B E T R A Y A L
"People who are gone... don't come back, Reevan, that's the truth."
I didn't respond. My eyes remained fixed on him.
"That doesn't mean Ira didn't mean anything to me," he continued, his voice lowering slightly. "She did."
His gaze briefly shifted toward the grave.
"I loved her."
Something inside my chest twisted painfully.
"But tomorrow..." he said after a pause, turning back to me, "tomorrow is my wedding with Niyu."
The words echoed like thunder inside my head. Niya lowered her gaze slightly when he said it.
"It would be unfair to her," Viaan continued, tightening his hold on her shoulder, "if I kept Ira in my heart."
The wind picked up again, rustling the leaves above us.
"Niya will be my wife now," he said quietly but firmly. "She deserves my full love."
His voice carried a sense of finality, like the past had already been buried along with Ira.
My jaw tightened.
For a moment I simply stared at them.
The two of them standing together beside her grave.
Alive.
Breathing.
Planning their future.
While Ira lay beneath the cold ground between us.
A bitter laugh escaped my throat, It started quietly, but grew louder until it echoed across the cemetery.
Viaan frowned.
"What's so funny?"
I shook my head slowly, my eyes burning.
"You disgust me."
My voice was low.
Cold.
Both of them stiffened.
"Just get out of my sight," I continued, pointing toward the path behind them.
"You both disgust me."
Niya looked hurt by the words. Her fingers tightened around Viaan's arm.
"Reevan... please," she said softly. "I know you're angry, but this isn't right. We all lost Ira..."
"Don't," I snapped sharply. My glare shot toward her.
"Don't you dare say her name."
She fell silent immediately.
Viaan's patience seemed to snap.
"That's enough, Reevan," he said sternly. "You don't get to decide how people mourn... and how long they mourn.. it didn't decide the amount of love they had."
"Mourn?" I repeated bitterly. "You call this mourning?"
My hand gestured toward the two of them standing together.
"Coming here before your wedding like this... pretending you care?"
"That's not what we're doing," Viaan replied, irritation creeping into his voice.
"Oh really?" I said.
My eyes dropped briefly to Ira's grave before rising again.
"Because from where I'm standing it looks exactly like that."
Niya swallowed nervously.
"Viaan said we should come here," she explained quietly. "We wanted to pay our respects."
"Respects?" I scoffed.
"Six months", my voice dropped into a whisper filled with venom.
"She's been dead for six months."
"And you're getting married on the same date she was supposed to marry him... 6 months before."
Neither of them answered. The silence felt heavy.
I stepped closer to the grave, my fingers brushing against the cold marble.
"You know something funny more?" I murmured.
"Even her pets are more loyal than you."
"You're crossing the line.", viaan's jaw tightened again.
"No," I said quietly.
"I think you crossed it the day you left her standing at the altar."
That hit him. I saw it clearly in the way his shoulders stiffened.
"You don't know what happened that day," he said through clenched teeth.
"You're right," I replied calmly. "I only know the result."
My hand rested on the grave.
"She ran out into the rain alone, and now she's here."
The wind blew harder, carrying dry leaves across the ground.
Niya looked visibly uncomfortable now.
"Viaan... maybe we should go," she whispered.
But Viaan didn't move, his eyes remained locked on me.
"You think I don't regret what happened?" he asked quietly. "You think I wanted this?"
I didn't answer.
"You think I wanted her to die?" he continued, his voice shaking slightly.
The anger in my chest burned hotter.
"I think," I said slowly, "that if you had loved her even half as much as you claim..."
I looked down at Ira's name again.
"...you won't be marrying someone she hated the most?"
He didn't answer immediately, so I stepped closer.
"Six months, Viaan." My voice cracked slightly despite myself. "Six months since she died." I pointed at the grave behind me.
"And you're standing here talking about moving on like she was nothing?"
"That's not what I.." his jaw tightened.
"And how?" I cut him off harshly.
"How did you even start loving her?" My gaze flicked toward Niya for a second before returning to him. "So fast? so easily?"
The silence stretched between us, for a moment, I thought he wouldn't answer.
"I'm not marrying Niya for love."Then he exhaled slowly, dragging a hand over his face like he was exhausted.
That made me pause. My brows furrowed.
"What?"
"I'm not in love with her... not yet."He looked up at me, his eyes serious.
The words felt strange. Out of place.Behind him, Niya stiffened slightly.
"What the hell are you saying?" I demanded. "some kind of joke?"
"It's not a joke," he replied firmly. His voice was steady now. "It's a promise."
I stared at him.
"A promise?" I repeated, disbelief lacing my tone.
He nodded slowly.
"I gave her my word, She's been there for me... through everything."
His eyes flickered briefly toward Niya before returning to me.
His voice softened slightly.
"When Ira..." he stopped for a second, swallowing hard, "...when Ira died, I was completely broken."
I didn't say anything.
"She stayed," he continued. "She handled everything. The media, my family, my mess... she didn't leave." his hands clenched slightly at his sides.
"And I promised her already when Ira did dirty with her on my wedding day that I will protect her... When niya's dignity was in ruins.. I promised her that I will marry her, be there for her, to not let her face the world alone."
"So you're just going to replace Ira?"
"I'm not replacing her!" he snapped.
"Ira was.." he stopped, his throat tightening."She was..." his voice broke slightly, "...she was important."
I let out a sharp breath."Important?"
"That's what she is now?"His silence answered me.
I stepped closer, my voice dropping into something darker.
"You're lying to yourself."His gaze hardened again.
"No.""You are," I said firmly.
"You're hiding behind promises and responsibilities because it's easier than admitting the truth."
"And what truth is that?" he asked coldly. "That you gave up on her, that you left her. that you broke her." The words landed heavily."And now you're trying to clean your conscience by playing the good guy for someone else."
Viaan's fists clenched tightly.
"That's not what this is."
"It is," I said. "You just don't have the guts to face it."
For a moment, neither of us spoke.
Niya called out softly,"Viaan... please... let's just go." He didn't move..His eyes stayed locked on mine. Then finally, his voice came out quieter.
"You don't understand."
I smiled bitterly.
"You're right."
I stepped back toward the grave.
"I don't."
My hand rested on the cold stone again.
"Because if I loved her..."My voice dropped into a whisper.
"I wouldn't be standing here trying to justify why I'm marrying someone else."
"You don't know how much I loved her." His voice wasn't loud this time. It was strained and tired. I didn't turn.
"You don't get to decide that," he continued, stepping closer. "You don't get to measure how much I loved Ira."
I let out a quiet, humorless laugh.
"Then explain it to me," I muttered."Because from where I'm standing, it doesn't look like love."
Silence.
Then his voice came again, heavier.
"From childhood till now... I loved Ira." A pause. "And only Ira."
My jaw tightened slightly.
"That day..." he continued, his voice dropping, "...when I left her at the altar..." For the first time, his words faltered. "That wasn't planned."
I slowly turned my head, just enough to see him from the corner of my eye.
"It was impulsive." His eyes looked distant, like he was replaying it.
"I wasn't thinking straight." His hands clenched."I was angry, so angry I couldn't see anything else."
The wind blew between us again.
"But you don't know what she did," he added, his voice tightening.
"You don't know what pushed me to that point." I said nothing. "You think I just abandoned her?" he continued.
"Like she meant nothing?" His voice rose slightly now." I stood by her when no one else did, that made me turn fully, I defended her, when everyone judged her... when everyone pointed fingers... I stayed." His chest rose and fell unevenly.
"I fought with her, I argued with her, tried to make her understand that what she was doing was wrong."His eyes darkened.
"But I never left her, I kept loving her," he said, quieter now.
"I kept trying to make her better, but she didn't change."
"You don't know what she was like," he said again, almost to himself.
"You don't know what she put me through."His gaze shifted to the grave."But even then..." his voice cracked slightly, "...I loved her."
A sharp silence settled between us.
"And till her last breath, I loved only her."
"If I was in her place..." he said, his voice turning steadier again, "if I was the one lying under that grave... I wouldn't want her to mourn me for the rest of her life.""
He looked straight at me.
"I would want her to move on." His voice carried quiet conviction now. "As soon as possible, not to wait for one year or two. That's not love that's selfishness."
The words hit the air like a final verdict.Silence followed.Deep and uncomfortable.
The kind that presses against your chest.Then...I laughed. Soft at first. Then sharper. More bitter.
I turned fully toward him, shaking my head slowly.
"Selfishness?" I repeated, my voice dripping with sarcasm.
"Wow." I clapped once, slow and mocking.
"That's... beautiful, Viaan." My eyes burned into his.
"Truly." I took a step closer.
"So let me get this straight, you loved her your whole life...stood by her...tried to fix her..." My lips curled slightly.
"And the moment she broke in front of you...you walked away." His expression hardened.
"I told you, I wasn't thinking..." He tried to explain before I cut him off.
"No," I cut him off sharply.
"You were thinking. "My voice dropped, cold and precise. "You just chose yourself."
The wind picked up again.
"You don't get to call this love," I continued."You don't get to rewrite it now that she's dead and can't speak for herself."
His jaw clenched tightly.
"You think moving on in six months makes you strong?" I went on, my voice rising."You think marrying your best friend on the same date makes you noble?" I let out a short, bitter laugh.
"Call it whatever you want, Viaan.""Responsibility. Promise. Fate."
I stepped closer, my voice lowering into something dangerous
."But don't stand here..."My eyes flicked to Ira's grave, then back to him."And try to convince me it was love."
The silence that followed felt suffocating.Niya stood frozen a few steps away, her face pale, her eyes shifting between us.
Viaan didn't speak.
For once, He had nothing to say.
Finally Viaan exhaled slowly.
Then he gently pulled Niya closer.
"We're leaving," he said firmly.
But before turning away, he looked at me one last time.
"And I am saying the last time again Reevan, I'm really sorry for what you're going through," he said quietly. "But this isn't helping anyone."
His gaze shifted to the grave.
"Not even her."
Then he turned and began walking away with Niya.
Their footsteps slowly faded along the gravel path.
The cemetery returned to silence again.
Only the wind remained.
I stood there alone beside Ira's grave.
My hand resting on the cold stone.
"Ira..." I whispered hoarsely.
The darkness around me felt endless.
And for the first time that night, my legs finally gave out.
I sank down beside her grave again.
Like I always did.