Mistake

Advika’s POV

It had been hours.

Hours since I last saw him. Hours since he disappeared. Hours since my world started crumbling.

I sat on the bed, my body numb, my fingers gripping the crumpled divorce papers in my lap. My eyes were stuck on the words he had written—the last thing he left behind.

"Goodbye, Mrs. Raichand. Ab aap iss rishte se azad hain, yehi chahti thi na aap?"

My mind refused to accept it. My heart refused to believe it.

He couldn't have meant this. He couldn't have left just like that.

Tears streamed down my face, but I didn’t even blink. My breaths were shallow, my chest tight. My hands trembled as I traced his signature on the paper, my vision blurring.

It wasn’t real. It couldn’t be real.

I tried calling him again, my fingers cold as they pressed the screen.

The number you are trying to reach is currently switched off.

The same lifeless response.

A hollow ache settled in my chest. A fear unlike anything I had ever felt before. Vivan was missing. He had disappeared without a trace, and I had no idea where to find him.

I wanted to scream, to break something, to run out and look for him myself. But I couldn’t move. I just sat there, frozen, as the words on the paper burned into my soul.

What had I done?

The door burst open with a loud thud.

I flinched, my grip tightening on the crumpled divorce papers as I lifted my head. My vision was blurry from the endless stream of tears, but I could still see them—Vivan’s parents standing at the doorway, their faces pale with panic , their breaths uneven.

The moment mom's gaze fell on me—sitting lifelessly on the bed, clutching a crumpled piece of paper,  face drained of color.

"Advika!" she gasped, running towards me.

The second her arms wrapped around me, something inside me broke.

A strangled sob tore from my throat as I clung to her, my whole body trembling. Until now, I had been frozen—shocked, numb, unable to process anything. But the second she held me, the walls I had built around myself collapsed.

"Mom… he’s gone… he left…" My voice was barely audible, broken between sobs.

"He will come back, beta," she whispered, stroking my hair, but I could hear the fear in her voice too. She was trying to be strong—for me, for herself—but deep down, we both knew something was terribly wrong.

I felt another presence near me. Dad stood still, his face dark, his hands clenched into fists. He was silent, but the weight of his worry filled the room like a storm about to break.

"Where was he last seen?" he finally asked, his voice tense.

I couldn’t answer. I didn’t even know where to begin.

The only thing I knew was that my world was falling apart, and I had no idea how to stop it.

Dad’s gaze fell on the crumpled divorce papers in my hands.

My heart clenched as I watched him step closer, his brows furrowing in confusion. Before I could react, he gently took the papers from my trembling hands. His eyes scanned over the words, and in the next second, his expression changed—shock, disbelief, and something dangerously close to anger.

He looked at me for answers, but I couldn’t meet his gaze. Instead, I buried my face deeper into Mom’s shoulder, fresh tears soaking her dupatta.

"What the hell is going on here, Advika?" Dad’s sharp voice cut through the room like a whip.

I flinched at his tone, my body going rigid. My grip on Mom’s saree tightened, and in that moment, the small chit in my other hand slipped and fluttered to the ground.

Dad bent down and picked it up.

The room fell into an eerie silence as he read the words written on it.

"Goodbye, Mrs. Raichand. Ab aap iss rishte se azad hain. Yehi chahti thi na aap?"

His eyes widened further, and when he looked at me again, his anger was no longer just confusion—it was demanding.

"Advika," he said, his voice lower but filled with restrained fury. "What is going on between you and Vivan?"

The air was thick with silence,  dad’s gaze piercing through me. I couldn’t look him in the eye. My chest tightened, each breath more difficult than the last.

"I... I don’t want to do this," I mumbled softly, my voice barely above a whisper, as if saying it aloud would make the reality of the situation even more unbearable.

But dad didn’t soften. His voice cut through the stillness, hard and sharp. "It has your signature too, Advika."

The words hit me like a punch to the stomach. My entire body froze. I didn’t want to believe it. Couldn’t believe it. My hands started to tremble uncontrollably as I glanced at the divorce papers again. My eyes followed the lines, the signatures—and then it struck me like a cold slap to the face.

My signature.

There, in black and white, right next to Vivan’s name. I had signed it. My own hand, my own decision. The realization crashed over me like a wave, and my heart sank.

How could I not have noticed that before? How could I have been so blind, so caught up in the whirlwind of everything else, that I never once stopped to think about the consequences of signing those papers?

I felt a rush of panic flood through me as my mind raced to piece everything together. How had I not realized it? Why hadn’t I questioned it earlier when I first saw the papers? How had I let myself become so detached from what was happening?

I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t speak. The weight of it all was too much.

I heard dad's voice again, more insistent now. “Advika, answer me! What is going on between you and Vivan?”

But I couldn’t answer. I couldn’t even form the words. My mind was consumed with the overwhelming realization that I had signed away my marriage, my future, my love, without even truly understanding what I was doing.

Why hadn’t I thought to question it? Why hadn’t I noticed the moment my signature was on that paper? My head spun with the unanswered questions, and I felt like I was drowning in my own mistakes.

Before I could gather my thoughts, the door suddenly opened with a force that made me flinch. Agam stood in the doorway, his face pale, his eyes wide with urgency.

“They’ve seen Vivan,” Agam said quickly, breathless. “He was spotted near the airport.”

The words barely registered, but the moment they did, it was like a rush of adrenaline shot through my veins. My heart pounded in my chest as a wave of panic swept over me.

The airport?

Without thinking, without even bothering to slip on shoes, I shot to my feet. I didn't hear mom’s voice calling my name, or dad’s shout. I didn’t hear Agam trying to stop me. I was already moving—barefoot, my mind racing, my thoughts scattered.

I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t wait. I had to find him. I had to make sure he was okay. The thought of Vivan being out there alone, possibly leaving without me... I couldn’t let that happen.

I dashed out of the room, the cool floor beneath my feet sending a chill up my spine, but I didn’t stop. I ran through the house, the door slamming behind me as I threw myself into the car.

"Advika! Wait!" I heard dad's shout, but the sound was drowned by the rush of blood in my ears.

The engine roared to life as I slammed my foot on the gas pedal, the tires screeching as I sped away. I barely noticed the tears blurring my vision, or the frantic calls from mom dad and Agam fading in the distance. All I could hear was the pounding of my heart and the sound of my own breath as I raced toward the one place that might still have a chance of saving everything.

The airport.

I didn’t know what I would do when I got there. I didn’t know if I’d find him, or if I’d be too late. But I couldn’t stop now. I wouldn’t stop. Not until I found him.

And as the world blurred around me, I could only think of one thing—Vivan.

The engine of the car hummed steadily beneath me, but my thoughts were a whirlwind. The words Vivan had written on the divorce papers kept swirling in my mind, each one echoing louder than the last. "Goodbye, Mrs. Raichand. Yehi chahti thi na aap?"

I couldn't escape them. He saw my signature. I thought, a sharp pain coursing through me. He must have thought I wanted this. He must have thought I wanted to leave him, to end everything.

The weight of the realization hit me like a ton of bricks. How could I have been so blind? I had been so consumed by my own fear, my own guilt, that I never took a moment to see how my actions had affected him. That signature… I had signed those papers without thinking. But I hadn’t meant it. I never wanted this.

But it didn’t matter now.

Vivan was gone.

My hands shook on the steering wheel as I sped toward the airport, my mind racing with all the thoughts I had been too terrified to face before. He had been so hurt, so broken by everything. And I had only added to it, without realizing it.

What have I done? The question echoed in my mind, but I couldn’t find an answer.

"Hamri galti ki itni badi saza mat dijiya humein , ek baar Humsa baat toh kar li jiye ,vivan , kahan chale gayi hai aap , aapki princess aapko dhund rahi hai"("Please don't make me pay such a heavy price for my mistake. Just talk to me once, Vivan. Where have you gone? Your princess is searching for you.") i mumbled while tears came from my eyes.

When I reached the airport, I barely registered the world around me. My feet were bare as I ran through the crowded terminal, the cold pavement biting into my skin, but I didn’t care. I had to find him. I had to fix this.

Vivan, where are you?

I called out his name, but the sound was lost in the sea of people. His face wasn’t there. His voice wasn’t there. I searched desperately, pushing past travelers, my heart hammering in my chest.

But nothing.

No sign of him.

I reached the departure gates, my breath coming in ragged gasps, but the only thing I saw was a sea of strangers. There was no Vivan. No trace of him anywhere.

I’m too late.

The thought hit me with a gut-wrenching force, and my knees buckled beneath me. I collapsed onto the floor, my hands trembling as I clutched my chest, trying to hold myself together, but I couldn’t.

I had waited too long. I had waited until it was too late.

I lost him.

Tears blurred my vision as I sank lower, the world around me spinning out of control. I had lost him, and there was nothing I could do to bring him back.

He was right to leave. The bitter thought cut through the chaos in my mind. I signed those papers. I let him believe I wanted this. I pushed him away.

I wanted to scream, to beg, to apologize. But the only thing I could do now was sit there, drowning in the realization that I had lost him forever.

This is the result of all my lies.

~Jhoot par tika rishta,

bikhar ke reh jaatein hai!!

Aur un bikhra rishton ka,

Zakhm sameta na semat paatein!!~

Chapter updated

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