Then I walk away.
And for the first time in a long,longtime—I feel completely, utterly lost.
Because somewhere between the last few hours and now, I’ve realized something terrifying.
I might be okay living for a ghost.
Worse—I might be okaybecomingone.
I’ve never thought that way about myself before.
Not even at my lowest.
I... need Vikram.
But it feels selfish—dragging him into this days before his wedding.
Still I find him.
He’s sitting with Ishika in the main hall. It’s nearly 4 a.m., and the entire place is empty except for the two of them, curled up together in the quiet.
I’m about to slip away when Vikram spots me.
“Oye! Viko!”
Shit.
I force myself to walk over and drop onto the couch across from them. Ishika’s eyes light up with mischief.
She wiggles her brows. “So...? Were you with Rohi?”
“Let him off, Ishi,” Vikram mutters. “That Lucian guy might hear you.”
I almost laugh.
Too late for that level of concern.
But what’s about to leave my mouth isn’t what they’re expecting. It’s time.
I can feel it building, rising, threatening to spill over.
So I let it.
I lean forward, elbows on my knees, and for the first time in two years—I let them see it.
The pain. The weight. Thetruth.
Vikram’s smile fades. Ishika’s grin slips clean off her face.
“Viko—”
“I need you both to stop orchestrating circumstances that push Rohi and me together.” The words tumble out, fast, sharp. “I... I don’t want her. And she definitely doesn’t want me.”
Ishika bites her lip. She always does that when she’s nervous. Or guilty.
“I wasn’t... we weren’t doing that because...” she trails off, sighing heavily.
Vikram jumps in. “I thought you did want her. I mean, at some point you did, right? And she is single—”
