Chapter 9: The Last Call

"I’m leaving for college tomorrow."

A month later, Arjun called me.

The comments said he’d held back for a long time.

[He checks his phone every day, just to see if the heroine messaged him.]

[The cold hero stepping down from his pedestal—who wouldn’t fall for that?]

[But why does the heroine seem so indifferent?]

I answered with a soft hum.

My gaze drifted over the low wall to the jasmine blooming in Kabir’s yard.

The scent was strong, sweet, and thick—the sort that clings to the air even after sundown. They were in full bloom.

He was sitting in the verandah, lost in a book.

I watched Kabir’s mother light the diya at the tulsi plant, her bangles jingling. "When I’m settled over there, let me know when you come."

Arjun continued.

"Ananya, you’ll be an adult in college. Your parents don’t make money easily."

"Don’t make a big show of things, like you’re afraid people don’t know your family is rich."

I was stunned for a moment, suddenly finding him unbearably noisy.

The ceiling fan clattered above, the old dog barked somewhere, and I just wanted silence. Never suffered hardship?

I’m not stupid.

"My parents make money pretty easily."

But Arjun’s silence on the other end felt heavier than the summer heat—like something between us had finally snapped.