YASH'S POV:

She turned away.Her jaw was tight.Her fingers clutched the small earring,the only thing I had left of her.

The moment it left my hand, I felt like someone ripped a part of me away.

She didn’t say anything. Didn’t yell.

She just turned… and left.

And I didn’t stand there like a fool.

No.I ran.Like a madman.

Mask back on my face. Cap pulled low. Shoving past the crowd in that damn food court with my heart hammering in my chest like it was about to break free.

She walked toward the table where Vihaan was sitting. And with him… that guy.

Her hand shot forward in a flash and yanked Vihaan out of his hold. Anger was written all over her body.The way her jaw clenched. The way she didn’t even look at him properly.

"Aarya? What's wrong?" The guy asked, voice dipped in concern.

"It's nothing. Let’s go," she replied coldly, already beginning to walk away.But Vihaan had other plans.

"Mam-mu... mam-mu," he kept chanting, tugging at her kurti, his big eyes sparkling with curiosity as he looked somewhere behind her.

The guy chuckled awkwardly as he followed them. "He’s been saying that for the past fifteen minutes. I thought he was calling me mammu or something. But nope. No clue what he wants.”

Aarya stopped. Sighed.

Then she turned a little and muttered, “Mickey Mouse.”

"What?" the guy blinked, clearly confused.

"Mickey Mouse," she said louder this time. “He watched it on TV once and now he calls it mam-mu. I think he saw something earlier… maybe a toy or a costume."

I felt my heart plummet.Wait.What?.

The blood drained from my face.

So he wasn’t her brother? That guy… he wasn’t Vihaan’s mammu?!

The entire world tilted sideways. My breath hitched.What the hell was I thinking?That wasn’t her brother.

And suddenly, my body moved before my brain could catch up.I ran.

Right in front of her.

In front of the entire damn mall.

And then I dropped to my knees.

Face still half-covered. Cap still on. But there was no hiding now. No ego. No pride. No fear.

Only her.

Only Aarya.

People started staring. A few phones probably pointed at me. But I didn’t care.

All I saw was her.

“Aarya,” my voice cracked. Barely a whisper.“I know. I know I messed up. I made mistakes. Huge ones. Irreversible, maybe. But please…”

I looked up at her.She wasn’t blinking. Her eyes wide. Lips slightly parted.

Her grip on Vihaan tightened.

“Just… talk to me,” I whispered. “Please just talk to me once.Just hear me out.”

I swallowed hard. My vision blurring because god, I didn’t think it would hurt this much.I was already breaking.

“I’ve waited for so long, Aarya. I never stopped thinking about you. Not one day.”

“Stand up,” she muttered harshly, interrupting me.

I blinked. Confused. “W-What?”

“Stand. Up.” Her voice was gritted. Laced with quiet rage.

I stood slowly, knees aching. “Aarya, I....”

She held up a hand. I froze.

Then she turned her head slightly toward the guy standing awkwardly behind her and Vihaan. "You should go," she said quietly.

He looked stunned. “Are you sure? I can stay if.”

“I said go.” Her tone left no room for discussion.

The guy opened his mouth but shut it again, nodding stiffly. "Okay. Um… I’ll see you later then. Take care, Vihaan."

Vihaan just blinked at him, still slightly confused and still whispering mam-mu under his breath.

The guy gave one last look and walked away, disappearing into the crowd.

I didn’t speak. Didn’t move.

She looked at me now. Properly. For the first time since that goddamn day.Vihaan clutched her hand tightly, probably sensing the tension around us.

I can't even express the emotions I was feeling. The feeling in my chest. How much it was killing me. Should I just tell her that I love her? That the girl I talked about was her all along? Yes i should. It's better that I tell her.

"Speak yash?" Aarya said as she looked at me. Now she was calm but confusion in her eyes was evident.

"Can we please sit somewhere and speak about it please?" I asked her and she just nodded. Walking away and I simply followed her.

As she takes her seat in McDonald's again,I also sit in front of her, and little Vihaan still hasn't stopped saying mam-mu. Aarya looked at him and turned on YouTube, starting the Mickey Mouse show for him to watch.

He instantly stopped blabbering and started watching and laughing. She smiled looking at him and then looked at me with a serious face.

I was about to confess my feelings when she started speaking.

"It's already been 2 years, Yash. We can file for divorce now."That sudden thing shook me.

Divorce? No way.

"Aarya, can you hear me out, please?" I asked trying to keep my voice steady and control my sobs.Yes, call me a crybaby, that's fine. Aayansh and Rohit call me that as well.

I take a deep breath and then point towards the water.

"Paani peelu?" I ask her, and she lets out a low laugh.

I take the water and drink it.God, why does this feel so hard??? It legit feels like I'm going to war or something.

She was still watching me, waiting. I leaned a little.

"Aarya..."My voice is softer now. Barely above a whisper.

"I need to say something. And I don't know how to say it without sounding like an idiot. But I'll still say it."

She stayed silent and her brows furrowed in confusion.

I took a shaky breath."The girl I used to talk about... the one I was madly in love with. I just saw her one time, and yet it's been almost years, but I just... loved her..."

She blinked. Confused."It was you."

I whispered."It was always you."

Her lips parted slightly. Her breath hitched.

"I didn't know it was you. I didn't even know your name. Nothing. The only thing I remembered was that mole on your right shoulder... and the earring you left behind. That one earring stayed with me all these years. And so did the memory of you."

I took a deep breath, voice shaking now.

"It's been years, Aarya. Years of loving a girl I couldn't even find. Years of searching. And I never realized... the girl I was looking for, the one who changed everything for me that night... was you. You."

My eyes held hers, raw and unfiltered.

"That night, you became the love of my life."

"That... that guy? It was you?" she asked me, and I couldn't just say no.

"Yes, Aarya, it was me! And your touch still lingers deep within me. That day, for the first time, I felt something as pure as love-and trust me, Aarya, I've never ever loved any other girl since then. I couldn't even look at any other girl, and that's the reason I was so rude to you."

"How did you get to know it was me?" she asked.

"Earring. I found the other one, and I connected the dots. I don't know if you have the mole on your right shoulder or..."I stop and don't even speak further.

"I do," she interrupts.

"I came back and found out that you were gone, Aarya. At first, it didn't affect me much, but then... then I got to know you were the same girl I was searching for all these years, and I went insane. I searched all the cameras, everything, but you never left any clue."

"Wait, Yash!"She stopped me from speaking.

"I agree that you loved me," she says and stops as Vihaan's YouTube video was paused so she leans in to unpause it.

"I love you, Aarya. It's never in the past. Every moment, each day, each second-I love you, and it'll always be you for me, Aarya," I instantly speak without letting her.

"How, Yash? How? It may be just an attraction, Yash. We just met one time." I didn't even noticed that movement. It's just because you told me now that I'm thinking about that day or else I had forgotten about it.

"It wasn't just an attraction, Aarya. I never felt a pull like that with anyone else. It was you. Just you, Aarya. That day-I couldn't ever forget it, and those moments kept replaying in my mind."

"Give me a chance, Aarya," I whisper, my voice breaking mid-sentence.

"Please. Just one chance to prove to you that I love you. More than my own self. More than anything in this world,Ocean."

I take a step closer, my hands trembling at my sides.

"You have no idea how much I’ve longed for you… these two years each moment, each second I was dying without you. Just waiting… hoping… that somehow, someday, you’d come back."

Her eyes glisten, but her face remains still.

"Yash…" she says, her voice low and cracked, "Stop. Please… just stop."

But I couldn’t.

"I can’t. Not when you’re right in front of me. Not when you’re so close but still slipping through my fingers."I clench my fists, trying to steady my breath.

"I’ve held on for too long, Aarya. Please… don’t ask me to let go now."

Her lips tremble as she looks away from me.

"Every time I believed in love, Yash… it left me shattered.You don’t know what it’s like to keep picking up the broken pieces of your heart, only to have them crushed again and again."

She looks me dead in the eye, the pain in them deeper than any wound I’ve ever seen.

"I can’t ever believe in love. Not anymore. It’s fictional. It’s a lie people tell themselves to survive this ugly world.And to love... means to die.

But I can’t die, Yash. Not now.

I have to live.For Vihaan.For his future.

Please don’t make this harder for me.

You have to move on."

Move on?

I let out a shaky laugh more of a sob, really and fell to my knees, right there in front of her.

"How, Aarya? How the hell do I move on from you?"Tears blur my vision as I look up at her.

"You’re my Ocean… the only one who ever made me feel like I could breathe. And now you’re asking me to drown."I crawl a little closer, my voice barely holding together.

"Please, Ocean… I beg you... don’t push me away.Let me stay close.

I won’t touch you, won’t even speak if you don’t want me to.Just… let me exist near you.Let me protect you.

I swear, I won’t let even a single tear drop from your eyes ever again."

She closes her eyes tightly, trying to block it all out, but I can see her walls shaking.

"Please… don’t punish me by sending me away.Don’t punish yourself by denying a second chance."

I place a hand on my chest, like it’ll stop my heart from collapsing.

"Give me a chance. Just one chance… to this marriage.A chance for you… to feel love again.Fall in love, Aarya.Not with the world.Not with dreams.Just with me.

I’ll wait. I’ll fight. I’ll prove it.

But don’t walk away… not without trying once."

She doesn’t say anything.But I swear I saw it the crack in her voice, the flicker in her eyes, the war she was fighting inside her chest.

And all I could do was wait…

for her to decide if I was worth saving from the storm.

And then she finally spoke. Her voice was barely audible, trembling.

"What if I give you a chance…" she paused, her eyes dropping to the table, "but what if I don’t feel the same towards you?"

My breath caught in my throat.

"What if I’m not even capable of loving you, Yash?What if no matter how hard I try, that feeling… that connection never happens?Won’t you blame me then? Won’t you hate me for it?

Won’t you stand one day in front of me and say'You should’ve told me earlier if that's what your answer was.'"

She looked up, eyes glassy, and asked me in a whisper that broke me into pieces,

"Tell me, Yash…So why?Why do we waste our time?"

I blinked hard. My chest felt like it had been hollowed out. But I shook my head slowly.

"No, Ocean. No. Never.I would never ever blame you."My voice cracked as I leaned forward, resting my hand over my heart.

"I’ll stay.Silently.Patiently.

And I’ll try, Aarya. I’ll try to heal you.

To make you believe again not in me, but in love.And if… if you still don’t feel anything for me even then,I’ll respect it.

But I’ll never walk away from you."

Tears filled my eyes as I spoke the words I had kept buried for so long.

"Tumhari tasveer ke sahaare ye 2 saal bitaaye hain, Aarya.Now don’t ask me to go again.Just let me stay.Let me be near you."

(I've spent 2 years just by looking at your picture.)

She was staring at me now, breathing unevenly, the walls she’d built slowly cracking.

"I won’t ever blame you, Aarya.Not in this life.Not in any.And that…

that I can guarantee you."

Her eyes glistened. And this time… she didn’t look away.

She just kept looking.Not blinking. Not speaking.Her eyes felt… hollow.Too confused. Too scared.

And yet she stood there still, silent, and broken.I didn’t move. I didn’t rush her.

I knew this moment wasn’t about answers.

"Aarya… it’s okay. You can take your time," I said softly, gently.

"Just… please don’t vanish again."

Right then, my phone buzzed in my pocket again.I didn’t even have to look to know it was the PR team.They had been calling nonstop.

But right now?I didn’t care. None of it mattered.Only she did.

“Yes, Yash,” she finally said, her voice low, shaky but firm. “I need some time. I’ll let you know my decision by tomorrow evening. Is that fine?”

"Yes, Ocean,” I breathed out, relief washing over me just at hearing her call herself undecided instead of done.

“It’s fine. It’s completely fine.Just… please don’t disappear."

“I won’t disappear.”And with that, she bent down and picked Vihaan up in her arms.

My eyes instantly moved to the little Vihaan clinging to her kurti.His soft curls. His baby hands wrapped around her.

"Aarya..." I said, my voice faltering as emotion rose in my throat, thick and tight.It caught in my chest.

"Can I… can I hold him once?"My eyes never left Vihaan."He’s grown up now and I just…"

She looked at me, her lips parting slightly, hesitating for a second but then she nodded.

I gently took him into my arms, cautious, like I was holding my whole world for the first time.And just like that… he melted into me.

My arms wrapped around him, and his little body curled against my chest like we belonged.He giggled and grabbed my shirt, then reached up curiously tiny fingers brushing my face.

He started playing with my mask.

I blinked, trying to process the surge of emotions crashing into me."Hey, little champ," I said softly, tapping his tiny nose."Pehchana mujhe?"

(Remember me?)

He blabbered something in his gibberish language and broke into a laugh.

And then before I could stop him his little hands went to my cheeks and tugged at the mask.

Shit.No. No. No.I panicked and looked at Aarya. Her expression changed in an instant.

She quickly stepped forward, gently taking Vihaan back into her arms as I turned away and pulled my mask back up in a flash.

My heartbeat was loud in my ears.I couldn’t risk it.Not here.Not in a public place full of cameras and chaos.

If someone recognised me, it wouldn’t just be the mall going crazy it would be a stampede of people and flashes and security screaming.

And I couldn’t, wouldn’t let that madness touch them.Aarya and Vihaan didn’t deserve to be dragged into the storm that followed Yash Oberoi everywhere.

They were mine.But they were soft.And the world was harsh.She looked at me, concern flickering in her eyes. But she didn’t say anything.

And with that… she turned away.Her dupatta swayed gently as she walked, Vihaan nestled in her arms, unaware of the storm swirling behind them.

"Goodbye, Yash," she said, not turning back.My heart clenched at the word.

Goodbye.

"No… Ocean," I called out, my voice softer than a whisper but desperate. "Never say goodbye."She stopped mid-step.

"Goodbyes are forever,"I said, staring at her like it was the last page of my favorite story, "and I don’t want it to be forever… so please… instead, let’s say ‘until the next time,’ okay?"There was a pause.

“Yeah… until the next time, Yash,” she said quietly.And just like that, she walked away.

Leaving me standing there in the middle of McDonald’s. Surrounded by noise, people, life.But all I could hear was my own heartbeat… thudding in my ears.

I watched her disappear into the crowd.I didn’t move. I couldn’t.My feet were stuck to the floor.My hands clenched and unclenched at my sides.My throat burned from holding back the tears.

My heart was terrified. Not of losing her.

I’

d already lost her once.It was terrified of hope.Because hope meant waiting.

Hope meant believing in something I couldn’t control.Will she say yes? Will she give us a chance?

Or will tomorrow come with a quiet rejection that I’ll have to swallow and carry forever?

The question…

It’s going to haunt me tonight