" 𝐼𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑔𝑙𝑜𝑤 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑔𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑟, 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑡𝑟𝑢𝑒 𝑝𝑎𝑖𝑛 𝑟𝑒𝑚𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑠 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑐𝑒𝑎𝑙𝑒𝑑."
───※ ·❆· ※───
Aisha , her name alone melts the coldest hearts, and her bright smile brightens their days. The cheery, bright, and sometimes...
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Aisha had finally drifted off to sleep, exhaustion pulling her under like a heavy tide. Radhika and Manvi sat beside her, holding her hands until her breathing steadied. When her lashes stopped fluttering and silence settled over the room, they quietly stood.
Stepping out of the room, Gaurav, Ayush, Manvi, and Radhika were met with tense stares — concern etched into every face waiting outside.
Rajendra, his eyes sunken with worry, was the first to speak. "What happened to her? Why was she crying?"
The words pulled the breath from the group like a thread.
They glanced at each other. No one rushed to speak. But the exhaustion on their faces said enough — something had gone horribly wrong.
After a long pause, Gaurav stepped forward. He took a quiet breath, then recounted everything — the conversation between Aisha and Aditya, her confusion, the shattering revelation, and finally, the panic attack that left her trembling.
By the time he finished, the air felt heavier — like grief had its own gravity.
Everyone felt it — the weight of Aisha's heartbreak, fresh and raw, like the wound had been reopened.
Vikram's voice broke first. Sharp. Angry. "For God's sake— is he mad?! He blurted everything just like that? Hasn't she suffered enough? One panic attack wasn't enough for him? He just had to open his damn mouth and push her into another?!"
The fury wasn't just rage — it was grief clawing at the edges of his control.
Ayush raised his hands, keeping his voice calm.
"Vikram, I get it. I do. But please... don't shout—"
But Vikram spun toward him, his eyes wild, voice sharper now. "You get it? Really? You think you understand what it's like to be forgotten by your own sister?!"
Ayush froze. Took a step back on instinct.
Before Vikram could step any closer, Saad was already there, pulling Ayush away gently but firmly, standing like a quiet shield between them.
At that moment, Kavya appeared from the other side of the corridor. She walked straight to Arjun, and he — without a word — wrapped an arm around her as his eyes stayed locked on Vikram.
Radhika stepped toward Vikram, voice firm but gentle. "Vik... I know I get it, you're angry. I know you're hurting. We all are. But screaming isn't going to—"
He cut her off, the rawness in his voice now impossible to mask.
"No, Radhika. You don't get it. You know why?" He stepped closer, his chest heaving. "Because she remembered you. You walked in there, and she said your name."
Radhika stilled.
"You, Manvi, Gaurav, Ayush, Aditya — you're her friends. And she remembered all of you. But when she looked at me, us — her brothers, her father — she didn't even flinch. Like we were nobody."
