The air inside the ballroom had shifted , thick with a tension that neither of them had anticipated. Kabir stood frozen , his sharp gaze darting between shanaya and his aunt as he asked his question.

KABIR'S POV :

The moment the words left from radhika's ( rohan's mom ) lips, the world around me tilted on its axis.

"She is Shanaya... She was our Rohan's best friend and his first love."

Everything inside me stilled. My grip on Shanaya's hand faltered, my breath caught in my throat, and my mind struggled to process what I had just heard.

Rohan's first love.

Rohan's best friend.

And I had no idea.

The weight of it hit me like a freight train. My father and Rohan's father were brothers, making Rohan my cousin. My brother in every sense but blood. How did I not know? How did everyone around me keep this from me? And more than that—how did she not tell me?

I turned to Shanaya, needing answers, but what I saw on her face shattered something inside me.

She was already breaking.

Tears welled in her eyes, her lips parted as if she wanted to say something, but nothing came out. She took a shaky step back, and before I could say a word, she turned and ran.

"Shanaya!" I called out, pushing through the stunned crowd, ignoring the questioning gazes, ignoring my own confusion.

She was gone before I could reach her.

I cursed under my breath and stormed towards the security room. My heart pounded as I scanned the surveillance footage, seeing her rush out of the venue, flag down a cab, and disappear into the night.

Panic settled deep in my chest.

I didn't care about the questions swirling in my mind. I didn't care about the past, about Rohan, about the secrets no one told me. The only thing that mattered was finding her.

I pushed past the stunned guests, making my way to my car and speeding down the road at a pace that should have been illegal. My mind was a storm of thoughts, each one darker than the last.

Why didn't she tell me?

Did she still love him?

Was I just a distraction?

The thoughts threatened to consume me, but none of them mattered more than the fear clawing at my chest.

Where was she?

I dialed her number over and over. No answer.

I called my men. "Find her. Now."

Minutes felt like hours until my phone rang.

Kartik's voice came through. "If she's nowhere to be found, there's only one place she could be."

The treehouse.

The one she and Rohan built together.

I swallowed the lump in my throat, gripping the steering wheel so tightly my knuckles turned white. I hated the jealousy creeping in, the feeling of being blindsided. But more than that, I hated the thought of her breaking apart somewhere alone.

I drove like a man possessed, the rain pelting against my windshield, blurring my vision. When I reached the old, hidden path, I didn't think twice before stepping out into the storm.

And there she was.

Drenched, shivering, curled up against the wooden railing of the treehouse, lost in a world of pain.

My heart clenched at the sight of her.

I climbed up and crouched in front of her, reaching out to pull her close, to warm her up, but she flinched and shoved me away.

"How dare you?" her voice was raw, trembling, filled with something deeper than anger—betrayal, grief, devastation.

"Shanaya—" I started, but she cut me off, standing up, her body trembling from the cold and emotions wreaking havoc inside her.

"How dare you not tell me?" she choked, her chest rising and falling heavily. "How dare you let me—" She stopped herself, her hands clutching her arms as if holding herself together.

I took a cautious step forward, my voice soft but firm. "Shanaya, I didn't know."

She laughed bitterly, shaking her head. "How convenient."

Pain twisted inside me. "I swear to you, I had no idea."

Her eyes locked onto mine, searching, questioning. And then she whispered, "How could I do this? How could I let this happen? It's only been two years, Kabir. Two years since I lost him. How could I... how could I fall for you?"

And that was when I realized it.

This wasn't just about me.

This was about her.

The guilt. The pain. The weight of loving someone she thought she'd lost forever and the terror of falling for someone new.

And suddenly, my own fears didn't matter.Her words hit me like a punch to the gut, but i didn't flinch.

Because she was drowning in hers.

I stepped forward, cupping her face gently, making her look at me. "Shanaya, listen to me. You didn't do anything wrong."

Her lower lip trembled. "Then why does it feel like I did?"

I exhaled, pressing my forehead against hers, hoping she could feel the truth in my touch. "Because love doesn't come with a rulebook. Because moving on doesn't mean forgetting. And because what we have—whatever this is—it's real."

She shook her head, biting her lip as if to keep herself from breaking completely.

I took another step closer, this time not letting her push me away. I cupped her face gently, tilting it up so she had no choice but to meet my gaze.

"Listen to me," I said firmly. "You are not doing anything wrong. Rohan is gone, and nothing—nothing—can change that. But you're still here, Shanaya. You're still alive. And you deserve to be happy."

A single tear slipped down her cheek, and I instinctively brushed it away.

"Then why does it hurt so much?" she whispered, her voice barely audible over the rain.

"Because you loved him,"I murmured, my own throat tight. "And because you're scared to love someone else."

Her lips parted, her breath hitching as more tears fell.

I exhaled, my forehead resting lightly against hers, his fingers trembling against her damp skin.

"But I won't let you run away from this," I whispered. "Not from me."

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She closed her eyes, her hands gripping his shirt tightly as if she was drowning and he was her only anchor.

For the first time in two weeks, Kabir finally held her again.

And for the first time in two years, Shanaya allowed herself to be held.

The storm raged around them, but in that moment, neither of them cared.

This was their storm to weather. Together.

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SHANAYA'S POV : 

The moment radhika uttered those words, the world around me tilted.

I couldn't breathe.

I felt like I was drowning in an ocean where waves of memories, guilt, and shock crashed over me with relentless force.

How could I have been so blind? How did I not see it?

My heartbeat pounded in my ears as the realization hit me like a thunderclap. Kabir was Rohan's cousin. His family. His blood. And I—I had allowed myself to fall for him.

How could I? How could I betray Rohan like this?

Tears blurred my vision as I took a shaky step back. My breath was ragged, coming out in short, panicked gasps. I needed to get out of there. Away from Kabir. Away from the suffocating weight of my own emotions. Away from the past that had never truly let me go.

So I ran.

I didn't even register where my legs carried me, only that I had to escape. I hailed a cab with trembling fingers, ignoring the questioning gaze of the driver. My mind was a chaotic mess, my chest constricting with every memory that resurfaced.

Rohan's laughter. His voice calling my name. The way we used to dream about the future together.

And now... now I was falling for someone else.

I felt sick. Sick with guilt. Sick with fear. Sick with the possibility that I had moved on too soon, that maybe I had betrayed Rohan's memory in the worst way possible.

But had I ever truly moved on?

Tears silently streamed down my face as I stared out of the window at the rain pelting down. I clutched my arms around myself, trying to suppress the violent tremors wracking my body.

When the cab finally pulled up outside my house, I hesitated. Home didn't feel safe right now. Nowhere did.

And then I knew.

The treehouse.

The place where Rohan and I had spent countless nights talking about everything and nothing. The place where we made promises we couldn't keep.The place we had our first kiss - the stairs of the treehouse. The place where our story had started... and where it had ended.

By the time I reached the treehouse, my body was soaked, my teeth chattering from the cold. But I didn't care. The rain mixed with my tears as I sat on the wooden floor, knees pulled to my chest, trying to breathe through the ache.

Then suddenly, footsteps.

Heavy. Determined. And too familiar.

Kabir.

Even in my broken state, I felt him before I saw him. He approached cautiously, his expression unreadable, his dark eyes filled with emotions I didn't have the strength to decipher.

I flinched when he tried to touch me.

"Don't," I whispered, my voice barely audible. I felt the anger rise in my chest, hot and consuming. "How dare you?"

I met his gaze then, my body trembling—not just from the cold, but from the sheer force of emotions brewing inside me. The pain, the fear, the confusion, the betrayal.

How dare fate play such a cruel game with me?

I didn't know what hurt more—the fact that Rohan was gone, or the fact that, despite everything, my heart still ached for Kabir.

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AUTHOR'S NOTE : 

This chapter was intense—one of the most emotionally charged moments in Shanaya and Kabir's journey. Shanaya's breakdown, her fears, and the weight of her past crashing down on her all at once were heartbreaking to write. She's caught in a whirlwind of guilt, confusion, and grief, struggling with the idea of moving on and what it means for her love for Rohan. Meanwhile, Kabir is battling his own storm—shocked by the truth, yet desperate to reach her before he loses her completely.

This chapter marks a turning point in their story. It's raw, messy, and full of emotions that neither of them were prepared for. But sometimes, the deepest wounds have to be faced before they can heal.

What do you think? Did this chapter make you feel the intensity of their emotions? Let me know your thoughts! 💙

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