisper. "You are not aborting my blood."
She lifted her chin. "You can't stop me."
He walked away.
But the storm followed.
---
For the next day, Rael said nothing. He didn't speak to her. Didn't visit her room.
But she wasn't free.
The doctor she called never arrived. The driver she asked to take her out refused, gaze lowered.
She was trapped.
Again.
Only this time, her body wasn't hers alone.
---
Rael came into her room that night. Sat at the foot of her bed.
"You're scared," he said.
She said nothing.
"So am I."
She looked at him.
He wasn't cruel in that moment. He looked like the man he used to be. The one who once called her fire and kissed her like a secret.
"I'm not asking you to forgive me," he said. "Or to love me. But don't take this one thing from me."
She felt tears rise.
"This isn't a punishment," she whispered. "But it will become one if I keep it just to keep you whole."
He moved closer. His hand reached out — hesitated.
"You've hated me," he said.
She nodded.
"But I've only ever belonged to you," he added.
Silence.
Then—
"I'll think about it," she said.
Rael's eyes closed like he'd just been given breath.
But outside her window, Ananya stared at the dark horizon.
And in her mind, something else stirred.
Not love. Not hate.
A plan.