Silent Vows

Chapter 30

The hours passed in a blur for Karan. He couldn’t remember the last time he felt this empty. The events of the day—Arav’s confrontation, the cold finality of Meera’s message—had left him in a haze. It was like he was walking through life in slow motion, everything happening around him, but he couldn’t quite grasp it.

The café had cleared out long ago, the hum of conversation now replaced with the clinking of cups and the soft footsteps of the staff. Raj had left, his parting words still echoing in Karan’s mind. “You better fix this.” But how could he? How could he fix what he didn’t even fully understand?

Karan sat at the table, his phone clutched tightly in his hands, his fingers absentmindedly tracing the edges of the screen. The message from Meera was still there, staring at him, mocking him.

Goodbye, Karan.

His heart dropped every time he read it. She was leaving. Leaving him. He wanted to reply, to beg her for just a few more words, but his mind was blank. What could he say that would change anything now?

The more he stared at the message, the more he realized how foolish he’d been. He could feel the weight of his own mistakes pressing down on him, suffocating him. He had crossed a line. He had assumed too much, acted on his feelings without thinking about hers. And now, everything had fallen apart.

He ran a hand through his hair, frustrated with himself. He had always been the type to fix things with charm, with a smile, but with Meera, nothing worked. Nothing came easy. And that terrified him.

Suddenly, his phone buzzed again. This time, it wasn’t Meera. It was Arav.

"Meet me. Now," the message read.

Karan stared at it for a few moments, his heart racing. What did Arav want now? He wasn’t sure if he could take another confrontation, but at the same time, he knew he couldn’t avoid it. If he ever hoped to fix things, this was part of the price he had to pay. Arav wasn’t just a bystander in this whole mess. He had been a part of it. And Karan knew he needed answers—answers that only Arav could provide.

He grabbed his jacket from the back of the chair, the weight of it a reminder of the cold air outside. The ache in his chest intensified with each step as he made his way to the door. His thoughts kept drifting back to Meera, to the way she had looked at him that night before she ran. The hurt in her eyes still haunted him.

---

The walk to Arav’s apartment felt longer than it was. Karan’s mind kept drifting back to Meera. What was she thinking? Was she really leaving? Could he somehow reverse the damage he had caused? Could he undo the things he’d said? Could he make her understand how much she meant to him?

He passed by familiar buildings, the streets now unfamiliar, like a world out of sync with the storm raging inside his head. His feet moved on autopilot, taking him to a destination he wasn’t sure he was ready to face.

When he reached Arav’s building, he hesitated for a moment, his fingers curling into fists by his sides. He could feel his breath coming too fast, too shallow. The weight of everything that had happened, all the pain and regret, threatened to crush him, but he couldn’t stop now. He needed answers.

Taking a deep breath, he walked into the building and punched the elevator button, watching the numbers climb as it ascended to the top floor. Each second felt like an eternity.

The door to Arav’s apartment opened before Karan had a chance to knock. Arav stood in the doorway, his face impassive, his posture tense but controlled. There was no sign of the anger Karan had expected, though the underlying tension was thick in the air.