Shadows of the Past

Hey everyone!
Before you start reading, here’s a quick note so things are clear from the beginning.

The symbols at the start of each chapter show whose point of view it is:
!! — Author’s POV
* — Aashna’s POV
% — Aarav’s POV

Now, a little about the story — Love Me Like You Do is something very close to my heart. I wanted to write about how love can change people — not magically, but slowly, in the most unexpected ways. It’s about trust, healing, and learning to open up again.

Aashna Mukherjee is quiet, shy, and someone who has stopped believing in love. She hides behind her walls because she’s scared to get hurt again.

Aarav Chatterjee is the opposite — charming, bold, and the kind of guy who knows how to make people smile. For, love is nothing but a fling .

And when their worlds cross, everything begins to change.

Hope you enjoy reading their story as much as I loved writing it! 💕
Feel free to drop your thoughts in the comments — I’d love to know what you think!

!!

Aashna sat by the window of her small, cozy room, the gentle breeze from the ceiling fan doing little to ease the suffocating heat of a summer afternoon in Kolkata. She was twelve, an age teetering on the edge of adolescence, filled with dreams and insecurities. Aashna was a simple girl from a simple family, her world colored by the vibrant hues of her mother's hand-woven sarees and the earthy scent of her father's books. Yet, in her heart, she carried a weight that overshadowed her innocent joys-a deep-seated inferiority complex.

At school, she watched the other girls, stylish and confident, moving through the hallways with an ease she could never muster. They wore trendy clothes and seemed to glide effortlessly through the social currents that left her adrift. Aashna's clothes were modest, her manner shy, and she often found solace in the library, escaping into the worlds crafted by her favorite authors.

Her quiet admiration for books was rivaled only by her growing infatuation with a classmate, Arjun Malhotra. He was everything Aashna thought she could never be - handsome, charismatic, and popular. Her feelings for him started as a faint flutter in her chest but quickly spiraled into an obsession. She would steal glances at him during classes, replaying their brief interactions in her mind, and imagine scenarios where he might notice her, speak to her, and perhaps even smile at her.

But Aashna's dreams were fragile, built on the shaky foundation of her self-doubt. The day Arjun discovered her feelings was a turning point, not in the way she had hoped. He confronted her in front of their classmates, his words sharp and cutting. "You're insane, Aashna," he had said, his voice dripping with disdain. "Desperate and pathetic."

Those words echoed in her mind, carving deep scars into her soul. Aashna's world darkened. The inferiority complex that had once been a shadow now enveloped her entirely. She became rude, withdrawn, and introverted, building walls around her heart to protect herself from further pain. Love, she decided, was not meant for someone like her.

Years passed, and Aashna channeled her energy into her studies and career. She buried herself in books, research, and the pursuit of knowledge, finding solace in the certainty of academic achievements. By the time she was twenty-five, she had secured a prestigious scholarship to pursue her Ph.D. at a reputed university in London. The city of dreams beckoned, offering her an escape from the haunting memories of her past.

As Aashna packed her bags for London, she looked at herself in the mirror, the reflection of a woman who had fought hard to build a fortress around her heart. The scars from her childhood were still there, but she had learned to live with them. She barely remembered Arjun now, but the pain he caused had shaped her, making her who she was today-resilient, determined, and fiercely independent.

Little did she know that London would bring her face-to-face with a new chapter of her life, one that would challenge her to confront her fears and open her heart to the possibility of love once again. The city of dreams beckoned, offering her an escape from the haunting memories of her past and the promise of new beginnings.

As the plane took off, Aashna closed her eyes, the hum of the engines a comforting lullaby. She was ready to leave her past behind, unaware that the path ahead would be filled with challenges and surprises, testing her in ways she had never imagined. But for now, she allowed herself a moment of peace, a brief respite before the whirlwind of change engulfed her once more.

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