The weight of realisation
Author's pov-
The night had never felt this long.
Purv stood frozen in the same spot, his hands gripping the cold railing, his breath shallow. The world around him blurred into nothing but silence. Kaashi's word echoed in his mind, each one a dagger piercing deeper than the last.
"She used to love you like a crazy person."
"She waited for you through everything."
"You never gave her a place beside you."
"You never truly claimed her."
He clenched his jaw, inhaling sharply, but it did nothing to ease the pressure in his chest.
Had he really done that to her?
Had he truly left her drowning while he convinced himself he had no responsibility in it?
Memories surfaced, unbidden and relentless.
Divya's soft laughter echoing in his ears, the way her eyes used to light up when she talked about the future. The way she always found a reason to stay close to him, even when he pushed her away.
The way she had once looked at him-with so much warmth, so much trust.
And yet, what had he given her in return?
A never ending cycle of uncertainty. A push and pull that she had never deserved.
Purv exhaled, his throat tight.
Kaashi was right.
He had never truly given her a place beside him. Never once given their relationship a name, a defination. He had let her live in limbo, constantly hoping for something he never had the courage to give.
And yet, he had expected her to remain loyal.
Expected her to just... stay.
Even when he had never promised her anything.
He closed his eyes, his grip tightening on the railing until his knuckles turned white.
Divya had been breaking right in front of him, and he had been too blind to see it.
Too caught up in his own fears, his own past, to notice the way she was falling apart.
And then Rehan thing had happened.
His jaw clenched at the memory, a bitter taste rising in his throat. He had been so consumed by his own anger, his own sense of betrayal, that he had never stopped to think-
Had it really been a betrayal?
Hadn't he, in a way, pushed her toward it?
He had never called her his. Never given her a reason to believe she belonged to him.
So how could he blame her for seeking something he never offered?
A sharp pang twisted in his chest.
For the first time in five years, purv allowed himself to admit it.
Divya hadn't been the only one at fault.
He had hurt her just as much-if not more.
And yet, while he had spent these years burying himself in work, drowning in his own cold detachment, she had risen.
She had left.
She had built something for herself.
And now, she didn't need him.
That realisation struck deeper than anything else.
Divya had spent months chasing him, waiting for him, loving him even when it had destroyed her.
And now?
Now, she had moved on.
Now, she was the one walking away.
A bitter chuckle escaped his lips, but there was no humor in it.
He had spent years convincing himself that she was just a passing phase, a fleeting attachment that time would erase.
But standing here, with the weight of everything kaashi had said crushing down on him, purv knew one thing for certain-
Divya sharma was the only person he had ever let slip through his fingers.
And for the first time in his life, he felt the sting of regret.
Not because she had changed.
Not because she had moved on.
But because, for the first time, he wasn't sure if he could ever get her back.
And that thought terrified him more than anything else ever had.