Chapter 3 : The Confrontation

Khushi didn't dare to breathe out loud lest she would think that she was imagining and hearing things due to the mess inside her mind.

It felt real..like she wasn't imagining, but everything is finally happening.

She didn't bother turning to find who it was as a name escaped her lips shakingly.

"Arnav...?"

Before she could gather herself, a sudden sound broke through the stillness,

Footsteps.

Slow and Deliberate.

Not imagined.

Khushi took a sharp breath, her breath caught somewhere between hope and dread.

Slowly, painfully, she turned.

And there he was.

Arnav.

Standing a few feet away, drenched in rain, shadows clinging to him like they belonged there. He looked older… sharper… but his eyes,

His eyes were exactly the same.

For a moment, neither of them spoke.

Because some silences are too full to break.

Her breath hitched as her eyes landed on the lone figure in the quiet night.

She saw the face she felt both familiar and unfamiliar with. But unmistakably,

“Arnav…?”

For a moment, neither of them moved.

Years of silence stood between them, heavier than any words.

“You opened it,” he said quietly, his voice rough, unfamiliar yet achingly known as his gaze travelled to the letter in your hand.

“You’re… alive,” she whispered, like saying it too loud might make him disappear again.

A faint, almost tired smile touched his lips.

“As you can see.”

Khushi stepped closer, her heartbeat loud and uneven, beating violently inside her.

“You left,” she said.

Not a question but an accusation.

Arnav’s jaw tightened slightly as he faced her.

“I know.”

Her eyes filled with anger as quickly as relief.

Khushi looked up at him sharply while pointing a finger at him.

“That’s it?” Her voice cracked, anger finally breaking through. “You disappear for five years and all you have is ‘I know’?”

He looked at her then, really looked and something in his expression faltered, something that revealed longing.

Like he wasn’t prepared for this day, for her.

“I didn’t leave because I wanted to,” he said quietly, not once breaking his gaze.

“Then why?” she demanded. “Why didn’t you say anything? Not even tried to reach out to me even once?”

“You don’t get to come back like this,” she continued, her voice trembling. “You don’t get to disappear for years and then just..just stand there like nothing happened!” Her voice wavered with unspoken pain as her eyes got filled with unshed tears.

Arnav looked away, unable to bear seeing her like that, in pain. His heart clenched.

“I didn’t come back to fix anything,” he said. “I came to make sure you’re safe. So I thought… it was better this way.”

Khushi let out a hollow laugh, she was close to losing herself.

“Better?” she repeated with a scoff. “For who, Arnav? Because it definitely wasn’t better for me.”

His gaze dropped, something unreadable flickering across his face.

“I know.”

“Then say it,” she whispered, her voice trembling now. “Say why you left.”

The wind grew stronger, like it was listening and waiting.

Arnav exhaled slowly, like the truth weighed more than he could carry.

“I didn’t trust myself.”

The words felt wrong.

Khushi looked at him scrutinizingly and stepped closer, her voice sharp now.

Her brows furrowed.

“What does that even mean?”

He hesitated.

And for the first time, he looked afraid.

Silence.

"Answer me Arnav! Don't stay quiet"

Then finally...

“I started forgetting things,” he admitted. “Small things at first. Conversations. Days. Then… parts of myself.”

Her world tilted.

Arnav exhaled slowly, as if every word cost him something.

Khushi’s anger faltered slightly as she processed his words carefully.

“That doesn’t make sense…”

“It doesn’t to me either,” he said, his voice tightening. “But no matter what I forgot… you were always there.”

Her breath hitched.

“I could forget my own thoughts,” he continued quietly, “but not the way you looked at me. Not your voice. Not…you.”

Khushi's hand clenched into a fist as she tried to control her emotions. "What are you trying to tell me Arnav?"

Arnav laughed under his breath, but there was no humor in it.

“Thinking about you...it terrifies me.”

“Why?” she stepped closer. “Why would remembering me scare you?”

His eyes met hers again. Dark and conflicted as she searched for answers in his eyes.

“Because it didn’t feel like a choice.”

The words landed like a blow.

“My father… wasn’t just a businessman,” he began. “He was part of something dangerous. A network you don’t walk away from.”

Khushi’s stomach dropped.

“I found out too late. And when I tried to leave… they made it clear, anyone close to me would pay the price.”

Her voice softened, breaking, “So you left me… to protect me?”

“I didn’t just leave,” he said, his eyes dark. “I became one of them.”

The words hit like a storm.

“No…” she shook her head. “No, that’s not true.”

“It is,” he said quietly. “Everything I hated, I became. Just to keep them away from you.”

Khushi staggered back, tears spilling freely now.

All these years, she thought he abandoned her.

But he had been fighting a war she never knew existed.

For her.

“But why come back now?” she whispered.

Arnav’s expression shifted, something urgent, almost desperate.

“Because I finally got out,” he said. “And they’re looking for me.”

The atmosphere grew heavier, as if it itself felt the weight of his words.

“They know about you, Khushi.”

Her blood ran cold.

Seeing her agitated, he wanted to reach out and comfort her but he didn’t step closer, didn’t dare touch her.

As if he wasn’t allowed to.

“I shouldn’t be here,” he said quietly. “But I needed to see you… one last time.”

Those words undid something in her.

One last time.

Fear crept in.

“What do you mean by that?” She demanded

But Arnav didn’t answer.

Instead, he looked at her like she was something sacred, and already lost.

"What is it that you are so afraid of Arnav?" She begged him to make things clear. The anxiety was killing her.

“I don’t know how to explain it,” he said, running a hand through his wet hair, frustration slipping through him. “It felt like… no matter what I did, where I went, what I tried to think, everything led back to you.”

Her heart pounded.

“And that’s a bad thing?” she asked, almost afraid of the answer.

“It is when you don’t understand why,” he said sharply.

Then softer,

“It is when it feels like something inside you is… deciding for you.”

Something about his words didn’t feel like peace.

It felt like a storm that hadn’t revealed its worst yet.

Both Khushi and Arnav stood, facing each other unflinchingly.

They both knew that the conversation was far from being over.

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Here's the third part. Hope you all liked it ❤️