The fire had always been there—quiet, patient, and waiting. Not a blaze, but a slow, whispering burn, hidden beneath every word we didn’t say, every look we held too long.

Now, I stood in the wreckage. Smoke curled around my feet, soft tendrils of the past clawing at my skin. The world felt colder than it should have. Maybe because all the warmth had died with us.

I didn’t feel grief anymore. Or heartbreak. I didn’t even feel anger. I felt... empty. Hollowed out by the things we never fixed, the love we never saved.

And then—

“Aya.”

His voice. Raspy. Familiar. A ghost wrapped in flesh.

I didn’t turn. Couldn’t. Because if I saw him now, if I let myself feel again, the silence I had fought so hard to build would crack. And I couldn’t afford to break again.

“You shouldn’t be here,” I said, my voice colder than I intended. But wasn’t that fair? He left me. Left us. Left when I was already halfway to drowning.

But he stepped closer anyway.

---

She looked like a memory I’d never deserved to keep.

Shanaya stood still, her back to me, surrounded by the pieces of the life we had destroyed. And yet, she was the only thing still standing.

I wanted to run. Wanted to scream. But more than anything, I wanted to hold her.

"I never meant to leave you," I said, my voice catching in my throat. “I thought I was protecting you.”

But I wasn’t a hero. I was the fire, and I’d burned everything I loved.

She turned, finally—and it gutted me. There was no hatred in her eyes. No love either. Just the tired quiet of someone who’d already survived too many storms.

"I couldn’t be saved, Kabir,” she whispered. “Not by you. Not by anyone.”

My heart clenched. “Then let me burn with you,” I said, desperate now. “Let me drown if it means being near you again.”

But her steps backed away, her gaze unreadable.

"No,” she said. “I’m already ashes. You… you need to learn to live without the fire.”

And just like that—she slipped from my reach again. But I swear, even in that moment, I would’ve set the world ablaze just to keep her from fading.

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AUTHOR'S NOTE :

Thank you so much to everyone who took the time to read the prologue! ❤ This is just the beginning of Shanaya and Kabir's beautiful, intense, and destructive love story.

I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! ❤ Looking forward to your comments. Please be kind—this is my first book, and I'm still learning. 🥺🥺

See you all soon! Take care xxx

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