Chapter 1: The Day Silence Broke
There was a strange weight in the air that evening like something had quietly died inside Nishanth.
The sun was still up, somewhere beyond the grey clouds over Warangal, but it might as well have set for him already. His steps were heavy as he walked past the line of shuttered grocery stalls near the main road.
The wind whispered against the dried trees. A tea vendor called out his name softly, but Nishanth didn't respond.
He just kept walking, eyes blank, fists clenched in his pockets.
Earlier that afternoon, he'd wrapped up college lectures and headed to the institute where Supriya said she was doing a project meetup with her marketing team. Nothing unusual. She said they'd have lunch afterward.
He brought her favorite kulfi from a local stall, thinking she'd laugh at the childish gesture. She always did.But what he saw instead shattered the last piece of innocence he carried.
There, in the parking lot of Shamshabad Grand Hotel, Supriya was stepping out of a white Mercedes ,not alone.
She smiled up at the tall man beside her. Karan Shekhawat. The very politician's son who once said in front of the whole class:
"Poor boys should dream about clearance sales, not CEOs."
Supriya leaned into Karan's side as they shared a small laugh. His hand was on her waist , casual. Like it belonged there.
Nishanth stood frozen on the pavement. Kulfi melting between his fingers. Heart melting somewhere deeper.