01 - My Final Goodbye

"I stayed even after love left… but tonight, I'm leaving because even hope gave up on us." – Meera

12:03 a.m.

“Don’t go.”

His voice broke the silence before the suitcase wheels did.

Meera froze, just a few steps from the door, her fingers tightening around the handle like she was afraid her own bones would betray her.

She didn’t turn around. Not yet. If she did, she knew her eyes would crumble before her heart did.

“You should’ve said that when I was begging for you to look at me,” she said, barely louder than a breath.

“I’m saying it now.”

“And now,” she whispered, “is too damn late, Aryan.”

He stepped forward, barefoot on the cold marble, wearing the same white shirt he’d worn for three days. Wrinkled. Unbuttoned halfway. Just like their love—undone and messy.

“I didn’t know you were serious,” he said. “You always threaten to leave but you never—”

Meera spun around.

“Don’t you dare reduce my leaving to a threat. Every time I said I couldn’t take it anymore, I meant it. I just… didn’t have the strength back then.”

Aryan’s mouth opened, then shut. Like he had too much to say and nothing that would make her stay.

"You think this is easy for me?" he asked.

“No,” she said. “I think this is the hardest thing I’ve ever done. And I still have to do it. Because you made staying harder.”

He looked at her the way a boy looks at a broken toy—regretful, confused, and just a little too late.

“Where will you go?”

She smiled—tired, cracked.

“Somewhere that doesn’t smell like your cologne. Somewhere I don’t have to pretend I’m okay.”

His voice dropped. “You’re really walking out on us?”

“‘Us’?” She laughed softly. “There hasn’t been an ‘us’ in months. There’s you—cold, unreachable. And me—begging shadows for warmth.”

Aryan ran a hand through his hair. “So that’s it? After everything? You’re walking away?”

“No,” she said, tears finally rising. “I’m choosing myself.”

Silence.

Then:

“Was it ever real for you?” he asked, quieter now.

She blinked.

“Every single moment. Every kiss. Every fight. Every damn tear was real.”

“Then why?”

His voice cracked.

Meera stepped closer, close enough for him to see the veins in her tired eyes. “Because love should never feel like a punishment.”

He swallowed hard. “Tell me you don’t love me anymore.”

She hesitated. Her lips trembled.

“I still love you,” she admitted.

Aryan’s eyes lit up.

“But I can’t live in this love anymore.”

And just like that, the light vanished.

She turned back toward the door.

“Meera…”

“Don’t,” she said, voice a whisper now. “Don’t make it harder.”

The door opened.

Rain kissed her cheeks like the sky was mourning too.

"Meera!" His voice chased her like a ghost.

She didn’t turn back. Not this time.

Her final words floated behind her, barely louder than the wind:

“I stayed until I disappeared in your world, Aryan. Tonight, I just want to exist… even if it’s alone.”

The door closed.

And for the first time in years, Aryan realized—

She didn’t leave because she stopped loving him.

She left because she finally started loving herself.

***Download NovelToon to enjoy a better reading experience!***