Her Only Saviour

57. The Sharpest Goodbye

𝕿𝖚 𝖍𝖆𝖎 𝖏𝖆𝖍𝖆𝖓 𝖒𝖆𝖎𝖓 𝖍𝖔𝖔𝖓 𝖜𝖆𝖍𝖆𝖓
𝕶𝖆𝖇𝖍𝖎 𝖓𝖆 𝖍𝖔 𝖏𝖚𝖉𝖆, 𝖞𝖊𝖍 𝖉𝖚𝖆 𝖍𝖆𝖎

𝕻𝖆𝖗 𝖐𝖞𝖚𝖓 𝖐𝖎𝖞𝖆 𝖙𝖚𝖓𝖊
𝕯𝖎𝖑 𝖐𝖊 𝖘𝖆𝖆𝖙𝖍 𝖞𝖊𝖍 𝖐𝖍𝖊𝖑

𝕭𝖊 𝖎𝖓𝖙𝖊𝖍𝖆𝖆𝖓 𝖙𝖊𝖗𝖎 𝖜𝖆𝖋𝖆𝖆𝖔𝖓 𝖐𝖆
𝕸𝖆𝖎𝖓 𝖇𝖊𝖜𝖆𝖋𝖆, 𝖙𝖊𝖗𝖆 𝖓𝖆𝖆𝖒 𝖑𝖊𝖐𝖊

~~~~~~~~~

A soft knock never came.

But something shifted.

Anirudh’s head jerked up slightly, eyes narrowing, breath pausing—not because he heard footsteps or saw movement.

Because he felt her.

The faint scent of lavender and smoke hit him first.
Her scent.
That specific perfume she always wore, that had once lingered on his shirts, his car, his skin.

It drifted into the room before she did.

Like her presence always did.

Powerful. Unapologetic. Uninvited.

His heart betrayed him—it stuttered.
Once.
Twice.

Then silence again.

And then the door opened.

There she was.

Nandini Rai.

Standing just inside the threshold of his cabin. No knock. No warning.

Her coat was still on, her face pale, eyes hollow but burning. She stood tall, chin up, posture unbreakable.

A woman who had walked through hell… and came back coated in fire.

She looked nothing like the girl he remembered.

And yet everything about her was her.

Anirudh didn’t move.

Didn’t speak.

Didn’t dare breathe too loudly.

But his hands curled slightly on the desk, as if they wanted to reach for her on instinct.
As if his body remembered loving her even while his mind screamed not to.

She didn’t look away.

And neither did he.

It was a battlefield now.

One where silence screamed louder than words.

Her lips parted—but no sound came.

And then—

A single tear escaped from her eye.

Just one.

But it told him everything.

She was still carrying it all.

Still breaking—beneath that storm-forged armor.

Just like him.

Anirudh didn’t blink.

Didn’t let the tremble in his chest show on his face.

Nandini stood just feet away, her eyes silently pleading—tearful but proud, broken but burning.

He hated how beautiful she still looked in pain.
Hated how even now, some part of him just wanted to run to her, pull her into his arms, and bury his face into the crook of her neck.