_lazy_koala
Katha stood frozen.
Then he said it.
His gun still pointed at her.
Quiet.
Final.
Deadly in its calmness.
"Pyar kiya tha tumse kabhi isliye aaj jaane de rhe hain"
"Agar kabhi dobara mere raaste mein aayi na..."
A pause.
His gaze locked on hers.
Not warm anymore
Not familiar.
Completely gone.
"...toh Adhrit nahi."
Another pause.
"Adhrit Singh Ranawat milega tumhe. Aur uske liye tum sirf ek naam hogi-ek yaad jo woh kab ka dafn kar chuka hoga," he said, voice stripped of everything familiar, like the last trace of warmth had been burned out of it.
A pause.
His eyes stayed on her-steady, unreadable, unrecognizable.
"Ek stranger se zyada kuch nahi hogi tum," he continued, each word falling heavier than the last, "aur agar raaste mein aayi mere toh acche se jaanti ho kya anjaam hota hai hamare dushmano ka."
The sentence didn't rise in anger.
Like a verdict already passed.
His hand moved sharply.
And before she could even process it-
he grabbed the pendant from his neck.
The same pendant she had once placed there herself.
Hands trembling slightly that day, smiling like she was sealing a promise only love could understand.
He looked at it for half a second.
Just half.
Long enough for something to flicker across his face.
Then his grip tightened.
And he pulled it off.
Katha's breath caught.
"No-Adhrit, woh-"
He didn't look at her when he spoke.
"Tumne diya tha na?" he said flatly.
A pause.
Then colder-
"Tumhara jhooth tumhe muba rakho."
Before she could react-
he threw it.
Not gently.
Not carelessly.
But like discarding something that had no right to exist anymore.