Chapter 30

Abhimanyu

I walked away.

Not because I wanted to, but because I had no other choice.

Everything inside me was burning. My mind screamed, but I had no words left to fight. No energy left to explain myself to someone who never even tried to understand. Shubhi had already judged me, had already decided who I was in her mind.

And maybe… maybe she was right.

Maybe I was just a messed-up guy who pushed people away, who couldn’t even let someone in long enough to explain himself. Maybe this was who I was always meant to be—alone.

I didn’t know where I was going, but my legs carried me forward, away from the suffocating confrontation, away from the weight of my past and the expectations of the present. It was drizzling again, as if the sky knew what I felt, as if it was mocking me with its own tears.

The library rooftop.

It was the only place I knew I wouldn’t be found. The place where no one would disturb me. I climbed up the old stairs, pushed open the door, and stepped outside. The cold air hit me, numbing the storm inside.

I let out a deep breath.

And then, finally, the weight of everything crashed down on me.

I sat on the edge of the rooftop, resting my elbows on my knees, staring blankly at the city lights in the distance. The rain soaked through my clothes, but I didn’t care. Nothing mattered. Not anymore.

I thought about everything—about the past I had buried so deep, about the people who left, about the people I pushed away. About her.

Shubhi.

She was supposed to be different.

For a moment, I had let myself believe that maybe… maybe she could see past everything. Maybe she would look at me and see something more than just the walls I had built.

But no.

She did what everyone else did—made up her own version of me in her head, painted me as someone I wasn’t, and walked away before I even had a chance to explain.

And that hurt more than I was willing to admit.

I exhaled, my fingers gripping my soaked hoodie, my nails digging into my palm.

Maybe it was time to stop hoping.

Maybe it was time to stop expecting people to see me.

I closed my eyes, letting the rain pour over me, letting the cold sink into my bones, letting the emptiness settle inside me like an old friend.

And then…

I felt it.

A presence.

I opened my eyes, slowly turning my head.

She was there.

Shubhi.

Standing at the entrance of the rooftop, looking right at me.

Soaked, breathless, but determined.

I frowned, my heart pounding in my chest. “What are you doing here?” My voice was rough, strained, the remnants of my pain still lingering.

She didn’t answer immediately. She just took a step closer, her eyes holding something I couldn’t decipher. Something different.

Something I had never seen before.

Hope.

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