BEFORE MY LAST BREATH

CHAPTER- 1

             CHARACTER AESTHETIC

VIVIAN RAE :
"Feelings are dangerous, but with you, I can’t help it."

VANI OBEROI:
"Love isn’t about who’s first, it’s about who’s last."

AMARA DUA:
"Even if it hurts, I’d choose you every time."

AGASTYA BHATT
"I’d take a bullet for you, no questions asked."

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CHAPTER: ONE

It has been her. It was always her—Vani Oberoi.

From the moment I first saw her, I knew she was different.

I was six, she was four, and even then, there was something about her that caught my eye. She stood on the balcony of her fancy duplex, looking down at me like I was some kind of puzzle she wanted to solve.

That place was unreal, with its floating stairs and all that luxury I could never touch. I’ve been inside a few times, just enough to remind me that her world isn’t made for someone like me. Our lives are nothing alike.

My mom—she’s a tough Marathi woman who grew up in Pune before marrying my old man. Now, we live in the shadow of that damn apartment complex where Vani lives.

My dad sells fruit to those rich bastards, and my mom cleans up after them.

Me? I’m their only son, the one they hope will drag us out of the mud. But I’m not the golden boy they wanted. I dropped out of school because I couldn’t stand being shoved into a box.

I live for the roar of a motorbike, not the quiet life of some desk job. Vani… she gets that about me. Maybe that’s why we clicked.

But here’s the thing—our connection? It’s not something either of us can put into words.

Hell, we haven’t even confessed anything yet. But there’s this pull, something dark and dangerous, that keeps us circling each other.

My mom noticed it first. She’s sharp, always watching, always worrying. She knows I’m trouble, and she saw the way I started looking at Vani, the way my heart races when I catch her staring back.

She tried to warn me off, but it’s too late for that.

Everyone else? They see me as the guy who’s going to ruin her. The poor kid with nothing to lose, the one who dropped out, the one who smokes.

Yeah, I’m that guy—the one parents warn their daughters about. They look at me like I’m already guilty of something, like I’m a ticking time bomb ready to drag Vani down with me.

"Smoking will kill you, idiot," she always says, trying to act like she doesn’t care.

"But you still watch me do it," I shoot back, flashing her a grin that I know she love it.

"Not at all, Viv," she snaps, but her eyes tell me something different.

She’s drawn to the danger, to the edge that I live on. And I can’t lie—I love that she is.

She’s fighting it, I can see that. She’s not supposed to be interested in someone like me, the guy from the wrong side of the tracks.

But we both know there’s something here, something we can’t shake off. It’s a game we play, this dance of getting close but not too close.

Because deep down, we both know that if we cross that line, there’s no going back. And as much as we try to pretend otherwise, we’re both standing on the edge, just waiting for the fall.

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AUTHORS NOTE: I personally love this novel, it has a myriad raw emotions and many of us could relate to it. Doesn't set any impossible expectations. Yet it has that charm we all long for. A tale of love, badboys, and heartbreaks.

Stay with me until the end of the journey, I will make you laugh, cry and fall in love.

With Love,
Sacha.