Chapter 4: The Goodbye That Was Never Said
One evening, standing beneath the broken clock tower lights, Nira said,
"This city doesn't let people stay."
Ayaan frowned. "Then why did it let us meet?"
She looked at him with sad eyes. "Some people meet only to teach each other how to let go."
Ayaan wanted to say he would stay. He wanted to ask her to stay.
But the words felt heavy in his chest.
The next morning, Nira was gone.
No goodbye.
No explanation.
Only her sketchbook lay on the bench by the river.
Inside was a drawing of a boy with a backpack standing at the edge of a dusty road.
Under it, she had written:
"If you find yourself again, you won't lose me. I'll live in the part of you that learned how to love without fear."